基于空气元素的练习，能让你在世上运作的效率更高
Sadhguru: In the yogic tradition, we refer to air as “vayu,” which not just means air as a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other gases, but as a dimension of movement. Among the five basic elements – earth, fire, water, air, and ether – which make us and everything in the universe, air is the most accessible and relatively the easiest element to gain reasonable mastery over. Hence, a large number of yogic practices are structured around vayu or air, though in the composition of the body, air makes up only a small percentage.
萨古鲁：在瑜伽传统中，我们称空气为“vayu”，它不仅仅指氮气、氧气、二氧化碳以及其它大气成分的混合体，也指空气的流动这一维度。在组成我们和宇宙万物的五个基本元素——土、火、水、空气和以太中，空气是最容易触及的，相对而言，它也是最容易掌控的。因此，大量的瑜伽练习都是围绕着空气元素来设计的，虽然在身体组成中，空气只占了很小的百分比。
The area between the navel and the pit of the throat is the main activity zone of prana.
肚脐到喉咙根部之间是生命能量的主要活动地带。
Most of the yogic practices that involve an element of breathing are aimed towards vayu or prana vayu. Vayu is the element – prana vayu is one of the pancha pranas. We are in a womb of prana, which is the atmospheric bubble. This larger prana breaks down into eighty-four pranas. Out of these, five pranas can cover the day-to-day requirements of most human beings. These pancha pranas are sufficient to keep your body and mind well, and yourself spiritually alive. Another ten are needed for someone who is into occult practices. The remaining pranas are generally too subtle to explore and experience. The prana vayu is an inward movement between the pit of the throat and the navel. At least sixty percent of the process of Shakti Chalana Kriya[1] that we teach is aimed towards prana vayu. We focus on this element because the quality of the air that we breathe and how we breathe largely determines people’s surface experience of life.
大部分运用到呼吸的瑜伽练习都是为了（激活）空气元素（vayu），或空气能量（prana vayu）。vayu是指空气元素——而空气能量是五大能量（pancha pranas）之一。我们都身在一个能量子宫中，也就是大气层这个泡泡中。这个更大的能量可以分为84种能量。在这84种能量中，其中有五种能量能满足大部分人的日常生活需求。这五大能量就足以维持你的身心健康，以及灵性层面的鲜活了。对于从事神秘术的人来说，还需要另外十种。其他种类的能量通常都太精微，人们难以探索和体验到。空气能量是人体内肚脐到喉咙根部之间流动的一种能量。我们所教授的Shakti Chalana Kriya（Shoonya密集课程中教授的克里亚练习）中百分之六十的练习都是为了激活空气能量。我们之所以专注在这个元素上是因为，我们所呼吸空气的质量以及我们呼吸的方式，很大程度上决定了人们对生命的表层体验。
I would say almost ninety-nine percent of the people today are only concerned about how to navigate their way through the world in a reasonably pleasant and successful manner. There are very few who seek to become perceptive to another dimension of life. In this context, vayu and prana vayu become most significant, because a certain level of mastery over prana instantly enhances the sharpness of the intellect. That means the practice of Shakti Chalana Kriya can leave you a little smarter. Your emotions get a little more stable, organized, and sweet. And you can do some physical activity better than you used to. For most people, these three aspects are all they want in life.
我得说，如今，几乎百分之九十九的人都只关心如何以一种比较愉悦，比较成功的方式来穿行于这个世界。很少有人会追求对生命其它维度的感知。在这样的情况下，空气和空气能量是非常重要的，因为如果你对能量实现一定的掌控，你的智力立刻会变得更加锋锐。这就是说，练习Shakti Chalana Kriya会让你变得更聪明，你的情感也会变得更稳定，更清晰，更甜蜜，你从事某些体力活动的能力也会提高。对于大部分来说，这三个方面就是他们一生所求了。
The impact of the air that we breathe is very immediate. You can go without food for eight to ten days without causing damage to the system. You can go without water for up to three-and-a-half days without causing damage to the system. But most people can go without air for only three-and-a-half to five minutes. With some practice, you can stay without air for longer periods, but this involves a little bit of cheating. If you manage to keep your metabolic activity very low, you do not need to breathe through your nostrils but you breathe through your skin. As there is perspiration, there is also respiration, or movement of air through the skin. If you substantially activate the prana vayu, you can survive for a longer period of time without breathing through your nostrils.
