Clarity and Alignment in Yoga

To move beyond the mind, we must first know the mind honestly. There is no dissolution without comprehension. The mind cannot be dropped until it has been seen clearly. When we can see which voice is coming from where, and what thoughts are saying what (for all thought is feeding into the unseen collective unconscious), then only can we start to discern clearly who we are. This requires alignment between thought, word, and action—as a condition of internal synchronisation, not as a belief system or moral compass but a map to freedom. 

When these split, the system fragments. When they align, perception becomes sharp, unclouded, and capable of precision.

The nervous system can become a refined structure—sensitive and stable enough to register stillness and hold the essense of awareness. This is not done through suppression, but through tuning: like adjusting the frequency of a receiver until the static fades and signal becomes clean.

Electromagnetic Consciousness: The Physics of Presence in Yoga

The human body is not merely a structure of flesh and bone, but a living field of electrical and magnetic activity—constantly shifting, modulating, responding. At the molecular level, we are composed of charged particles—positive protons, negative electrons, and the force of attraction and repulsion that organises their movement. These particles interact through fundamental forces, particularly the electro-magnetic force, which is governed by quantum electrodynamics (QED). Every thought, every motion of our being, sends an electrical impulse through the body, and every such impulse generates a magnetic field. In this view, to be human is to be an oscillating system, both biological and electromagnetic, resonating in time.

*Atomic

orbitals*

I. The Electrical Architecture of the Body

At the level of biophysics, each cell maintains a membrane potential—a charge difference across its boundary that allows for communication and function. Neurons fire by exchanging ions; muscles contract through voltage changes; even DNA is coiled in a way that affects and is affected by electrical charge. These are not metaphors but measured facts.

According to Maxwell’s equations in classical electrodynamics, every moving charge produces a magnetic field. So when the heart pulses, when the nervous system fires, we generate a complex and dynamic electromagnetic field. The body is thus not a closed system—it radiates. And it does so constantly, in patterns that can be measured.

The heart, in particular, acts as a central oscillator. It produces an electromagnetic field that is ordered in magnitude stronger than that of the brain—up to 5,000 times more powerful magnetically. This field can be detected several feet from the body, and its coherence—the orderly, rhythmic quality of its waveforms—directly corresponds to emotional states.

II. Coherence and the Frequency of Love

Modern research, such as that conducted by the HeartMath Institute, shows that states of love, compassion, and gratitude create coherent heart rhythms: mathematically smooth, sine-wave-like oscillations in the heart’s electromagnetic field. In contrast, fear, anger, or stress generate incoherent, chaotic patterns. These coherent fields not only regulate the individual’s physiological systems (improving immune function, hormonal balance, etc.), but also influence others.

This introduces the concept of resonance. In physics, resonance occurs when two systems oscillate at the same frequency. In the human field, a coherent person can entrain—or subtly shift—others into greater coherence. This is not metaphor; it is field dynamics.

We may call this resonance love, but its function is mechanical as much as emotional. It is mathematical. Love is not only feeling—it is frequency. A state of synchronization between inner systems and outer expression. Thought, emotion, heartbeat, breath—all moving in alignment. From a yogic standpoint, this is nothing other than yoga itself: the union of elements once divided.

In this state, samādhi is not forced—it emerges. when there is nothing left to hold onto - nothing left clinging. The mind has become so coherent that it no longer needs to speak. The state of this is much more simple, coherent and beautiful than might also be thought about. There is no grasping, there is no attachment to perfection, there is a distinctive sense of humanness, a distinctive sense of home-ness. The clarity is very simple, it sleeps when it is tired, eats when it is hungry, yes in this way it is like a child, it’s not so glamorous or high achieving as people make it out to be. Though indeed and absolutely one of the deepest places of beauty. It is complete presence so is not bound by its personality the second before, it can become anything in any moment, though driven by a kind of natural order that makes one slot into the existing fabric. It’s a state of deep sensitivity. 

And yet—this clarity is not general. While all beings touch the Self in different ways—through nature, grief, love, insight—when we speak of the states of Yoga, of samādhi, we are speaking of a very specific conditions of consciousness. A condition where thought has become transparent, still, and unentangled. Where one can be said to be truly ‘beyond the body’, not in an expression of peace that sits within the mind-body. They are different.

