HJ: Proper care and maintenance of the aura is a key part of maintaining the health of the mind-body-spirit triad. Yoga is quite powerful for these purposes and specific sets of asanas (postures) have been devised for this very objective. Below you will find a description of the ten bodies or ‘layers’ of the Auric field and a complete set of kriya exercises for balancing and harmonizing them.
– Truth
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“If you understand that you are Ten Bodies, and you are aware of those Ten Bodies, and you keep them in balance, the whole Universe will be in balance with you.” ~ Yogi Bhajan
The Ten Bodies
1st Soul Body
2nd Negative Mind
3rd Positive Mind
4th Neutral Mind
5th Physical Body
6th Arcline
7th Aura
8th Pranic Body
9th Subtle Body
10th Radiant Body
What are the Ten Bodies?
The truth is that the human body is made up of ten bodies: the physical body, three mental bodies, and six energy bodies. The eleventh embodiment – when all ten bodies are under your direction – produces a pure state of consciousness when you have the ability to see all events as God’s Play and recognize the God in all.
You can visualize your various bodies as layers of clothing, the physical body being the overcoat you wear for a lifetime. We know we have a physical body; we can see it, touch it, and feel it. We also have other bodies that are equally real, if not more so.
First Body: Soul Body
- The part in you connected to the Infinite. Your inner infinity
- Humility, creativity
- Key phrase: “Heart over Head”
- Mastery: come from a place of great humility, relax into the flow of God energy and use it to create beauty
- If weak: you come from the head instead of heart; feel stuck, not able to access your purpose and creative flow
- Key to Balancing: Raise the Kundalini. open the heart
Second Body: Negative (Protective) Mind
- Identifies possible dangers or shortcomings in a situation; necessary for protection
- Containment, obedience
- Key phrase: “Longing to Belong”
- Mastery: gives form to the creativity of your Soul Body via containment, form, and discernment; a longing to connect very deeply with your own God Self
- If weak: inappropriate, self-destructive relationships; over-influenced by others
- Key to Balancing: value your discipline; develop conscious relationships of integrity; strengthen the Positive Mind if the Negative Mind is overdeveloped
Third Body: Positive (Expansive) Mind
- Inspires you by showing the best possible results in any situation
- Equality, positivity
- Key phrase: “Devil or Divine”
- Mastery: strong will, use power easily and humbly; naturally playful and optimistic
- Good sense of humor; can communicate directly
- If weak: overwhelmed by input of the Negative Mind, which can be depressing and paralyzing; angry and intolerant, or hesitant to use your own power because of being afraid of the responsibility
- Key to Balancing: strengthen the Navel Point (Third Chakra); use positive affirmations; strengthen the Negative Mind if the Positive Mind is overdeveloped
Fourth Body: Neutral (Meditative) Mind
- Takes the information from both Negative and Positive Minds and decides on the best course of action using unbiased, intuitive knowledge
- Service, compassion, integration
- Key phrase: “Cup of Prayer”
- Mastery: a very intuitive vantage point; allows access to the soul
- If weak: difficult to make decisions; the habit of feeling victimized; a hard time seeing beyond the polarities of life
- Key to Balancing: meditate
Fifth Body: Physical Body
- The vehicle through which you participate fully on Earth
- Sacrifice, balance, teacher
- Key phrase: “Teacher, Balance”
- Mastery: represent the teacher who is able to take abstractions and explain them to anyone; ability to balance all parts of your life without extremes like laziness or fanaticism
- If weak: angry, jealous, greedy, competitive, and ungrateful; inner and outer realities out of balance; trouble expressing yourself verbally; afraid to be in the position of teacher
- Key to Balancing: exercise regularly; teach
Sixth Body: Arcline
- The arcline extends from ear to ear, across the hairline and brow; it’s your halo, the nucleus of the aura
- Associated with the pituitary gland, regulates the nervous system and glandular balance
- Women have a second arcline reaching across the chest from nipple to nipple
- Justice, protection, projection
- Key Phrase “Person at Prayer”
- Balance between physical and cosmic realms
- Mastery: ability to focus, to be concentrated, to meditate; use the intuition of the Sixth Body to protect yourself from life’s stresses and avoid shutting down your heart
- If weak: overprotective; easily influenced; glandular imbalances leading to inconsistency in moods and behavior; unfocused and unable to manifest prayers
- Key to Balancing: awaken the pituitary gland (Sixth Chakra)
Seventh Body: Auric Body
- The aura is the electromagnetic field that surrounds your body; it acts as a container for your life force, bringing confidence and security
- Mercy, security, love
- Key phrase: “Platform of Elevation”
- Mastery: attracts positivity and repels negativity, like a shield; illness cannot penetrate to your physical body; sense of security allows an uplifting presence and treating others with mercy
- If weak: paranoid, lack self-trust; negativity can penetrate into the psyche and physical body
- Key to Balancing: meditate; wear white clothing made of natural fibers; work on the Eighth Chakra.
Eighth Body: Pranic Body
- Through the breath, the Pranic Body continuously brings the life force and energy into your system
- Purity, energy, fearlessness, self-initiation
- Key phrase: “Finite to Infinite”
- Mastery: fearless, fully alive, at one with all creation; nothing can bother you; self-motivated with enough energy to achieve goals
- If weak: constant low-level anxiety and chronic fatigue; look to food or stimulants for energy; fearful, defensive
- Key to Balancing: all pranayam.
