Atman

That the mind and body are interconnected is not headline news these days. Even Western scientific thought agrees that stress can depress immunity, and that certain emotions or psychological tendencies are associated with specific physiological conditions. Take, for example, the type A personality and its predisposition to hypertension and ulcers. But how, exactly, are the mind and body related? How does the whole jumble of our experiences, our personality, body and even the spirit interact? According to the Western scientific viewpoint, the physical body is the primary entity. It houses the brain, which is the seat of consciousness, thought and feeling. The brain directs physiological and psychological function through a mind-boggling, awe-inspiring, network of chemical reactions and electrical impulses. Yogic thought holds a distinctly different view. Consciousness is not simply awareness or alertness. It is Atman , or spirit, and is the primary entity. It is our core, the very essence of who we are. This consciousness is shrouded by the different dimensions of our being - physical, mental, emotional and energetic. These dimensions are referred to as koshas , or sheaths, in yogic terminology. Together they make up the body-mind-energy complex through which consciousness finds expression. These five divisions vary in degree of subtlety, are overlapping and interconnected. At the grossest level is the physical body, followed by the energy body, then the mental body, the wisdom body and finally, the most subtle of all, the bliss body.