Sukha Kriya Pranayama

▵ Pranayama – Taking Charge Of The Fundamental Life Force
Sadhguru: When I say pranayama, people tend to translate it in English as a breathing technique or a breathing exercise, which it is not. “Prana” means “the vital energy”, “yama” means to gain control over that. So, it is a subtle process through which one can gain control over his inner energies. These processes are taught in their depth because transforming inner energies are very important to stabilize the body and the mind. Since prana has the karmic memory of the individual imprinted on it, it functions in each person in a unique manner.

Whatever you do in life, how your body, your mind, and your whole system function is ultimately determined by your prana. Prana is an intelligent energy. Since prana has the karmic memory of the individual imprinted on it, it functions in each person in a unique manner. By contrast, electricity does not have memory or intelligence. It can light up a light bulb, run a camera, and do a million other things, not because of its intelligence but because of the particular device that it powers. In the future, there may be smart electricity too. If you manage to imprint energy with a certain memory, you can make it behave in a certain way. 

▵ 5 Types of Prana 
There are five basic manifestations of prana in the body. These pancha vayus – prana vayu, samana vayu, udana vayu, apana vayu, and vyana vayu – direct different aspects of the human mechanism. Through yogic practices like the Shakti Chalana Kriya, you can to take charge of the pancha vayus. If you gain mastery over these five vayus, you will be free from most ailments, particularly psychological ones. This is something that the world needs today. 

Unless we act now, in the next fifty years, the number of people who are psychologically imbalanced, disturbed, or deranged will increase many times over, due to various factors in our lifestyles. We are handling many aspects of our lives in a grossly negligent way, for which we are going to pay the price. If you take charge of your prana, whatever the external situation may be, you will remain psychologically balanced. Right now, a whole lot of people are psychologically imbalanced, though not everyone may have a medical.

▵ Pranayama Benefits
Suppose your hand does its own thing and pokes you in the eye, scratches, and beats you – that is a sickness. This is what most people’s mind is doing. Every day, it pokes them from inside, makes them cry, bawl, or worry – in so many ways, it creates suffering for them. That means it is sick, even if in a socially accepted manner. Every kind of suffering that human beings are going through day in and day out is created in the mind. This sickness has set in, and it will multiply because of the social structures, the technology around us, and various other influences.Through yogic practices like the Shakti Chalana Kriya, you can to take charge of the pancha vayus.

One who takes charge of one’s prana can be one hundred percent assured to have unshakable psychological balance. This should also prevent physiological ailments to a large extent, though an element of risk remains due to various reasons, including infections and all kinds of chemicals and poisons that we are exposed to on a daily basis. There is no absolute control over what we take in through the air, water, and food, no matter how careful we are about what we consume. How much impact it has on us depends upon each individual.  

Physiological health cannot be guaranteed one hundred percent for external reasons. But psychological wellbeing can be one hundred percent guaranteed if you take charge of your prana. If you are psychologically in an extremely good place, a few physiological issues will not be a problem. Most of the time, minor bodily conditions are less of an issue than the reactions to them that happen in your mind. How the pranas function within you, how they transact with the rest of the universe, how they enter a newborn, and how they leave the dead, all clearly show they have an intelligence of their own.  

▵ Pranayama – Taking Charge Of The Fundamental Life Force (Isha)