Understanding prāṇa (motility) in a simple way

What is prāṇa or motility?

Prāṇa is a unit of motility. It is also known as the life force or chi/ qi in East Asia. Prāṇa is a sentience, but it cannot be seen, however, it can be sensed and provides the existential drive to all creation.

Prāṇa is an important concept, but it is also slightly difficult to understand. In Yoga, prāṇa moves as an airstream (vāyu), through channels (nādi) and vortices (cakras), and these currents of motility (prāṇa) drive the body. Since they are subtle, they cannot be measured and are experiential.

How does prāṇa move?

Prāṇa moves in a flow or vāyu. There are five such vāyus.

• Prāṇa-vāyu – Prāṇa-vāyu refers to all incoming motility flow, including breath.
• Apāna-vāyu – This is the outward flow of prāṇa. It manifests as all forms of excretion, including defecation, urination, menstruation etc.
• Vyāna-vāyu – is the aura of prāṇa that exudes from the body and allows us to project ourselves into the environment. It manifests as a warmth that emanates from the body as part of the vaiṣvāṇarāgni (heat of the body).
• Udāna-vāyu –  This refers to an upward flowing prāṇa from the chest, driven by exhalation, and covers speech as well as all forms of facial mannerisms. Udāna-vāyu is also the prāṇa that takes life away at death.
• Samāna-vāyu – Samāna-vāyu is the circulatory force centering around the abdomen. It covers the circulation of food as well as blood. Samāna-vāyu is also a part of the vaiṣvāṇarvāgni (heat of the body). It is driven by the heat of digestion, called jātarāgni.

How can one cognise prāṇa?

Prajñā (situational awareness) is cognition of prāṇa in the body (kṣetra). This awareness (prajñā) of the body is called awareness of the region (kṣetrajña). The body (kṣetra) is considered to be made up of five sheaths (kośa) these are;

• Annamayakośa – sheath made by food .
• Prāṇamayakośa – sheath of prāṇa .
• Manomayakośa – sheath of cognition
• Vijñānamayakośa – sheath of awareness of the system.
• Ānandamayakośa – sheath of bliss coming from merger.

We can also split awareness (prajñā) of a body (kṣetrajña) into three levels.

• Gross (sthūla) – This covers all aspects that can be cognized by the senses (indriya), cognitive apparatus (manas) and intellect (buddhi).

For example: There are five cardinal elements or panchabhūtas that constitute the world and all material. These are – earth (prithvi), water (áp), fire (agni), air (vāyu) and space (ākāṣa).

Our sensory system recognizes and senses all of these elements, and decodes them into what they represent, by the cognitive and logical apparatus. So, when we shop for vegetables, we look at the gross aspects of the vegetable – its colour, texture and feel – to ascertain its health through our sensory apparatus. This is the decoding process by our cognitive and logical apparatus.

Within our bodies, this translates to the sheath made by food (annamayakośa) and sheath of prāṇa (prāṇamayakośa). This is sthūla-śarīra, or cognition of the gross body, which covers awareness of the material aspect of the human body driven by diet (annamayakośa) and motility (prāṇamayakośa).

• Subtle (sūkṣma) – The awareness of gross elements is driven by an underlying principle, which is the consciousness (citta). 

For example – The body is a complex mechanism. Health is primarily determined by a condition known as homeostasis. So, if your vitals such as blood pressure, temperature, weight, etc., are within a certain range, it implies that you are healthy. But, how does the body maintain everything within homeostasis? That subtle element that controls physical manifestation of normalcy, is the subtle body (sūkṣma-śarīra).

This comprises two elements. First is the cognition of sensory stimulus within the body and this is called sheath of cognition (manomayakoṣa).  The second is the awareness of our environment and our own linkages to various external entities that drive our sense of identity (vijñānamayakoṣa).

For instance, when you read this sentence, the primary information you see, is derived through its physical attributes (sthūla-śarīra), of alphabets and words that are transmitted through a device. However, your experience of the underlying principles (sūkṣma-śarīra) comes from the quality of your awareness as you decipher the information (manomayakoṣa) relating to the subject and it’s application in the real world (vijñānamayakoṣa).

• Causal (kāraṇa) – this is the state from which all materiality (māyā) is caused, the reason materiality exists.

