Channels, Nadis, and Breath

The words nadis, channels and vehicles are meant to explain one and the same force which is called pranic force. According to some manuals the number of nadis is 72,000, other talk about 350,000 nadis. Modern view is that breathing exercises is only from the viewpoint of oxygen intake, and that the absorption of oxygen in large quantities would vitalize the nervous system.


In the science of breath, pranayama, this is a minor consideration. The ancient manuals of yoga anatomy,
describe a network of severalthousand nadis, or channels, through which the currents of prana flow,
energizing and sustaining all parts of the body as well as the several thousand nadis.


Fourteen are important. The most important among these are six:
ida, pingala, sushumna, brahmani, chitrani, and vijnana.
pingala (surya) which flows through the right nostril;
ida (chandra) which flows through the left nostril;
sushumna, which is a moment when both nostrils flow freely.
sushumna is of prime importance for meditation.
sushumna, if applied one cannot be disturbed
by anything, and the mind stills itself.

All three major nadis originate at the base of the spine and travel upwards. The sushumna nadi is centrally located and travels along the spinal canal. At the larynx it divides into an anterior portion and a posterior portion, both of which terminate in the brahmarandra, or Cavity of Brahma, which corresponds to the ventricular cavity in the physical body. The ida and pingala nadis also travel upwards along the spinal column, but they crisscross each other before terminating in the left and right nostrils, respectively.

Ida, Pingala and Sushumna

The junctions of ida, pingala and sushumna along the spinal column are called chakras, or wheels, and just as the spokes of a wheel radiate outward from the central hub, so do the other nadis radiate outward from the chakras to other parts of the body. In other words, the chakras are junctions of other nadis with the three main nadis: sushuman, ida and pingala.

There are seven principal chakras:
muladhara chakra at the base of the spine
swadhisthana chakra at the level of the hypogastric plexus,
manipura chakra at the level of the solar plexus,
anahata chakra at the level of the cardiac plexus,
vishuddha chakra at the level of the pharanx plexus,
ajna chakra at the level of the nasociliary plexus
sahasrara chakra at the top of the head.
The anterior portion of the sushumna passes through the ajna chakra
and the posterior portion passes behind the skull,
the two portions uniting in the brahmarandra.

The sustenance of the body is through the flow of the energy of prana through this network of nadis. In the average individual the dynamic and creative aspect of the energy of prana is only an tiny fraction of the total energy of prana, the major part is in a potential, or seed, state. Stored up energy is kundalini, the sleeping serpent coiled up in the muladhara chakra. In a average individual there is flow of prana through ida and pingala, but not through sushumna, this nadi is blocked at the base of the spinal column

Atman,Cosmic soul,and Brahman


 

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