How Prana Flows Through Nadis and Chakras: The Yogic Energy Map Explained

If Part 1 helped you meet Prana, Part 2 helps you feel it — within your breath, your energy, your awareness, and your daily existence.

Though we just touched upon the basics of the vital energy flow and the main channels in Part 1 this part is going to elaborate on those and go further ahead.

Since an extrapolative work on ancient findings on prana with the modern medical science is included, the blog is going to be exceptionally long.

Prana: The Universal Breath of Life – Part 2

The Subtle Network — Upapranas, Nadis, and Chakras

We left off exploring the primary five Pranas. Now, the subtler layers unfold — the Upapranas and the intricate network through which Prana flows.

The Upapranas — The Supporting Currents

Beyond the five main currents lie five auxiliary Pranas, known as Upapranas or 

subsidiary airs. Though quieter in influence, they keep the subtle body in balance, much like small regulators fine-tuning the great machinery of life.

1. Nāga – Governs burping and the release of air or subtle pressure from within. Spiritually, it represents the body’s natural intelligence to expel what is excessive — physical or emotional.

2. Kūrma – Controls blinking, protecting the eyes and maintaining presence in the outer world; symbolically, it shields consciousness from overstimulation.

3. Kṛkara – Triggers hunger, thirst, and sneezing — maintaining alertness and ensuring that vital instincts remain active.

4. Devadatta – Responsible for yawning and relaxation; it helps release fatigue and renew Pranic flow when the body needs rest.

5. Dhananjaya – The mysterious Prana that lingers after death; it prevents immediate decay and is said to leave the body last, sometimes days later.

Each Upaprana has a physical and an energetic role, harmonizing micro-functions of the organism with the macro-rhythm of life. When any one of them is disturbed, subtle disharmonies arise that, over time, translate into physical or psychological imbalance.

The Journey of Prana — From Birth to Departure

At conception, Prana is said to enter with the first spark of consciousness that animates the embryo. Its full manifestation occurs with the first breath after birth — a divine contract between soul and body.

During life, these ten Pranas operate in perfect coordination — inhalation (Prana), digestion (Samana), circulation (Vyana), elimination (Apana), and expression (Udana). When death approaches, their withdrawal occurs in reverse order.

Udana rises first, guiding the consciousness upward.

Vyana retracts, causing limbs to lose warmth.

Samana extinguishes the digestive fire.

Apana ceases, ending excretion.

Finally, Prana exits through the chosen gateway — ideally the crown (Brahmarandhra) in evolved beings, or lower centers in others.

Dhananjaya remains for a short while, protecting the form before total dissolution.

This process shows that death is not a single event but a sequence — an elegant un-winding of the tenfold Pranic symphony.

The Nadis — Channels of the Life Force

If Prana is electricity, Nadis are the wires. Ancient yogic texts describe 72,000 Nadis, though only a few are primary conduits for spiritual evolution.

1. Ida Nadi – Originating at the left of the spine, lunar in nature, cooling and feminine. It governs mental activity and parasympathetic functions.

2. Pingala Nadi – Solar, warm, masculine; running along the right side of the spine, governing physical energy and sympathetic action.

3. Sushumna Nadi – The central channel within the spinal column; neutral, balancing the duality of Ida and Pingala. It is the royal road to higher consciousness.

When Ida and Pingala are balanced through breath and awareness, energy naturally enters Sushumna, awakening the inner fire (Kundalini).

In that moment, Prana stops oscillating between left and right; it ascends vertically — the ascent of consciousness itself.

The Chakras — Power Centers of Pranic Transformation

At key junctions along the Sushumna lie the seven Chakras, whirling vortices where Nadis intersect and Prana condenses into consciousness.

1. Muladhara (Root) – Foundation of survival; governed by Apana.

2. Svadhisthana (Sacral) – Center of creativity and pleasure; influenced by Samana and Kṛkara.

3. Manipura (Solar Plexus) – Seat of personal power; fueled by Samana and Prana.

4. Anahata (Heart) – Center of love and balance; the meeting point of Ida and Pingala.

5. Vishuddha (Throat) – Purification through sound and truth; ruled by Udana.

6. Ajnja (Third Eye) – Perception, intuition, direction of Pranic currents.

7. Sahasrara (Crown) – Union with the infinite; where Prana merges back into pure consciousness.

The Nadis carry the Prana, and the Chakras transmute it — converting raw life-force into refined awareness, emotion, intuition, and spiritual power. Thus, Prana, Nadis, and Chakras form one continuous ecosystem — energy, pathway, and transformation.

Purification — The Art of Pranic Clarity

To purify oneself is to refine the quality of Prana. A turbulent mind distorts the flow, while calm awareness amplifies it.

Ancient disciplines offered a fourfold path of purification:

1. Through Breath – Pranayama, the conscious regulation of inhalation, retention, and exhalation, cleanses Nadis and balances Ida–Pingala.

