Prana

In yoga, Ayurveda, and Indian martial arts, prana (प्राण, prāṇa; the Sanskrit word for breath, "life force", or "vital principle")[1] permeates reality on all levels including inanimate objects.

Apte provides fourteen different meanings for the Sanskrit word prāṇa (प्राण) including breath or respiration;[4] the breath of life, vital air, principle of life (usually plural in this sense, there being five such vital airs generally assumed, but three, six, seven, nine, and even ten are also spoken of);[4][5] energy or vigour;[4] the spirit or soul.

[7] The breath is understood to be its most subtle material form, but is also believed to be present in the blood, and most concentrated in semen and vaginal fluid.

[9] The Bhagavad Gita verse 4.27 describes the yoga of self-control as the sacrifice of the actions of the senses and of prāṇa in the fire kindled by knowledge.

[14] More generally, the conquest of the senses, the mind, and prāṇa is seen as an essential step on the yogin's path to samadhi, or indeed as the goal of yoga.

[15] Thus, for example, the Malinivijayottaratantra 12.5–7 directs the seeker "who has conquered posture, the mind, prāṇa, the senses, sleep, anger, fear, and anxiety"[16] to practise yoga in a beautiful, undisturbed cave.

Other techniques may be utilized to arrest the breath for samadhi or to bring awareness to specific areas in the practitioner's subtle or physical body.

[24][25] In Ayurveda and therapeutic yoga, pranayama is utilized for many tasks, including to affect mood and aid in digestion.

[26] According to Theos Bernard, the ultimate aim of pranayama is the suspension of breathing, "causing the mind to swoon".

[27] Swami Yogananda writes, "The real meaning of Pranayama, according to Patanjali, the founder of Yoga philosophy, is the gradual cessation of breathing, the discontinuance of inhalation and exhalation".

[28] Similar concepts exist in various cultures, including the Latin anima ("breath", "vital force", "animating principle"), Islamic and Sufic ruh, the Greek pneuma, the Chinese qi, the Polynesian mana, the Amerindian orenda, the German od, and the Hebrew ruah.