The Five Pranas and How They Changed My Life - Part II
THE FIVE PRANAS CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE AS WELL
This the 3rd article in a series, read the first two here:
➡️ Introduction to the series of prana
➡️ What is prana?
DEAD FOOD
From studying the five pranas I came to learn that much of the food we offer to our body is dead food!! Weird no? What does that mean? DEAD FOOD IS: Food that has lost all of its prana.
Food without prana won't give you the required energy to do the things you love. There are SO many things in this world I love doing -> which is why I changed my diet to bring the maximum of prana into my body. I am surprised at how much it changed my life.
You Can't Reuse Prana
The biggest change was to eliminate all foods where the prana had already been consumed once, meaning that if I am to eat that food, I would only get the left over prana. This practically means that I have cut out all meat from my diet. Rather than eating an animal, I prefer to go straight to the source of prana and skip the link in between.
It also meant that I have cut out all dairy products from my life. Due to the way the dairy products are treated, once they reach your plate/cup, there is absolutely no prana left.
There is another side to this story, I will tell you later.... (keep reading and you will find out)
I never buy ready meals and avoid using the microwave. I really do not trust the microwave, my flatmate thinks I am crazy.
Once the food is cooked the prana begins to leave the food or you could say that the food is dying. Cook fresh and eat fresh as much as possible.
Treat Yourself To A Mars Bar
We need to stop thinking that treating ourselves is feeding ourselves something "naughty". How often do you treat yourself and then feel guilty afterwards? A true treat makes you feel empowered and joyful.
You don't ever need to go on a diet. You just need to make a few changes here and there add some good sources of prana and you are all good to go.
I Eat Cake For Breakfast
I do. Raw vegan cakes made of cashews, nut butters, dates, seeds, natural sweeteners, and fresh fruit. They are full of prana to get me going for the day. Or how about banana, blueberry, buckwheat pancakes with raw strawberry jam? Ya, It tastes SO good!
Mostly I eat Vegan Chia Breakfast though, beacuse it is easy, nourishing and super tasty. Find my recipe here:
Healthy Brain Vegan CHIA Breakfast - Omega3 infused
Everything Is Food -
Your Thoughts Need Digesting
Everything we bring into our system is, from a yogic perspective, regarded as food. Italian pizza and Indian curries as well as new ideas and the conversation with your colleague are all feeding us and need digesting. This is food for thought, because how you think, who you are surrounded by and how you live can either give you energy and boost you or take away energy and pull you down.
If I am experiencing stuck emotions, thoughts or slow digestion I know to work on my apana prana and samana prana in the yoga practice.
Do I feel sluggish, tired or low on energy, then I get my prana vayu working with lots of active breaths and Utkutasana (Chair pose).
When I am cold and notice that my blood circulation isn't sufficient, I bring in samana and viyana prana with a fast pace yoga practice or a run in the forrest.
The 5 Pranas Are In Every Asana
The 5 pranas are boosting you in every pose; if you allow them to. This is when we experience the feeling of FLOW.
Flow is the state in which all the physiological systems, as well as the system in the subtle body, are functioning optimally. Your attitude in the pose has a magnificent impact on you flow. Tensing and holding your breath will block the flow. If you would like to improve a pose, you have to practice with ease and fluidity. Whenever you force or pull yourself into a pose, you are not winning. Is your face relaxed? are you able to smile? Can you guide the breath slowly? Yes? Then you've got, and your pose will improve, you will be able to do things you wouldn't have imagined. -> I keep reminding myself as well :)
HOW DO I ENSURE FLOW?
In every pose, you have the opportunity to make space for all aspects of prana. Then your poses will be much more easeful and performed with kindness towards the body, creating flow rather than tension.
MAHAVIRBHADRASANA EXAMPLE
In Mahavirbadrasana (Great - Beautiful- Warrior/Warrior 2), use apana prana to ground and snuggle the feet into the earth. Lifting tall and rising high are dependent on a solid foundation and a strong connection to the earth.
