Prana, Vayu, Kosha, Nadi, Chakras
Pranayam is the most important limb of Hatha Yoga. Prana means breath or life force, and ayama means regulation or control;
According to ancient Indian belief, the life span of each living being is fixed by destiny and determined by a specific number of breaths. Modern science, for example, has noted that the slow-breathing animals such as tortoises, snakes, elephants, and whales live for a very long time, while animals that breathe more rapidly like cats, dogs, rats, and rabbits have a much shorter life span.
The practice of pranayam purifies the body and enhances the psychological efficiency of the mind. But ultimately the most prized goal of pranayam is the internalization of consciousness that makes super-conscious perceptions possible.
The life-processes of a living being are carried out primarily through six anatomical systems: the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, excretory, reproductive, and nervous systems. Prana is identified as a vayu, or "vital air", when it operates whithin the sphere of these autonomic processes of life. These vital airs operate in designated parts of the body and assume a different name for each of the systems through which they function. The five major vayus are:
Prana vayu: Operates in connection with the respiratory and circulatory systems. Its seat is located near the heart and lungs.
Samana vayu: Operates through the digestive system. This vayu assumes the form of gastric fire. Its seat is located in the stomach.
Apana vayu: Operates in connection with the excretory and reproductive systems. The seat of apana is in the anal region.
Udana vayu: Operates through the nervous system (udaana means "ascending"). This vayu is located in the throat region. The sphere of its operation extends from the throat to hypothalamus in the centre of the brain.
Vyana vayu: Its activity pervades the entire body. The special function of this vayu is the process of grahana, or "receiving and absorbing" which suggests the assimilation and absorption of nutrition by the tissues. Since absorption takes place in every part of the body, vyana does not have a specific seat.
According to ancient texts, we live on three planes of existence in three distinct and progressively more refined bodies: The physical or material body, the astral or subtle body, and the mystical or causal body. The human soul is enveloped within five different sheaths:
Annamaya kosha: physical sheath - gross physical body
Pranamaya kosha: the sheath of vital force 'prana', links the physical body to the astral body
Manomaya kosha: the sheath of the mind, forms the core of the astral body
Vijnanamaya kosha: the sheath of intellect, links the astral body to the causal body
Anandamaya kosha: the sheath of bliss, is identified with mystical consciousness of the causal body.
The ancient yogis discovered that prana circulates in our astral bodies through a network of subtle channels called nadis. Only the twelve primary nadis of the astral body are named in yoga literature. Of these, the three most important are the ida, the pingala, and the sushumna.
The most important nadi is the sushumna. The path of this nadi mirrors the spinal column, originating at the root of the spine and ending in the center of the brain. The sushumna nadi supports each of the primary psychic centers, or chakras, as it ascends the spinal column. All of the other nadis are subordinate to the all-important sushumna.
The Ida: emerges from the kand on the left side of the sushumna. It spirals upward around the sushumna until it reaches the left side of the hypothalamus in the brain. Finally, it ends at the left nostril.
The Pingala: emerges from the kand on the right side of the sushumna and circles upwards in a reverse pattern until it reaches the right side of the hypothalamus. Finally, it ends at the right nostril.
The CHAKRAS
The most important of all the nadis is the sushumna, which is the only nadi that pierces the metaphysical centers of the higher consciousness that the yogis call chakras.
According to ancient Indian belief, the life span of each living being is fixed by destiny and determined by a specific number of breaths. Modern science, for example, has noted that the slow-breathing animals such as tortoises, snakes, elephants, and whales live for a very long time, while animals that breathe more rapidly like cats, dogs, rats, and rabbits have a much shorter life span.
The practice of pranayam purifies the body and enhances the psychological efficiency of the mind. But ultimately the most prized goal of pranayam is the internalization of consciousness that makes super-conscious perceptions possible.
The life-processes of a living being are carried out primarily through six anatomical systems: the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, excretory, reproductive, and nervous systems. Prana is identified as a vayu, or "vital air", when it operates whithin the sphere of these autonomic processes of life. These vital airs operate in designated parts of the body and assume a different name for each of the systems through which they function. The five major vayus are:
Prana vayu: Operates in connection with the respiratory and circulatory systems. Its seat is located near the heart and lungs.
Samana vayu: Operates through the digestive system. This vayu assumes the form of gastric fire. Its seat is located in the stomach.
Apana vayu: Operates in connection with the excretory and reproductive systems. The seat of apana is in the anal region.
Udana vayu: Operates through the nervous system (udaana means "ascending"). This vayu is located in the throat region. The sphere of its operation extends from the throat to hypothalamus in the centre of the brain.
