International Conference on Prāṇa & Prāṇāyāma
Dates | April 13 & 14, 2025
Time | 9 AM to 6.30 PM Indian Standard Time
Location | Chettinad Hari Shree Vidyalayam, Chennai (Opposite KYM, Mandaveli Premises)
Programme Fee | INR 2,000 per person (Note: INR 1,500 for students, alumni and abstract authors)
Prāṇa refers to “that which is infinitely everywhere.” With reference to us humans, Prāṇa can be described as something that flows continuously from somewhere inside us, filling us and keeping us alive: it is vitality.
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Various sources call Prāṇa the friend of the Puruṣa (consciousness) and see in the flow of Prāṇa nothing but the workings of the Puruṣa.
Prāṇa can be understood as the expression of the Puruṣa, but it is to be found both inside and outside the body.
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One definition of the word Yogī is “one whose Prāṇa is all within his body.” In practicing Prāṇāyāma, the objective is to reduce the amount of Prāṇa outside the body until there is none leaking out.
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Prāṇāyāma prepares us for the stillness of meditation.
– Śrī TKV Desikachar, The Heart of Yoga (1995)
The KYM is pleased to announce the International Conference on Prāṇa and Prāṇāyāma with the goal of reiterating authentic teachings, expanding awareness and envisioning further healing applications of Prāṇāyāma.
Prāṇāyāma is indispensable to taking Yoga practice beyond the level of a standalone “wellness practice” or “stillness practice,” towards the all-round fulfilment of the goal of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga. Prāṇāyāma represents a high stage of development of external/Bahiraṅga Sādhanā and opens up the possibility of inner mastery needed for Dhyāna. In the KYM tradition, Prāṇāyāma receives a central emphasis both in the Śikṣaṇa-krama i.e. the mode of instruction, and in the Cikitsā-krama i.e. the mode of diagnosis and therapy. Prāṇāyāma in Yoga practice can be seen as an expression through Sādhanā, of the understanding and veneration of Prāṇa in the Bhāratīya knowledge traditions right from the Upaniṣad-s.
The KYM International Conference on Prāṇa and Prāṇāyāma will emphasise both an applied research approach to Prāṇāyāma in practice and therapy, and a traditional Yoga studies approach to philosophical and experiential understanding of Prāṇa and Prāṇāyāma. The Plenary Sessions of the conference, scheduled to be held on 13th and 14th April 2025 in Chennai, feature invited speakers and eminent experts presenting perspectives on Prāṇa and Prāṇāyāma from multiple disciplines including Yoga, Āyurveda, Psychology, Biomedical Engineering and Śāstra studies. The Research Paper presentations to be held on 10th April 2025 at the KYM premises will be a platform for Yoga practitioners and scholars in the relevant disciplines to present findings from experimental and theoretical investigations centred on Prāṇa and Prāṇāyāma. The Research Paper presentations and the Plenary Sessions will be the culmination of a Prāṇāyāma immersion offered as a month-long series of online instructional sessions by senior KYM teachers and therapists on physiological, therapeutic, ritual and meditative aspects of Prāṇāyāma.
Prāṇa in the Vedic Corpus
Dr Gauri Mahulikar, Academic Director, Chinmaya International Foundation
Prāṇāyāma in and as Ādhyātmika-sādhanā Followed by Prāṇāyāma Practice
Śrī S Sridharan, Senior Mentor and Therapist, KYM
Prāṇāyāma As a Medium for Mental Health Promotion
Dr Latha Satish (Senior Psychologist and Head of Research, KYM)
Prāṇa in Contemporary Life Sciences vis à vis Indian Knowledge Systems
Dr Mohan Raghavan, Head, Department of Heritage Science and Technology, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, IIT-Hyderabad
Text and Technique | Insights on Prāṇāyāma From the Jyotsnā Commentary on Haṭhayogapradīpikā
Dr M Jayaraman, Professor & Dean, Division of Yoga Spirituality & Dean of Academics (I/C) , SVYASA Deemed University, Bengaluru
The Regulation of Prāṇa in the Evocation of Sāttvika-bhāva-s – A discussion based on Hemacandra’s Kāvyānuśāsana
Dr. Shankar Rajaraman, Associate Professor, Centre for Ancient History and Culture, Jain University; MBBS, Psychiatry, PhD(Psychology)
The Significance of Prāṇa and Prāṇāyāma: A Vedāntic and Dharmaśāstric Perspective
Dr Jammalamadaka Srinivas (Director, IKS Research, Brhat Cultural Creatives LLP)
Physiology and Pathology of Prāṇa-vāta in Āyurveda | A Specific Focus on Paediatrics and Geriatrics
Dr. Prasan Shankar, Medical Director, Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, MD (Panchakarma) & Dr. Madhumitha Krishnan (Consultant Ayurveda Pediatrician, MD (Ayu), B.A.M.S, CCCE
Prāṇa in Pārāyaṇa
Śrī Shankararama Sharma, Techno-Linguistic Scholar, Vyoma Linguistic Labs Foundation
Special Address
Dr R Elangovan, Secretary, IYA (Tamil Nadu Chapter)
Prāṇa and Prāṇāyāma From the Perspective of Medical Science and Complementary Medicine
Dr. Karthiyayini Mahadevan (Consultant, Child Development)
Centrality of Prāṇa in the KYM Tradition
Śrīmatī Nrithya Jagannathan
Hari Sarvottama Vāyu Jīvottama – The Grace of Hari & Vāyu in Sādhaki and Sādhanā
Śrī Ramachandra Bethmangalkar (A Seeker, Student of Yoga in the tradition of KYM and Vedānta in the tradition of Śrī Madhvācārya)
Case Studies on Prāṇa and Prāṇāyāma Applied in Yoga Cikitsā
KYM Teachers and Therapists