Open your chest and lengthen the spine with prana vayu, breathe deeper. Be picky with your inhales and exhales in yoga. When you inhale, inhale only the best quality air in front of you with pockets of joy and smiles. Exhale longer, it will create confidence and space in the pose.
Samana vayu is the balance you create between apana and prana, Hey, you don't need to go crazy looking for balance. You need to create it!
Vyana vayu is everywhere it is the lengthening of your spine and the creation of space in your toes, legs, arms, wrists, and fingers. Develop awareness of your whole body in the pose, without forgetting the arm behind you, or the back foot. Bring your arms to shoulder height and press into the outer edge of the back food to create a rise in the inner arch.
Soften your face, neck, and gaze. Smile and feel the crown of your head lifting - final touch to the pose is the notion of udana vayu; the deep connection to yourself. This is where you make yourself light. Rather than feeling like a heavy lump of flesh placed on your legs and thighs, make yourself weightless by drawing the navel to towards your heart and your heart towards the sky.
You Are Your Best Health Adviser
I have become my own health adviser, to a certain extent. I have a direct influence on my health. When I am sick and need treatment by doctors I am still able to influence my recovery with food, yoga, movement, and meditation.
Of course, my knowledge of prana is limited and Ayurveda expands much further on this subject. Ayurveda is able to cure many diseases that Western medicine is still looking at with confusion.
That way, the practice on the mat has once again become a way of life.
Capitalistic Prana Rules, The Rich Gets More
With this in mind, I don’t mean to say that some people have more access to prana than others. It is not that some people have more opportunities to receive better prana than others. The prana we receive through food is the least important. Feed your body the best food that is available to you. Eat seasonally and prepare your meals from scratch. Take moments to infuse yourself, your food and your surroundings with the best prana. Prana is available to everybody, evenly and equally. You just have to open your heart, breathe deeper and make yourself the best receiver of prana
That is what we do in our yoga practice: we make ourselves the best receiver of prana so that we are able to sustain our body as a strong vehicle to take us through life and open up to the opportunity to experience and connect with higher consciousness.
The Most Important Prana Is Toxic Free
Out of the 4 sources, only one of them comes without toxins. Food, environment, and breath all supply you with prana but they also bring toxins into the body. Higher connections are the prana we receive through meditation or moments where we are deeply connected with ourselves. There are no toxins involved with that, and it is always free of charge.
Prana is a constant exchange of energy and it is always moving. Movements create vibration and vibration have the quality and power to change. I mentioned that some sources of prana give you energy, where others take away your energy. This concept counts for you as well: You can live in such a way that gives more prana or takes away prana.
The Conservatives Have Always Taken Care Of Me
We all need to make choices that are beneficial for us, society and the planet. And these choices change over time. I want to talk to you about meat and dairy. Yes, at some point in human existence, it might have made sense to eat meat and gather milk. But for most of us now, this is no longer true.
When your mum or grandma cook for you, they make food and serve love. You can taste it in the meal. They make happy food. As you chew your steak, the fear, anxiety, stress, and sadness of the animal are present in every bite, every muscle. It is stored and you are eating it. It is not stirred full of love like your mum's food, it is charged with depression and distress.
We used to walk barefooted and when my dad was young the teachers would harm the children in school. Set yourself free of traditions and ingrained habit patterns. Ask yourself, what is the best option for me, the world and the planet right now? You ancestors goal was not to create a copy of themselves, it was so to create the best version of you, with knowledge and freedom to make quality decisions.
The questions "What is good for me?" is all about you and it is all about us! When voting for a political party, don't look into how much tax reduction they will give you. Look at how they draw the future for the country and the world. Look at it as a whole, and be honest, what makes the most sense for all of us? If you vote for yourself and with only you in mind, you constantly have to change parties as you go through life, "this party makes sure I get most money during my studies, this party makes sure I get the most benefits while setting up my business, this party ensures I get most out of being a business owner and this party ensures I get more out of my pension". This is not a way of choosing.
Zoom out!