2. Through Food – Consuming sattvic (pure, balanced) foods infuses high-vibrational Prana. Over-processed or violent foods dull the current.

3. Through Thought – Mental clutter dissipates energy. Meditation, mantra, and silence align the mind with the central current.

4. Through Action – Living with integrity, gratitude, and compassion prevents energetic leakage; service (seva) transforms personal Prana into universal flow.

As Nadis purify, the body becomes luminous. As Prana steadies, the mind grows still. When both harmonize, consciousness flowers.

The Grand Synthesis — Prana as the Bridge Between Worlds

All traditions converge here:

Chinese masters cultivated Chi to align with the Tao.

Yogis harnessed Prana to merge with the Self.

Mystics of every path sought the same outcome — unity with the Source.

The universe breathes through us; every inhalation is cosmic influx, every exhalation divine surrender. The Prana we absorb is not ours — it belongs to the Infinite. We are vessels through which it dances for a time, until silence calls it home.

To realize this is to transcend fear of death, for one sees that nothing ever truly ends — Prana merely changes domains.

“He who knows the Prana knows all,” declares the Chandogya Upanishad.

In that knowing, every breath becomes sacred, every heartbeat a mantra, and every life — a rhythm of the Eternal.

The Science of Prana — Bridging the Subtle and the Scientific

In an era of data, energy is often dismissed as metaphor. Yet, modern science is inching closer to rediscovering what the ancients already lived by — that life is not a mechanical process but an energetic phenomenon.

While science may not use the word Prana, it recognizes fields, frequencies, and forces that remarkably echo its functions.

1. Prana and the Biofield

Biophysicists and researchers now describe an electromagnetic field surrounding every living organism — the biofield.

It’s not mystical but measurable — a complex web of electrical, magnetic, and photonic signals that communicate information throughout the body faster than chemical pathways can.

In essence, this is Prana made visible through instruments:

Heart rate variability (HRV) research shows emotional states instantly alter this field.

The heart’s electromagnetic field is about 60 times stronger than the brain’s and can be detected several feet away — echoing the yogic concept of Vyana, which distributes Prana throughout the body.

Biofield therapies (like Reiki, Qigong, and therapeutic touch) are now being studied in universities as subtle energy interventions that affect pain, mood, and immunity.

What the yogis called Nadis — channels of energy — science sees as pathways of bioelectrical communication.

2. Breath and the Nervous System — Pranayama in Physiology

Every act of breathing alters not just oxygen levels but nervous system balance.

Slow, rhythmic breathing activates the vagus nerve, stimulating the parasympathetic system — bringing calm and emotional stability.

Fast, shallow, erratic breathing triggers the sympathetic system — creating anxiety, restlessness, or anger.

The ancients understood this empirically: they taught Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing) to balance Ida and Pingala, the lunar and solar channels respectively.

Modern physiology confirms this: breathing through the left nostril cools and calms (activating the parasympathetic side), while the right nostril energizes (sympathetic activation).

Thus, Pranayama isn’t spiritual poetry — it’s precision bioengineering.

3. The Chakras and Endocrine Glands

Each major chakra aligns with an endocrine gland that governs hormonal balance:

Chakra                                 Associated Gland/System                             Function (Scientific & Energetic)

Muladhara (Root)                         Adrenal glands                                                     Grounding, survival responses

Svadhisthana (Sacral)                     Gonads                                                                 Creativity, reproduction

Manipura (Solar Plexus)                Pancreas                                                                     Digestion, self-power

Anahata (Heart)                                Thymus                                                         Immune system, love, compassion

Vishuddha (Throat)             Thyroid/parathyroid                                                           Expression, metabolism

Ajnja (Third Eye)                                Pituitary                                                                      Intuition, regulation

Sahasrara (Crown)                             Pineal                                                         Higher consciousness, circadian rhythm

Even without invoking mysticism, the alignment is uncanny — each chakra’s described psychological function corresponds exactly with the gland’s biological function.

4. Brain Waves, Energy, and Meditation

Neuroscience shows that meditation and breathwork shift the brain into alpha and theta frequencies — states associated with creativity, healing, and expanded awareness.

Yogis call this state pranic equilibrium: when energy no longer oscillates chaotically through the nadis but rises steadily through the Sushumna.

At such times, coherence arises between heart, brain, and breath — measurable as synchrony in electrical signals.

This “coherence” corresponds exactly to what yogic texts describe as the union(yoga) of Prana and Apana, the stabilization of the inner currents that opens the path to awakening (Kundalini).  Kundalini is referred to by the ancients as a coiled serpent dormant at Mooladhara, the base of spine, which rises through Sushumna connecting all the other chakras and enters the Sahsrara. When this happens you attain complete bliss and enlightenment.

5. Light and the Quantum Body

Modern biophoton research suggests that every cell emits faint pulses of light — ultra-weak photon emissions — coherent, structured, and influenced by mental state.

