Prana : a concept meaning “Life-force”. Pra means “very well” and an means “to go” or “to travel”.

Ayama : meaning to lengthen, stretch, extend

Prana is that energy which flows through all parts of the body, inside us.

It is the total energy making up the human being, it enters at birth and leaves at death.

It animates the body and the functioning of the body’s physiological systems eg cardiovascular, digestive, endocrine systems and it also energizes the mind and the senses - it is linked to consciousness.

The improper flow of prana is illness & the absence of prana is death.

Prana exists in all that lives

Even though prana can’t be seen, touched or manipulated, we can use the breath as lever or method for working on it. So when the breath is affected, then so is prana affected, because they are directly related.

Pranayama practice helps to achieve the goal of yoga, to control and direct the activities of the mind to enable it to see clearly. To do this we need to remove the obstacles that prevent the mind from clearly seeing things as they really are. The obstacles have to be removed or cleansed and this is achieved with the help of pranayama - considered to be the greatest of all cleansing methods.

Practiced correctly its positive results can be experienced on many levels from the obvious to the subtle.

Pranayama is the conscious regulation of the breath - deliberately changing the breathing pattern. Because the breath and the mind are directly linked, changing the breathing pattern changes the mind state. This allows us to reduce the disturbances (obstacles, impurities) of the mind. As this process continues the mind becomes clearer, your understanding increases and it becomes easier to concentrate and focus the mind. There is also a growing sense of wellbeing and contentment.