我们所呼吸的空气给我们带来的影响是非常直接的。你或许可以做到八到十天不进食都不会给（身体）系统带来损害，你或许可以做到三天半不喝水也不会给系统带来损害。但如果不呼吸，大部分人都只能坚持三分半钟到五分钟。如果做一些练习，你坚持的时间会长一点，但这里面有小小的欺骗成分。如果你将新陈代谢水平维持在很低的水平，你就不需要通过鼻孔呼吸，而是通过皮肤呼吸就可以。皮肤上有排汗系统，也有呼吸，空气会通过皮肤进出。如果你充分激活空气能量，不需要通过鼻孔呼吸，你也能存活更长时间。
Yogic practices that focus on vayu give instant results – especially on the level of your mind and emotions.
专注于空气元素的瑜伽练习会带来速效，尤其是在头脑和情感层面上。
In this context, the Shakti Chalana Kriya is a phenomenal practice. We have taught it to a few million people over the years. If all of them had kept it up and grown with it, the world would have changed by now. Growing with it means – if your practice was initially only forty minutes, over time, you extend it to one-and-a-half to two hours. If, let us say, at least one hundred thousand people were doing Shakti Chalana Kriya the way it should be done, it would already change the atmosphere in the world.
从这一点来看，Shakti Chalana Kriya是个效果显著的练习。这些年以来，我们已经将它教授给几百万人了。如果他们所有人都坚持练习并随之成长，到目前为止，世界都应该已经发生了转变。随之成长的意思是，如果一开始，这个练习只需要花四十分钟，一段时间后，它会延长到一个半小时到两个小时。比如说，哪怕有十万人在按照正确的方式练习Shakti Chalana Kriya，那么，这个世界的大气层都已经发生了改变。
So, what can we do with air? We can pollute it. We can purify it. Above all, we can use air as a force of transformation in our lives. There is a certain immediacy about air or vayu, which makes it very responsive and gives it the ability to transform or to bring about changes very quickly. And of all the elements, wind is the one that can generate maximum force. That is true both in the outside atmosphere and within the human system. If you learn to activate it, it will make you phenomenally strong – not necessarily in terms of muscular strength but in terms of life. A certain amount of sadhana is needed to activate the prana vayu. The standard is that generally, if you do 1,008 days of Shakti Chalana Kriya without a break, then your prana reaches a certain level of activity. The sheer energy that you carry will set you apart.
所以，我们能对空气做什么呢？我们能污染空气，我们能净化空气。最重要的是，我们可以将空气运用成我们生命中一股转化的力量。空气或空气元素有一定的即时性，这就赋予了它反应敏捷的特征，赋予了它带来快速转化和转变的能力。而在所有元素中，风可以产生最强大的力量。对于外在的空气和人体系统内的空气都是如此。如果你学会去激活它，它就会让你变得极其强壮——不一定是指肌肉强健，而是指生命的强壮。要想激活空气能量，需要进行一定量的灵性练习。标准就是，通常，如果你连续练习Shakti Chalana Kriya1008天不中断，那么你的能量就会被激活到一定的程度，携带着这种纯粹的能量就会让你与众不同。
You will seem to have a limitless amount of energy. There is no such thing as limitless energy, though – only in other people’s perception, it appears like that. If your prana vayu is really active, you will be able to manage your time well. Life is a combination of time and energy. If you keep your energy or the prana vayu very intense, you will seem to have more time. Activity will happen out of the effervescence of your energy, not out of effort. If you keep up the Shakti Chalana Kriya, your ability to be active will increase immensely. Today, an increasing number of people need to take longer breaks from their work, in the sense of sabbaticals and the like. This need arises when you do not manage your prana vayu well, and there are many reasons to it. One thing is – if you eat food that generates gas or air in the lower belly, below the navel or manipuraka, it disturbs the movement of air or vayu from the navel to the pit of the throat. The area between the navel and the pit of the throat is the main activity zone of prana. When you eat bad food and have gas, you will experience a great lack of energy in the system, because the prana vayu will not function well. You have gotten the air in the wrong place. It should move between the navel and the pit of the throat – in this area, it is powerful.
你就会看似拥有无限的能量。其实没有无限的能量这回事，只是在其他人看来，似乎是这样。如果你的空气能量被真正激活，你就能很好地把握你的时间。生命就是时间和能量的组合。如果你能保持高强度的能量或空气能量，你的时间似乎就更充裕了。你会因为你充沛的能量而有所作为，而不是因为你的努力。如果你坚持练习Shakti Chalana Kriya，你保持积极活跃的能力会大大增强。如今，越来越多的人需要更长的假期，比如公休或类似的休假。之所以会出现这种需求，是因为你没有掌控好你的空气能量，这里面有很多原因。一方面是，如果你吃的食物会在小腹中、也就是肚脐或脐轮以下的部分产生气体，它就会干扰空气元素从肚脐到喉咙根部的运行。肚脐到喉咙根部是能量的主要活动地带。你吃进变质的食物并产生气体时，你就会感觉系统内缺乏能量，因为空气能量就无法好好运作了。你在错误的地方产生了空气。空气应该在肚脐到喉咙根部之间运行——在这个区域，就非常强大。
The idea of taking charge of the element of air is to bring about health and an instant sense of wellbeing.
