The Channels of the Subtle Body

Nadis are the channels of the subtle body in yogic physiology, through which prana, the vital energy, is said to move. Three are central, ida, pingala and sushumna, running along the spine and meeting at the chakras; ida and pingala spiral around the central sushumna, associated with the lunar and solar, cooling and heating currents.

The classical texts give the total number of nadis as seventy-two thousand, a conventional figure for a vast network, of which a handful are named and important. The nadis are the pathways that yogic and tantric practice works to open and balance.