Trimester 1: BREATHING Lesson 2: PRANA & APANA

1.2: PRANA & APANA  • Prana Apana Nyasa • Five Prana Vayus • Context Is Everything • Yoga Yajnavalkya

PRANA APANA NYASA Om namo pranayá Pranaya nama om Pranaya swahä Om namo apanayá Apanaya nama om Apanaya swahä Om swahä Haríh om

Explanation of the Prana Nyasa Chant Nyasa = Placing, Inserting, Applying Vi: “Arrangement” OM: a word of solemn affirmation and respectful assent , sometimes translated by `” yes , verily , so be it “ Namo: “bowing down; paying reverence to; adoration” pra: “before ; forward , in front , on , forth” anu: “living, human - also, unit; atom” apa: “away , off , back” Swaha: “hail! hail to! may a blessing rest on!; an exclamation used in making oblations to the gods” also “ • swa = self • ha = fire, heat (as in HAtha yoga) Hari, name of Vishnu as the destroyer of the darkness of samsâra (worldly illusion) #646 in the Vishnu Sahasranama

1.2-1 Leslie Kaminoff’s Yoga Anatomy: Advanced Studies Program

CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING On the Nature of Concepts • Anchored to reality • Avoiding floating abstractions • Avoiding “should” and “the” • No such “thing” as an asana On the Nature of Yogic Language • Metaphor as distillation of experience • “Butterflies in the stomach” • The map and the territory

YOGA YAJNAVALKYA AND HISTORIC PERSPECTIVE

“Pranayama is the Definition of pranayama in the Yoga Yajnavalkya Samhita: balanced joining of Prana Apana Samayogah Pranayamah Iti Iritah the in-breath and the • Iti: refers to something that has been said or thought, or lays stress out-breath” on what precedes —Yoga Yajnavalkya Samhita • Iritah: “said, uttered” English translation: Pranayama is the balanced joining of the in-breath and the out-breath.

Distinctive context of Krishnamacharya’s definitions: • Prana - yama vs. Prana - ayama • Yoga as joining vs. Yoga as union • Yoga metaphysics (dualistic) vs. Vedanta metaphysics

Vedanta sutras refute yoga: Etena yogah pratyuktah (V.S. Chap.II, Sec.I, Sutra 3) English translation: Thus (by what we have just said) the yoga is also refuted.

1.2-2 Trimester 1: BREATHING Lesson 2: PRANA AND APANA

FIVE PRANA VAYUS Prana: “forward moving air” Apana: “air that moves away” Udana: “upward moving air” Vyana: “outward moving air” Samana: “balancing air”

DAVID FRAWLEY ON THE FIVE PRANA VAYUS http://www.vedanet.com/2012/06/secrets-of-the-five-pranas/

“As a simple summary we could say that Prana governs the intake of substances. Samana governs their digestion. Vyana governs the circulation of nutrients. Udana governs the release of positive energy. Apana governs the elimination of waste-materials. This is much like the working of a machine. Prana brings in the fuel, Samana converts this fuel to energy, Vyana circulates the energy to the various work sites. Apana releases the waste materials or by products of the conversion process. Udana governs the positive energy created in the process and determines the work that the machine is able to do.”

1.2-3 Leslie Kaminoff’s Yoga Anatomy: Advanced Studies Program

Organic origins of Prana/Apana Cellular function • Nutrition in (Prana) • Waste out (Apana) Cellular Structure • Semi-permeable membrane • Stability (Sthira) • Permeability (Sukha) Body levels • Cell • Tissue • Organ • System • Organism

Brahma Granthi: “The Knot of Brahma” • Root location vs. Central location • Instinctive (infantile) vs. Conscious (adult) responses to stress • Good space vs. Bad space

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