Prāna

Prāna (प्राण) is a Sanskrit term that simultaneously integrates the notions of breath and the vital principle of  respiration.

Various conceptual approaches have proliferated since the composition of the Upanishads and the Yoga of Patanjali, which continue to inspire yoga buffs. Prana is a nuanced concept, far from the Western approach that is quick to compartmentalize, oppose, and analyze everything.

According to the Upanishads, prāna is a universal energy that living beings absorb through the air they breathe. Yoga uses a technique for controlling that prana called Prāṇāyāma. Its literal translation is "directed movement towards (āyāma) the vital breath (prāṇa)." This breath circulates through the nadis (subtle channels located within the physical body, invisible to the naked eye and undetectable with various instruments) and can be felt as  sometimes burning, sometimes cooling, generating a wide range of sensations and emotions. Nadi Shodhana —literally "purification of the channels"—has earned a reputation as an essential technique for anyone wishing to calm the mind. It is often called "alternate-nostril breathing" because it involves passing air through each nostril in turn. 

According to Ayurveda, there are five vital airs circulating in the body are called vayus, meaning winds:

• prana, the prototype of the other winds, associated with ingestion and perception,
• apana, the descending wind associated with exhalation, excretion, and reproduction,
• udana, the ascending wind, associated with inhalation, balance, and expression,
• samana, the equalizing wind, associated with digestion and metabolism,
• vyana, the diffusing wind, associated with circulation and the muscles.

In Chinese and Japanese contexts, the terms qi, chi, or ki, refer to the same universal substance. It is said to be the origin of all forms of energy and to manifest through specific frequencies on the different planes of existence.

Breatharians

At its core, breatharianism is the belief that humans can live without food, and in some cases, without water. Adherents propose that sustenance can be drawn directly from prana, chi, or ki (cosmic energy). This idea challenges our fundamental understanding of biology, suggesting that physical nourishment is not the only way to sustain the body.

Instead of relying on calories and nutrients from food, breatharians manage to nourish themselves through practices like meditation and conscious breathing, absorbing vital energy from their surroundings. This concept is not new; it has roots that stretch back centuries across various cultures and spiritual traditions.

Ancient Roots

The idea of living without food appeared in numerous ancient texts, particularly within Eastern spiritual traditions like Hinduism and Jainism. Stories of sages, yogis, and mystics who survived for years without eating were common in religious folklore. These accounts often described individuals who have achieved such a high level of spiritual development that they have transcended the need for physical sustenance. In these traditions, the ability to live on prana was seen as a siddhi, or a spiritual power, acquired through stringent discipline. It was presented not as a diet, but as a by-product of spiritual enlightenment. 

Modern Movements

In recent decades, breatharianism has seen a resurgence, finding a place in contemporary New Age and alternative health movements. Modern proponents often frame the practice as a path to ultimate detoxification and spiritual awakening. They blend ancient mystical ideas with modern wellness language, attracting followers who are seeking alternative paths to health. These movements often spread their message through books, workshops, and online communities. They present breatharianism as a lifestyle choice that has made the ancient concept of inedia accessible to a global audience, moving it from the secluded caves of hermits into the mainstream of alternative spirituality.

These days hundreds of videos feature breatharians on the Internet, separately from videos on fasting. The difference between the two must indeed be known. Fasting consists in the abstinence of feeding, usually for a few days, up to a month. Past a couple of weeks fasting is considered dangerous. Not that the body fails to compensate the lack of food ---it does so naturally to insure survival, and there are recorded case of individuals fasting fo up to sixty days or more. After three days of fasting the liver starts drawing energy from stored fat and impurities in the body, transforming them into ketone bodies to insure minimum supply of nourishment to the heart and brain. Once all body fat has been used up, the liver draws into muscle tissue, which is where health benefits are compromized and danger begins.

The breatharian protocole is quite different. A first week of dry fasting is recommended, which means no eating or drinking water. Two weeks of hydric fasting follow, at the end of which the great majority of pranic candidates conclude their 21-day experiment by eating again gradually, then normally. A small minority of predisposed individuals may go on abstaining from solid food altogether. But unlike in fasting, where nourishment is found in body fat and body wastes, these rare persons have developed the ability to access all the nourishment the body needs for optimal health directly from the environment. Baffling is it may sound, you can find dozens videos featuring individuals who’ve switched from a normal lifestyle to Breatharianism. Some have lived “normally” without solid food for months and years at a time, others are still doing indefinitely.

Patrice Roy is a French male nurse we’ve interviewed personally, who’d stopped eating for over two years continuously. His close friend, a medical physician who worked at the same hospital as he, could not believe that Patrice was telling him the truth. He had him go through a series of health exams and found that not only Patrice’s check-ups were normal, they were optimal. This did not stop him, however, from questioning Patrice's sanity and inviting him to restaurants. Patrice politely sat with his doctor friend and ordered a herb-tea for the sake of its taste, which he said is the only thing he “missed” from time to time.

Another French Breatharian, Jean-François Lemercier, wrote on Breatharian World (PWF), “I used to be pranic. I know 10 people in France who are still doing it. They are not catholic saints like it used to be in France several centuries ago. They are more into ecology, New Age, or druidism.”

(Part 2 is on top of the colomn on the right)