A Deeper Understanding of Prana

If you have read An Introduction to the Chakras and would like to learn more about subtle energy, this post is for you.

Shiva and Shakti In yoga philosophy, the body is shaped and sustained by Prana – a life force that can be described as intelligent energy. Prana expresses itself through two intertwined qualities: shiva-prana, the guiding intelligence, and shakti-prana, the animating power.

At conception, Prana enters the fertilised egg. Shakti-prana fuels growth and movement, while shiva-prana quietly directs the process, deciding what becomes bone, muscle, skin, or organ. One carries the blueprint; the other brings it into form.

Prana is said to be stored in the brain and to flow down the spine through sushumna, the central channel. In early life, this flow builds the body. As we mature, it becomes the force that maintains, repairs, and heals.

Along this pathway sit the chakras – living centres of awareness. In the upper chakras, closer to the brain, shiva-prana is more prominent, supporting clarity, reflection, and understanding. As Prana moves lower, shakti-prana becomes more dominant, expressing itself through instinct, sensation, desire, and embodied power.

At the base of the spine, shakti-prana is often described as “sleeping”. Not dormant, but subtle, its roots lie beneath conscious thought, shaping our impulses and responses long before the mind steps in.

These two forces are never truly separate. One may lead for a time, but both are always present. Yoga does not ask us to choose between them. Instead, it invites a remembering; a gentle reuniting of intelligence and energy, guiding Prana back towards balance, wholeness, and a felt sense of being fully alive.

The weaving currents of Prana

This movement of Prana through the body is shaped by two subtle pathways (nadis) known as ida and pingala. If sushumna (also a nadi) is the central river, ida and pingala are the currents that spiral around it, influencing how energy is felt and expressed day to day.

Ida flows along the left side of the spine. It carries a cooling, inward quality, linked to receptivity, intuition, emotion, and rest. Ida is the current of sensing rather than doing, of listening rather than directing.

When Ida is dominant, the body leans towards softness and repair, and the nervous system has space to settle. Ida carries the qualities of shakti in her inward, receptive form. She governs sensation, emotion, intuition, and the capacity to soften and receive. Ida is the lunar current - fluid, rhythmic, responsive. When Ida is dominant, experience is felt rather than analysed. This is energy turning towards embodiment.

Pingala flows along the right side. It is warming, active, and outward-moving, supporting clarity, motivation, and purposeful action. This is the current that helps us engage with the world, make decisions, and move forward with intent. Pingala expresses the qualities of shiva as clarity, direction, and purposeful action. It is solar, warming, outward-moving. Pingala supports discrimination, focus, and the organising intelligence that helps us act in the world. This is consciousness giving shape and direction to energy.

Yoga does not aim to suppress either current. Instead, it invites balance. As Ida and Pingala come into harmony, their pull softens, and Prana naturally enters the sushumna. This is not something to force or strive for, but something that emerges through steady, attentive practice.

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Seen this way, Prana is not an abstract concept but a living presence, quietly shaping how we feel, think, respond, and restore. Through the interplay of shiva and shakti, ida and pingala, we are continually being invited back into balance, not through effort or control, but through awareness and relationship.

Yoga becomes less about directing energy and more about listening to it, noticing where we are over-driving or withdrawing, and allowing the system to find its own intelligence again. When we tend to this subtle ecology with patience and care, Prana remembers its way, and we remember ourselves as whole, responsive, and deeply alive.

Recommended reading

Eastern Body, Western Mind by Anodea Judith

Prana and Pranayama by by Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati