Pranayama Meaning
Pranayama, the 4th step of Yoga, is commonly understood as breathing practices. The following is a guest post explaining the bigger picture.
The pulsation works in the body in a five-fold manner, and we should understand these five pulsations in order to understand respiration. In Sanskrit they are also called the five Pranas or Vayus. The first pulsation, Prana, is the impulse from circumference to centre. It initiates the process of inhalation and brings in oxygen. It is related to the mouth and speech, the heart and lungs. It functions from the root of the nose to the heart, and enables the intake of life energy. The process of combustion in the body generates carbon, and this is expelled through the counter-movement, the impulse from the centre to the circumference called Apana. Apana directs the area from solar plexus to the soles of foot and controls the excretory processes as well as the organs of procreation. Imbalances of Prana have a negative effect on the respiration as well as on the development of the higher centres. Apana disturbances are connected with digestive problems and a wrong use of sexuality. The gap between Prana and Apana, between the solar plexus and the heart, is bridged by Samana, the balancing power. Samana emerges when Prana and Apana are balanced. It is the interlude, where there is neither inhalation nor exhalation and where we can feel the subtle pulsation in the heart beat. Samana has a particular relation to the stomach, to diet, which should be well balanced. Samana causes a change of focus from a self-centered to a selfless attitude and leads to the ascending movement, Udana. Udana moves in the area of the brain, between nose and top of the head. This pulsation is experienced in the third eye; it leads the human consciousness into the divine realms. The connection of Samana and Udana lifts the separation of the inner and the outer man and unity emerges. The fifth pulsation called Vyana remains as the background of the other four; it permeates the entire body via the subtle energy channels and the blood stream. By means of Vyana man experiences himself as an embodiment of light and realizes the light body within the material body. These five pulsations have to be synthesized in order to be able to ascend to the higher planes of our being. This regulation is called Pranayama, regulated Prana, the fourth step of Yoga. It doesn’t mean breathing exercises, but the result of the exercises, by which the following steps can then be easily reached. If we remain consciously in the subtle pulsating principle, the goal of Yoga, Samadhi, is reached: to be one with the Lord.
Acknowledgements :
K.P. Kumar: Listening to the Invisible Master / notes from seminars / E. Krishnamacharya: Spiritual Psychology. / Kulapathi Book Trust/ Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India Special thanks to Ludger Philips, The World Teacher Trust - Global
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