How to: Let life flow!
We’re two 2 years into the pandemic and with all the stopping and starting, it’s no surprise many of us may be feeling a little bit fragmented, stuck and in a funk. Life can feel like it is happening to us or not quite happening at all. If you want to feel like life if flowing with you at the driving seat of your life, the answer is Vyāna Vayu.
Vyāna Vayu is our innate harmonising and expansive force within us that we have access to every single moment of our lives. All we have to do is know it, understand it and be able to harness the power of it.
Let me explain more.
Vyana Vayu is one of the 5 main Prana Vayus within our body.
Now what are the Prana Vayus you ask?!
Prana in Sanskrit translates to ‘life-force energy’. Yoga teaches us that it is the animating, life-giving energy that runs through every cell of our being, of every living thing, sustaining our consciousness, our life. When it comes to our bodies, the yogis understood that when we breathe we take in oxygen but we also take in Prana and unlike oxygen it doesn’t obey the confines of our lungs, instead it is distributed in 5 main directions throughout the body. Vayu can be translated to ‘wind’. The Prana Vayus can be understood therefore as the currents of wind that circulate our Pranic energy, the 5 Vayus and their names correspond and refer to the direction of these currents.
As prana moves in these 5 directions it governs particular mental and physical functions within our body. So, when we tap into a particular vayu we can influence how we feel and how our body functions.
Vyana Vayu is the outward direction of Prana. It is our innate harmonising and expansive pranic force. It moves out and around our entire body, distributing energy and integrating all other Vayus. It keeps things moving in flow, unifying the power of Prana. It can also be understood as the aura, or the field of prana that surrounds the body, protecting us against negative energy.
On the physical level, Vyana Vayu governs the movement of prana through the nadis (energy channels) and the movement of energy through the circulatory system and nervous system. On the subtle level, it’s our integrating force that governs the free flow of thoughts and emotions held in the mind.
When Vyana Vayu is strong and in abundance, we are in harmony and communication between our body and mind is clear. We feel expansive and at ease, in rhythm with life.
Strengthening our awareness of this Vayu helps to allow life to flow and with flow we shift stagnation and boost the flow our energy.
If Vyana is weak, things in life will not be flowing and communication between all our systems gets stuck, we begin to stagnate.
So to increase harmony and flow within your body and mind, connect to Vyana Vayu.
How?
Practice yoga asana, specifically lateral postures (side stretches) and backbends to bring openness to any restriction in the physical body.
Practice Diaphragmatic breathing to expand the use of your lungs and clear stagnancy in the side of your ribs.
Focus on inhalation to increase the intake of breath, of Prana.
Practice Vyana Vayu Kriya to nourish the outward direction of Prana;
1. Bring hands together in Anjali Mudra at your heart centre.
2. With each inhale open arms wide, gently hold your breath in for a moment and sense energy expanding out in all directions.
3. With each exhalation bring the hands and your awareness back to the chest.
For the first few rounds sense energy expanding out in all directions to the edges of your body. Then sense energy moving out into the space around your body. Finally sense your energy expanding out to the edges of time and space, to the ‘edge’ of the universe even! Sensing that there is nowhere your energy and consciousness cannot reach.
Well done if you’ve read this far! Now you’ve read all the above you know that next time you’re feeling a little off, in a funk and like you need a bit of flow, tune in to Vyana Vayu and see how you feel!