掌控好空气元素的目的是为了带来健康和幸福感。
If the prana vayu moves below the navel, the effervescence in life is gone. The body feels like a sack of potatoes. By the way – potatoes literally cause inertia in the system because they lower the prana vayu. And of course, any food that is moving towards putrefaction has the same effect. This includes food that you buy in the supermarket, which is stored for long periods of time, and has no pranic value. Even if it is not yet beyond the expiration date, it is slowly moving towards putrefaction. In the yogic culture, one important aspect of managing the prana vayu is to eat food within an hour-and-a-half, or a maximum of four hours after cooking. Certain substances must be eaten even more quickly, or else they will create gas in the system. Once there is gas in your system, you cannot master your prana vayu.
如果空气能量在肚脐以下活动，生命的活力就消失了。身体就会像一袋土豆一样有气无力。顺便提一下——土豆真的会给系统带入惰性，因为它会降低空气能量。当然，任何即将腐坏的食物也会带来同样的结果，包括你从超市买来的，已经存储了很长时间的食物，它们也都没有能量价值。即便它还在有效期内，也是在慢慢地一步一步变坏。在瑜伽文化中，要掌控好空气能量，一个很重要的方面就是，食物烹煮好之后要在一个半小时以内进食，最多不能超过四个小时。有些食物甚至要更快进食，否则它们就会在系统内产生气体。一旦你系统内有了气体，你就无法掌控你的空气能量。
Not only yogic practices – even the way you keep yourself, the way you breathe, walk, sit, and stand can help you gain a certain amount of control over prana vayu. Every human being has some control over the five elements – otherwise, you would not be alive. For life to move to a higher possibility, having mastery over the elements is important. Vayu or air is the best dimension to work with for part-time yogis, because it is relatively easy to master. Yogic practices that focus on vayu give instant results – especially on the level of your mind and emotions. By increasing the prana vayu, you can solve mental problems. The mind will get much more organized. But even if you master the element of air, your karmic mill will still keep rolling. Generally, it will move even faster than before, because it has a clear run now. That means your karma is getting worked out faster – but you may have a more eventful life.
不仅仅是瑜伽练习——甚至是你日常生活的方式，你呼吸，走路的方式，你的坐姿，站姿都会有助于你一定程度上掌控prana vayu。每个人对这五大元素都有一些掌控度，否则，你就不会活在这里了。为了让生命实现更高可能性，掌控这些元素是很重要的。对于兼职瑜伽士来说，空气元素是下功夫的最好的地方，因为它比较容易掌控。那些专注在空气上的瑜伽练习会带来速效，尤其是在头脑和情感层面上。通过提升空气能量，你可以解决各种心理问题，头脑的条理性会大大提升。但即便你掌控了空气元素，你的业力工厂还是会不停运转着。通常而言，它甚至会比以往运转得更快，因为它现在运转起来更轻快了。这就意味着，你的业力在加速消解——但你人生中的大事件可能就多了。
The idea of taking charge of the element of air is to bring about health and an instant sense of wellbeing. If you activate vayu and it reaches a certain peak, naturally agni or the fire element will follow to some extent – maybe to twenty-five to thirty percent. If you have mastery over the element of air, the element of fire will partially come along with it. A lot of people lack fire, which is a big problem in life. They may do things, but nothing will come out of it. Once the fire is on, you are much better than the way you were. Though fire only makes up a small percentage of the human system, in many ways, it is everything. It also gets you closer to the subtle element of ether.
掌控空气元素是为了带来健康和幸福感。如果你将空气元素激活到一个巅峰，agni，也就是火元素自然会随之增长——也许到25-30%。如果你掌控了空气元素，火元素就会随之增长。很多人都缺乏火，这是他们生命中的一个大问题。他们可能做了一些事情，但一无所成。一旦火元素上来了，你的状态会大大改善。虽然火元素只占人体系统组成的很小比例，从很多方面来说，它就是一切。它也能让你更加靠近以太这个精微的元素。
Vayu has a great influence on all the day-to-day things that people aspire for. The process of activating vayu is an important step in one’s growth. Vayu-based practices can bring you a higher level of intellectual capability, energy, and effectiveness in the world.
空气元素对于人们日常追求的事物有着巨大的影响力。在一个人的成长过程中，激活空气元素是非常重要的一步。基于空气元素的练习能为你带来更高的智力、能量，能让你在世上运作的效率更高。
Love&Grace,
Sadhguru
爱与恩典
萨古鲁
原文链接：
isha.sadhguru.org/blog/sadhguru/spot/vayu-the-element-of-air
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