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Prana () is the Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
 for "breath" (from the root "to fill", cognate to Latin plenus "full"). It is one of the five organs of vitality or sensation, viz. prana "breath", vac
VAC

VAC may stand for:* VAC, the radio call sign for a radio station on the west coast of Canada at Comox, British Columbia, operated by the Canadian Coast Guard...
 "speech", caksus "sight", shrotra "hearing", and manas
Manas

Manas may refer to one of the following:*Epic of Manas, a Kyrgyz epic poem with 500,000 lines.*The Sanskrit term for "mind"; see**Manas-vijnana, one of the eight consciousnesses taught in Yogacara Buddhism...
 "thought" (nose, mouth, eyes, ears and mind; ChUp. 2.7.1).

In Vedantic
Vedanta

Vedanta is a spiritual tradition explained in the Upanishads that is concerned with the self-realisation by which one understands the ultimate nature of reality and teaches the believer's goal is to transcend the limitations of self-identity and realize one's unity with Brahman....
 philosophy, it is the notion of a vital, life
Life

Life is a characteristic of organisms that exhibit certain biological processes such as chemical reactions or other events that results in a transformation....
-sustaining force of living beings and vital energy
Vitalism

Vitalism, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is#a doctrine that the functions of a living organism are due to a vital principle distinct from biochemical reactions...
, comparable to the Chinese notion of Qi
Qi

In traditional Chinese culture, qi is an active principle forming part of any living thing.It is frequently translated as "energy flow," and is often compared to Western notions of energeia or ?lan vital as well as the Yoga Pranayama of prana....
.






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Prana () is the Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
 for "breath" (from the root "to fill", cognate to Latin plenus "full"). It is one of the five organs of vitality or sensation, viz. prana "breath", vac
VAC

VAC may stand for:* VAC, the radio call sign for a radio station on the west coast of Canada at Comox, British Columbia, operated by the Canadian Coast Guard...
 "speech", caksus "sight", shrotra "hearing", and manas
Manas

Manas may refer to one of the following:*Epic of Manas, a Kyrgyz epic poem with 500,000 lines.*The Sanskrit term for "mind"; see**Manas-vijnana, one of the eight consciousnesses taught in Yogacara Buddhism...
 "thought" (nose, mouth, eyes, ears and mind; ChUp. 2.7.1).

In Vedantic
Vedanta

Vedanta is a spiritual tradition explained in the Upanishads that is concerned with the self-realisation by which one understands the ultimate nature of reality and teaches the believer's goal is to transcend the limitations of self-identity and realize one's unity with Brahman....
 philosophy, it is the notion of a vital, life
Life

Life is a characteristic of organisms that exhibit certain biological processes such as chemical reactions or other events that results in a transformation....
-sustaining force of living beings and vital energy
Vitalism

Vitalism, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is#a doctrine that the functions of a living organism are due to a vital principle distinct from biochemical reactions...
, comparable to the Chinese notion of Qi
Qi

In traditional Chinese culture, qi is an active principle forming part of any living thing.It is frequently translated as "energy flow," and is often compared to Western notions of energeia or ?lan vital as well as the Yoga Pranayama of prana....
. Prana is a central concept in Ayurveda
Ayurveda

Ayurveda is a system of traditional medicine native to India, and practiced in other parts of the world as a form of alternative medicine. In Sanskrit, the word Ayurveda comprises the words , meaning 'life' and , meaning 'science'....
 and Yoga
Yoga

Yoga refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India. The word is associated with meditative practices in both Buddhism and Hinduism....
 where it is believed to flow through a network of fine subtle channels called nadis
Nadi (yoga)

are the channels through which, in traditional Indian medicine and spiritual science, the energies of the subtle body are said to flow. They connect at special points of intensity called chakras....
. The Pranamaya-kosha is one of the five Kosha
Kosha

A Kosha , usually rendered "sheath", one of five coverings of the Atman , or Self according to Vedantic philosophy. They are often visualised like the layers of an onion....
s or "sheaths" of the Atman
Atman (Hinduism)

The Atman is a philosophical term used within Hinduism and Vedanta to identify the soul. It is one's true self beyond identification with the phenomenal reality of worldly existence....


Prana was first expounded in the Upanishads, where it is part of the worldly, physical realm, sustaining the body and the mother of thought and thus also of the mind
Mind

Mind refers to the aspects of intellect and consciousness manifested as combinations of thought, perception, memory, emotion, free will and imagination, including all of the brain's conscious and unconscious cognitive processes....
. Prana suffuses all living forms but is not itself the Atman
Atman (Hinduism)

The Atman is a philosophical term used within Hinduism and Vedanta to identify the soul. It is one's true self beyond identification with the phenomenal reality of worldly existence....
 or individual soul. In the Ayurveda, the Sun
Sun

The Sun , a G V star, is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and other matter orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 98.6% of the Solar System's mass....
 and sunshine
Sunshine

Sunshine is sunlight, the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the Sun, especially in the visible wavelengths.Sunshine may also refer to:...
 are held to be a source of Prana.

