A Kosha Model of Health and Healing

WELLNESS YOGA

The purpose of human existence is encoded like a fractal at each level of our being – physical, mental and spiritual. In the yoga framework, these levels are referred to as the Pancha Kosha, or “five sheaths.” The spirit, or atman, is the causal force and through it these layers come into manifestation – the “bliss” layer, the wisdom, the mind, the life force and finally the body. The more subtle layers are the cause of, and interpenetrate, the grosser layers.

Because this powerful causal model can help us better understand who we are as human beings, it can also help us understand how we heal and what it means to be healthy and whole.

In this webinar series, Kristine Kaoverii Weber, founder of Subtle Yoga, will explain how the Kosha model can be used, with other models of health (as well as the chakra model), to help us achieve better health outcomes. Kaoverii will also give a detailed description of, and practices for, each Kosha. She will highlight the role of the Koshas in creating greater health, and how to create yoga practices that target all Five Koshas.

These classes will help you:

  • Understand the Kosha model and how it can be used as a system to reframe both our personal and our collective health from a deeper perspective.
  • Integrate an understanding of Koshas into yoga practice and lifestyle, and how developing a sense of purpose and meaning form a foundation for health
  • Learn how to integrate Kosha-informed practices to deepen your yoga experience

Session One

Reframing Health and Human Potential: How the Kosha Model Helps Us Address the Health Care Crises

In the first session, Kaoverii will discuss how the Kosha model reframes what it means to be a human being, living in social systems, and what it means to be healthy. The dominance of reductionist medical models is problematic and has contributed to the health care crisis. The Kosha model offers some solutions in the context of Institute of Medicine recommendations and integrative care policy initiatives. Yoga, as an integrative health system suggests paradigm shifts in public policy, health practice, pedagogy and research.

Our thinking and our mental models have contributed to the health care crises.  Yoga philosophy offers expansive tools of understanding that are congruent with treatment, recovery, prevention and human flourishing outcomes. The Kosha model represents increasingly subtle ways of being and knowing and therefore its application ranges from therapy to pedagogy and planning.

Kaoverii provides an overview of each of the Five Koshas and their relation to basic yogic practices. She provides an introduction to how this ancient yogic model can be integrated with contemporary Western understandings to provide a fuller picture of the human condition and potential.

Session Two

Accessing the Subtle: How to Deepen Your Practice and Teaching 

In this session, Kaoverii focuses on the practical application of the theory of Koshas. How do we actually experience the Koshas in yoga practice? How can we make our practices more subtle and access ever deepening subjective layers of self? Kaoverii shows ways in which we can practice (and/or teach) that are accessible and person-centered, and also lead to a deeper experience of the subtler layers of self.

In addition to information about the subtler systems of the physical body Kaoverii will address the link between the physical and the life-force layers which is accessed through the intersection of asana and pranayama. She will also discuss the intersection of the breath and the mind, focusing on cutting-edge neuroscientific findings. The intersection between the Koshas and the chakras will be discussed. Finally Kaoverii will highlight the importance of meditation practice and address some common obstacles. Meditation practices can assist in the development of the more subtle Koshas and is a powerful strategy for personal and spiritual development.

This Course also Includes:

  • Yoga Practice Video with a Kosha-Centered Yoga Practice: Kaoverii has put a video together with an inspirational yoga practice demonstrating how to integrate awareness and attention to the koshas with your asanas flow.
  • Recordings of Both Sessions: Yours to keep. It’s generally acknowledged that many people only retain 10-20 percent of what they learn in a workshop. You will get the recordings of both sessions, enabling you to go back and listen to the workshop as many times as you like.
  • Transcripts of Both Sessions: Ever wanted to refer to a certain part of a course? Even the best note takers miss a point every so often. With the transcripts of the sessions, you can go back and refer to particularly important passages or clarify sections you were in doubt about.
  • E-book: 10 Tips for an Integrative Yoga Practice
  • Bonus Audio recording: Self Massage After Yoga – In this bonus yoga download with Kaoverii, you will learn a simple, effective self massage practice that targets the lymphatic system and the joints of the body, improving their function, preventing muscle soreness and helping the body to assimilate the subtle benefits of the asana practice.

Related courses

Kristine Kaoverii Weber, MA, C-IAYT, eRYT500 has been studying yoga and holistic healing for nearly 30 years, teaching yoga since 1995, and training teachers since 2003.

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