by Amélie Michaud (FBHY, Belgium)
Feeling the Prāṇa after Zinal 2024
How is your prana as we move into the autumn? For several reasons mine was well nourished at the EUY Congress in Zinal, which I attended for the first time.
• It is easier to become aware of prana when in natural surroundings, in the mountains for example, when the weather is good, since that life force is principally created by the sun and by the wind moving across water. The keynote speakers Siddhartha Krishna and Swami Maitreyi constantly repeated it… Prana is everywhere around us, especially in places where the air is pure.
• Practising tummo yoga every morning with Patrick Daubard, which was new for me. The sessions, particularly thanks to pranayama practices, enabled me to fully embrace the feel of the prana-filled air on my skin, the activation of inner fire in reaction to willingly allowing myself to be cold and the circulation of energy in my body.
• The demanding visualisations of sushumna and the seven chakras outside my material physical structure led by André Riehl in the Shaivite nidrā yoga tradition created periods of concentration and intense focus in a seated position. It is difficult to express in words these experiences, which were more about feeling and sensing the energy… What I take away from them especially is the sense of accessing a space where unity and creation lie and where everything is possible.
• Swami Maitreyi’s guided meditations, amongst many other things, enabled me to connect prana with the nervous system and experience the prana of my emotions (colours, sensations, etc).
• The partner work led by Osman Yoncaova offered the chance to perceive the prana generated by connection to another human being.
• I believe prana also circulates between us, which is why this meeting of two hundred people interested in yoga was so powerful.
Thank you to all the volunteers who made it possible for these experiences to happen and wishing everyone a prana-filled autumn!
