Welcome!
...on this virtual platform for holistic healing and self-knowledge

"Heal and know yourself!"
...on all levels of your being

I'm glad you made it to this website. I hope you enjoy reading, practicing the exercises, and... learning about yourself.

What is Five Bodies Yoga (FBY)?

FBY is a clearly structured practice based on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and contemporary teachings. It is a system of exercises whose goal is holistic healing and self-knowledge.

1. Holistic healing: You learn how to resolve or alleviate negative conditions (pain, stress, lack of energy, etc.) in the physical, pranic (energetic), emotional, and mental body.

The Yoga Sutras (translations of the sutras are with permission from vedanta-yoga.de):
Sutra 2.2.: "Kriya Yoga (=practicing with discipline, selfreflection, and devotion) reduces the causes of suffering and brings about superconsciousness."

2. Self-knowledge: You learn how to open yourself up to experiencing your Higher Self.

Sutra 1.2.: "Yoga is the stilling of the thought waves (movements) in the mind."

Sutra 1.3.: "Then the seer rests in his true self."

The Method

Many of the healing and self-knowledge methods taught and practiced on this planet deal only or mainly with a single layer of the human body, instead of addressing an existing issue on all layers. FBY works on your entire being, i.e., on all 5 of your bodies.

The model of the five bodies is a simplified way of illustrating the different layers of our body system, but it is sufficient in this form for our purpose.

There are various different models for subdividing the human body system into its individual layers. One of the best known is the so-called 'Pancha Kosha' (5 sheaths) model from the Taittiriya Upanishad of the Upanishads (=a collection of philosophical writings of Hinduism).

The model that I am using here is a model that is easy for everyone to experience for themselves, and it also largely corresponds to the Pancha Kosha model.

Rough illustration of the 5 human bodies with their respective aura

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

In addition to some contemporary teachings, FBY is based primarily on the original text of yoga – the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. One of the most well-known chapters in it is certainly the part about Ashtanga Yoga – the eight limbs of yoga. Therein Patanjali gives us systematic instructions on how to achieve holistic healing and self-knowledge. He mentions 7 stages that have to be practiced in order to reach the eighth (=enlightenment).

Scientists are not entirely in agreement about the time when the Yoga Sutras were written – estimates range from 500 BC to the 3rd century AD. The work, which is attributed to the Indian sage Patanjali, contains 196 (or 195) sutras (=short, concise teachings) and is divided into four chapters:

1. Samadhi Pada ➟ On the theory of the mind
2. Sadhana Pada ➟ On spiritual practice
3. Vibhuti Pada ➟ On extraordinary powers
4. Kaivalya Pada ➟ On liberation

The Yoga Sutras are also a guide for personal development. Its stated goal is to calm the human mind in order to subsequently experience a higher state of consciousness. It is written in Sanskrit (also known as 'the holy language'), an ancient Indian scholarly language, and in general the individual sutras are often translated and interpreted differently.

About the Content

In the course of my own healing and self-discovery journey, which I embarked on many years ago, I have looked at various knowledge on the topics of healing and self-knowledge and practiced a wide variety of exercises.

On this site, I would like to share with you the essence of this knowledge and some of the most effective exercises that have helped me personally the most, in a logically structured and easily understandable way, in the form of 'Five Bodies Yoga'. It is intended to be a manual for those who are willing to do something for their own healing and self-knowledge, and who are ready to walk the path back home to themselves.

The goal of this book is that this knowledge and these exercises assist you in making your own awakening and healing as harmonious of an experience as possible. You will find many tools here that can serve you well on your further path.

Science is also increasingly providing evidence that certain alternative views (some of which have been taught in spiritual traditions for thousands of years) actually correspond to the true nature of things. You can find information about some of the studies that have been conducted on the particular topic in the chapter 'What does science say about it?' at the end of the respective section.

If you open yourself up to the knowledge in this book and do the practices (regularly, with devotion, and over a longer period of time!), then your perception of yourself and of 'everything that is' will change greatly over time. After a very long time, you will finally wake up (more and more) from a deep dream and realize who you truly are.

Sutra 4.15.: "The same objects are perceived differently by states of consciousness in different ways."

I would also like to thank 'Abzzolum' for allowing me to use the graphic he made at the top of this page, which fits perfectly to my site 🙏 ...you can see more of his artwork here.

And now... let's move on to Theory and Practice