Ninth Body: Subtle Body
- The Subtle Body helps you see beyond the immediate realties of life to the sublime universal play that lies beyond
- Calmness, subtlety, mastery
- Key phrase: “Mastery or Mystery”
- Mastery: have great finesse and a powerful calmness; learn quickly and master situations easily; able to walk into a room and intuitively know what’s going on
- If weak: naïve and easily fooled, unintentionally crude or rough in speech or behavior; restless
- Key to Balancing: do any meditation or kriya for 1,000 days
Tenth Body: Radiant Body
- The Radiant Body gives spiritual royalty and radiance
- Royal courage, radiance, nobility
- Key phrase: “All or Nothing”
- Mastery: courageous in the face of any obstacle; magnetic presence and command the respect of all who know you
- If weak: afraid of conflict, shy away from people’s attention; feel ineffective and unable to come through in situations
- Key to Balancing: commitment; do not cut the hair
Eleventh Embodiment: Parallel Unisonness
- Eleven represents the sound current, the source of Infinity from which all mantras originate. In this state you can direct the play of all Ten Bodies; eleven contains all. You can direct all parts of your being from an impersonal, expansive space that allows Infinity to flow through you at all times.
- Divine vision, truth for all
- Key phrase: “Infinity”
- Mastery: my identity is Sat Nam; I allow Infinity to flow through me
- Key to Balancing: meditative recitation of the words of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib
“When the God in you, and the human in you are in parallel unisonness, then you are an 11. You have no duality, you have divine vision, and the truth flows from you. You don’t have to find anything outside of you. The jewels are all in you – you are rich inside, you have satisfaction and contentment.”
1) Stretch Pose. Lie on the back with the arms at your
sides. Raise the head and the legs six inches, and the
hands six inches with the palms facing each other slightly
over the hips to build energy across the Navel Point.
Point the toes, keep your eyes focused on the tips of the
toes and do Breath of Fire. 1-3 minutes.
2) Nose to Knees. Bring the knees to the chest, with the
arms wrapped around the knees. Tuck the nose between
the knees, and begin Breath of Fire. 1-3 minutes.
3) Ego Eradicator. Sit in Celibate Pose or Easy Pose.
Raise the arms to a 60° angle. Curl the fingertips onto the
pads of the palms. Thumbs aim at each other above the
head. With eyes closed, concentrate above the head, and
do Breath of Fire. 1-3 minutes. To end, inhale, touch the
thumbtips together overhead. Exhale and apply
mulbandh. Inhale and relax.
4) Life Nerve Stretch. Sit with the legs stretched wide
apart. With arms overhead, inhale. Then exhale, stretch
down and grab the toes of the left foot. Inhale, come
straight up; then exhale and stretch down over the right
leg and grab the toes. Continue 1-3 minutes.
5) Life Nerve Stretch. Continue to sit with the legs
stretched wide apart. Hold onto the toes of both feet,
exhale as you stretch down bringing the forehead to the
floor, then inhale as you come sitting up. 1-3 minutes.
6) Spinal Flex (Camel Ride). Sit in Easy Pose. Grab the
shins in front with both hands. Inhale. Flex the spine
forward and rock forward on buttocks. Then exhale, flex
the spine backwards and roll back on buttocks. Keep the
head level and arms fairly straight and relaxed.
1-3 minutes.
7) Spinal Flex (Camel Ride). Sit on the heels. Place the
hands flat on the thighs. Flex the spine forward on the
inhale, backward on the exhale. Focus at the Third Eye
Point. 1-3 minutes.
8) Spinal Twist. Still on the heels, grasp the shoulders
with the fingers in front, thumbs in back. Inhale and twist
to the left, exhale and twist to the right. Keep the elbows
high, and parallel to the floor. (Do not reverse.)
l-3 minutes.
9) Grasp the shoulders as in the previous exercise. Inhale
and raise the elbows up so that the backs of the wrists
touch behind the neck. Exhale and lower the elbows to
shoulder height, and repeat. 1-3 minutes.
10) Arm Pumps. Interlace the fingers in Venus lock.
Inhale and stretch the arms up over the head, then exhale
and bring the hands back to the lap. 1-3 minutes.
11) Alternate Shoulder Shrugs. Sit in Easy Pose with the
hands resting on the knees. Inhale and shrug the left
shoulder up. Exhale and raise the right shoulder up as you
lower the left shoulder. Continue for 1 minute. Then,
reverse the breath so that you inhale as you shrug the
right shoulder up, exhale as you shrug the left shoulder
and lower the right shoulder. Continue for 1 minute.
12) Shoulder Shrugs. Inhale and shrug both shoulders up,
exhale down. 1 minute.
13) Neck Turns. Remain sitting in Easy Pose hands on the
knees. Inhale, and twist your head to the left, and exhale
and twist it to the right, like shaking your head “no”.
Continue for 1 minute. Then reverse your breath,so that
you inhale and twist to the right; exhale and twist to the
left. Continue for 1 minute. lnhale deeply, concentrate at
the Third Eye, and slowly exhale.
14) Frog Pose. Squat down so the buttocks are on the
heels. The heels are touching, and off the ground. Put the
fingertips on the ground between the knees. Keep the
head up. Inhale, straighten legs up, keeping the fingers on
the ground. Exhale and come back squatting down, face
forward. The inhale and exhale should be strong.
Continue this cycle 54 times.
15) Deeply relax on the back.
Laya Yoga Meditation
Sit in Easy Pose with the hands on the knees in Gyan
Mudra (thumb and index finger together.) Chant Ek Ong
Kaar(uh) Saa-Taa-Naa-Maa(uh) Siree Wha(uh) Hay
Guroo. On Ek pull the navel. On each final “uh” lift the
diaphragm up firmly. The “uh” sound is more of a
powerful movement of the diaphragm than a pronounced
purposeful projected sound. Relax the navel and abdomen
on Hay Guroo. This is a 3-1/2 cycle meditation. With the
breath, visualize the sound spiralling up from the base of
the spine to the top of the head in 3-1/2 circles.
11-31 minutes
