prana

As a yoga practitioner I bet you have heard of the word “chakra”.

Mantra uplifts the soul, but also works to purify the mind and body. In yogic philosophy and eastern medicine, it is recognized that there are 72,000 nadis (energy lines/meridians) coursing through the body. When we chant, we can change the chemistry of the brain and our whole vibrational being through stimulating 84 meridian points in the mouth.

Prana is our divine breath - the vital life force present in all things. The energy of Air, it is subtle energy which travels through the nadis in the body (Nadis in Ayurvedic/Yogic medicine, Meridians in Chinese Medicine). In Eastern medicines, there is a more subtle awareness of energy, so there are fives types of Prana in the body with different flows of energy (Prana-Samana-Udana-Vyana-Apana) and numerous terms for other vibrations of energy within ourselves and within the universe – it is a bit like the Eskimos having 15 different words for snow, where in the West we have just one. In the West, we have not developed this subtle awareness or study of energy.