These past two days of training have been quite lovely. Yesterday was another hill day. I had to run a total of 4 miles. So I ran up and down Runyon Canyon twice (see photo of the canyon). Today I just needed to do 3 miles so I jogged down residential streets in Beverly Hills and back. In the yoga department, last night I taught an Evening Flow class and today after running I went to Kate's Vinyasa Flow class at Liberation Yoga. The main experience that I've been having over these two days is an increased sensation of prana in my body.
Prana is a Sanskrit word translating to "vital life". In Hinduism it is "the universal life force, which is a vibrant psychophysical energy." The Yoga-Vasishtha describes prana as "the 'vibratory power' that underlies all manifestation" (Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga by Georg Feuerstein). Prana can be thought of simply as energy, but there is something more to it. It is this rise of inner power that feels somehow linked to spirit. As the prana within increases, there is an experience of being uplifted, even carried, by a force greater than oneself. Yoga asana is thought to increase prana by clearing the "nadis" which are the channels in the body through which subtle energies flow. Nadis can be compared to the energy meridians of Chinese medicine. Most people who take a yoga class experience a sort of uplifted sensation in their body, a feeling of having clearer, more awakened energy (this was true for my students last night who kept commenting on how good their bodies felt after class). This is because the yoga poses are designed to open up these channels of energy that tend to get blocked and stifled in daily life.
So anyway, as my running endurance has increased over the past couple weeks it feels that I've been cultivating a more constant experience of prana in my system. This vital life energy is almost always present in my core and heart and solar plexus. It makes my breath feel clearer and my limbs feel more awake, even, and aligned. It feels like I could jump to action at any moment. I guess it is mainly a strong sensation of health and aliveness. Which is awesome, but it can also be intimidating. It can sometimes be scary to feel so energized, it takes away excuses. If you are in a lethargic state and all your nadis are blocked and you have no zest for anything, you can go about doing little-to-nothing day in and day out. But if you feel awake and alive you are suddenly accountable to yourself on a new level. I think that's one reason we humans have a tendency to get drunk or get stoned or just get slobbish and let ourselves go... what would we do if all our potential was filled out? What if our life force was raging every moment of every day? What if there was nothing stopping us...?
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