Vyana vayu: Its activity pervades the entire body. The special function of this vayu is the process of grahana, or "receiving and absorbing" which suggests the assimilation and absorption of nutrition by the tissues. Since absorption takes place in every part of the body, vyana does not have a specific seat.
According to ancient texts, we live on three planes of existence in three distinct and progressively more refined bodies: The physical or material body, the astral or subtle body, and the mystical or causal body. The human soul is enveloped within five different sheaths:
Annamaya kosha: physical sheath - gross physical body
Pranamaya kosha: the sheath of vital force 'prana', links the physical body to the astral body
Manomaya kosha: the sheath of the mind, forms the core of the astral body
Vijnanamaya kosha: the sheath of intellect, links the astral body to the causal body
Anandamaya kosha: the sheath of bliss, is identified with mystical consciousness of the causal body.
The ancient yogis discovered that prana circulates in our astral bodies through a network of subtle channels called nadis. Only the twelve primary nadis of the astral body are named in yoga literature. Of these, the three most important are the ida, the pingala, and the sushumna.
The most important nadi is the sushumna. The path of this nadi mirrors the spinal column, originating at the root of the spine and ending in the center of the brain. The sushumna nadi supports each of the primary psychic centers, or chakras, as it ascends the spinal column. All of the other nadis are subordinate to the all-important sushumna.
The Ida: emerges from the kand on the left side of the sushumna. It spirals upward around the sushumna until it reaches the left side of the hypothalamus in the brain. Finally, it ends at the left nostril.
The Pingala: emerges from the kand on the right side of the sushumna and circles upwards in a reverse pattern until it reaches the right side of the hypothalamus. Finally, it ends at the right nostril.
The CHAKRAS
The most important of all the nadis is the sushumna, which is the only nadi that pierces the metaphysical centers of the higher consciousness that the yogis call chakras.
[ Reading all these, I remember a sketch by one of my friends, posted on her blog. Here is the same reproduced (haven't asked permission yet :o)
- madhukara]
The chakras are located along the path of the sushumna nadi. Because the passage of the sushumna overlaps the spinal cord, some are tempted to identify the nadis as teh nerve passages and the chakras as the nerver plexuses of our physical anatomy. But the nadis are not nerves, nor are the chakras nerve-plexuses.
The Seven major chakras are listed here along with their relative physical counterparts:
Muladahara chakra: situated at the base of the body near the anus. This chakra corresponds to the coccygeal plexus that controls the process of elimination.
Svadhisthana chakra: is sometimes identified with the genital region. The svadhisthana chakra corresponds to the pelvic plexus that controls the sexual functions.
Manipura chakra: is situated opposite the navel. The physical counterpart is the solar plexus, which is concerned with digestive functions.
Anahata chakra: is located at the chest level. It corresponds to the cardiac plexus that controls the functions of the heart and lungs.
Vishuddha chakra: is located at the throat level. Its physical counterpart is the pharyngeal plexus that controls speech.
Ajna chakra: is located at the center point between the eyebrows. Its physical conterpart is the hypothalamus, which controls all of the psychosomatic activities of the body.
Sahasrara chakra: situated at the upper end of the sushumna nadi in the cortical layer of the brain.
Source:
Excerpts picked up from:
'Classical Hatha Yoga' - by Swami Rajarshi Muni - Life Mission Publications. ISBN 81-88244-01-0
The chakras are located along the path of the sushumna nadi. Because the passage of the sushumna overlaps the spinal cord, some are tempted to identify the nadis as teh nerve passages and the chakras as the nerver plexuses of our physical anatomy. But the nadis are not nerves, nor are the chakras nerve-plexuses.
The Seven major chakras are listed here along with their relative physical counterparts:
Muladahara chakra: situated at the base of the body near the anus. This chakra corresponds to the coccygeal plexus that controls the process of elimination.
Svadhisthana chakra: is sometimes identified with the genital region. The svadhisthana chakra corresponds to the pelvic plexus that controls the sexual functions.
Manipura chakra: is situated opposite the navel. The physical counterpart is the solar plexus, which is concerned with digestive functions.
Anahata chakra: is located at the chest level. It corresponds to the cardiac plexus that controls the functions of the heart and lungs.
Vishuddha chakra: is located at the throat level. Its physical counterpart is the pharyngeal plexus that controls speech.
Ajna chakra: is located at the center point between the eyebrows. Its physical conterpart is the hypothalamus, which controls all of the psychosomatic activities of the body.
Sahasrara chakra: situated at the upper end of the sushumna nadi in the cortical layer of the brain.
Source:
Excerpts picked up from:
'Classical Hatha Yoga' - by Swami Rajarshi Muni - Life Mission Publications. ISBN 81-88244-01-0
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