Samana Vayu: The Middle Breath

Samana Vayu is the third of the 5 Prana Vayus that I have written about in recent newsletters (see our blog to read up on the first two if you missed it). Whereas Prana Vayu inspires inhalation and an upward, expansive energy, and Apana Vayu inspires exhalation and a downward, outgoing energy, Samana Vayumeets in the middle. Located in the space of the navel, "Samana"suggests equilibrium—a state of balance. In practical, mundane terms,Samana is the essential energy of digestion, and as such brings vitalityto the digestive system and its associated organs.

"Sama" means equal or same. Samana Vayu lies in the space between Pranaand Apana, between the space of the chest, and the bowl of the pelvis.The experience of the breath here is the natural, spontaneous pausebetween inhalation and exhalation. In that pause at the top ofinhalation for example, the breath "hovers" for a moment and becomesstill, and it is in that moment that we assimilate or absorb the energyof the Prana before exhaling. Similarly at the end of exhalation there'sa moment of pause, and space to "digest" the experience of stillnesswhen Prana and Apana come into balance with one another. This moment ofspontaneous breath retention is referred to as the "middle breath" inthe Upanishads, and in focusing on these moments of equilibriu