The source and sustaining aspect of existentiality are called Brahman. Also, it is the launch point of experience, and when the yogi merges with it, the movement of consciousness stops (cittavṛtti-nirodhah), and the yogi experiences infinite and changeless bliss. This is the sheath of joy (ānandamayakoṣa) in yoga.

For example – we know that Archimedes was bobbing physically (sthūla) in a bathtub in a state of null (Brahman) watching the waters sloshing over the tub and his body bobbing. Suddenly, an inspiration occurred (ānandamayakoṣa), and he cracked the problem of buoyancy (sūkṣma). The same applies to Newton sitting under a tree watching the apple fall down or August Kekule imagining the Benzene ring to be a snake chasing its own tail or Watson to discover the ATGC (adenine-thyamine-guanine-cystocine) model of DNA. This is the causal state (kāraṇa-śarīra).

Cakras – vortices of prāṇa

Yoga and other forms of Oriental healing advocate that the rate of energy flow through these centres, affects the behaviour of the person. As a matter of fact, ancient Oriental texts on this subject from India, China, Korea, and Japan, speak of multiple energy vortices (cakra), but all agree that there are six major vortices in the human body that control all major organs.

• Base cakra (mūl̄adhāra): (mūl̄= base + ādhar = foundation or source)

The first of the energy vortices aligns itself with the perineum, a flat region above the coccyx and between the anus and genitals. This centre affects the physiological aspects of the individual, that is, the overall energy levels, feeling of safety and health.

• Self-evolution cakra (svādhiṣṭhāna): (sva = self + adhiṣṭhāna = evolved place)

This energy vortex corresponds to the sacral region around the genital area. It affects sexuality, social and communications skills of the individual. Control of this centre results in strong response control and emotional stability.

• Stomach cakra (maṇipūra): (maṇipūra = navel)

The stomach cakra, placed around the navel, corresponds to the lumbar area of the spine. This is a centre that controls situational and management skills.

• Heart cakra (anāhata): (ana= not + āhata = touched) 

Placed at the centre of the chest, this responds to the thoracic region on the spine. This is also the centre of emotional energy. So, a balanced centre is essential for emotional stability.

• Throat cakra (viśuddhi): (viśuddhi = extraordinarily pure)

This energy vortex, placed around the Adam’s apple, corresponds to the cervical region in the spine. The thyroid, parathyroid, and lymphatic systems, which control metabolic activity reside here. Since metabolism is the ability of the body to convert food into usable energy and re-building of tissue, seamless energy flow here is critical.

This is also the area which controls breathing and food intake, so any disruption in our stress levels will immediately impact the quality of our breathing and digestion.

• Forehead cakra (ājña): (ājña = that which commands)

The forehead cakra is between the eyebrows in front of the cranium. It controls the functioning of the other energy vortices. It energizes the amygdala, pituitary and endocrine glands etc., and controls both, primary and secondary responses. Consequently, this energy vortex acts as the primary input point for the “fight or flight” stimulus.

The concept of cakra system of Yoga has highly evolved and is popular in therapy practices. Another important aspect is that Yoga recognizes that each of these vortices may be activated, depleted, or congested to varying degrees and that this is an actively changing parameter. This makes the Yoga system subtle and sophisticated.

How can you sense prāṇa?

• One can sense prāṇa as mild pressures over the surface of the entity, though they flow along various intersection points on all objects, known as vortices (cakras). Cakras exist at various points In the human body. However, the main cakras exist along the spine, intersecting three major ‘channels of prāṇa ‘(nādis).
• The āsanā practice begins to streamline the prāṇa sheaths (kośas) and vortices (cakrās). As a result, prāṇa flow is smooth and not depleted or congested. Consequently, there is rejuvenation of the organs and body. Finally, with the smooth prāṇa flow, stress levels drop, discrimination (vivekam) and dispassion (vairāgyam) increase.

Internal Links: Dharma (conditioning), Stress and Situational Awareness. Karma

External Links: Chakra, Pancha Tattva, Pancha Prana, Pancha Kosha, Nadi.

Points to ponder

• Have you experienced changes to your energy levels in times of stress?
• When you are driving any vehicle and wish to cut across traffic, where is the stress most felt most in your body? (It should be along the lower back). Consequently, do you become aware of the energy flow and points of congestion or depletion?
• How does catching a cold affect the energy level and flow?