NET PRANA

If you have ever attended a yoga class, you may have heard the teacher refer to Prana.  Maybe they guided you in Pranayama techniques, or maybe they brought your attention to the concentration of prana in a certain area of your body.   At the most basic level, the teacher was bringing your attention to the movement of energy that is generated with yoga.

Prana is often defined as “life force energy” and is basically what we are made of.  On a very simple level, it is the collection of atoms and molecules that are the building blocks of all matter on this planet, including our physical bodies.   

The study of yoga, as well as other eastern philosophies such as Traditional Chinese Medicine place more emphasis on this subtle energy body and believe that when life force (prana) flows naturally, we are in a state of health and vitality.  On the flip side when the flow of energy is restricted or blocked we become unbalanced.  Many facets of modern life restrict the flow of energy including injury, stress, excessive thoughts, negative emotions, and processed food.  Over time these negative inputs can tip the scale to a body that is unhealthy or diseased.  

Of course it’s not all that simple but hopefully you get an idea of what Prana is and how important it is for our mental and physical health from a yogic perspective.  Being aware of how our daily actions and thoughts affect our Prana is just one simple step we can take to live more mindfully.  Ultimately, we are able to sense our own ability to create health and vitality in our lives.

Below is a fun worksheet from the TIYT© training that allows you to track your input and output of Prana.  I invite you to give it a shot for one week just to gage how much positivity/negativity that you infuse into your life in the average week.  I’d love to hear your results!!   

If you would like a PDF copy of the worksheet to print off, please feel free to email me at juliej@stopdvsa.org.