This text was written for the Zinal Congress of the EUY in 2024
PRĀṆA
by Patrick Daubard, photo credit Surdu Horia
PRĀṆA is the sum total of all energy that is manifest in the universe” (Sivananda)
Prāṇa is the impulse of life, it is the will to be. ‘Being’ in the sense of existing, not merely subsisting. In human beings, ‘being’ translates into a projection of oneself in actions and thoughts. A projection to encounter the true ‘self’, through our inexhaustible capacity to eternally transform ourselves. Prāṇa acts as the essential catalyst for that transformation.
It is through this energy which is in us and flows through us, and which is thus the energy of the cosmos, the energy of the universe, that we will achieve that projection and that return to what is essential.
I am personally convinced that the return to what is essential is facilitated by contact with nature. Real contact, physical and sensory.
This is why we practise Yoga Toumo in nature, wearing as little clothing as possible.
Some little observations about physics:
Electric currents constantly flow from the sky to the earth and those electric currents are vital for our physiology. We ourselves are electrically charged, which for example enables the nervous system to function. We are therefore particularly receptive to the electric currents present in the atmosphere. Acupuncturists rely on such physical laws to work on our bodies and promote the fluidity of their mechanisms.
As it happens, these electric fields are associated with prāṇa. Be careful though, as this does not mean that they are one and the same thing, but rather that they are associated (by the presence, for example, of negative ions). You should know that inside a room, most building materials block these electric fields and that certain clothing also acts as a repellent by ‘enveloping’ the wearer in static electricity.
It is therefore when we are in nature, preferably barefoot, with as little clothing as possible, that finally electricity and prāṇa can circulate freely, and that which brings about an immediate sensation of well-being.
The practice of Yoga Toumo is first and foremost an intimate encounter with nature and with ourselves, a true communion. Every morning, we have an appointment with nature, regardless of the weather. That meeting is sacred!
During our meditation, we will recharge ourselves with prāṇa and diffuse it harmoniously throughout our body. We will taste the poetry, the beauty, the force of nature, of the mountain, of the river… The strength of nature will merge with our inner force and ‘become one’, enabling us to touch, if only with our fingertips, and if only for a second which becomes eternity, the sensation of ‘being one with the universe’.
And there, within this ‘in-between space’, of this ‘timeless dimension’, of this instantaneous contact with what we really are, at the heart of this sensation of ‘being one with the universe’, suddenly, as if by magic, all fears melt away and we can finally concentrate on what matters, the supreme goal of existence: simplicity, openness to the world, openness to others, generosity, self-love (which many people have lost along the way), love of others, love of all that is…
