Today we wrap up this series with the 5th and innermost kosha, Anandamaya kosha. This layer is described as a steady state of bliss  and in many traditions our true self. Our work IN today is a discussion of what that means for all of us mere mortals and the difference between the feeling of bliss and the experience of bliss.

We continue our exploration of the koshas this week with the 4th kosha. Vijnanamaya kosha is our wisdom body. The seat of our intellect.We strive for both wisdom and intellect and yet struggle to define them in practical ways. That’s our Work IN today. We’ll look at simple ways to tap into this wisdom layer of our selves to build awareness and resilience on our journey into our true self.

We are rarely who we think we are. Or are we? Manomaya kosha is the mental illusion over our true self. Our Work IN today we’re discussing our mind, its monkey aspects, squirrelish behavior and how to untangle the truth of who we are. Welcome back to our series on the koshas. We've discussed Annamaya, our physical body layer, last week we talked about pranamaya kosha our energetic/breath layer and today we’re diving into Manomaya Kosha. Mano= mind Maya= illusion. Manomaya is all about our thoughts.  

Without breath, we cease to exist and yet we spend very little of our time or attention understanding its healing power. Unless we’re in a yoga class. That’s our Work IN today, exploring pranamaya kosha, our energetic self, through the breath as a communication pathway between the body and the mind for stress and trauma healing.

I’m killing the dream of a full time fitness career today on The Work IN. Working full time as a fitness instructor or coach and making a living is not realistic.  At least not the way we traditionally think of full time in other careers. But there are ways to make your wellness work work for you no matter what kind of fit pro you are.

Let’s face it, the fitness and wellness industry attracts all kinds of people and there are all kinds of ways to succeed in it. The assumption is that people who work in wellness, from instructors and trainers to studio and gym owners, are well. That these folks have already done their work and they are grounded, compassionate entrepreneurs who have their ego in check and the best interest of their students and employees at heart.  Sadly that isn’t always the case. In fact I would suggest that many of us are in the wellness and fitness community because while that’s who we are striving to be, we aren’t there yet and we know it. Without strong and grounded mentors and collaborators who are willing to tell the truth about this industry we can spend a lot of time floundering around trying to be something and someone we are not. To fit the woo woo wellness cookie cutter insisting we want to help others yet refusing to help ourselves first. The truth is we can’t help anyone if we aren’t in business, we can’t stay in business if we don’t get paid, and we can’t get paid if we don’t give people results beyond the woo woo wackadoodle world of wellness. Our work IN today is a look at how we as fit pros can find a balanced approach to the business of the body by grounding our business in the body.