PRANA(control of pran with breath)

Pranayam(controlof pran with breath)

Prana is the subtle energy that flows in the body ,which maintains all activities in the body. Inthe west it is wrongly interpreted as the brething exercise.

Ayam means restrain or control .Therfore pranayam is a discipline to control th evitual life force through various breathing techniques . Its importance in yog is the prana and the mind are intimately connected .By controlling prana constantly weavering mind can be controlled. thus pranayam prepares mind for darshan ,dhyan and samadhi.

aftering mastering pranayama,the effects can be amazing .The Bengali poet and mystic, ShriAurobindo,practised pranayamfor upto six hour per day. He then observed, 'pranayam makes one's intellect sharper andone's brain quicker'.Initially he could write about 200 lines poetry a month . After mastering pranayam ,he composed 200 lines in only half an hour . He commented ,'.....poetry came like a river and prose like a flood..'(Diwarkar 1976:111-112).