not allow the vital currents in the body to leak out and get exhausted.
The postures may be said to be helpful in both these directions.^52The cooperation of healing and salvation by yogic means is warranted
from earliest times in the Hindu tradition: The Atharva-vedasays, “With
Yoga I drive far away the sin of thy soul and the disease of thy body” [AV
6:91.1].
Fourth Limb: Regulation of Vital Energy Through Breath—Pr ̄aÓn ̄ay ̄ama
Practice of various asanas, ̄ provided that they are suitable ̄asanasfor a
particular person, and correctly performed, contributes to regulation of
the vital energy, pr ̄aÓna, and so leads naturally to proper performance of
the next stage of Yoga, pr ̄aÓnay ̄ ̄ama. Patañjalidefines pr ̄aÓn ̄ayama ̄ as “the
cessation of the motion of inhalation and exhalation” [YS 2.49–50].^53
The word pra ̄Óna is derived from the verbal root √an, ‘to breathe,’ while
the root √pra, means ‘to fill.’ Pra ̄Óna means breath, but, more important,
it means vital energy, life-force, spirit, and power. The word pra ̄Ónay ̄ ̄amais
composed of pra ̄Ónaand ayama, ‘extending’ or ‘controlling’ √yam, ‘to
reach’). Vivekananda explains that while pr ̄aÓna is often taken to mean
breath, it is actually the energy of the cosmos, and the energy in each liv-
ing body. The motion of the lungs is the most visible manifestation of
pra ̄Óna, and control of the breath is the most direct means of gaining
awareness and control of the pr ̄aÓnain oneself.^54
According to Vivekananda, pra ̄Ónais the origin of all energy, “the in-
finite, omnipresent manifesting power of this universe.”^55 In the domain
of physics, pra ̄Ónamanifests as forces such as motion, gravitation, and
magnetism. In the human body, “It is the pr ̄aÓnamanifesting as the actions
of the body, as the nerve currents, as thought force.”^56 To get hold of the
subtle vibration of pr ̄aÓnain oneself is the means, Vivekananda says, of
grasping the whole of pra ̄Ónathat is the energy source of the whole uni-
verse, and into which everything resolves at the end of each cycle of
time.^57
Pra ̄Ónaand its manifestation as breath is crucial for inquiry into body
and religiousness. The English word spirit derives from the Latin,sp ̄ır ̄are,
‘to breathe.’^58 The word ‘spirit’ connotes vital breath, as does the Sanskrit
pra ̄Óna. Like pra ̄Óna, ‘spirit’ suggests incorporeality, and the principle that
gives life to the body. As the life-principle, and in its connotation of im-
materiality, spirit is aligned with divine entities and with the sacred. The
‘spiritual’ is the sacred; human ‘inspiration,’ the drawing of breath, is the
constant sign of our participation in the sacred power of the universe.
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