Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Class
SB 4.4.25
Jaya Jagadisa Prabhu
December 17, 2018SB 4.4.25 — First of all she sat in the required sitting posture, and then she carried the life air upwards and placed it in the position of equilibrium near the navel. Then she raised her life air, mixed with intelligence, to the heart and then gradually towards the pulmonary passage, and from there to between her eyebrows.
About the speaker
Jaya Jagadisa Prabhu
Santa Cruz, California
Jaya Jagadisa das joined ISKCON in London in 1971 and received first and second initiation from Srila Prabhupada in the same year. He served under Hrdayananda Maharaja for 10 years — in Latin America and at the Spanish BBT. Later he was the business manager of BTG magazine and managed Caru’s radio station KHQN in Utah. He currently divides his time between Los Angeles and Santa Cruz, CA, where he works as a consultant to nonprofit organizations and does periodic editing work for various devotee authors.

Jaya Jagadisa Prabhu gave a fantastic class He covered 4 topics:
A brief overview of the chapters we’re studying
A quick definition of terms such as prana, life airs and vital force
A discussion of suicide and of austerities that torture the body
And finally spiritual practice and health, specifically as it relates to the devotees.
I especially like his analysis of the life airs and the research he came up with. The following is from his findings:
Yoga International: prana vayu (inward-moving air) governs reception into the body, including eating, drinking, inhaling, and receiving sensory and mental impressions. It’s the basic energy that drives us in life.
Apana vayu (downward & outward-moving air) governs the elimination of stool and urine, the expelling of semen, menstrual fluid, and the fetus, and the elimination of carbon dioxide through the breath. It’s the basis of our immune function.
Udana vayu, “upward moving air,” governs the growth of the body and the ability to stand, as well as speech, effort, enthusiasm, and will. It is our main positive energy.
Samana vayu, “balancing air,” aids digestion on all levels, working in the intestines to digest food, in the lungs to absorb oxygen, and in the mind to digest sensory, emotional and mental experience.
Vyana vayu, “outward moving air,” moves food, water, and oxygen throughout the body, keeps our emotions and thoughts circulating in the mind, and provides momentum and strength.
To reiterate, prana vayu governs the intake of substances, samana governs their digestion, and vyana governs the circulation of nutrients. Udana governs the release of positive energy, and apana governs the elimination of waste. Prana brings in the fuel, samana converts it to energy, and vyana circulates that energy. Apana disposes of waste, and udana manages the energy, enabling the machine to function effectively.
Hinduwebsite.com:
Prana has a visible aspect, which is the air we breath, and an invisible aspect, which is the energy that flows in the body through various channels. Prana connects the gross body with the subtle body.
The air that we breath in is prana. When we exhale or pass air, that’s considered apana. And when we belch, that’s samana.
The subtle current vyana circulates energy, and udana, that begins in the throat and moves up into the head, plays an important role in speech and in chanting mantras.