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The term Prana is synonymous with life, spirit, vitality, breath, wind, and energy. It is the subdosha of Vata located in the brain and heart governing the movement of the breath, thoughts and emotion. Its channel (shrota) carries oxygen which is the vital force that sustains life.
The flow of prana that makes up our inner life is shaped by our perception of our environment, and determines how we feel, think and act. Lad states, “Prana moves the mind and prana becomes mind… To go beyond thought is the highest pranayama (breathing pattern).”
In yogic practices we learn to channel prana through various pranayama techniques. Depending on the technique, the breath can be used to energize, stabilize or relax. Kapalbhati pranayama for example is a rapid succession of forceful exhalations which stimulates heat and purification. The throat is lightly constricted in the ujjayi pranayama which helps to keep measured breaths and focus while in poses. The bhramari pranayama is the creation of a low pitch humming sound on the exhalation and its light vibration soothes the nerves and relaxes the mind.
“Nobody can control the Prana, it has its own movement. We create a condition in which the Prana returns.”—T. K. V. Desikachar
If Lad is correct in saying that the, “Inability to focus the mind or concentrate is also a symptom of imbalance of prana vayu”, then living in what psychiatrist Dr. Nigg calls an “attentional pathogenic culture” has exhausted prana as our most vital resource.
Prana in the burnout society
Gaining control over our senses seems increasingly difficult within a capitalist model of society that profits over grabbing our attention. Philosopher Byung-Chui Han explains the consequences of living in what he calls “The Burnout Society” where it is now neurons that “mark the landscape of pathology”. In this capitalist illusion of never-ending growth, exploiting energy for the sake of productivity has reached the level of religious worship.
This hyperactivity invokes the winds of Vata culminating in a storm of production and leaving emptiness (space) in its wake. Byung-Chul Han emphasizes the mental battle which goes on with oneself which leads the self to “hollow and empty out. It wears out in a rat race it runs against itself.” Even the word ‘burnout’ offers the visual of empty space with dusty smoke symbolizing what Han terms the “exhausted, burnt-out soul”.
The horse as a symbol
of prana
Horses in the Vedas are known as a “great dynamic force”
and often paired with the sun god, the force which sustains all life. Training and taming a horse are a symbolic representation of training and taming the senses who have the power to run wild.
“The Self bears himself in two ways. As Prana and as the Sun. Such are his two paths, outer and inner, that revolve by day and by night. The Sun is the outer Self and Prana is the inner Self. The movements of the inner Self (Prana) are measured by those of the outer Self (the Sun).” Maitri Upanishad VI. 1-3
Horses in the Vedas are known as a “great dynamic force”
and often paired with the sun god, the force which sustains all life. Training and taming a horse are a symbolic representation of training and taming the senses who have the power to run wild.
“The Self bears himself in two ways. As Prana and as the Sun. Such are his two paths, outer and inner, that revolve by day and by night. The Sun is the outer Self and Prana is the inner Self. The movements of the inner Self (Prana) are measured by those of the outer Self (the Sun).” Maitri Upanishad VI. 1-3
“Prana is the breath behind all the vital essence of the universe. Prana infuses the physical–mental–spiritual realms with life.”— Sebastian Pole
Synthetic Energy
Dr. Sunil V. Joshi states, “Everything we do consumes energy and, from the moment of birth, all energy expenditure is orchestrated by Vata.” If we adopt the hyper-capitalist model Byung-Chul Han describes, what keeps this system of excessive productivity alive is the consistent use of stimulants which promote a synthetic ‘energy’ to work beyond our natural capacity.
Noticing energy levels can be a kind of barometer in understanding the state of prana. However, understanding the amount of energy we actually have is becoming more difficult to observe with the use of stimulants like caffein, which have become what anthropologist Michael Pollan asserts as the “most widely used psychoactive drug” with 90% of adults consuming some form of caffein everyday.
As Pollan explains, the popularity of caffein along with the advent of electricity in homes only a century ago helped us ‘break ties with the rhythm of the sun’ and allowed productivity to continue into the night. Pollan states that “caffein essentially borrows energy from your future and gives it to us in the present”. It does this by blocking the neurochemical adenosine receptors which would normally make you feel tired as the day progresses.
