In our last article, we began where all awareness begins, the physical body. We explored the Annamaya Kosha — the food body, the outermost sheath — and how it holds our lived experience, survival patterns, trauma, and capacity for presence. We began the work of coming home to the body. Now we move inward.

We are journeying through what yoga calls the koshic system, a map of the self that moves us from the tangible and material toward something far more subtle; from the gross to the refined and from the outer to the innermost.

This map moves through five layers:

• The physical body — Annamaya Kosha, the food sheath
• The energy body — Pranamaya Kosha, the breath sheath
• The mental body — Manomaya Kosha, the mental sheath
• The wisdom body — Vijnanamaya Kosha, the intuitive sheath
• The bliss body — Anandamaya Kosha, the sheath of deep inner knowing.

Each layer we move through brings us closer to our essential nature, to clarity, to wholeness, to remembering who we truly are. Just as our consciousness does, we move in and out of the layers of the koshas. We now step into the second sheath.

Pranamaya Kosha — The Energy Body

The Pranamaya Kosha is known by many names, including the astral body, energy body, ethereal body, and auric body. It is described as an etheric, light-emitting field that surrounds and interpenetrates the physical body, a luminous envelope that shifts in size and vitality depending on our emotional state, our mood, and our inner climate. When we work with this layer, we learn to track our breath, awareness, emotions, and bodily sensations. We begin to notice that what moves through us is not random. It is information. We study the subtle nuances of the body and how it provides information. When we do this in our yoga practice, we become aware of the tension the pose offers and direct our prana, our breath, to that physical space.

We are energy beings. This may sound esoteric. It is also science.

The heart emits an electrical frequency measurable several feet beyond the body. Our thoughts generate electrical impulses. Our emotions carry energetic signatures that are transmitted outward and received, consciously or not,  by those around us. Studies from the Heart Math Institute tell us that the heart’s electrical and magnetic fields are approximately 60 times greater in amplitude than the brain waves recorded by an EEG. And it goes further than that: the magnetic field produced by the heart is more than 100 times stronger than the field generated by the brain and can be detected up to three feet away from the body in all directions. 

The energy we carry speaks before we do.

In the yogic tradition, this subtle intelligence is mapped through a system of energy centers called the chakras. While we will explore the chakras more fully in a future article, what matters here is the foundational understanding: We are not solid, static beings. We are fields of energy: dynamic, responsive, and in constant communication with the world around us.

The Illusion of Separation

For much of modern Western history, we have operated under the assumption that the body and the mind are two separate things, independent sources of information about our existence. We have debated which has dominance over the other. We have treated the body as something to manage and the mind as something to trust. But this is changing. In recent decades, research and the lived experience of millions of people have confirmed what yogic teachings have always known: The body and mind are not separate. They are one living system, in constant dialogue.

As Dr. Bessel van der Kolk illuminates in The Body Keeps the Score, trauma and emotion are not only stored in memory or thought. They are stored somatically in tissues, the nervous system, the breath, and posture. The body is not a passive vehicle. It is an intelligent, responsive field of awareness. This is where dualism begins to dissolve. And it does not stop at the individual.

The illusion of separation extends beyond the self. We live in a time of profound collective disconnection, from one another, from the Earth, from the ones who came before us, and from our own inner knowing. This fragmentation is not only social or political. It is felt in the body. It is housed there. The wounds of separation, personal and collective, are written in our nervous systems, our breath patterns, our chronic tension, and our exhaustion. The Pranamaya Kosha is where we begin to address this.

Prana is breath. Prana is the life force.

It is the animating current that moves through all living things. In yogic understanding, prana is not simply the air we inhale; it is the vital intelligence that it carries. It is what makes breathing more than a mechanical function. It is what makes us alive. Where prana flows freely, there is vitality, clarity, and ease. Where prana is blocked or depleted, we feel it as fatigue, emotional heaviness, mental fog, or a sense of being disconnected from ourselves. The Pranamaya Kosha is the sheath through which this life force moves. Tending to it is tending to the animating intelligence of the whole system.

Practices That Strengthen the Energy Body

In yogic teachings, we work with the Pranamaya Kosha through practices that regulate, expand, and integrate the breath with the body and mind.

• Asana — yogic postures create pathways for prana to move through the body, releasing blocks and building energetic resilience.
• Pranayama — breathwork is the most direct tool we have for working with this layer. The breath is the bridge between the conscious and unconscious, between the body and the mind.
• Meditation — stillness allows us to observe the movement of energy, emotion, and awareness without becoming swept away by it.
• Chanting — sound and vibration directly affect the energetic body, creating resonance and coherence throughout the system.

What we are moving toward is not mastery. We are moving toward integration; the full unification of breath, body, and mind. When breath, body, and awareness move together, something shifts. The fragmentation begins to heal. Our nervous system begins to heal. We become less reactive, more present, more at home in ourselves. We begin to see ourselves and others as a whole. 

Side box: 

Morning Practice

Anulom Vilom: Alternate Nostril Breathing

RIGHT NOSTRIL

Inhale through the right nostril — hold — exhale through the left nostril. Repeat 7 times. 

LEFT NOSTRIL

Repeat the same sequence through: left nostril — inhale — hold — exhale — right nostril. Repeat 7 times 

BOTH NOSTRILS

Inhale through both nostrils together — hold — exhale through both. Allow the breath to become full and natural. Repeat 7 times

STILLNESS

Rest in stillness for 3–5 minutes.

Observe the quality of the mind and body. Notice tranquility. Notice peace. Be present in the now.

Evolve Yoga is a community-centered studio in Sioux City offering accessible yoga, mindful movement, meditation, breathwork, and healing practices for all levels. We help students build strength, reduce stress, and support overall well-being in a welcoming and inclusive space. Since 2012, Erin has been the driving force behind Evolve Yoga and Wellness Center, creating a holistic space where yoga, mindfulness, and gentle healing practices come together. Her classes support physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being and invite students to reconnect with themselves in meaningful, accessible ways.