Prana (Breath)... The Vital Life Force Energy

By Dr Rita Khanna

Prana Vayu
The breath is the key action for Prana & can be experienced strongly as it moves within the head in practices of Pranayama and Meditation. It circulates in the area around the heart and throat. It gathers at the navel and from there is distributed throughout the body. The Prana Vayu is the energy of the Anahata / Heart Chakra. It governs the intake of energy via food, drink, breath, impressions, emotions, thoughts and consciousness. Its element is air. It maintains the life system by filtering & warming up the air taken in through the nose. When Prana is sufficient, no disease can affect us. It brings right receptivity, love & compassion. When Prana is not sufficient, we start feeling weaknesses, stiffness & negativity in the body & mind. Diseases like asthma, anxiety, insomnia, headache, high or low BP and ringing of the ears can affect us. The awareness of Prana-Vayu creates a focus to lift, lengthen and open the upper body

Udana Vayu is in the opposite direction of Prana Vayu. It operates the region from the throat to the brain. It controls the entry points of food, air & governs the output of energy via our expression through speech, physical effort, emotional enthusiasm and mental judgment.

Its element is Ether / Sky. It is related to Vishudi / Throat Chakra. When UdanaVayu is in balance, it brings right aspiration in life, right values combination skills, gratitude, spiritual, philosophical, religious & chaste life. But when in an imbalanced state, it leads to person being overly proud, arrogant, sad, irritating & shouting. Diseases like belching, vomiting, sore throat, sinus, headache, earache, epilepsy & speech problems like stammering can affect us.

At death, it rises up from the body and directs us towards various subtle worlds according to the power of our will and karma that move through it. The awareness of Udana Vayu, creates a focus to maintain a long spine and a correct posture.

Vyana Vayu
Vyana Vayu circulates along the whole body distributing the energy from food & breath through lymphatic & nervous system. It controls all physical movements including the flow of breath, senses, emotions, thoughts, elimination of toxins and coordination between mind & body. It transports the absorbed Prana to the places where it can work and express itself. Its element is Water. It is related to Swadhisthana / Hara Chakra. When VyanaVayu is in balance, it brings mental peace, creativity, perfection, punctuality, luxury, wealth, patience, inner power, humbleness, knowledge, right action and action in harmony with our values, aspirations, including the free expansion of thought, emotion, perception and consciousness. But when in an imbalanced state, it leads to depression, frustration, disappointment, defeat, superstition, doubting, lack of coordination between mind and body and difficulty in movement particularly while walking.

Diseases like menstrual problem s, gyne, menopause, leucorrhoea, prostrate glands, urinary, colitis, excess water accumulation in stomach, depression, frustration & snoring can affect us.

The awareness of Vyana-Vayu creates a focus of strength and fluid movement of body.

In short, Prana and Udana work opposite to Apana as the forces of energization versus those of elimination. Similarly, Vyana and Samana are opposites as expansion and contraction. This is much like the working of a machine. Prana brings in the fuel, Samana converts this fuel to energy, Vyana circulates the energy to the various work sites. Apana releases the waste materials or by products of the conversion process. Udana governs the positive energy created in the process and determines the work that the machine is able to do.