As Gerald Bagriel writes, “Coffee is not some energy form that excites our nervous system; it simply thwarts one of the main processes by which the nervous system is generally kept calm.”
Being less in-tune with when we are tired and should take time to recharge can dramatically shift our connection to pranic rhythms. Furthermore, the destabilization of the nervous system renders us and our bodily systems weaker.
While Pollan and others celebrate coffee’s high antioxidant quantity and mind focusing abilities, Ayurvedic practitioners in tune with Vata’s power understand that due to coffee’s drying and artificially stimulating qualities, it taxes the system over time.
Frawley writes “Any short-term stimulant, like an artificial shock, renders us more dull in the long run.”
Interestingly, this “shock” effect was measured in a study in which “eight ounces of coffee stimulated colonic contractions similar to those induced by a 1,000-calorie meal.” The colon being the seat of Vata’s subdosha apana vayu and regulates the excretion of waste needs to be carefully maintained. The right balance of lubrication and strength is needed to keep this organ’s functional integrity intact.
A stimulant like coffee taken regularly can therefore be aggravating the Vata in the system over time, but because it produces a needed short-term energy boost, it is hard to detect its longer-term weakening effects. This is why Frawley states that stimulants or any drug “magnify our misconceptions” as one might experience a temporary energetic reaction that masks the reality that this dependency is making one more tired and weaker in the long run.
Redirecting our focus to prana and cultivating a practice which respects our natural energy levels affirms a purified, renewable source of vitality. Dr. Vasant Lad offers a starting point which is rooted in breath awareness:
“Time can be measured in terms of prana. One prana is one breath. One breath is one inspiration and one expiration. Fifteen prana is said to make one minute; 900 prana, one hour; 21,600 prana, one day. The faster the rate of respiration, the shorter the span of life. The slower the rate of respiration, the longer the span of life.”
Directing focus to the breath not only brings awareness to our aliveness, but also the everchanging forms, depths and motions this life can take.
Reflecting on prana prompts many questions surrounding energy and the ways we expend and recharge it.
What fuels and recharges our energy?
How does it shift and change?
How does the culture shape where our energy is directed?
How do we respond when we are low in energy?
When you consider the Vata ruled nervous system, and the countless ways it strives for a balanced state (homeostasis), it is useful to ask whether any substance we are consuming habitually interferes with maintaining this delicate balance and how can this be affecting prana over time?
| Uchchaisravas, | circa 1760-65, Unknown Author |
Sources
Frawley, D. (2005).Tantric yoga and the wisdom goddesses: Spiritual secrets of ayurveda. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
Gabriel, G., Fitzgerald, A. M. L., & Author: (2021, January 13). The drug of choice: Caffeine and the brain. Brain Connection. Retrieved July 21, 2022, from https://brainconnection.brainhq.com/2021/01/01/the-drug-of-choice-caffeine-and-the-brain/
Guardian News and Media. (2022, June 2). Tiktok trends or the pandemic? what's behind the rise in ADHD diagnoses. The Guardian. Retrieved July 21, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jun/02/tiktok-trends-or-the-pandemic-whats-behind-the-rise-in-adhd-diagnoses
Han, B.-C. (2015). The Burnout Society. Stanford Briefs, an imprint of Stanford University Press.
Joshi, S. V. (2005). Ayurveda and Panchakarma: The science of healing and rejuvenation. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.
Kaushik, B. (n.d.). Dinacharya: The essential daily routine - svastha ayurveda. Retrieved July 21, 2022, from https://svasthaayurveda.com/dinacharya-the-essential-daily-routine/
Lad, V. (2012). Textbook of ayurveda. Ayurvedic Press.
Pole, S. (2013). Ayurvedic Medicine:The principles of traditional practice. Singing Dragon, Cop.
Schwartz, C. (2022, February 16). It's time we reclaim our focus. The New York Times. Retrieved July 21, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/16/well/mind/focus-johann-hari.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article