Prana
Energy
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Prana is the energy that is the basic building block of all creation, animate life as well as inanimate matter, along with all the forces that power and move them.
Quantum physics tells us that all matter, reduced to it basic component, is nothing but energy. Little quanta of energy, spinning in different ways make up a few types of particles. These particles in turn, organised in various ways, make up the protons, neutrons and electrons which make up atoms; these atoms, in turn, combine in unique ways to make up the hundred odd elements we study about in chemistry. These hundred odd elements are the list of ingredients for all of creation, living and non-living. Prana is the term for that elemental cosmic energy which makes the particles that comprise all of creation.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed - thats physics 101. So it is with prana. Prana changes form and function, from energy to matter, matter to energy, one kind of energy to another, and from potential to kinetic.
Prana types
Prana changes meaning, based on the context in which it is referred to. Some common definitions of prana, with reference to the relevant context:
Cosmic Energy
of all creation
Matter is made of energy. Matter is powered by energy. The stars burn matter to release the energy stored in it. Life powers itself by burning food to release energy. Prana, when used to refer to this elemental energy which makes up all creation, and then powers it, means that Cosmic Energy from which come the galaxies and alternate universes as well as everything in them.
Life Force
or pranic energy
In this context, prana refers to that energy which keeps you alive. While all living and non-living have some measure of prana or energy, it takes a different form to animate matter into a living conscious sentient entity. Prana as a life force in this context is the same as Chi, Qi, Numa, Mana, Ruah - every culture worldwide has an equivalent name for it which translates to "vital life force".
Breathing
in the human body
When referred to in the context of pranayama, prana is the breath. Every form of life that we know breathes, one way or another. The breath is an involuntary reflex most easily brought under voluntary control. It forms the bridge or entry point for us to gain conscious control of all those bodily functions commonly believed to be involuntary.
In the body
5 functions
With reference to the human body, prana refers to the 5 movements of the life force within the body. Prana (ingestion), Apana (excretion), Vyana (circulation, of blood and nerve impulses), Udana (movement of energy between the heart region and the brain/ top of the head) and Samana (movement of absorbed nutrition from the abdominal to the thoraxic regions).
With reference to the last type of prana, in addition to the 5 major functions of prana within the body, there are also 5 minor functions, attributed to the upa-pranas. Naga (burping and hiccups), Koorma (blinking and other reflex actions of the eyes), Krikara (drives hunger, thirst, sneezing, coughing), Devadatta (yawning and inducing sleep) and Dhananjaya (last prana to leave the body; decay and decomposition commence once this prana is gone).
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