Posts In: prana

One of the main intentions of practicing yoga is the management of prana – moving and working with life-force energy.

At times in life prana can become unsettled or deficient, and this can feel like loss of enthusiasm and motivation, stress or a feeing of downheartedness. 

Staying grounded and stable can be challenging, which is why we’re so fortunate that Hatha Yoga gives us the tools to stay balanced amidst change (both around us and also in other aspects of life) ❤️

A way to work with activating prana is with our balancing asana Virabhadrasana III aka Warrior 3 😊

Warrior 3 is a standing balance posture, a pose that requires focus and considered movements to get into the shape. Grounded and strong, yet light and fluid.⁠ ⁠ Explore different arm variations, use of props and ways to get in and out of this pose to work with ease and comfort in your own body.

Warrior 3 helps to propel easeful and abundant movement of Prana in body and mind, creating balance within and a healthy enthusiasm for life ✨

Have you ever noticed the subtle shifts in your body as you inhale and exhale? How in the simple act of sitting and breathing, you can be witness to the movement of energy in your body?

Inhale, exhale.

Prana, apana.

Expanding, grounding.

This movement of energy can be felt when moving and being in asana too, and Kraunchasana (Heron Pose) is one of those asana where you can focus on uniting these energies.

Prana vayu is the vitalising force, moving into the body with the inhale. You’ll feel this energy lengthening and vitalising your body. In Heron pose this is felt as the spine lifting, the collarbones broadening.

Apana vayu is the grounding force, moving to the earth with your exhale. You feel this as the softening in your body, letting go, being still. In Heron pose this is the dropping of your sitting bones, tailbone and pelvis towards the earth.

As you consciously work with these two aspects of energy – prana and apana – you’ll be able to feel and observe they way they integrate in your body and breath.

Calming your nervous system, releasing stress in the body and mind and on a more subtle level, helping you move towards a meditational and tranquil state of being 🥰

Constantly flowing through day and night, breath moves in and out of the body without us even thinking about it.

Physically breath replenishes oxygen in the body and removes wastes, as well as stabilising the nervous system when we breathe consciously in pranayama practices.

There’s a more subtle aspect of breath as well, an energetic aspect called prana. There are five aspects of prana – pran, udana, vyana, samana and apana – that all have a distinct role in the body.

At times it might feel right to move focus of practice to the function of prana called udana, “the upward moving air”. Udana is our main positive energy, it governs speech and self-expression and assists in developing our consciousness.

Udana is stimulated in the body through backbends, and one asana that can cultivate this energy is Eka Pada Bhekasana (one legged frog pose) 🐸

Physically Eka Pada Bhekasana is about blending strength and flexibility in the body. Creating a shape that is your unique expression of this asana, the heart is open and courageous.

Energetically uplifting, Eka Pada Bhekasana helps to raise the body’s vibration to create lightness, creativity and inspiration ❤️

Our invitation to you is to explore this asana in practice and notice – how does this feel inside? How does my breath feel? Can I observe the upward movement of energy in your body?

In this way you can use your asana and pranayama practice as a tool to access the more subtle aspects of yoga 🙏