This could be the scientific glimpse of Tejas (spiritual radiance) spoken of in Upanishads — the glow of pure Prana expressing through matter.

Quantum biology further proposes that consciousness might influence these light emissions, hinting that awareness itself may be a modulator of energy — echoing ancient wisdom that “where attention goes, Prana flows.”

6. The Convergence — Science Catches Up to Spirit

Step by step, the walls are falling.

Biofields, quantum coherence, vagal tone, and electromagnetic resonance are all modern names for what seers experienced as Pranic harmony.

The goal remains identical:

To restore balance between energy and consciousness, so life moves as a song rather than a struggle.

When Prana flows unhindered, healing happens not to us but through us.

When the mind stills, the body aligns.

When the breath deepens, the soul expands.

Closing Reflection

In the grand synthesis of science and spirituality, Prana is the bridge — connecting the pulse of the universe to the rhythm of the human breath.

The ancients mapped it in symbols; the scientists map it in data.

Both speak of the same truth: life is energy organized by intelligence.

To breathe consciously, to live ethically, to love openly — these are not moral acts alone; they are energetic calibrations aligning us to the Source.

 “When the breath wanders, the mind is unsteady;

when the breath is still, so is the mind.”

— Hatha Yoga Pradipika

And when both are still, Prana returns home — into the infinite silence from which it first arose.

Further connecting the ancient to the modern let's go further and check what both say about  the final destination or the ultimate truth, the death.

The Integrated Chronology of Death: Yogic and Scientific Synthesis

The process of death is understood in yogic philosophy as a structured, sequential withdrawal of the life-force, the Pranas (vital airs), from the Pranamaya Kosha (energy body). This energetic process directly correlates with the measurable stages of morbidity used in modern forensics to determine the Time Since Death (TSD).

I. The Immediate Exit: Cessation of Upapranas

The subtle life functions governed by the Upapranas cease immediately (within 0–1 minute) upon the failure of the central life-sustaining Pranas. These reflexes are instantly lost:

 Kurma Vayu: Blinking and eyelid movement stop (eyes become fixed).

 Krikara Vayu: Signals for hunger, thirst, and sneezing vanish.

 Naga Vayu: Reflexes like belching and hiccups cease.

 Devadatta Vayu: Yawning and the subtle release of fatigue halt.

This marks the immediate loss of the body's small, involuntary movements and reflexes.

II. The Gradual Withdrawal: Chronology of Pancha Pranas

The five major Pranas withdraw in a chronological sequence that mirrors the body's post-mortem changes:

Prana Vayu                       Function Leaving                              Estimated Time of Exit                                                     Correlating Stage of                                                                                                                             (Post-Clinical Death)                                                                        Morbidity                                                                                                                                                 

Samana Vayu                Core Heat/Metabolism                                        ~21 to 24 minutes                                                             Loss of Core Homeostasis 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            (Onset of Algor  Mortis)

        

Prana Vayu              Respiration/Upward Life Force                              ~48 to 90 minutes                                                               Irreversible Cessation of Vitals 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        (Clinical Death) 

Udana Vayu              Ascent/Expression/Buoyancy                                  ~6 to 12 hours                                                                        Onset of Muscle Stiffening                                                                                                                                                                                                                              (Rigor Mortis begins to set in) 

Apana Vayu                  Elimination/Downward Force                              ~8 to 18 hours                                                                             Settling of Blood                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  (Livor Mortis fixed) 

Vyana Vayu                     Pervasive/Circulation/Preservation                  Up to 11–14 days                                                                       Final decay of subtle                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 tissue/severing of Runanubandha 

The departure of Udana Vayu (around 6 to 12 hours) is often cited as the point after which revival, even through esoteric means, is impossible, marking the irreversible loss of the life-force's ability to ascend and express itself.

III. The Final Dissolution and Runanubandha

The entire process is governed by the need to dissolve the Runanubandha (energetic debt/bondage or physical memory) that ties the individual soul (Jivatma) to the physical form.

 The slow exit of Vyana Vayu over several days maintains a subtle energetic integrity. The false appearance of hair and nail "growth" after death is explained by science as the surrounding skin retracting due to dehydration, but energetically, it is tied to Vyana's slow withdrawal from the extremities.

Dhananjaya Vayu is the absolute FINAL energy to leave the body. While it helps maintain the heart during life, its ultimate function is Dissolution. It lingers until the body is fully broken down (either through natural decomposition or accelerated via cremation), presiding over the return of the physical form to the five elements and ensuring the Jivatma is cleanly freed from all material energetic debts.

This chronological and layered process explains why yogic and Vedic traditions view death not as a single instant, but as a gradual sequence of energetic and physical shut-down that can take days or weeks to complete fully.

I believe if you have reached this far then you are really interested in the subject. Thank you

Thank you for reading.

– KV Shan