'Prana is the vital force that sustains not only the body, but also creation at every level. The seers of India have always known what modern science has been trying to fathom: the existence of a primeval force, its nature, potential, and how to harness it. Every yogic science - mantra, yajna, austerities, different forms of concentration and meditation - is aimed at awakening and enhancing this vital force within the unit of the individual or the wider universe.
'The Sanskrit word 'prana' is a combination of two syllables, 'pra' and 'na,' and denotes constancy, a force in constant motion. Prana exists in sentient beings as the energy that derives every action, voluntary and involuntary, every thought, every level of the mind and body. Scientific research describes prana as a complex multidimensional energy: a combination of electrical, magnetic, electromagnetic, photonic, ocular, thermal and mental energies.
'Prana also exists in the insentient world, causing motion, growth and decay at this level. Prana is, indeed, the basis of manifested creation. It is the force that emerged out of the 'original willing' of the primal consciousness to bring about creation. The Chhandogya Upanishad (1:11:5) says: 'In prana all moveable and immovable beings merge (during dissolution) and rise out of prana (during creation).'
'In the individual being, prana pervades the entire being, projecting itself in what the yogis called pranamaya kosha - a level of existence subtler than the physical...
'In the pranic body, prana flows through 'nadis,' energy channels, and is stored in 'chakras,' energy vortices. According to some researchers, the electromagnetic energy in prana gives rise to radiation in which the waves of electric energy and magnetic energy are at ninety degrees to each other, resulting in what looks like a spiral. Indeed, the spiral radiation structure around chakras has been seen, described and drawn by sages and savants from all parts of the world at different times.
'Prana is inherent to a being. We are born with a certain quantum of prana, and we maintain it, increase or decrease it through the air we breathe, the food we eat, the thoughts we think, the actions we perform and the kind of life we lead. When we die, the accumulated prana leaves the body.'
- Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati, of the Bihar School of Yoga. From the book, 'Prana and Pranayama.'
'The Sanskrit word 'prana' is a combination of two syllables, 'pra' and 'na,' and denotes constancy, a force in constant motion. Prana exists in sentient beings as the energy that derives every action, voluntary and involuntary, every thought, every level of the mind and body. Scientific research describes prana as a complex multidimensional energy: a combination of electrical, magnetic, electromagnetic, photonic, ocular, thermal and mental energies.
'Prana also exists in the insentient world, causing motion, growth and decay at this level. Prana is, indeed, the basis of manifested creation. It is the force that emerged out of the 'original willing' of the primal consciousness to bring about creation. The Chhandogya Upanishad (1:11:5) says: 'In prana all moveable and immovable beings merge (during dissolution) and rise out of prana (during creation).'
'In the individual being, prana pervades the entire being, projecting itself in what the yogis called pranamaya kosha - a level of existence subtler than the physical...
'In the pranic body, prana flows through 'nadis,' energy channels, and is stored in 'chakras,' energy vortices. According to some researchers, the electromagnetic energy in prana gives rise to radiation in which the waves of electric energy and magnetic energy are at ninety degrees to each other, resulting in what looks like a spiral. Indeed, the spiral radiation structure around chakras has been seen, described and drawn by sages and savants from all parts of the world at different times.
'Prana is inherent to a being. We are born with a certain quantum of prana, and we maintain it, increase or decrease it through the air we breathe, the food we eat, the thoughts we think, the actions we perform and the kind of life we lead. When we die, the accumulated prana leaves the body.'
- Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati, of the Bihar School of Yoga. From the book, 'Prana and Pranayama.'