Many experience energy. Many feel spiritual force, or awaken latent capacities—what some call siddhis. These are byproducts, not the point (of yoga) They are not the Self. The essence of Yoga is not power—it is stillness. Though there is power in yoga, the power, is much more in it’s sensitivity, one could very easily mistake it for naivety. It is not naivety, It is child like joy, and a dissolution of all that has built up and consequently drawn our earth into much druiry. Too much ‘knowing’, too many walls that protect the pain that creates our desire to ‘know’ things and to cling to things is very much the problem, and the blockage that does not allow life to flow easily. The anti-thesis of life, and the dis-integration of unity, the unity that holds all subjective relativity in a kind of balance and sameness.

Each body: the physical, the etheric, the mental, the astral—however we may term these, has it’s own velocity and density. A person may feel light in the astral, broad and wide in the energetic, still, awareness is beyond this, the body feels itself imbibed in a web, but awareness is beyond the body, so the mind is capable of being in alignment without the parallel expression of the energetic nervous system. We have to also be careful about the terms of finality, or a sense of arrival. Arrival is a never-ending game, there is no finality or end point to the essence of real truth. But the acceptance of all that is continuously moving. And what sits alongside this is very much an un-concern for the other. For the state of self is a path of the deepest autonomy.

The stillness created in yoga is not inert—it is subtle - the ground of all perception. Once seen, it infuses every layer of experience. Not by adding more, but by removing distortion, the noise of one’s own experience. 

I have found yoga to be a more comprehensive and holistic embodiment of truth, as opposed to Buddhism - to me at the time, this description felt highly intellectual, it is perfect for the rationalist, but it is important that one moves beyond the intellect, for though integral and a highly conscious aspect of the human mind, it can serve as the biggest block. This ‘knowing’, many things without really ‘knowing’, anything, is really a large block, because true knowledge only comes from experience, and true experience is beyond the mind, found in the subtle conscious sectors of all beings.

Shifts in consciousness also take place in life that are not in meditative states, the path of meditation can be seen as a facet of life, one of the many teachers, but life events can also produce such flexibility and surrender within an individual.

It is not that when one feels the space of peace beyond the mind, that one is perpetually in a state of ‘perfect’ condition, nor are they positioned in a state of meditation for hours on end. Meditation is not about the time, you are able to meditate, your state of meditation is your state of daily living. Within this one can go for a jog, and still be in a state of peace, (or distance from the mind-body) for true peace does not as much depend on the external characteristics of its environment. Though some spaces are more conducive to inner quiet, and silence is enjoyed. There is interaction of course, but there is no more dependence. In this place one can see that they are the creator of how they receive their environment, and how they perceive of all others, the central axis of our experience. I touch, here, on the tendency to euphemise human beings, to soften their characteristics to the point of inhumaneness, which story’s of history, and schools of thought (that enjoy their hierarchy), tend to do so well. No, we are all human. No matter how un-human we try to be in deifying ourselves, either by perfecting our external - and seeking validation from monetary systems - or in striving to perfect our every movement so that we think it is fit for divine intervention - in the face of the beyond, we are all human. It is when striving ceases, when one recognises the very simple fact that they are just human. All other explanations it seems to me are the fluff to the central aspect. They are nice to indulge in, but life is much more simple. All realisation means is a deep acceptance of one’s own humanity. All efforts of pretence stop. For many it is not simple, because of such drastic expectations we place on ourselves, to the point where we no longer see ourselves but an externalisation of what we want to become, or how we want to be seen by the world. But without all of this, it is very simple. All one might want to achieve becomes more readily achievable. No longer does one need to do anything, but wants to do, and just by living they become a representation of the possibilities given to us in life. In this place, one wants to live, has a thrill for living, driven by a force of inherent aliveness. And all effort becomes effortless.

The Five Koshas: Layers of Self-Perception

1. Annamaya Kosha (अन्नमय कोश)

“The Physical Layer” – Layer of Matter and Form

• Annamaya means “composed of food.” This is the densest sheath: the muscles, bones, fluids, and organs that make up the physical body.

• It is formed and sustained by nutrition, rest, movement, and breath.

• It responds to gravity, aging, temperature, and pain. But more than a passive structure, it is an interface—constantly receiving and transmitting information to the subtler layers

• The Field of sensation 

2. Prāṇamaya Kosha (प्राणमय कोश)

“The Energy Layer” – Layer of Breath and Vital Movement

• Prāṇamaya means “composed of prāṇa,” the life-force or animating energy.

• This sheath governs breath, circulation, nervous system signals, and subtle movements of energy in the body—traditionally categorized into vāyus (currents) and carried through nāḍīs (channels).

