प्राण
Prāṇa vayu
The taking in
Place
Chest and heart space
Task
Governs breathing and intake: with the in-breath, fresh life energy streams in.
Wiki · yoga knowledge
Prana
The life energy in yoga
Prana (prāṇa · प्राण) is the life energy that, in the yogic view, flows through everything alive. Its most tangible carrier is your breath: with it prana is taken in, gathered and guided. On this page you can get to know the concept – what the word means, where it comes from, and the five currents in which prana works.
What it means
The breath of life
The Sanskrit word prāṇa (प्राण) joins the prefix pra (“forth”) with the root an (“to breathe”). Literally, prana is the breath of life: the force at work in you with every breath.
More than the air you breathe is meant by it: in yoga, prana is the life energy that flows through everything alive. It enlivens body and mind and carries movement, perception and thought. The breath is held to be its most tangible carrier: with it prana is taken in, gathered and guided.
Other traditions know similar ideas, such as qi in China. In yoga, prana is worked with in an entirely practical way: asanas open the space for the breath, pranayama widens it, and the bandhas hold and guide what has been gathered.
PranaThe life energy your breath carries. It enlivens body and mind.
VayuSanskrit for “wind”: the five currents in which prana works. To the vayus →
NadiThe energy channels along which prana flows through the body.
The source
From the Upanishads into Hatha Yoga
Prana is spoken of already in the Upanishads: there it counts as the central life force that carries a person – without prana neither body nor senses can hold. The source texts of Hatha Yoga, first among them the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (Svatmarama, around the 15th century), turn that into a path of practice: as the breath becomes calm and wide, prana gathers, the bandhas keep it, and the mind grows still.
Upanishads · Hatha Yoga Pradipika · around the 15th century
Five currents
The five vayus
Vayu means “wind”: the tradition describes five currents in which prana works in the body, each with its own place and its own task.
अपान
Apāna vayu
The letting go
Place
Lower abdomen and pelvic floor
Task
The downward-flowing current: elimination and letting go. Mula Bandha traditionally turns this current around.
समान
Samāna vayu
The centre
Place
The belly around the navel
Task
The balancing force of the centre: digestion and processing, of impressions too.
उदान
Udāna vayu
The ascent
Place
Throat and head
Task
The rising current: speech, expression and lifting upright.
व्यान
Vyāna vayu
The connection
Place
The whole body
Task
Pervades and distributes: vyāna joins the four other currents into one whole.
In practice
Experiencing prana in the breath
You do not have to believe in any model of energy to practise with prana. Simply observe how breath and how you feel play together:
- Come into an upright, comfortable seat and watch a few breaths without changing them. Where do you feel the breath most clearly?
- Lengthen the out-breath and feel how a little more calm spreads with every breath.
- With the in-breath, lift a little more upright; with the out-breath, let the shoulders sink. Uprightness and breath carry one another.
You can find four guided breathing practices in the VYC Sahitya app and we practise them guided in our courses.
Where the breath grows calm, the mind grows still.
Related topics
Going deeper
Would you like to experience prana in the breath?
In our courses we accompany you step by step, from the calm breath to pranayama and the bandhas.