What is Prana?
The word Prana is sanskrit for “Vital life energy”. It is the energy of life that flows through us. The cells and tissues in our body are controlled by the nervous system. If our nervous system gives of a command by way of electrical impulses, our gross body will respond to it. Our nervous system is in turn, influenced by form of light energy called Prana. Our prana interacts with our consciousness by a process called Pranamaya.
When does Prana appear?
When you become interested in doing something, a subtle kind of energy will begin to enter your body. This energy contains the desire to act. So, at first you become interested in doing something and then you are filled with the energy to act on it. This desire to act will interact with our prana energy. So, if you really want to do something, you will also be given a type of energy from the universe that will allow you to accomplish this. You will be given a desire to act, and you will be given a feeling of determination and focus (of course, your mind is also part of this process, and you can choose to or to not use this energy).
This type of strength only appears due to a strong desire to do something, it doesn’t appear by itself. The desire for something will always attract the powers you need to fulfill it. If you feel like you have a desire that you cannot make materialize, it is simply because you lack the strength. Your desire is not strong enough. If you want to generate this strength, it is helpful to spend time around people who have similar desires as you and who have already achieved the strength they need for the fulfillment of their wishes.
We have a desire to live. That is why we are here right now. Even if you don’t consciously decide upon going to sleep “Ok, I intend to be alive tomorrow. I intend to wake up and be alive tomorrow” you still do. There are processes continuing in your body that keep you alive. Because you have a desire to live on a deep level, you begin to drink in prana energy that will constantly support your body functions in order to maintain life. It enters our body and keeps it going.
Prana is our life air.
Prana is also sometimes referred to as “life air”. We can also absorb this energy through breathing, because breathing is simply a manifestation of our desire to live. And as we have already discussed, when there is a desire in your soul, there is also an interaction with prana. Thus Prana is very closely linked with breathing and makes sense of things like “pranayama” which is something we practice in yoga. We learn how to breathe correctly. We learn how to use this life force energy through breathing.
However, you can also learn how to breathe and access your prana energy from the air to replenish your nervous system without the use of physical and mechanical breathing. This is the true art of Pranayama. It is very difficult to do. There are stories of saints, sages and yogis who can live without breathing for long periods of time.
When you breathe, life air enters your chakras. All 7 chakra centers become activated. In some chakra centers the air flows in powerfully and freely, and in others, it is weaker. This gives indications of chakra centers in your body that need to be cleaned and purified. It also gives medical intuitives indication of where disease is in your body. So for example, weak life air in the area of the solar plexus will indicate problems with digestion and the digestive organs.
Where can you find prana?
Prana is every where. It is life air after all. To access your prana you must have a desire. The desire to live is enough. Prana is also in food. It is what gives food it’s freshness. That is why an juicy round apple taste a certain way, and then when you cut it up into pieces, it begins to lose it’s freshness (because it loses some of it’s prana). That is why oranges taste a certain way and then when you make orange juice, it is different on a subtle level.
You can also find prana in certain environments, such as mountain air. There is a certain and distinct freshness of the air there that allows a particular coolness to enter your body and strength to enter your soul.
There are many other places that are rich in Prana, but these were just a couple of examples.
Lazy days and prana
Our consciousness controls the movement of prana within our bodies. You know those lazy days we can have? Where we hold no desire to do anything, no plans to go anywhere? You know what I’m talkin’ about. When these days happen, our prana energy begins to deteriorate. It is on these types of days that we feel sleepy and tired without having any real reason that warrants our lethargy. If we decide to eat something, our prana energy moves to our stomach area and we can feel the warmth and energy there. If you engage in exercise, your prana energy is distributed throughout your body.
Measuring Prana
As you know, there are no instruments to measure our prana energy. Just as we have inadequate methods to measure many important influences in life – such as falling in love, or emotions, or fear, or our desires to certain things, or how inspiration works.
The only thing we can use to understand and keep track of our prana is our mind. There may be moments in your life when you get a random hot flush, or goosebumps, or you simply find it difficult to breathe – for no reason at all. All these things are due to the activity of your Prana energy. Through mastering your breathing in pranayama, we can learn to make our bodies experience different sensations at different times – so for example, we can train ourselves to feel warm even when we are someplace very cold.
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Thank you for reading. I wish you happy day today!
With love,
Malavika xo
i was always taught prana is breath – great article!
Gr8 post thank you for sharing it, it’s the thing which I needed for the moment and is gonna help me in my life move on 🙂