prāṇá vai visve devʰáḥ
All “gods” are Prāṇa indeed
(Taittiriya Samhita 5.4.6)

Breathe to your lungs’ content

It’s the oxytocin – which makes us feel connected

Wanna be happy?  Then breathe a lot, slowly and rhythmically!  It’s free too! Preferably at <6 times a minute. Stop several times during the day to just do that, to breathe extra…

Everyone’s quest, yes including yogis, is to be happy, and more importantly, to stay happy, regardless of what’s happening around them!  Actually the right word for this state of happiness is ānanda, loosely translated as bliss or euphoria.  There are two key aspects to feeling unconditional happiness or euphoria – ample prāṇa and expansive nervous system to carry the prāṇa where needed.

The oxytocin angle is more complex.  The most pleasurable state a human experiences is during an orgasm.  There are a number things that happen simultaneously as we discussed before, but the release of oxytocin seem to be an important ingredient, which makes us feel that innate, ego-free or I-free connection.  Imagine if we can achieve a level of oxytocin release without depending upon an external partner…  To feel happy, connected to everything around us – an important characteristic of happy people.

Just like  any other yogic concept, there are several angles to it, but we will take the vāyu angle to this.  Long story short, at our beginner level, how we feel boils down to breath level.  We are under perpetual shortage of prāṇa – this affects everything at an unconscious level, where our brain is forced to take shortcuts.  This is also the main cause of “aging”; another topic for another day.  The state zero prana is death, right?  Also, keep the inferences  from “Siva’s night” and “neurobiology of bliss” blurbs on mind.    Here’s the rest of the story; let’s start with some fundamentals.

Seeker:  What’s this prana, and how is it connected to breath?
Rishis:  There are several layers to what prana is,  but vayu component of the breathing process accentuates prana.  In addition to air, it’s the rhythm,  particularly a slow rhythm.  Of course, oxygen and carbon dioxide are important too, but it is the rhythm that’s at the core of life.  Apparently 5-6 breaths per minute is the secret!

Seeker:  At a fundamental level, what makes us happy?
Rishis: Recall that the entire creation jumped out of quiescence by a little motion (rajas).  That big bang!  It’s this motion that’s at the core of our very existence, and we crave it.  That’s why we can’t sit steady idling…  As long as there’s directed motion, at the thought and body-levels, we are engaged and happy.  At the very basic existential level, it’s that rajasic or that movement aspect aspect that keeps us happy.  If that effort is purposeful, and others are appreciating it, that makes us even more happy.  Some people, typically labeled people pleasers, unconsciously crave this. In that sense, we use the external world as a mirror, to assess ourselves, whether we know it or not.  A different kind of happiness envelopes us if and when we return to the fundamental quiescence, and learn to be happy in a motionless quiescent state, which we will explore a little further…

Seeker:  Any coordinated movement can keep us happy?
Rishis: When we were kids, yes, any coordinated movement kept us happy. But as our mind developed likes and dislikes, habits and beliefs, these movements started receiving labels, turning them into preferences.  So, the first step to happiness is to minimizes labeling activities.  We will dig a bit deeper now…

Seeker:  What’s the difference between “happiness” and “bliss/euphoria (ananda)”?
Rishis:  Happiness is triggered by an external event, or at least involve an external agent, where as bliss or ananda is a state of mind, with no external agent or externally-driven triggers necessarily involved. Like when you wake-up in the fall morning, in a cabin house while on your vacation, surrounded by mountains, with trees changing colors all around… That’s for me at least. There are several states in between obviously.  Back to our topic of bliss-prāṇa relationship….

Seeker:  When do we feel euphoric?
Rishis:   When our frontal-self or ego does not enter the scene, like when we are playing with babies! Or in that vacation house…  Babies don’t evoke our egos, do they? Can babies ever insult us?  No!  Why not? We actually let our guard down completely for that reason. Not only that, we actually throw ourselves in harm’s way to protect them! Rarely happens in the adult world, except probably while interacting with moms, right?  Sustaining I-construct is a very energy (prana)-draining process.

I-ness results in or emanates from the “disturbances” in the rhythms – citta vritti!  Now we can connect the dots.  When such disturbances are minimized, which is yoga, we stay happy!

Seeker:  When does the Ego/I-ness peek out?
Rishis:   I-protection peeks out when the demand on prana is overwhelming the supply, or when the mind forecasts such a situation, and this happens automatically; our unconscious manages it.  Now, try holding the breath out to experience that. When we are threatened, the demand for prana goes up since we start processing all options.  In such circumstances, I-construct makes its presence in the pretext of protecting us, driving towards minimum-energy solutions so that prana demand is lowered to match the supply.  That simple! Looking at it from the other end, I-ness peeks out only when there’s a need for planning and execution.

When prana-levels are high, the ego/I-ness rests as the higher brain handles situations by computing everything properly. Let’s remember the good old rule:  when we have a lot more than what’s needed, we tend to be calm, and generous.

In a way, I want to be euphoric is an oxymoronic statement – because where there is a strong I-ness, there can not be any sustained bliss; at best there can be a few fleeting moments.

