Prana Vayu

Prana Vayu moves through the head, throat, heart, trachea, lungs, and diaphragm. It is responsible for inhalation and creates the union between outer cosmic prana and inner prana. Prana governs the movement of mind, thoughts, feelings, emotions, sensation, and perception.

When prana is motionless, it becomes pure, choiceless awareness. The moment prana moves in a particular direction, awareness becomes attention, attention becomes perception, perception creates sensation, sensation becomes feelings, and feelings create emotion. Therefore, all emotions arise as reactions to the flow of prana and ultimately come from memory. This natural order — from awareness to perception to sensation to feelings to thoughts to emotions — describes the descent of consciousness into experience.

Prana moves the mind and, in a sense, prana becomes mind. Lad compares mind to a river: as water determines the river's character — clear or muddy, flooded or narrow — so thoughts determine the mind's quality. If thought brings fear, the mind becomes fear; if thoughts breed anger, the mind becomes anger. Changing thought is changing the mind, and improvement of mind is improvement of man. According to Ayurveda, thought is a vibration of prana, unlike modern medicine which views it as a biochemical vehicle.

By controlling prana through pranayama (breathing practices), one controls choice, desire, and hence the mind. To go beyond thought entirely is considered the highest pranayama. In this way, prana becomes manas (mind).

When prana vayu becomes imbalanced, certain characteristic signs and symptoms manifest. Palpitation — undue awareness of the heartbeat — is a pranic disorder; normally one is not aware of the heartbeat. Imbalance of prana vayu can also cause dyspnea (breathlessness or undue awareness of respiration). Both palpitation and breathlessness can be either physiological or pathological in nature.