I come across this question very frequently, what is the difference between Prana, Tejas and Ojas? Do I need all of them? And I will admit there is a lot of contradicting information out there, especially in the yoga studio world. I am going to make an attempt to the explain them from a traditional Let’s take a traditional Ayurvedic perspective to help clarify the confusion. Before we take a deep dive into each of these energies, I want to know that Prana, Tejas and Ojas are nourished by foods, water and air; their quality and quantity is directly correlated to our digestion. Without optimal digestion (and digestive agni), they all begin to deplete. With that lets, take a deeper drive into each one of them.
Let’s start with Prana, in the most simplistic terms it is the energy that governs our physical strength and our state of consciousness (this is the mind body connection). When we have prana in our body it brings harmony to the body and mind and also drives creative energy. Our lifestyle choices govern how much Prana we maintain in our body at any given time, and when we are fall of our routine, we start to feel the effects of its depletion like fatigue, tiredness and exhaustion (including mental). On the other hand, it is absolutely possible to have an over abundance of Prana in the body which would represents itself in a misalignment of the mind body, e.g. unable to make a decision.
Next we have Tejas, in the most simplistic form this exists in the mental realm. This is the energy that drives our throughs and impressions and gives us the vigor to accomplish our goals. Tejas operates on a spectrum, and this spectrum can change depending on different times in our lives. When we don’t’ have enough of Tejas, we start to feel apathetic and loose passion for things that bring us joy; similarly, overdrive of Tejas can manifest itself hyper focus towards goals with an obsessive or zealous focus.
Finally, Ojas. This is the sacred juice of life, it protects life, controls our heartbeat, maintains balance in all our dhatus (body tissues). It exists as the subconscious level. Ojas creates calmness, contentment and provides emotional stability. On a physical level it slows down the aging process and gives us immunity. It is vital to understand, there are two types of Ojas, Prenatal – the one we are born with that comes from our body cells and this cannot be replaced, and secondly Post Natal – this is the one that we acquire through nutrition, maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It is possible to replenish and build post natal Ojas by maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
So here you have it, Pranas, Tejas and Ojas, each going a level deeper.
