power that is both immanent and transcendent. Prana is also often
called wind, vital air. The Bible begins its description of Creation with
the sentence, "God's breath moved upon the waters." Prana is God's
breath. Prana is the energy permeating the universe at all levels. It is
physical, mental, intellectual, sexual, spiritual, and cosmic energy.
All vibrating energies are prana. All physical energies such as heat,
light, gravity, magnetism, and electricity are also prana. It is the hidden
and potential energy in all beings, released to the fullest extent as a re
sponse to any threat to one's survival. It is the prime mover of all ac
tivity. It is energy that creates, protects, and destroys. Hindus often say
that GOD is Generator, Organizer, and Destroyer. Inhalation is the
generating power, retention is the organizing power, and exhalation, if
the energy is vicious, is the destroyer. This is prana at work. Vigor,
power, vitality, life, and spirit are all forms of prana.
Prana is usually translated as breath, yet this is only one of its man
ifestations. According to the Upanishads, it is the principle of life and
consciousness. It is equated with the Soul (Atman). It is the breath of
life of all beings in the universe. They are born through it and live by
it, and when they die their individual breath dissolves into the cosmic
breath. It is the most essential, real, and present feature of every mo
ment of our lives and yet it remains the most mysterious. It is yoga's
job, and especially pranayama's, to enter into the heart of this mystery.
Prana, in the form of breath, is the starting point. The suffix,
ayama, means stretch, extension, expansion, length, breadth, regula
tion, prolongation, restraint, and control. Put in its simplest form,
therefore, pranayama means the prolongation and restraint of breath.
Since prana is energy and life force, pranayama means the extension
and expansion of all our vital energy. It has to be clear that you cannot
just increase the volume of anything as volatile and explosive as pure
energy without taking steps to contain, harness, and direct it. If you
were suddenly to triple the strength of the electrical current arriving in
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