For the last two months, I’ve been slowly working through a Pranayama Immersion with Melissa Shah (@findyourbreath). She’s an amazing South Asian teacher I’ve also been taking mantra chanting sessions with. I highly recommend following, learning from her and checking out her offerings.

Since yoga asana is usually the most popular form of practice, the study and teachings of the subtle body, prana and pranayama often get skimmed over in 200 (and even 300) hour teacher trainings. It’s been really amazing to dedicate more time to learning about that area of yoga the last 4 years and deepening my own knowledge for teaching and my own practice. It’s so fascinating and such a beautiful school to see the body and it’s functions through.

Prana is a Sanskrit term that can be translated to mean life force or vital energy. You’ve heard it in my classes and probably in others. And probably all over the internet now. But honestly, when we’re in a yoga class - especially an asana practice that focuses on the physical body, postures and Western anatomy (which is a lot of them), it’s so easy to forget or even altogether miss the deeper intention, purpose and design of the practice.

Pranayama, as most of you might already know, is the yogic practice that focuses on the breath. We usually hear it referred to as breath work or we hear of things like breath work that are disassociated from yoga. Pranayama specifically is all about working with the breath to influence and guide prana in particular ways. We go to the breath directly to turn the unconscious activity of breathing into a conscious practice where we utilize anything from simple awareness to all sorts of different techniques of control.

During the immersion every time we dove a little bit deeper Melissa would raise the question: “what’s the point?”

Whether it’s in the practice of pranayama or asana, meditation, studying the philosophy, or maybe in the practice of integrating yogic concepts into our daily lives, it can be really grounding to come back to that question. As both a student and a teacher, that question was like a light shining on some shadowy corners of the way yoga is generally perceived, taught and on what tends to be missing from the class. Guidance toward the point. It’s hard to do when you only have an hour and the classes are centered on asana. But the mainstream model of yoga has also plugged yoga into the fitness industry which has further contributed to the loss of its true essence when it’s taught.

We may all approach yoga with our own intentions which we can hope to manifest. But ultimately, the humbling truth of the point of yoga, is that we are embarking on a journey through a path that is there to support us toward an unknown outcome or result. This was a major reminder and takeaway from the immersion. We influence prana, that animating life force, so that it can flow as freely as possible in the direction it’s already going. We don’t actually know to what end or what that looks like. But, we do know that what we’re doing influences so much more than the physical. We do know that the point is not just the physical. Nor is it just the metaphysical. We are influencing a network of systems that all already function and operate naturally, symbiotically. Prana animates the systems that the body rely on to function. But we can’t force it to go anywhere or do anything. We are simply cultivating a conscious relationship with that truth about ourselves and supporting the flow. The “true nature” often referred to in yoga is the fact that there is a world within us that is already alive and that is brought to life by the same energy that animates and enlivens the world, the Universe, around us. That’s always the (brilliant) point, no matter what our personal intentions or motivations are.

The yoga practice is vast and is far more specific than it might seem. There are so many ways to influence prana on a beautifully particular level depending on where you are at any given moment, the state of your mind, the situation you may be going through, or something that your body may be experiencing. One pose or breathing technique influences prana one way, while others will influence it another. And we may not always be able to notice or feel the shifts. It’s such an exploration. It’s a living body of knowledge and a moving practice. And, in my opinion, a great opportunity to refine our awareness and relationship to self and all else.

That’s been a big part of my shifting - no, expanding - what and how I teach the last several years. I hope to help bridge the gap between how yoga is perceived and what it is at its core. I hope to offer more of what yoga is about and share more of the plethora of practices that are there to support the variety of things we might experience. And that’s always been what gravitates me to yoga. There’s always more. I haven’t been able to stop studying, practicing or teaching since I began and I just keep wanting to learn more! It’s truly the longest (and healthiest) relationship I’ve ever had.

As you practice, I encourage you to continue asking that question. What’s the point? Or, what is my relationship with the practice?

Continue practicing and continue exploring the practice. Continue tuning into where you are and how you your life shift. As you change and evolve as a person and student of the practice and life changes around you, you can find different elements and limbs of the practice to support your ever-changing reality.

We can sit back and enjoy the blissful experiences we gain from each and every practice while also connecting more deeply to the practice itself by grounding in its intention and purpose.