prana

Prāṇa is a central idea in Yoga’s understanding of life, vitality, and practice. It is often translated as “life force,” though no single English phrase captures every way the term has been used. Breath is one way we encounter and work with prāṇa; the two are closely related, but they are not identical.

At PRANAYAMA.COM, becoming Prana Literate means learning to recognize the language, traditions, and lived observations surrounding prāṇa without forcing them into a single modern explanation. We can explore what practice reveals, what traditional teachings propose, and what physiology can measure—while being clear about the difference between them.

This is the starting point for our study of pranayama and the perspective from which we examine contemporary breathwork.