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In Vedanta philosophy, it is the vital, life-sustaining force of living beings similar to the Chinese notion of Qi. Prana is a central concept in Ayurveda and Yoga; it is a being’s life-energy and is believed to flow through a network of fine subtle channels called Nadi. According to Hindu philosophy Prana is divided into subcategories, referred to as pranas. These are the basic energies that sustain all of the body’s processes. According to Hindu tradition, there are five pranas:
1. Prana : Responsible for the beating of the heart and breathing. Prana enters the body through the breath and is sent to every cell through the circulatory system .
2. Apana : Responsible for the elimination of waste products from the body through the lungs and excretory systems.
3. Udana : Responsible for producing sounds through the vocal apparatus, as in speaking, singing, laughing, and crying. It is also the conscious energy required to produce the vocal sounds.
4. Samana : Responsible for the digestion of food and cell metabolism, such as the repair and manufacture of new cells and growth. Samana also includes the heat regulating processes of the body and therefore aura are projections of this current.
5. Vyana : Responsible for the expansion and contraction processes of the body, such as the movements of the voluntary muscular system (the skeletal muscle system).
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