Prana

The word "Prana" is unique to the practice of yoga insofar as that it describes the Universal flow of energy. It's thought to be pervasive, flowing through everything and everyone. It can be thought of as an energetic current that enlivens and invigorates each and every living thing. When this energy flows through us individually, it's called "prana" (with a small "p") and can be reflective of our current state. This life force is also referred to as "chi" or "Qi" (think of the martial art of Tai Chi) but in yoga, we simply call it prana.

Prana is meant to move through us, rather than stay locked away within. When prana isn't moving or is stuck, it can take us out of balance.  What brings us back into balance? Yoga and breath. Thankfully, one of the prime benefits of undertaking the various practices of yoga is that it moves and accesses the subtle energy of prana.  One descriptor of energy is through the five layers of our being, called the "koshas". Referred to as concentric sheaths of energy, they begin with the most obvious and move to the most esoteric. Our first layer or sheath is the annamaya kosha or "food/body" sheath as we need food to keep it going. We can easily sense the energy of this layer simply by paying attention to what's going on in our bodies. As we practice various poses/asanas in yoga, we become better acquainted with this aspect of our being. The next layer is the pranamaya kosha, or our energy sheath. The third sheath, the manomaya kosha, is our mental layer.

As you can see, the energy sheath lies between the physical (annamaya) and the mental (manomaya) kosha and is the interwoven force that connects mind and body. What assists in moving prana not only throughout our body but through the layers of koshas is that it travels on the breath. The practices of "pranayama", or breath control, is a vital and central part to all of yoga. This conduit of breath not only penetrates through the first three sheaths, but carries us into the last two of the intellect (vijnanamaya kosha) and the bliss body (anandamaya kosha). The more we connect and understand our breath, the more deeply we travel to the more subtle parts of who we are. The vijnanamaya kosha is described as the intellectual layer but is broader in that it includes higher consciousness and will.  The final and thinnest layer is our anandamaya kosha, or bliss sheath, most visited by people who've done the work in reaching higher states of consciousness and connecting to the higher self. Saints, sages and spiritual mystics have done the inner work but it lies within all of us, with many people having glimpsed those moments of feeling vastly connected and limitless.

As we travel the path of yoga and realize that it's much grander than just doing poses, we begin to familiarize ourselves with how we can alter our state of being through practice. Many of us know the shift in how we feel by the end of a yoga class or seated meditation. The more we bring our awareness to breath and start to feel our prana moving, the wider the door opens toward more and more moments of feeling truly connected.

In order to know what your pranic body feels like, try the following. Allow yourself to be in stillness either sitting, standing or lying down. Take a deep breath and allow your eyes to soften or close. Notice your physical body and how it feels. Notice points of tension, areas of discomfort or ease. Next, notice what types of thoughts are currently in your awareness. Try to avoid focusing on them, simply take a peak into what is present. Then allow a smooth deep breath to come into your body and direct this breath into your hands. Focus on the palms of the hands and notice any feelings of tingling, buzzing, pulsation or vibration. Notice if they're hot or cold. If your hands were lit up from the inside, what color would the light be? As you sit with these sensations, even if they're barely detectable, you are sitting and noticing the prana in your body. This subtle energy is less familiar to us, but easily accessible through practice.

The cool thing about feeling the prana in our body is that we begin to see where it flows and where it doesn't. The saying of "where your awareness goes, prana flows" gives us an opportunity to enliven what is dark within us. Prana is known as the great dissolver as it removes pain, heartache and negativity. It can bring light into the dark recesses of the many layers of our body and carry us more deeply towards states of bliss. And beyond our personal experience, the prana that flows through us is connecting us into the gigantic and endless field of energy within our world and beyond.

Begin with breath. Take a ride on the waves of  your inhale and exhale. Allow your senses to focus on the subtle energies pulsing through your being and feel the rise and fall of your abdomen. You are on your way to the land of bliss...breathe deeply!