Prana
Prana is a Sanskrit word meaning "breath" and refers to vital, life-sustaining force of living beings and vital energy in natural processes of the universe. Yogic science teaches that the mind and body are bridge by a vast network of nadis or energy channels that make up what is termed the subtle body. In Sanskrit terminology, this energy is referred to as prana. Prana, or the vital life force energy sustains all living things, is received primarily through the breath. Practitioners of pranayama have long studied the interrelationship between breathing and energy. While prana is the basic life force than animates and supports life, yama refers to the way we learn to harness and direct this vital energy by consciously working with the breath.

The Human Energy System
According to Yogic Science, the mind and body do not directly interact. Rather they are linked to each other by an intermediate level of functioning, which has to do primary with energy. This intermediate level consists of different qualities and patterns of energy which form and shape what is referred to as the vital sheath, or subtle body. It is an intricate system consisting of internal and external energy flows within and around the physical body. These energy flows originate from seven major energy centers known as chakras. In sanskrit the word chakra means “wheel.” The chakra system is the vital link that allows the mind and body to function as a unit, and for one to influence the other.

The Nadis — A Network of Energy Pathways
Yogic texts describe the subtle body as being shaped much like the physical body. It consists of a vast array of subtle energy systems including an enormous network of nadis, or subtle nerve channels through which prana moves. If the energy channels are blocked, prana cannot more freely throughout the body/mind continuum and dis-ease is the result. But as the nadis are purified, prana is freed, and the body/mind is restored to balance. Yoga anatomy teaches us that there are over tens of thousands of these nadis within the subtle body, emphasizing fourteen as being primary channels. The most important among these fourteen are three channels called the ida, pingala and sushumna. All three of these major nadis originate at the base of the spine and travel upward.

• The Sushumna is centrally located and travels along the spinal column.

• The Ida and Pingala also travel upward along the spinal column but they crisscross each other and the sushumna before terminating in the left and right nostrils.

The junctions where the ida, pingala and sushumna nadis meet along the spinal column are called the chakras. Just as the spokes of a wheel radiate outward from a central hub, so do the other nadis radiate outward from the chakras to other parts of the body.

The Subtle Energy System of the Chakras
The chakra system regulates the flow of energy within the subtle body. There are seven main chakras. Each one has a specific energetic nature that relates to color, sound and geometric shape as well as certain mental states and spiritual awareness. Each chakra also is associated with the physiology of a specific glandular system, organ system and nerve plexus. Chakras are often described as being either “open” or “closed,” giving the impression that a chakra may be somehow blocked and energy not able to flow through it. But chakras are neither open nor closed. The difference is that some chakras have less energy flowing through them (depletion of energy flow), while other chakras may have more energy flowing through them (congestion of energy flow). If there is a depletion or congestion of energy flow within a chakra or chakras, the result will be an imbalance within subtle energy system and the body/mind continuum. The key is to maintain a synchronistic balance within the entire chakra system as a means of restoring physical, psychological and spiritual health.

THE BASICS
• There are seven main chakras.
• Each chakra has a specific energetic nature that corresponds with a specific quality of consciousness.
• Each chakra is energetically associated with the physiology of a single or small group of nerve plexes, endocrine glands, and organs.
• Chakras are neither, opened or closed, it is a matter of the quality of energy flow through a chakra.
• Chakra health is related to the overall synchronistic balance of the main chakras, as well as the function of a particular chakra.