Pranayama

Prāṇāyāma (Sanskrit: प्राणायाम prāṇāyāma) is a Sanskrit word meaning "extension of the prāṇa or breath" or "extension of the life force". The word is composed from two Sanskrit words: prana meaning life force (noted particularly as the breath), and ayāma, to extend or draw out. (Not "restrain, or control" as is often translated from yam instead of ayāma). It is a yogic discipline with origins in ancient India.

Etymology

Prāṇāyāma (Devanagari: प्राणायाम prāṇāyāma) is a Sanskrit compound.

V. S. Apte provides fourteen different meanings for the word prāṇa (Devanagari: प्राण, prāṇa) including these:

Of these meanings, the concept of "vital air" is used by Bhattacharyya to describe the concept as used in Sanskrit texts dealing with prāṇāyāma. Thomas McEvilley translates prāṇa as "spirit-energy". The breath is understood to be its most subtle material form, but is also believed to be present in the blood, and most concentrated in men's semen and womens' vaginal fluid.