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Prāṇa is that source of life. It is not merely oxygen; prāṇa is very hard to define. Is the soul prāṇa, or is prāṇa the soul? In Sanskrit, living beings are called "prāṇī," meaning those who have prāṇa. Through research, yoga established some universal rules. First, there are five fundamental points to remember: O human, I am a human. What does it mean for me to be a human? What makes me human? How do I develop those qualities? What is the human mission? And, who am I? Accordingly, one should lead one's life and take healthy nourishment. The first point is nourishment. Humans were once hunters, killing and eating animals. But when yogīs discovered the law of karma and the reality of pain and hiṁsā (violence), humans began to awaken their consciousness and become vegetarian. Right nourishment is defined by four principles: āhār, vihār, āchār, vichār. Āhār means a sāttvic and light diet. In an imbalanced world, some die from hunger and some die from eating. Vihār means knowing where to go and where not to go. Āchār means right behavior. Vichār means positive, good thoughts. Go to satsaṅg (good company), not kusaṅga (bad company). Walk on the path, not wild in the forest where you might step on creatures that, having no hands to push you away, may bite you. Such a bite could lead to a rest that lasts forever. They also designed the science of nourishment, Āyurveda, which is both a healing medicine and a system of prevention. Then came the design of proper exercises. After āsanas come prāṇāyāma, mudrās, bandhas, kriyās, concentration (dhāraṇā), meditation (dhyāna), and samādhi. Prāṇāyāma, following āsanas, is more subtle and powerful. Prāṇa is that cosmic energy; it is the living force in the universe. We do not see it, but it is life itself. It is a living universe, not just a living planet. That life is prāṇa. Everything is filled with and exists within this prāṇa. Even the most dangerous bacteria are not dangerous to themselves; they too are living within this universal life. Prāṇāyāma is the exercise (vyāyāma) of prāṇa, to control or manipulate the prāṇa system in the body in order to live a long, healthy life and achieve the final goal of the human mission. This prāṇa is in nourishment, air, fire, water, and earth. It is in all five elements equally. If something is wrong, an element is imbalanced in the body and illness arises. Therefore, yoga means balance, harmony, and union. It is the balancing, harmonizing, and uniting principle—a healthy consciousness within this universal prāṇa system. When we eat, we should first inhale deeply and say, "Thank you, God, for this life; I can freely breathe." Then we pray for the nourishment, full of prāṇa, given to us. Different cultures and religions have different prayers, but they all pray. Even a tiger that kills an animal catches its throat so it does not suffer long; it is in nature. After catching it, the tiger waits before eating, perhaps praying, "God, forgive us and give liberation to this soul; I must have my food too." When you chew, glands produce hormones that mix with the food, making digestion easier for the stomach. Do not give the work of your teeth to your intestine. Your intestine becomes unhappy and angry if you do not chew properly. The stomach becomes exhausted and eventually says, "Now I can't digest." Children digest quickly; they eat, wash their hands, and are hungry again. We, after 24 hours, say, "Okay, I would like to eat something." Our stomach is tired and retired because we did not take care of our chewing. Chew your food. There, the prāṇa energy comes. The glands are there to make juice. Imagine a ripe, red cherry, like a heart. You put it in your mouth and it explodes with juice—more juice than the cherry head. That extra juice comes from your mouth, from the hormones your body produces. All this is prāṇa activating our system in healthy ways. Therefore, in prāṇāyāma, when you practice āsanas, first relax and become aware of your prāṇa. Know: I inhale. Know: I exhale. My whole body is inhaling and exhaling. Relax. The more you relax, the more freely prāṇa flows. Then coordinate your movements with the breath. This is the specialty of Yoga in Daily Life: every movement is coordinated with the breath. Every meditation, concentration, and relaxation technique is also coordinated with the breath. When you perform any posture, do it slowly. Slow movement requires more concentration, more muscular balance, and greater awareness. Your muscles, joints, ligaments, and nerves are more influenced. Like a balloon: when you put air in, it does not expand in a second; it expands slowly, and you slowly let the air out. Imagine a balloon. Around your body is a prāṇa body, the prāṇamaya kośa. This sheath is breathing, expanding, and contracting. Our physical body is like a mosquito net, a thin cloth through which air freely comes and goes. Prāṇa penetrates through and through. It is a balloon expanding and contracting. So when you sit to practice āsanas, calm your breath. Feel your lungs, the respiratory system, and the trunk of the body expanding on inhalation and contracting. Then move your hand, feeling the whole part of the body nicely expanded, with muscles balancing the limb. Thus, when you do āsanas, you do prāṇāyāma together. Afterward, you sit for extra prāṇāyāma in an āsana like Sukhāsana, Vajrāsana, Padmāsana, or Siddhāsana. Use pillows or a hard chair to keep your back straight and be comfortable, then inhale. When we inhale, this is the Prāṇāyāma Mudrā: the index and middle finger touch the center of the eyebrows to balance the Iḍā and Piṅgalā nāḍīs and to support the head so it does not tilt too far forward or back. When you advance in prāṇāyāma, you may practice for one hour using only one nostril. For this, you need a support like a vāraginī or yogdanḍ for your elbow. This prāṇāyāma is not merely breathing in and out. Feel your life moving in and out. How beautiful to prolong your life and have a very clean consciousness. Your intellect becomes pure; your mind becomes steady. Your emotion becomes beautiful and pure, free from anger. But, my dear, practice every day with discipline. Every day the sun rises. The sun never says, "Today I will not rise." Can you imagine if the sun did not rise one day? The whole world would become nervous. Many would prophesy the end of the planet, blaming human sin. The next day, the sun would rise and smile, "I was a little ill, so I remained in bed, but here I am again. Thank you, sun, please don't rest in bed." So, every day, disciplined and systematic, do your āsanas and prāṇāyāma. That will be something wonderful. Prāṇāyāma is the divine science. Prāṇāyāma is life itself, not just a source of life. It is that prāṇa which develops your immune system to fight against all illnesses and bacteria. It is the prāṇa we call kāya kalpa (body transformation), which takes place through prāṇāyāma. But you must practice prāṇāyāma systematically and never be a fanatic. Observe; you will have so many experiences you cannot imagine. The best part of your yogic experiences comes through prāṇāyāma.