• It cannot be seen directly but can be felt as vitality, tension, flow, or stagnation. It is where we first feel imbalance—through fatigue, disconnection, or overexertion.

3. Manomaya Kosha (मनोमय कोश)

“The Mental-Emotional Layer” – Layer of Thought and Reaction

• Manomaya means “composed of manas,” the reactive mind.

• This sheath includes all sensory processing, emotional reactivity, memories, and ongoing internal narratives. It is the mind that interprets and categorizes—the one that asks “What does this mean for me?”

• It is where habits form, where pain is remembered, and where identity is reinforced.

• Disturbance here shows up as overthinking, reactivity, projection, and emotional instability

4. Vijñānamaya Kosha (विज्ञानमय कोश)

“The Wisdom Layer” – Layer of Discernment and Knowing

• Vijñānamaya means “composed of vijñāna,” or higher intelligence.

• This is not knowledge, but discernment—the ability to recognize truth from projection, essence from appearance.

• It is where insight arises, where we recognize patterns beneath surface events. It is also the layer through which conscience, inner authority, and non-reactive clarity emerge.

Discernment, is a key, facet of truth seeking. Honest seeing this from that: what is pretence, versus what is true, it is essential. And becomes finer through ascension. 

5. Ānandamaya Kosha (आनन्दमय कोश)

“The Bliss Layer” – Layer of Stillness and Non-Separation

• Ānandamaya means “composed of bliss”—not pleasure, but the inherent stillness and radiance o being.

• It is the subtlest sheath, and the most easily confused. True ānanda is not emotional—it is non-reactive, unmoving, and steady regardless of external conditions.

The koshas are not rigid compartments—they are gradients of experience, each subtler than the one before. Each body operates at its own frequency, and our consciousness shifts through them moment to moment. But the purpose of yoga is not to escape upward through layers—it is to become still enough to see what remains unchanged through all of them. For the body is constantly changing, in all levels and sensations the body, interacts with its environments, so states of stillness may not be eternal as such, but a continual remembering of what remains beyond all of it, which creates the forming of an open relationship to life - 

That stillness—the silent observer behind sensation, energy, thought, knowing, and bliss—is the Self.

And only in precise clarity does it become unmistakably known. This unmistakability is essential, one does not simply walk into this and walk out the same. The clarity of this separation, of knowing who one is aside from who they ‘think’ they are,  is the essential matter that all traditions posit. The same essential paradox. This sense of freedom is unmistakeable, something beyond your form, is alive within you, it is not you, and yet it is within.

Yoga is one school of thought as it relates to the incomprehensibility of truth. But in all truth it merges from the same, it matters not how one gets there. In all its expressions, this sameness is uniquely different, for we come into the world with a very unique fingerprint, yet the essence is the same.

• Ah, the paradox. 

People seem to scare or feel that such ‘concepts’ of reality are out of depth, or out of touch because it does not fit an established model. What feels more scary to me, (though fear is besides the point) is being inside a game and not realising that you are being played, like a checkered pawn - ha ha! The game is not scary, it is fun. It is real in the sense that it exists, but it is not real in the sense in which we apply absolute meaning to it’s transience. But you cannot enjoy the game if you do not realise it is a game. We take this world to be so serious, our sense of doings become our entire self-worth, even our inner ascensions we can start to pride ourselves upon, awakenings and such, when even this, even this is somewhat of a game. And playing reaps its rewards, absolutely, but still even this game is to be played with lightness. To take all things too seriously impels a sense of ridiculous, for what is an experimental play. The game can be played with lightness. Then not so much of ourselves becomes disrupted when inevitably things change, loss occurs, death happens. For we know that it is a game, and as a consequence we understand that seeking any true value within it, is inconsequential.

It could be said, consistently with other thought presented here, that real meaning is found within the interior landscape of our human. The embodied, emotional and intuitive realms of experience, that when in touch with, create the deepest meaning in life. It is ironic, and hilariously perfect, that these aspects are the parts we have majoritively cast out from our experience of reality, which seems to me somewhat warped and distorted, and yet it is within these realms that the depth of human experience can occur; and it is enacting this potential that gives rise to inner solution.

What can be achieved with yoga, with any kind of path of freedom, is a kind of wholeness; an entirety, a soundness. One that in this world, is so rare, because we are taught to cover and veil.

• Lick a little, see how it tastes.