Prana is vital energy or life force, space, the cosmic energy from the sun, universe, found in every atom, most abundant on mountain tops, under trees, by moving water. Prana enters the body via our breath, food, water, conscious awareness and intention.

Energy to me is the balance between doing and being, receiving and giving, it involves the balancing of all levels of our being, not just our physical energy. Yoga increases Prana.

‘The human ‘electrical system’, the subtle energy body, contains prana in 3 main channels. The central channel, the sushumna nadi, on the left, the ida nadi relating to the Parasympathetic nervous system( rest and digest via the vagus nerve)and on the right, the pingala nadi, relating to the sympathetic nervous system (fight and flight/ get up and go!)

The 7 major energy centres located on the front side of the spine are chakras, these are activated by energy flowing through the ida and pingala nadis.
Through the breath we absorb prana which goes to ajna chakra at the top of the spine and related to the brain and pineal gland, from here prana is broken down into a form we can use.

Tantra is an old tradition of working with energy, made up of two principles – purusha/consciousness and prakriti/energy – they must work together, ‘like two sides of a coin’.

‘Energy is constantly looking to be used – it needs expression.’
In yogic anatomy, the human body has 5 layers of prana, it is easiest for us to understand  the physical body (annamaya kosha), the subtle energy body  (pranamaya kosha),the lower mental body( manomaya kosha). Yoga places emphasis on pranamaya kosha – prana /absorbing energy, apana /removing waste energy, samana /centering and creating energy, udana/releasing energy to higher thoughts. Most of our energy body relates to Manipura chakra giving us a sense of will, direction,being ( our inner sun, jewel).

As we practise pranayama ( breathing control) we begin to become aware of the energy in our bodies and how this relates to our mind. ‘Improving the subtle body is a science that has been carefully developed over thousands of years..’

In Sanskrit language, chakra is the word for wheel, chakras can be best thought of as spinning wheels of energy. Of course they come from ancient yoga traditions and we think of them in a spiritual way, our subtle energy body- however, amazingly they are located near an endocrine gland responsible for regulating hormonal reactions and are linked to nerve centres along the spinal cord, so we can also relate to them from a more modern physiological point of view.

The root chakra is Muladhara, the pelvic, Svadisthana, then Manipura at our Solar Plexus, Anahata our heart , our throat chakra is Vishuddhi, then Ajna, our mind chakra behind the eyebrow centre, lastly Sahasrara, opening to highest state of consciousness at the crown of the head.The chakras are connected by the subtle electromagnetic channels of energy, Sushumna nadi. When the nadis are blocked, prana is prevented from flowing freely, bodily systems become hindered and our life force sluggish. Usually it is a long term process to balance the chakras with one another.

Yoga is filled with images of animals and flowers, shapes and colours from the natural world, they are symbols of energy inherent in natural forces. Each chakra has a shape (Yantra) and vibrating sound ( Mantra) to balance the elements.