Explore Your Energy: A Prana Meditation

In yoga, prana is your vital life force. It’s not something you can see or touch, but it’s certainly something you can learn to feel, understand, and work with.

This meditation is an introduction to prana, combined with a practical check-in to help you notice what is nourishing your energy, and what may be depleting it today.

Through simple awareness of your breath, body and mind, you’ll begin to:

- connect with your internal energy state
- understand how your day is affecting you
- explore the relationship between breath and nervous system
- guide your shift from overwhelm to steady

We’ll also touch on the foundations of pranayama - not just as breathing techniques, but as a way of working with your energy through the breath.

This practice is both reflective and regulating.

You can return to it whenever you need a deeper check-in with yourself, a reset during a busy or overwhelming day or a gorgeous moment to reconnect with your energy and priorities.

Enjoy!

Transcript

Welcome to today's meditation on prana, Yoga's subtle energy. This meditation will give you some insight into what prana is and how to connect with it, How to feel it and then we'll move through a prana check-in, A little bit of time to reflect on what's nourishing you and what is depleting you and know that you can come back to this practice whenever you want a slightly longer check-in of your prana and a bit of a reminder about what prana is or you can use the shorter check-in on my insight timer profile as a bit of a daily reset. So find in a comfortable position and for me that could be sitting down, It could be sitting on the floor but you most certainly don't have to, You could be laid down, You could be stood up or moving around, As long as you're safe and comfortable then that is perfect. And if it feels okay, Softening your gaze slightly or closing down your eyes and let's start just by noticing the breath, No need to change it in any way, Just noticing the rhythm of the breath, Noticing the location of your breath and whether your inhale or your exhale is most noticeable and then bringing your awareness to your body and noticing any areas that feel heavy or light any areas that feel tense or at ease. The yogis would say that what you're connecting with here is the prana. Prana is yoga's subtle energy sometimes called vital life force. It's not tangible, You can't touch it or see it but I would argue you can feel it and in yoga philosophy there is so much written about prana, Entire texts in fact and we won't cover all of that today but there is ways of understanding and connecting with prana that feel useful in modern life. So what is prana? Prana is the energy of life itself. It's the force that moves through everything, Through your body, Your breath, Your mind. It's the thing that keeps you alive and it's not just the thing that moves you but also the thing that influences how you feel. Your energy levels, Your emotions, Your nervous system state and this is where pranayama comes in. Pranayama is often translated as breathing techniques or breath control and whilst that's not wrong it's only part of the story. Prana means life force. Ayama means expansion. So pranayama is about expanding your energy using the breath as a tool to achieve that and how amazing is that because your breath is one of the only things in your body that is both automatic and under your control when you want it. The breath is a bridge between body and mind. So when you slow your breathing down you are changing your physiology. You're influencing your nervous system. You're positively affecting your heart rate, Your blood chemistry, Your brain. Pranayama gives you a way to work with your energy rather than feel at the mercy of it. It gives you a way, In fact it gives you the empowerment to shift from feeling overwhelmed to feeling steady. With that in mind come back to that awareness of your body. Once again noticing areas that feel heavy or light, Tense or at ease. And then start to move your attention to your day so far. Without judgment asking yourself what has felt depleting. Conversations, Tasks, Thought patterns, Environment, Anything else? And now asking yourself without judgment what has felt nourishing. Even small things. A pause, A moment to take a deep breath, A moment of connection, A nice environment, A sense of space. And now bringing your awareness to your breath. Allowing your inhale to come in as it wishes. And if it feels comfortable allowing your exhale to be slightly longer. And noticing does anything shift in your body, In your energy, In your mind? And having checked in with the body and the mind and reviewed your day so far. Ask yourself what do you need more of and what do you need less of? And then expanding your awareness. Noticing the space around your body. The air on your skin. Connecting your body, Your breath, Your energy and your mind. And notice how you are feeling. When you're ready blinking your eyes open gently. I hope you found that useful to help you connect with the qualities of your prana today. And a little guidance on what you need more of and less of. Remember you can come back to this check-in whenever you need that guidance on prana and a bit more of an in-depth check-in. Or there's a shorter practice on my Insight Timer profile and you can use it as a daily research. But as always, Happy practicing.