The second enabling factor for bliss is our nervous system  (the conduits for prana flow).  Without that, prana can’t flow to where it’s needed.   When not enough prana flows through the nervous system and when the body-mind complex gets overwhelmed by the demand for prana, we feel the six lower emotions (kāma, krōdha, lōbha, mōha, mada, mātsarya), depending upon where that shortage occurs.  When the nadi-conduits are fully open, and sufficient prana is flowing where needed, we are blissful.  A good analogy is electrical wire-current  analogy.  Both the wiring quality and current levels should be sufficient for the bulb to light up to its full capacity.

Seeker:  Take two: what’s this prana, and how is it connected to breath?
Rishis:  It’s the rhythm and air,  and we have talked about it already.

In Prashnopanishad,  a rishi tells his disciple that this universe is made of only two things – prana and rayi.   Prana is that which keeps us alive, that rhythm.  From the previous Vāyu blurbs, we know that life requires that primal vibratory energy (vāta), which is fed by food (rayi).  That’s the short answer. Note that rayi is not just solid food; any manifested part, like the atoms can be considered rayi.  Oxygen is consumed, hence part of rayi.   Minor terminology change, but at the core, it’s all the same – which is that there is the single primal duality of “devourer” and “devoured” that makes-up this universe – as Varuna explains to Bhrgu in the Ahimsa blurb –  that pair is agni and sōma!

So prana is that fundamental. At the beginner yoga practice level, prana is the breath level (not just oxygen, but that rhythm). It’s that pulsatory energy also. The lungs filling up and emptying out.   And bliss states require an open nervous system to transport this energy, assuming that we are well fed….

Seeker:  Do we ever experience such prana-excess moments in normal life?
Rishis:  Yes, of course,  we already talked about the cabin house scenario.  But in general, we are blissful, when we are away from the whatever is draining us by evoking our I-ness,…   Basically the surroundings should not evoke our ego, i.e., that I-ness.

As we approach that neutral state – that non-dualistic, non-polar, neutral state – we feel that unconditional happiness called bliss, euphoria, ānanda.  The closer we get to that state, the happier we feel, and the longer we linger around there, the better we feel. Again, we feel the happiest when our egos are subdued, and prana is that enabler.  Let’s  recollect that the Mine/NotMine duality is the very strong, and difficult to rise above that judgement  consistently, unless practiced.  Go back to the neurobiology of bliss-blurb.

Seeker:  What factors help and hurt prana levels?
Rishis: Note that it is always about the balance – prana consumption vs prana generation.  We are constantly generating some prana thru breathing.  Physical activity, thinking, using senses, particularly sight are all prana-consuming side of the ledger –  actually the very act of being awake is prana consuming. It’s a little surprising list, isn’t it?   And physical activity too? Yes. First of all, why do we need that excess physical activity?  Take another example of watching TV, or alcohol…  Is it relaxing or draining? It’s all about balance and trade offs.

Significant prana-drain occurs when we are working or focusing too; on top of that, we actually forget to breathe in spurts,, and even when we do, we do it irregularly…  The mind and body are working, but breath is uneven. Again, it’s about trade offs, but those activities by themselves, are prana-consuming.

On the other hand, sleep, meditation, sensory withdrawal, yoga-nidra, etc. are all prana conserving or prana-enhancing activities.  It’s all about balance, and lifestyle choices.  One size may not fit all.

So, excess demand from daily activities and general lethargy makes us run in chronic prana-deficit mode – with emphasis on chronic.   We don’t sense this deficit when it’s below some threshold.  It is this chronic, subsurface prana-deficit that gives us the persistent “feeling of lack” in the background.  Essentially we make decisions with this sense of lack playing in the background. Since we don’t understand this lack, depending upon the mental affliction, this lack expresses itself, and we see that the possession of the object in front us that we project onto will make us happy, through fulfilling that lack.  This “lack” forces the mind to constantly address questions related to fulfilment of that lack, which translates into questions like the following:  I don’t have that; I don’t have enough of that; I need that to feel happy; do I have enough for tomorrow, for retirement, for my kids; do I have enough to avoid current and future pain?  Again, same lack shining through the mental prism loaded with various impurities/inclusions (vasanas, samskaras).   We will pick this topic up a little later, but meditation is absolute necessity to integrate the mind to minimize these mental affliction/contradictions/defects within our minds.  What is meditation?  See the meditation detailed blurbs from before_/\_

Long story short, this chronic shortage of rhythmic breath shows up everywhere.

Seeker:  How’s this related to Yoga?
Rishis:   In every way.  It is in this key aspect that Yoga is different from Physical Exercise.  Yoga in its entirety is designed to enhance first, and ultimately balance prana.  All eight steps are designed to be prana-enhancing, at least in the long run.  

1. Yama, Niyama – conserve prana
2. Asana, pranayama – clean up nadis, and tune breathing, the prana mediating apparatus
3. Pratyahara, dharana, dhyana – prana-enhancing, and removes mental afflictions
4. Samadhi – perfectly balanced state of prana!

Seeker:  How to manage this in daily life?
Rishis:   While awake, take periodic breaks and do long deep breathing, with kumbhaka (breath retention).  Breathe fast voluntarily, do kapalabhati or even better, short spurts of bhastrika for ~30 seconds.  Same thing after coming back from a physical activity – breathe extra.  

Take for example, jogging or speed-walking.  Start breathing more well before your unconscious forces the issue.  When we do that, the routine physical activity becomes a yogic kriya.  This gets rid of the fatigue that follows the physical activity.     Try it for yourself!

May we all be blessed with a Blissful Life🙏🙏🙏