Prāṇa प्राण is the « vital breath », the « life force » or the « universal energy ». Although it is often linked to the act of breathing, it names the subtle power that animates body and mind.
Five vital breaths are distinguished — prāṇa, apāna, udāna, samāna and vyāna — which circulate in the subtle channels of the body, the « nāḍī ».
The five kinds of prāṇa, or vāyu (breaths, winds), name the five major functions of the vital energy that govern the physical and the subtle body. Each vāyu has its own direction of movement and governs a precise region and set of functions in the organism.
The five vital forces:
- Prāṇa-vāyu (assimilation): it sits in the chest and the head. Its movement goes inward and downward. It governs the taking in of food, water and air, and also of thoughts and sense impressions.
- Apāna-vāyu (elimination): it sits in the lower abdomen and the pelvis. Its movement goes downward and outward. It governs excretion, urination, menstruation, childbirth, and the clearing away of mental waste.
- Samāna-vāyu (digestion): it sits at the navel and the solar plexus. Its movement is circular and centripetal. It governs physical digestion, the assimilation of nutrients, and the mental processing of experience.
- Udāna-vāyu (expression): it sits in the throat and the limbs. Its movement goes upward and outward. It directs speech, physical growth, enthusiasm, memory, and the passage of consciousness as one falls asleep.
- Vyāna-vāyu (circulation): it sits in the heart but pervades the whole body. Its movement spreads from the centre towards the periphery. It governs the circulation of the blood, the nervous system, the movement of the joints, and the cohesion of the body as a whole.
Here are three fundamental prāṇāyāma exercises for balancing the five vāyu. Each addresses particular currents of energy, to bring body and mind into harmony.
- Nāḍī Śodhana (alternate-nostril breathing): the most powerful exercise for balancing the energies as a whole, since it harmonises the left (lunar) and right (solar) channels of the body.
- Sama Vṛtti समावृत्ति (square breathing): this technique gives an equal length to the four phases of the breath — breathing in, holding with full lungs, breathing out, holding with empty lungs.
- Bhastrikā (the bellows breath): a dynamic breathing in which forceful, rapid in-breaths and out-breaths through the nose set the abdomen moving.
« Prāṇa » names both the whole — the universal life force — and one of the five breaths.
The great Prāṇa (with a capital): the universal life force, the overall energy that animates the body, the system entire.
The Prāṇa Vāyus (or sub-breaths): the word vāyu means « wind » or « current of air ». These are the five particular currents of energy, one of which is also called prāṇa (lower case).
An image:
- Prāṇa (global) is the whole electrical network of a house.
- prāṇa vāyu (particular) is the circuit that feeds the kitchen socket.
To fix the difference visually: each vāyu has a precise direction and function.
- prāṇa vāyu (the inward breath): in the chest. It handles absorption — breathing, taking in food, receiving perceptions. It is the in-breath.
- apāna vāyu (the downward breath): in the lower belly. It handles elimination — excretion, childbirth, the deep out-breath.
- samāna vāyu (the central breath): at the navel. It handles assimilation — digestion, physical and mental.
- udāna vāyu (the upward breath): in the throat and the head. It handles expression — speech, growth, uprightness.
- vyāna vāyu (the diffuse breath): circulating throughout the body. It handles distribution — the circulation of blood, the nerves, and the coordination of movement.
Prāṇa प्राण is the equivalent of Qi (or Chi) in Chinese medicine, and of pneuma in ancient Greek.
