Beyond Pathology: The Koshas as a Map for Holistic Trauma Healing
Within the context of a healthcare system that often reduces suffering to symptoms and healing to a linear process, the wisdom of the koshas offers a paradigm shift: one that is non-pathologizing, deeply embodied, and honoring of the relational field.
For those healing from relational trauma, traditional models of talk therapy can feel incomplete. Many approaches focus primarily on the mind, overlooking the lived experience of the body, the breath, the spirit, and the subtle energy of our relational field.
But what if healing isn’t just about managing thoughts and behaviors? True integration requires us to honor every layer of our being.
The koshas, a yogic framework from the Upanishads, offer us a map of the self- not as a fragmented system of dysfunctions, but as a holistic, interconnected whole. They guide us beyond a pathologizing, symptom-driven view of trauma into a deeper, more expansive experience of healing.
Photo by Devin McGloin via Unsplash
The Five Koshas: A Somatic Map for Trauma Healing
Annamaya Kosha (Physical Body) – The body as our first home. Trauma lives in our tissues, muscles, and fascia. This is where we feel bracing, tension, and dissociation. Healing here means gently reconnecting with the body in ways that feel safe enough, rather than forcing presence.
Try: Somatic tracking (noticing sensations without judgment), gentle movement like walking or stretching, or placing a hand over the heart or belly to cultivate a sense of self-contact. If this feels overwhelming, simply noticing the way your feet rest on the ground can be a starting point.
Pranamaya Kosha (Energy Body) – The breath, the pulse of life. When we’ve endured trauma, our breath can become restricted, our nervous system stuck in fight, flight, or freeze due to a narrowing window of tolerance. Restoring flow here doesn’t mean forcing deep breathing, it means exploring breath with curiosity and allowing breath to meet us where we are.
Try: Humming or sighing to engage the vagus nerve, practicing a gentle exhale that is longer than the inhale (to downshift the nervous system), or simply noticing how breath changes in the presence of safe connection with another person.
Manomaya Kosha (Mental-Emotional Body) – The layer of thoughts, emotions, and conditioned beliefs. Trauma shapes the stories we tell ourselves about safety, love, and worthiness. But healing isn’t just about reframing thoughts, it’s about allowing emotions to move through us without judgment.
Try: Writing without editing (stream-of-consciousness journaling), practicing self-compassion phrases (“Of course this is hard. It makes sense that I feel this way.”), or using parts work to notice the different voices inside without trying to fix them. *Janina Fisher’s book, “Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors,” is a great resource for additional learning here.
Vijnanamaya Kosha (Wisdom Body) – Our deeper knowing, the seat of intuition. Trauma survivors often struggle with self-trust, due to being gaslit by others and by systems, by internalized shame. Reconnecting with this kosha means reclaiming the inner “yes” and “no” that was once dismissed.
Try: Placing a hand over your gut or heart and asking, “What do I know to be true, deep down?” Start small—what food feels good to eat? Which colors or textures do you enjoy? Small choices can rebuild trust in our deeper knowing. Practice letting your body be a guide for this exploration, honoring discomfort when it arises.
Anandamaya Kosha (Bliss Body) – The place of deep belonging. Healing doesn’t mean erasing pain, but reconnecting with the capacity for joy, awe, and connection. This is the kosha where trauma no longer defines us.
Try: Noticing micro-moments of joy—a patch of sunlight on your skin, laughter, the feeling of being seen by a friend. Bliss doesn’t have to be ecstatic; it can be the quiet knowing that you are part of something bigger than your wounds. If you find it hard to remember the good moments, try keeping record of them in a journal that you can come back to on challenging days to remember that these moments, too, are real.
Trauma-Informed Considerations: Go Slow. Choice is Everything.
If exploring these layers feels overwhelming, that’s okay. Trauma often makes us disconnect from certain aspects of self as a form of protection. Healing isn’t about forcing reconnection but about offering yourself choices.
If body awareness feels unsafe, start with external sensations: notice the temperature of the air or the textures around you.
If breathwork feels panic-inducing, explore breath-adjacent practices like humming or swaying instead.
If emotions feel too intense, try titrating awareness: pausing before you get overwhelmed or shifting to a safe activity.
Trauma healing is about restoring safety, not pressure to push through.
The Role of Relationship in Kosha Healing
Healing does not happen in isolation. The koshas offer a map, but we heal in the presence of safe, attuned relationships.
Annamaya Kosha: Safe, consensual touch or movement (even feeling the warmth of your own hands).
Pranamaya Kosha: Co-regulation, like breathing near a loved one or pet, feeling the calming presence of someone safe. This can be why the therapy container can be so healing: your therapist’s regulated nervous system can help you access that regulation more easily.
Manomaya Kosha: Being heard without being “fixed,” having emotions mirrored with warmth.
Vijnanamaya Kosha: A therapist, mentor, or friend validating your inner wisdom when doubt arises.
Anandamaya Kosha: Shared joy—laughter, music, nature, moments of genuine connection.
Trauma often happens in relationships. So does healing.
The Koshas and Systemic Trauma: Healing Beyond the Individual
Almost all of us carry intergenerational wounds, systemic oppression, and collective grief. The koshas, within a framework of liberation, remind us that healing isn’t just personal, it’s deeply interconnected.
Annamaya Kosha (Physical Body): How has culture shaped your relationship with your body? With rest? With pleasure?
Pranamaya Kosha (Energy Body): How has survival mode been passed down in your lineage? What would it feel like to soften?
Manomaya Kosha (Mental-Emotional Body): What narratives have been imposed on you? What stories do you want to reclaim?
Vijnanamaya Kosha (Wisdom Body): Where have you been taught to distrust your intuition? What systems benefit from that disconnection?
Anandamaya Kosha (Bliss Body): What if joy, ease, and pleasure were not indulgences but acts of resistance and reclamation?
Healing is about remembering who we were meant to be, before the world taught us otherwise.
Why This Changes Everything
Many talk therapy models work outside-in, starting with thoughts, behaviors, and symptoms. The koshas invite us to work inside-out, honoring how healing unfolds through the body, breath, heart, intuition, and presence.
For trauma survivors, this means:
Your body isn’t broken, it’s communicating.
Your emotions aren’t irrational, they hold wisdom.
Your intuition isn’t unreliable, it’s waiting to be reclaimed.
Your healing isn’t just about survival, it’s about re-inhabiting your full, sacred self.
Healing is a remembering. And you are already whole.
ways to work with me:
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