PRANA

Sanskrit Prana ("breath"), in Indian philosophy, the body's vital "airs," or energies. A central conception in early Hindu philosophy, particularly as expressed in the Upanishads, prana was held to be the principle of vitality and was thought to survive as a person's "last breath" for eternity or until a future life. Prana was at times identified with the self. It is also the first in a series of "five pranas," windlike vital forces that are supposed to assist breathing, distribution of food in the body, and digestion. In Yoga philosophy, emphasis is placed on full control of the prana, through the practice of pranayama (q.v.), in order to enable one to meditate without respiratory distraction and also for its therapeutic effect on disorders.