Prana and the vayus (online course starting October)

Hi,

I’m fresh off the back of a four day training course focusing on the chakras as part of my advanced teacher training course. I’m feeling inspired and wanting to share more with you! Before we delve deep in to the chakras I think it’s important to learn more about Prana (life force, energy) Prana is the driving force of the chakras. Although prana is related to the breath, it is not the breath. It’s energy that rides on the breath that flows through the body on a network of subtle channels.

The ancient yogis found, on their exploration of the body and breath that prana could be divided into currents called vayus (‘Wind‘ or ‘that which flows’) they found 49 but the main 5 are most important for us to try to understand. Each vayu governs a specific area of the body and their subtle energetic movements play on our emotional, physical and mental wellbeing, leading to problems if unbalanced which can negatively affect its associate chakra or even the organs linked to its location.

There are two main vayus out of the five being Prana Vayu and Apana Vayu.

Prana Vayu means forward moving air and moves in and upwards towards and from the centre of the body and upward from the navel to the throat. We connect to the upward flow of prana Vayu most fully when we inhale and it’s situated in the heart, connecting with the air element and heart chakra. It’s thought that when this Vayu is imbalanced the mind finds it difficult to focus and we could find ourselves anxious with shortness of breath.

Apana Vayu translates as the air that moves away. It’s a downward and outward energy and moves primarily in the lower abdomen down to the floor of the pelvis. It’s associated with the earth element and the energy of the root chakra. its experienced as a downward moving force and can mostly be felt on exhalation. When Apana Vayu is imbalanced it could lead to feelings of ungroundedness or elimination issues.

Now we understand these two vayus we can learn the others,

Samana Vayu translates as the balancing air or the middle breath. It has potential to bring balance to Prana and Apana making their actions complimentary rather than opposite. It moves between the naval and the heart connecting to the manipura chakra chakra. It’s associated with the element of fire, helping with metabolism and digestion. If Samana Vayu is weak it can lead to low confidence lack of motivation and desire.

Udana Vayu translates as, that which carries upward. It rules the area of the throat and head and moves in a circular flow, Chakras associated with the Udana Vayu are the throat and 3rd eye chakra helping our speech and self expression. We could feel unbalanced or suffer with speech difficulties if we are imbalanced in this area.

And finally, Vyana Vayu which means outward moving air. It moves out from the centre of the body and helps with circulation as well as assisting the other vayus with their functions. If this Vayu is weak we can feel disconnected as well as causing problems like poor circulation and disjointed thoughts. Vyana Vayu is linked with the crown chakra.

Throughout the month of October I will be taking us through practices focusing on each of the vayus separately helping us to feel in to these specific energetic centres of the body as well as meditations to help invite more awareness to these very important but sometimes forgotten Vayus!

The Vayus course will be uploaded on to the ‘pre recorded classes‘ section of my website and will start at the beginning of October. We will have two practices or meditations per week to focus on each of the Vayus. If you’re already a member you just need to sit back and wait, if you’d like to sign up to the course then sign up through the members section on my website. The course costs £35, included in this you will also have access to 5 online classes per week and a 30 minute online one to one class.

Once we’ve explored the vayus we will then move on to the chakras, hopefully with a little more clarity and understanding. Please message me if you have any questions or if you’d like me to expand on any of the above :-)

Tash XX