Brownie Prana
This is my third day in my new office space and it is beginning to have some Brownie Prana.
See, I have this theory called Brownie Prana. First, an explanation of prana. Then, on to the brownies.
Prana (pronounced praw-nah) is often described as the breath. But it's more than that. It can be thought of as the life that rides on the breath. When you inhale, you bring prana in. It moves throughout the body, with one goal of yoga to keep as much prana inside the body. I have a student who has MS and her feet are always cold. Circulation may be one cause, but in yogic terms, it is also because - due to her lack of mobility and other factors, such as the quality and length of her breath - prana is not getting to the tips of her toes and fingers as it should.
Prana can also be thought of as that subtle, indescribable, powerful something that differentiates something living from something that has died. You can see it in a garden after the first frost: something is gone from the space that was there when the plants were alive. Or in that moment immediately after something takes its last breath. I remember the moment when my dog Rosie took her final breath. I thought that she was gone. Then she exhaled with a soft whoosh. And there was something tangibly changed in her body, in the room, in how I felt when I touched her.
That's the prana part.
The Brownie part is the effect of prana on something. In this case, how prana has come to inhabit a baking pan. I have an old, somewhat beat up, rectangular baking pan that I always use to make brownies. As we know from previous posts and accolades from all who have tasted them, these are damn good brownies. Perhaps the Best in the World. And part of the reason that they are so good is due to the pan that they are baked in. I've been using the same brownie pan for at least twenty years. Over time, it has taken on the quality of all those wonderful brownies that preceded the current batch in time. The pan has good Brownie Prana - a vital element, amorphous and invisible, that animates any brownie that develops there.
If I'm losing you here, let's have a challenge. For the next week, sit in a different place than you usually gravitate to when you want to relax. Hmm, does it feel different? And not just because it is a different chair, but because of a feeling that you can't quite describe?
This process of building up prana over time seems to happen in rooms, as well. You know that feeling when you walk into a space and it just feels right? Comfortable, calm perhaps, a place where people feel welcomed and are happy to put their feet up on the furniture and relax? Or the way that you always sit in the same place in the lunchroom - or take the same chair at the table for every meeting? Brownie Prana.
So I'm working to build Brownie Prana into my office. I'm hoping that each time that I see a student and begin work to help with healing, that a smidgen of prana rubs off onto the space. And as I write this, I'm wondering if actual Brownie Prana might accelerate the process. I'm sure I could get a few students to choke down a brownie or two.
See, I have this theory called Brownie Prana. First, an explanation of prana. Then, on to the brownies.
Prana (pronounced praw-nah) is often described as the breath. But it's more than that. It can be thought of as the life that rides on the breath. When you inhale, you bring prana in. It moves throughout the body, with one goal of yoga to keep as much prana inside the body. I have a student who has MS and her feet are always cold. Circulation may be one cause, but in yogic terms, it is also because - due to her lack of mobility and other factors, such as the quality and length of her breath - prana is not getting to the tips of her toes and fingers as it should.
Prana can also be thought of as that subtle, indescribable, powerful something that differentiates something living from something that has died. You can see it in a garden after the first frost: something is gone from the space that was there when the plants were alive. Or in that moment immediately after something takes its last breath. I remember the moment when my dog Rosie took her final breath. I thought that she was gone. Then she exhaled with a soft whoosh. And there was something tangibly changed in her body, in the room, in how I felt when I touched her.
That's the prana part.
The Brownie part is the effect of prana on something. In this case, how prana has come to inhabit a baking pan. I have an old, somewhat beat up, rectangular baking pan that I always use to make brownies. As we know from previous posts and accolades from all who have tasted them, these are damn good brownies. Perhaps the Best in the World. And part of the reason that they are so good is due to the pan that they are baked in. I've been using the same brownie pan for at least twenty years. Over time, it has taken on the quality of all those wonderful brownies that preceded the current batch in time. The pan has good Brownie Prana - a vital element, amorphous and invisible, that animates any brownie that develops there.
If I'm losing you here, let's have a challenge. For the next week, sit in a different place than you usually gravitate to when you want to relax. Hmm, does it feel different? And not just because it is a different chair, but because of a feeling that you can't quite describe?
This process of building up prana over time seems to happen in rooms, as well. You know that feeling when you walk into a space and it just feels right? Comfortable, calm perhaps, a place where people feel welcomed and are happy to put their feet up on the furniture and relax? Or the way that you always sit in the same place in the lunchroom - or take the same chair at the table for every meeting? Brownie Prana.
So I'm working to build Brownie Prana into my office. I'm hoping that each time that I see a student and begin work to help with healing, that a smidgen of prana rubs off onto the space. And as I write this, I'm wondering if actual Brownie Prana might accelerate the process. I'm sure I could get a few students to choke down a brownie or two.
Comments