The Fourth Branch of Yoga—
Pranayama
Pranais life force. It is the essential energy that animates
inert matter into living, evolving biological beings. As
first-year medical students, we took classes in gross
anatomy in which there was the implied assumption that
studying a cadaver could teach us about life. At the turn
of the twentieth century, scientists would weigh someone
immediately before and after they died to see if they
could quantify what had left. (They did not record a
difference, concluding that the soul did not weigh any-
thing.)
From the perspective of yoga, the difference between
a living being and a cadaver is the presence of prana, or
vital energy.
When prana is flowing freely throughout your
body/mind, you will feel healthy and vibrant. When
prana is blocked, fatigue and disease soon follow. The
concept of an animating force is present in every major
wisdom and healing tradition. It is known as chiorqiin
Traditional Chinese Medicine and ruachin the Kabalistic
tradition. According to Patanjali, a key way to enliven
prana is through conscious breathing techniques known as
pranayama.
Pranayama means mastering the life force. There is an
intimate relationship between your breath and your
mind. When your mind is centered and quiet, so is your
breath. When your mind is turbulent, your breathing
becomes disordered. There are a number of classic prana-
yama breathing exercises that we will show you in chapter
The Royal Path to Union 41