Nadis

In Yoga
Yoga

Yoga refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India. The word is associated with meditative practices in both Buddhism and Hinduism....
, the three main channels of prana are the Ida, the Pingala and the Sushumna. Ida relates to the left side of the body, terminating at the left nostril and pingala to the right side of the body, terminating at the right nostril. In some practices, alternate nostril breathing balances the prana that flows within the body. When prana enters a period of uplifted, intensified activity, the Yogic
Yoga

Yoga refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India. The word is associated with meditative practices in both Buddhism and Hinduism....
 tradition refers to it as Pranotthana.

The Five Pranas

In Ayurveda
Ayurveda

Ayurveda is a system of traditional medicine native to India, and practiced in other parts of the world as a form of alternative medicine. In Sanskrit, the word Ayurveda comprises the words , meaning 'life' and , meaning 'science'....
, the Prana is further classified into subcategories, referred to as pranas. According to Hindu philosophy these are the vital principles of basic energy and subtle faculties of an individual that sustain physiological processes. There are five pranas or vital currents in the Hindu system:

  1. Prana : Responsible for the beating of the heart
    Heart

    The heart is a muscle organ in all vertebrates responsible for pumping blood through the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions, or a similar structure in annelids, mollusks, and arthropods....
     and breathing. Prana enters the body through the breath and is sent to every cell
    Cell (biology)

    The cell is the structural and functional unit of all known Life organisms. It is the smallest unit of an organism that is classified as living, and is often called the building bricks of life....
     through the circulatory system
    Circulatory system

    The circulatory system is an organ that moves nutrients, gases, and wastes to and from cells to help fight diseases and help stabilize body temperature and pH to maintain homeostasis....
    .
  2. Apana : Responsible for the elimination of waste products from the body through the lungs and excretory systems.
  3. Udana : Responsible for producing sounds through the vocal apparatus, as in speaking, singing, laughing, and crying. Also it represents the conscious energy required to produce the vocal sounds corresponding to the intent of the being. Hence Samyama
    Samyama

    Samyama . Combined simultaneous practice of Dhara?a , Dhyana & Samadhi . A tool to receive deeper knowledge of qualities of the object. It is a catchall term summarizing the process of psychological absorption in the object of meditation....
     on udana gives the higher centers total control over the body.
  4. Samana : Responsible for the digestion
    Digestion

    Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breaking down of food into smaller components, to a form that can be Absorption, for instance, by a blood stream....
     of food and cell metabolism
    Metabolism

    Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that occur in living organisms in order to maintain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments....
     (ie. the repair and manufacture of new cells and growth). Samana also includes the heat regulating processes of the body. Aura
    Aura (paranormal)

    In parapsychology and many forms of spirituality, an aura is a field of subtle, luminous radiation supposedly surrounding a person or object like the Halo or aureola of religious art....
    s are projections of this current. By meditational practices one can see auras of light around every being. Yogis who do special practise on samana can produce a blazing aura at will.
  5. Vyana : Responsible for the expansion and contraction processes of the body, eg. the voluntary muscular system.


Pranayama

Pranayama
Pranayama

Pranayama is a Sanskrit word meaning "lengthening of the prana or breath". The word is composed of two Sanskrit words, Prana, life force, or vital energy, particularly, the breath, and "ayama", to lengthen or extend....
 is the practice in which the control of prana is achieved (initially) from the control of one's breathing. According to Yogic philosophy the breath, or air, is merely a gateway to the world of prana and its manifestation in the body. In yoga, pranayama techniques are used to control the movement of these vital energies within the body, which is said to lead to an increase in vitality in the practitioner. The practice of these techniques is not trivial, and Kason (2000) mentions circumstances where pranayama techniques might disrupt the balance of a person's life.

See also

  • Vitalism
    Vitalism

    Vitalism, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is#a doctrine that the functions of a living organism are due to a vital principle distinct from biochemical reactions...
  • Lung (Tibetan Buddhism)
    Lung (Tibetan Buddhism)

    Lung is a word that means wind or breath. It is a key concept in the Vajrayana traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and as such is part of the symbolic 'The Twilight Language', used to non-conceptually point to a variety of meanings....
  • Energy (esotericism)
  • Shakti
    Shakti

    Shakti, from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that move through the entire universe....
  • Yoga Sutra


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