Energy, Prana and Power
Do you feel empowered in the belief that you are capable? That power lies in your hands? That your ability to achieve, commit or complete something is purely down to the energy you have access to?
For most of us, the answer will be no. I also know that all these questions can seem a little ‘self-help’, ‘woo-woo’ and cliche but power is important, it’s essential, it’s vital.
Power enables us to thrive. Knowing where we get our power from, how we can access it, contain it and direct it enables us to be more capable in body and mind, or better said, to awaken to the reality that we are already capable of doing what we set out to do, whatever that may be. This is what Tantra is about. Awakening the dormant power within.
It is said that human-beings are like ‘human appliances’, we store and run on energy and are essentially a giant battery. The stronger our charge, the more strength, health and vitality we radiate, not only to ourselves but to everyone that comes near us.
From the big stuff like running a business, having a family and ‘making it big’ to the small things like breaking a bad habit or committing to a daily routine, these things require energy, they require power.
When we see that Prana holds the key to our Power, a shift begins to happen.
Prana is the vital life-force that not only sustains the body but also creation at every level. It exists in sentient beings as the energy that drives every action, voluntary or involuntary, every thought, every fluctuation of mind and function within the body. From the yogic point of view, the entire cosmos is alive and pulsing with prana, it surrounds us, from our food to nature and the air we breathe.
The understanding that the energy of prana is power is acknowledged in the wisdom of many yogic paths from Raja yoga to Hatha yoga (Hatha yoga is traditionally the prerequisite to Raja yoga). Patanjali’s eight-fold Raja yoga path offers the ethical guidelines of the Yamas and the Niyamas to keep this power pure. Tantric Hatha in its ancient roots upheld the principle of secrecy and a strong teacher-student relationship to ensure the practice of building prana and therefore power didn’t fall into the ‘wrong’ hands. As my teacher shares, Prana has a tendency like the Sun to empower everything it touches, good or bad.
The key practice in the Himilayan tradition of Tantric Hatha yoga is to gain mastery over our prana. Whereas Raja yoga focuses on mastering the mind, Hatha yoga acknowledges that the mind is very difficult to master, so we work with the body first, we work with our prana. Where our prana goes, our mind follows. When we master our prana, we master everything else.
When connected to our breath, Asana and Pranayama are the very practices in yoga designed to work with prana to enhance vitality, will, strength, efficiency and to ultimately evolve to higher state of consciousness.
So when we feel sluggish, unmotivated and tired, instead of either finding yourself succumbing to that state by snoozing, scrolling on your phone or procrastinating only to find yourself feeling ashamed, lazy and guilty after (I’m writing this to myself!) you can use prana to empower and energise you.
When you don’t feel capable, expand the quality of your breath through asana.
When you feel drained and depleted, gain the energy of prana from nourishing food.
When you feel disconnected, befriend your breath.
When you’re struggling to focus or find motivation, go outside and surround yourself in nature.
We are capable beings, all of us, no matter our circumstances. Our use of this power may be influenced by our life circumstances but at our core, we all have access to this power, it is our essence. We just have to know it, to connect to it.
...and so we practice.