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February 25, 2025
Are you here for the Free Guided Meditation?
Great! You’re in the right place 🙌 But first, a few things you’ll need before you get started.
(If you’ve been here before and want to jump right into the meditation click here and get your meditation on.)
This guided meditation is done through the lens of the Koshas (with an interlude via the way of the vayus). Don’t know what any of that means? That’s ok, it’s not essential, BUT the information is below for the curious bunch.
This might feel different: How this meditation is unique
Gather your things: What you need
Getting set up: It’s time to draw
Let’s meditate: Profound insight and clarity
Knowledge: What are the Koshas?
More knowledge: The Vayus are what?
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If you’ve never done a guided meditation before this one is different from 99% of the guided meditations out there. In other meditations, you sit or lay down, tune into an audio track (or the voice of another kind soul in the room), shut your eyes, and do nothing more until the voice fades into silence. You might fall asleep, or be told to “get up”, but at some point, you rise up and walk off. The end.
This meditation has you draw an outline of yourself, lay down, get up, draw….
Lay down, get up, and draw again…. And again, and maybe again, again.
No art skills?
No worries! The drawing is only for you. There’s no judgment here. Your creation is meant for you to interpret and find more clarity and insight into your current life trajectory.
This guided meditation paints a scene in your mind. Do your best to recreate bits and pieces of this image on your drawing (again no judgment, and even better it’s not graded). When you’re done you can do whatever you want with your creation. There are no rules.
Want something more traditional? Sign up for my newsletter and get my 1 min checklist to reduce stress, anxiety, and pain + guided audio. (aka a guided meditation, AND it’s only a minute long.) Or check out the Yoga Nidras I offer here and here.
All you need is:
But…. You know you want more…
I’ve done this meditation myself multiple times, it’s WAY more entertaining to have a life-sized-you 😉. You can use butcher paper, wrapping paper, or craft paper to trace the outline of your body. If all you have is a notepad from a hotel room or a piece of printer paper, that’ll work too.
The surface you do your meditation and the paper you draw yourself on can make a difference. Water-based markers, colored pencils, and gel pens all have potential. Some can poke holes through your paper, and others might drive you to throw out your yoga mat or worse yet renovate your floors. Choose an appropriate drawing utensil to get the job done (without an added headache) and still allow you to visualize your creation in all its glory.
Using a not-life-size piece of paper? Draw an outline of … yourself. Think gingerbread person.
Going life-sized? Grab another human, give them a writing utensil, lay down on your piece of paper, and ask them to trace you. Lie still, and thank that kind human after. (They did you a solid, don’t criticize their outline of you 🧐) Having been traced a few times myself (and been the tracer), your outline never looks the way you picture it in your head. Don’t worry this is not going into your modeling portfolio.
At this point, you should have a gingerbread version of yourself and something to write with (at a minimum). Set yourself up to be comfortable WHILE still being able to draw on your design.
If you have a mini drawing of yourself you can lay down on whatever is most comfortable for you. And if you can’t lay down, then lounge upright or on your side.
If you intend to lie down here are a few options:
This can be more fun, but can be a little trickier. One of the best solutions is to place your life-sized drawing on a dense yoga mat like a Manduka Pro, Manduka Eko, Lifeforme, or a Jade (use caution with the texture of this mat). Then lay on top of your life-size-you. If you need a little added comfort feel free to slide a bolster under your knees, grab a pillow for your head, or cover your eyes with an eye mask.
Another option is to use any of the suggestions above for a mini-you drawing and place your life-size-you on a hard surface (floor or long table) nearby.
Lay down on or next to your drawing and press play.
Since you read the instructions in this post, you can skip ahead and start at 3:24.
When you’re done you’ll sit with your drawing. You may want to talk about what you witnessed or journal about your insights.
You may not have “profound” clarity and insight, but go into this adventure without expectations. At the end, if you let the experience sit with you, you may be surprised at what you discover.
The koshas are the 5-layers of being in the Pancha Kosha model. The origins of this model are from the Taittiriya Upanishad over 2600 years ago. Used to help understand the “self”, each kosha represents a different layer of being.
Annandamaya Kosha – The food sheath – this is the outermost sheath, it represents the physical body.
Pranamaya Kosha – The energy sheath – this sheath moves closer inward and is part of the subtle body. It represents the necessary functions of the body: breath, circulation, elimination, etc. It is also home to the 5 Vayus.
Manomaya Kosha – The mental sheath – where the sense of Self develops and encompasses all the things of the mind.
Vijnanamaya Kosha – The intellect sheath – this is where we find our discernment and our seat of intuition.
Anandamaya Kosha – The bliss sheath – the bliss body is where we find complete joy, a connection to universal consciousness.
This is a quick overview of the Koshas. As a yoga therapist, I use the Koshas as a way to evaluate patients/clients and help identify tools to help them achieve better wellness, more joy, and their goals.
How can you use the Kosha in this meditation for insight?
There are no right or wrong answers to what you interpret from your experience.
The Vayus, or the five vital winds, are what governs movement. They are part of the Pranamaya Kosha.
Prana Vayu – moves inward and upward associated with the inhale, eating, and consumption.
Apana Vayu – moves downward and outward associated with the exhale and elimination.
Samana Vayu – internal circular movement associated with digestion and the ability to process (physically and mentally)
Udana Vayu – upward movement associated with communication
Vyana Vayu – starts in the center and moves outward in the body in all directions and is associated with creativity and manifestation
As with the Koshas, this is a quick overview of the Vayus. As a yoga therapist, the Vayus can be used to help discover the balance of energy in the body, mind, and life activities.
How can you use the Vayus in this meditation for insight?
Did you do it? Did you enjoy it?
I hope you did. This is a fun meditation to revisit every few months (or years). Take a moment and set a reminder to revisit this meditation 1 year from now.
Seriously, set a reminder. I’ll wait.
If you find you’ve made significant progress before then it would be a great time to do the meditation again. Each time you do the meditation it can open your eyes to potential changes to make your life more fulfilling.
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