Guided Meditation on the 5 Koshas: Cultivating Bliss, Balance, and Oneness (70)

Hi everyone and welcome back to how the Wise One Grows. This podcast is dedicated to holding space for each of us to learn how to reconnect to our inner wisdom, to one another and the natural world, and in last week's episode, episode 69, we spoke with Preston Slaughter about how she helps to empower youth to cultivate inner toolkit to deal with the stressors of daily life that all humans experience. And through her work through local adventures, rva be sure to check it out. She shares a principle called the COSAS, which is rooted in yogic philosophy that helps youth reconnect to all the parts of themselves and find their wholeness. I really loved my conversation with Preston because we both have connected with yoga and mindfulness practices as a way to heal ourselves and we love to share that, to help heal those around us. And honestly, I think that's one of the most magical things in the world is when you find something that you love, something that lights you up, something that makes you feel like a whole person, and then you can share that and help people have that experience as well. That's what I hope to do through this podcast. In episode 69, preston gives a great explanation of the COSAS. I definitely recommend that you go back and listen to that explanation, but a quick little overview in the way that I have been taught the COSAS over the years and the way that I relate to them, is that the COSAS, which are often known as sheaths as well, are like layers of an onion and all of these layers are a part of us and we can peel back each layer to get to the core of who we are and we experience our fullness when we can find balance and harmony between all of those layers. And we have all of these layers and if one layer is out of balance or hasn't gotten what it needs, hasn't been tended to properly, we can't find that union, that oneness, that wholeness that we have been talking about. So the way that we can find balance within ourselves is when we can balance all of the layers, all of the many parts of ourselves. I also find that thinking of the COSAS in this way as we deal with daily life can be really helpful because through that model we can think about like, when I'm experiencing a challenging emotion right now, or I am experiencing stress right now, that's a layer, that's a experience happening on one of the layers of the COSAS, but it doesn't shake the core of who you truly are and who we truly are is the compassionate witness to whatever experiences that we can be having with a respective COSAS at any given moment. I think that it's really common for people to experience big emotions around their physical body, and when we can reconnect with this concept of the COSAS, we are reminded that we are not our physical body. We are the one who witnesses that, and the physical body is just a sheath, it's just a layer that is a part of our human experience, but it's not who we are. We are not our bodies, we are not our thoughts, we are not our emotions. We are something much deeper than that. Before we dive into today's meditation, I want to give a shout out and a huge thank you to all of the members of the Dream Team. So, the Dream Team are a group of listeners who support this podcast every month, and they help not only to make this podcast possible by providing stable funding, but each month, I'm focused on not only highlighting amazing organizations like local adventures, but we're also making financial contributions to meaningful causes in the world around us, and this is really important to me because it embodies a spirit of Dana and giving from the heart that's at the root of this podcast. If this podcast has been meaningful to you in any way, you can join the Dream Team for as little as $3 a month, and if financially supporting this podcast isn't possible, you can continue to practice the spirit of Dana by sharing an episode that you love with a friend and leaving a review on your favorite streaming platform. So in today's meditation, I'm going to share a slightly different order of the Kosha's than the one that Preston explained in episode 69. I've heard it and been taught it slightly differently, so I'm going to share the one that I personally know a bit more, but it's the same concept, same principle, just a slightly different way of looking at it. So take a moment to settle in wherever you are and just notice now where your body touches the earth, and you can use your sense of sight just to acclimate where you are right here, right now, and gently rest your eyes or soften your gaze at a point in front of you. Take a big breath in and a big breath out Again. Inhale, fill the chest, fill the belly with air, inhale, open your mouth, let it out, inhale, exhale, one more, inhale and exhale. So in our meditation today, we're going to focus on bringing attention to and finding balance within each of the layers of the Kosha's. So we're going to focus on the physical body, our energetic body, our mental body, our wisdom body, our intuitive body and our joy body, the core of who we are, inhale and exhale. Let's begin by bringing awareness to the physical body right now. This is the one that we are typically most familiar with because we can see it. It's the skin suit we walk around in every day, but it's not who we truly are. It's simply a sheath, it's just a layer, but it is a part of us. So let's take a moment to become aware of what the physical body needs right now. So gently scan your body, from the tip of your head to the tips of your toes. Notice the sensations present for you. There's no right or wrong, there's no good or bad. Just allow yourself to get familiar with the physical sensations that are present. Notice if there's any subtle adjustments you could make to help the body feel 5-10% more comfortable here and gently move in that way. Honor that need. Now let's bring our awareness to the energetic body, or the breath body. So noticing now how the breath feels as it moves in and as it flows out. Notice if the breath has a texture, a temperature, a weight, a smell, perhaps even a taste, and simply drop into the part of the breath that feels good. Here my teacher recently explained it as slide into the breath like you're sliding into a bubble bath. Drop into this space of ease here. Notice, as you connect with the breath, thoughts very well may trickle in, and that's our mental body. I know I spend a lot of my time up here, so take a moment to get familiar with your mental body. Just witness the thoughts, not trying to control them, not trying to change them and notice what kind of thoughts are your default mode. I often catch my mind in a planning thought cycle and as you become familiar with the thought, remember that you can still slide into that bubble bath. Reconnect with the breath, maybe soft in some part of the body, finding a bit of balance and ease in our layers. Here and as you're noticing your thoughts and not getting caught up in their story and in their cycles, as you're witnessing them, you're connecting to the wisdom body. So we're taking the seat of the witness, knowing that we are not our thoughts, but we are the one who witnesses. You are, I am that you're not your thoughts. You're the one who witnesses. So just take a moment, as thoughts trickle by, to connect to that deep space within you that's witnessing them, knowing that you are not consumed by these thoughts. You are not these thoughts, and as you slide back into the breath, like you're sliding into a bubble bath, you're the one who witnesses them. Notice, if there's any experience of bliss, of joy, that arises when we aren't caught up in our thoughts, when our body is at ease, when our breath feels balanced. There can be a steadiness here, a space of ease, of bliss. This is your true nature. This is who you really are, allowing all the sounds, the smells, the sensations that are present to be a part of this moment, dropping into the oneness and fullness in our connection with all of our layer and with everyone and everything, and return to the sensation of where your body touches the earth. Know that with every breath, you can reconnect to this oneness. You can recalibrate your layers as you connect with the koshas and drop into oneness, drop into the fullness of your experience, and you can slowly open your eyes as you return to this space.