Opening the Currents of Prana: Yoga and the Five Vayus | Immersion in Santa Fe

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Opening the Currents of Prana: Yoga and the Five Vayus

The earliest yoga teachings describe the “winds” of the body moving through thousands of tubules, channels and vessels. In yoga there are five primary winds located in the lower intestine, solar plexus, chest, and head. In this course, we discover the intersection between contemporary understanding of the biorhythms of the blood and nerve with the older yoga model of the five winds. We use yoga posture, pranayama, and somatic practice (SATYA) to activate or mitigate the strength of each vayu. In order to meet the needs of your own physical condition, we take into account your fatigue levels, blood pressure, digestion, and age.

We map the pathway of the inner winds throughout the body in order to bring greater wakefulness and movement to each vayu. Through dharma study, guided meditation, yoga nidra, somatic awareness, and yoga postures, this is a transformational week of practice and study. Each day includes seated meditation, chanting, and inspirational dharma teaching followed by Somatic Awareness Training (SATYA). We offer both dynamic and restorative yoga practices to harmonize and enhance each vayu. In this intensive we will investigate poems of awakening from the yoga, Taoist, and Zen traditions to inspire opening in the physical body.

How might this workshop inform my teaching, personal practice, and my life?

Decrease Fatigue

• If you’ve been struggling with physical fatigue or low energy levels, this course can help rejuvenate your body. The practices emphasizes movement that increase tissue hydration and circulation. This helps revitalize your energy and leave you feeling more vibrant and alive.

Improve Digestion

• Your digestive health is paramount for overall vitality. If you suffer digestive issues, it depletes the overall prana. Many of these practices target the gut, to help improve your digestive fire and capacity for absorption.

Manage Stress and Anxiety

• In today’s hectic world, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by stress and anxiety. Tension often accumulates in the neck, head and jaw. Working with the vayus will not only release strain in your body but lead to tranquility of mind. By increasing your awareness of your body’s internal signals, you’ll gain valuable tools to better manage the flow of nerve and blood inside.

Alleviate Chronic Pain and Stiffness

• Opening the pathway of the inner winds provides a gentle yet effective approach to relieving tension. Through mindful movements like rocking, pumping, and sliding, you’ll open the internal channels and release areas of tension, allowing you to move more freely and comfortably.

Connect with Your Body’s Circulatory Flow

• In our busy lives, it’s easy to become dysregulated. Working with the five vayus offers a chance to regulate your circulatory, digestive and respiratory systems, leading to better overall health and a greater sense of well-being.

Day 1: Lower Intestine: Apana

This first day is the groundwork for the entire study. When the lower spine and its associated organs are healthy, there is lightness and space in their entire body. This day we explore the way the “inner winds” of nerve and blood pass through the lumbar spine, sacrum, pelvis, and pelvic organs. We do standing poses, twists, inversions, supine poses, supported backbends, and pranayama with focus on exhalation.

Day 2: Solar Plexus: Samana

The fire center of the body is difficult to control yet is the source of the body’s inner vitality. Samana is present in the upper abdomen and relates to digestive fire and the third chakra. This area is both the furnace for digestive fire and the place of absorption. This class aims to help release holding in the mid-trunk and solar plexus. In this day we explore uddiyana bandha in the abdominal region using SATYA, twists, forward bends, and pranayama.

Day 3: Heart + Lungs: Prana

Prana resides in the heart/lungs and is the gateway to the experience of lightness and joy. In this day we concentrate on opening the upper ribs, sternum, and collar bones in order to improve elasticity of the lungs. Our emphasis is on releasing restriction in the diaphragm and mobilizing the breath. We explore the ways that grief, depression, and joy are regulated by prana. Practice includes backbends, inversions, meditation, and pranayama.

Day 4: Throat + Skull: Udana

Udana is the upward rising breath located in the throat and head. It is the most difficult of all the vayus to control. In this day, we will see how stress, psychological tension, and emotional strain result in constriction of the neck, jaw, and tongue. This class addresses the effects of jalandhara bandha related to the throat chakra. We do inversions, supported backbends, meditation, chanting, and pranayama.

Day 5: Circulation: Vyana

This vayu is the most healing of all the internal winds. It involves the circulation of blood through the organs, glands, and tissues of the body. Vyana, the “dispersing wind,” promotes meditative awareness, serenity, and deep rest. We do floor work, supported poses, savasana, yoga nidra, and meditation.

When: August 10 – 14 | 9:30am – 5:00pm Mountain Time

Cost: Early Bird Rate of $995 + tax before July 18, or + $1,095 + tax after

*Registration includes daily vegan, organic, gluten-free lunches and tea

*Anatomy of the Vayus is good for 30-Hours of Continuing Education hours through Yoga Alliance, and can be applied towards required hours for the Prajna Yoga Therapy Track and our 300/500-Hour Teacher Training Program