Practical ways to keep the Prana balanced in the head
Working with Prana is one of the most important therapy tools among all the other Yoga techniques employed by Ayurveda. According to certain authors, Pranayama is one of the most direct means of healing, even more powerful and more effective than the practice of Asanas (and this for the simple reason that the asanas request sometimes flexibility, while the breathing exercises are easily accessible to everyone). The practice of the breathing exercises is the easiest and the most accessible method to take care of oneself as it can be done by ourselves in the comfort of our house. Adressing Prana or the vital energy, represents one of the subtle levels of the Ayurvedic approach.
What is Prana? Even though associated with the breath, Prana is much more subtle than just breathing. As a matter of fact it is said that it is not the breathing which gives the life, but rather that breathing is a function of Prana. One is in life as long as one breathes. The external air is used as a vehicle and fuel for Prana. With an inspiration we do not take the vital force inside us. It is Prana that exists in us which actually extracts the vital force from the air inspired. For a better comprehension of this aspect, Dr. Frawley gives us the following analogy: Prana is like fire, the air which we inspire is its fuel and the heat or the light emanating from it are the life force which animates our physical body.
It is said that Prana comes directly from the consciousness and that it is LOVE which contains or which transmits the greatest quantity of Prana. Prana is the force which keeps our physical body alive, and which ensures the bond between the physical body and the subtle body. Without Prana there is no Life and no functioning of the physical body.
In this context, any disease can be addressed by Pranayama, for any change done on the subtle level of Prana is reflected in the physical body.
Even though the results of the Pranayama practice are rather subtle and seen with time, one of the most direct methods to treat a disease is through the
breath control exercises. The real healing occurs at the time when the circulation of Prana is normal, correct and fluid. The same principle is to be found in the Traditional Chinese Medicine. In this context, Prana must also be understood in its vaster and deeper meaning as the intelligence which ensures the correct functionning of the body.
In the human body, there are 4 channels of reception of Prana: the nostrils, the lungs, the skin, and the colon.
The bulletin of today will review the Prana absorbtion through the nostrils..
Prana is absorbed firstly by the nostrils and the nasal cavity. From here it is absorbed immediately by the brain. A portion of Prana absorbed at the time of the inhalation is directly brought towards the brain which stimulates it and keeps it functional, active and adaptable. It is in the area of the head that the principal Prana remains. When Prana is not well absorbed by the nostrils, all the other forms of Prana are affected in their operation; for this reason the absorption of Prana at the level of the brain and also of the whole nervous system is essential for health. A bad absorption of Prana in the head makes the brain become slow, lazy, lethargic, confused, with a veiled perception and the mediation becomes difficult if not impossible.
A serious nasal congestion, as in the case of a flu, affects sometimes the taste and the sense of smell, but also it can cause lack of sweating and of peripheral circulation such as the muscular pain in the body in the case of the cold. All the sytmptoms experienced during a flu state are mainly caused by the congestion of the nostrils and the inappropriate absorption of Prana in the head. Prana absorbed by breathing is directly connected to the immune system. Therefore, if Prana on this level is not functional, the energy of the whole body is affected. When the nostrils are not fully functional, the lungs, the skin, the colon and the whole digestive system are affected.
