Prana: The Life force in me and You...!!!

Everything that is in motion and working or that has life is the manifestation of this vital force.

It is the sum total of all latent forces which are hidden in men and which lie everywhere around us.

Prana is present everywhere around us. Yet some people are skeptical about the existence of this force. If you also have same doubt, please read Proof of existence of Prana!! and then proceed further in this article.

It is like we are flowing in the sea of this life force but we don't know how to use it for our upliftment and evolution.

This omnipresent life force is related to mind; through mind to will: through will to individual soul, and through this to supreme being.

If you know how to control the little waves of life force working through your mind, then the secret of subjugating this universal force will be known to you.

The yogis who know this secret have no fear from any power because he has mastery over all manifestations of power in this universe.

Generally what is known as Power of Personality is actually the capacity of a person to control and effectively use his vital force.

Some people are more successful, more influential and attractive than others. This is due this life force. Such persons unknowingly uses the effect of this life force in their day today life, which yogis uses consciously by the command of their will.

Breath is the external manifestation of this vital energy. By exercising control over this gross breath, you can control the subtle life force inside.

Remember breath is not prana, it is like a vehicle for this life force. Hence by controlling breath, you can control prana.

Control of Prana means control of mind. And by controlling the mind, we can do whatever we want.

By controlling the process of breath, you can control all the various functions in the body. You can develop the body, mind and soul very easily and effectively.

Psychic cure, Telepathy, Television, thought-reading and other Siddhis are the effects of the control of life force. The process by which the it is controlled by regulation of breath is termed ‘Pranayama’.

Pranayama is not a new term to any yoga practitioner. Today almost everybody knows what is pranayama? But I will explain in some more detail. It is not only way to control breath, it is actual science. It is the fourth part of ashtanga yoga. It can be used to heal many incurable diseases and for many other useful purposes.Click on the link to know more.

Hatha Yogis consider that this universal life force is superior to mind, as it is present even when mind is absent during deep sleep. Hence it plays a more vital part than mind.

Basically Kundalini is just another name for this vital power.

According to Yoga texts, this energy flows through a channel of subtle nadis across the human body. Therefore Nadi shuddi i.e purification of nadis is required for proper flow of prana through the body.

Different types of pranayama leads to nadi-shuddi. You will find more details on this in Kundalini Yoga section of this website.

Though the most subtle form of this vital force is breath but it is also present in blood but its most concentrated form is semen in men and vaginal fluid in women, therefore what we call as sexual energy is also nothing but prana.

In today's world, people loose their sexual energy very casually which is disastrous, because this life force is ultimately responsible for our existence and it needs to be preserved, not wasted.

As I told earlier, this life force flows throughout the human body and has many functions to perform, hence in Ayurveda, it is further divided into five sub categories namely Prana, Apana, Samana, Udana and Vyana. These are known as The Five Pranas, Click here to know more about them.

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Some portion of this page is inspired from the book "Pranayama sadhana" by Swami Sivananda

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