And our survey said, you want to:
Eat Better, Move Daily, Sleep Well
Last week I shared a short survey asking about your feelings about your health as we start 2024.
Here's what you had to say:
- 34% are happy with your overall health (hurrah!), but 66% aren't & want things to improve
- The biggest area of concern is DIET - with only 6% of you feeling happy with this area & 46% feeling it's an area that needs work NOW
- EXERCISE is next on the problem list, followed by SLEEP
- 60% of you have some sort of pain in mind or body.
I also asked what's the ONE THING you want to work on RIGHT NOW. Here's a selection of answers: my diet / cut down sugar / work less / move every day / breathe / talk to more people / drink less alcohol / stop snacking. FOOD & DRINK featured really highly in the area that we want to address - a huge sense that it's a bit out of control.
It's great we can see where the issues are!
How can I help you TODAY? Let's explore a model of health called the KOSHAS.
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The Panca (5) Koshas is a model from Ayurveda (the Indian system of medicine) & Yoga philosophy that takes into account that we are complex organisms - and there is much more to us than the body alone. Truly a mind-body-spirit model of health.
Koshas means 'sheaths' or coverings. We can think of them as layers of the Self, moving from gross to more subtle, i.e. from the bits you can touch to the bits you can't:
- Annamaya Kosha - literally the 'Food body'. The physical body.
- Pranamaya Kosha - the Energetic body - the breath, the vital force that propels us
- Manomaya Kosha - the layer of the 'lower mind' - thoughts, feelings & emotions
- Vijnamaya Kosha - the layer of the higher mind or intellect
- Anandamaya Kosha - the layer of bliss, the sweetness we feel when everything is calm.
All of these influence & permeate eachother & are the layers that surround your spirit or soul. It's quite a different explanation than the Western model of body & mind being quite separate.
How does this sound? Do you recognise that you possess, in fact that you EXIST in all these layers? Have you ever thought in this way before?
OK so Indian Philosophy might be interesting, but how does this help in the real world?
The Koshas are intensely practical. We can use them to interrogate our health - looking at each layer to see where the issue lies.
E.g.: I'm not sleeping well. Where are things not working?
- In the physical body? Because I'm feeding it poor quality food & my digestion is keeping me awake?
- In the energetic body, because I haven't allowed myself to rest enough after a virus?
- In the (lower) mind - thoughts, worries, repetitive thoughts that keep turning over all night - and keep me turning over?
- Higher Mind - am I living my life in sync with my principles? What is my purpose? Do I know that something isn't really right in my life & it's literally keeping me awake at night?
- Bliss - Am I so far from this in all the other layers that bliss isn't something I can connect with right now. . .
We can explore our health in this way & then come up with an action plan.
Here's a QUESTION for those of you who wanted to address your DIET. We won't all have the same reason for not eating optimally - where is the issue that is causing YOU to not eat well?
- Am I eating too much processed food? Notice how these foods has low quality prana so in fact ends up depleting our energy, rather than boosting it.
- Are you so tired at the end of the day so you grab poor food - quality or quantity? (this is an issue with both the Anna and Pranamaya Koshas - we all know that eating healthily actually gives us MORE energy after a while)
- Are you (not) dealing with stress or emotions? Sometimes food becomes a way of distracting yourself from deeper issues in the mental Koshas.
- Is life too busy to cook? Ask yourself what are you prioritising instead? Is it worth the trade-off?
HOMEWORK: Remember the ONE thing you want to work on heath-wise & look at it through the lens of the Koshas - which layer can you address now?
I hope this gives you a little insight into how the Koshas might help. I will expand on this in the coming weeks - both in class and here in the newsletter with practices & knowledge.
Have a good week. With love.
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