Pranayama - Creative Life Energy - Swami Dharmananda From The House of Wisdom

Pranayama: Creative Life Energy


Swami Dharmananda From The House of Wisdom Published by O Books

Life is breath and breath is life.
So long as there is breath in the body there is life.
So to prana we should sing all hymns of praise.
Prana is the essence of the life breath.
And what is the life breath? It is pure consciousness.
And what is pure consciousness? It is the life breath.
– KAUSHITAKI UPANISHAD

As we know breath is life. It is the first and last thing we do in this life. Various pranayama exercises improve the introduction of oxygen into the physical body and the removal of carbon dioxide. This in itself brings about good physiological benefits. But pranayama actually utilises the breathing process as a means to manipulate all forms of prana (life energy) within the human framework, whether gross or subtle.

In Swami Sivananda’s informative book on the subject (Science of Yoga: Vol. 7) he points out that, “Pranayama is the control of the prana, and the vital forces of the body”. This in turn has repercussions on the mind and physical body.

Defining Prana
So often pranayama is introduced as breathing exercises or breath control. Possibly through translation difficulties. Compared with the English alphabet, Sanskrit has nearly twice as many letters with more than three times the number of vowels. Therefore, a large number of Sanskrit characters have no English equivalent. It is usually said that the words prana (breath) and yama (control) give us the word pranayama, and therefore means ‘breath control’ or ‘control of prana’.

However, some authorities say the actual word is not yama, but ayama, giving us prana plus ayama: prana-ayama. Ayama is defined as restraining, stretching, extending and expanding (implying the expansion of dimensions in time and space); thus pranayama means to extend and overcome one’s normal limitations. The practice provides a method through which we can attain awareness of higher states of vibratory energy. In other words, we are able to regulate the prana comprising our human framework, and thereby make ourselves more sensitive to vibrations within and beyond us.

Pranayama is a method of refining the make-up of one’s pranic body, one’s physical body and also one’s mind. By the correct practise of pranayama one’s mind becomes calm and still, through which pure consciousness is then allowed to shine through without distortion.

The practice of pranayama brings new levels of awareness by quietening, stopping or restraining distractions of the mind. This restraint of mental activities allows us to know the higher levels of existence; like cleaning dirty windows to allow the sun to beam through, and to help us see it in its true glory.

The theory of Prana
If we are to practise pranayama, it is helpful to examine the nature of prana. Swami Sivananda also tells us that, “Prana is the sum total of all energy that is manifest in the universe”. In yoga the whole of the cosmos is said to be composed of two materials:

Prana – primal energy (or just energy)
Akasa – primordial nature (ether)

We can link these in with Shakti and prakrti. Some yogic teachings don’t mention Shakti at all and only talk about pranic energy. In these teachings prana is seen as a supreme energy acting in the universe, instead of it being a form of Shakti. It depends on whether the teaching is an early or later development in yogic history and if it is sympathetic towards, or has been influenced by, elements of Tantra or Kundalini yoga.

Everything that possesses form or has material existence evolved out of akasa. Air, liquids, solid forms, the solar system, or any other such system in the universe, which may be said to be ‘created’, are products of the subtle akasa. When akasa takes physical form it becomes perceptible to us through the physical senses. At the end of its cycle as a material substance, it melts back into a formless subtle substance again. Therefore, the cycle from and to akasa is a perpetual one.

Every form of energy, such as the force of motion, light, heat, electricity, thought, etc., is derived from prana. All forces come out of prana and at the end of their cycle dissolve back into it.

At this point it may be appropriate to consider the laws of physics, which tell us that energy can be transformed but never destroyed. For example, electricity can be transformed into heat and light – as witnessed in our homes when we switch on electricity to obtain these. Chemicals, for example coal, can be transformed into electrical energy and so on. Readers will no doubt think of other examples.

Prana may be defined as the finest vital force in everything that is perceptible: on the physical plane as motion and action and on the mental plane as thought. It is the very essence of cosmic life – a subtle principle which evolved the whole universe into its present form, and is seen to be pushing it towards its ultimate goal.

‘Just as the action of every cell of our body has an individual effect upon us, and likewise we are each a cell of the Universal Body which connects all life.’

When we begin to understand that prana is more than a personal principle, we realise that through the practice of pranayama our individual energy and consciousness can be expanded into universal energy and consciousness. If we consider that prana is linked with all activity in the cosmos, and that all our physical and mental actions have a co-relationship with this cosmic activity, it must then follow that our actions can have both a personal and universal effect. Just as the action of every cell of our body has an individual effect upon us, and likewise we are each a cell of the Universal Body which connects all life.

Five Vital Forces
We have seen how it can be said that pranayama means the control, expansion and extension of universal prana. According to yogic texts, prana is divided into five main groups and five sub-groups. Let us look at the main groups first:

Prana: The force which carries the breath inside.
Apana: The force enabling the expelling of breath.
Udana: The force by which we are able to act, due to the strength of the muscles.
Samana: The force which maintains balance and co-ordination between all vitalities.
Vyana: The force situated in the navel, the centre responsible for the metabolism and digestive system.

Pranayama is the extension of these forces and enables us to gain control over these functions. Through certain breathing exercises and techniques, purification of the nerves (the nadis) in the subtle anatomy comes about. A passage in the Srimad Bhagavatam reminds of this and tells us to, “Practise pranayama for the purification of the nerves”. It is only then that pranayama is truly seen to begin.

The uniting of two of the principal pranas (prana and apana) is a fundamental aim: taking the united prana and apana slowly upwards towards the crown of the head. The practice of pranayama is an act of purification and a prerequisite to the practice of meditation.

The five sub-groups of prana are:

Naga: Responsible for belching and hiccupping.
Koorma: Opens the eyes.
Krikara: Includes hunger and thirst.
Devadatta: Responsible for yawning.
Dhananjaya: Responsible for decomposition of the body after death.

Applications of Pranayama
It is said that yoga is, “the stilling of the thought-waves of the mind” (Yoga Sutra). Pranayama is considered to help us towards this goal. When the breath is flowing harmoniously, then the fluctuations of the mind begin to still and bring about inner peace and balance:

And when the body is in silent steadiness, breathe rhythmically through the nostrils with peaceful ebbing and flowing of the breath. The chariot of the mind is drawn by wild horses, and these wild horses have to be tamed.
– SVETASVATARA UPANISHAD

‘The fruit of pranayama is in an awakening to our higher spiritual consciousness.’

The fruit of pranayama is in an awakening to our higher spiritual consciousness. The first step towards this goal must surely be breath awareness. We know that we breathe, but are we aware of the breath? If we practise breath awareness with yoga postures, we can gradually extend our breath, utilising all of the lung area. Also the tone of the intercostal muscles can be improved.

Let us remember that just as we would approach yoga postures with care and discretion, so we should engage in pranayama exercises with the same attitudes. It ought to be mentioned that in some of the yogic text pranayama is performed after posture work, as suggested by the sequence of the eight-limbs in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra. Posture work itself, although done with breath work, prepares the way for pure pranayama practices – except it can be argued that sitting while doing pranayama is practising it with a posture.

In the Vedas and numerous important yoga texts, various references to prana and pranayama are made and their spiritual benefits are reflected upon. The sacred books of India are full of teachings on and references to the importance of prana and pranayama:

Mastery of pranayama removes the veil covering the light of knowledge and heralds the dawn of wisdom.
– YOGA SUTRA