Vayu and Vata
Vayu becomes Vata or the biological air humor in the embodied creature, which is the basis of both health and disease. Vata when calm gives health, while when agitated causes disease. Vata is the biological principle of movement, energy, change in location, velocity and creation of equilibrium, which sustains the organic network of forces within us down to an autonomic level. Vata moves Pitta and Kapha, the biological fire and water humors, just as air moves fire and water, creating the vibrations that sustain them, allowing digestion to occur and our tissues to be built up and energized.
Vata dosha is the main life-energy (pranic force) behind health and disease in body and mind. It is air or Vayu as a psycho-physical principle. The body as a material entity adds a factor of doshas, meaning entropy or decay, to Vayu as a cosmic force. Vayu must eventually seek to leave the body and return back to its formless nature, which means that everything that is born must die by the same power of breath.
One must master Vayu in order to master any of the forces in the universe, in the body or in the mind. All healing occurs through the power of Vayu and its Pranic manifestation. By connecting to the cosmic Vayu we can bring in the cosmic prana. That is the key to all higher healing. In Yoga, the higher prana or cosmic Vayu takes us into the realm of immortality by removing our attachment to the body and giving us back our freedom as formless awareness.
Vayu relates not only to prana but also to the mind, which is often described as difficult to control like the wind. Prana reflects more the air aspect of Vayu, while the mind reflects the ether aspect of Vayu. Vayu creates all the wonderful synapses in the brain through which our human intelligence can function. Vayu is the key to the mind and how it works. Our emotional psychology is the atmosphere created by the Vayu within us and its storms. Through Vayu all psychological problems can be resolved.
Cosmic Forms of Vayu
In the Earth or at a mineral level, Vayu is responsible for plate tectonics, for earthquakes, for Earth currents and the gases held beneath the ground. When this Vayu beneath the ground moves, all living beings quiver in fear, even human beings.
In the biosphere, Vayu is the life-wind which carries pollen, dust, prana and is the home of airy creatures like birds. This benefic Vayu keeps our bodies and mind clean and energized by its purifying flow.
In the atmosphere, Vayu is the force behind the weather, the clouds, the rains and the seasons. Vayu is the dominant force of the Atmosphere, just as Agni is on Earth. The Atmosphere is dominated by Vayu as air, clouds or gases in motion. Everything we see in the Atmosphere is a form of Vayu, even the wind that has no form. The weather is mainly a force of Vayu. That is why exposure to the elements and changes of seasons mainly serves to increase Vata dosha. Meteorology is a study of Vayu. The main atmospheric forms of Vayu include rainstorms, hurricanes, typhoons and tornadoes that dominate our weather patterns.
Vayu is responsible for directional influences, such as are described in Vastu Shastra, which is an important consideration for clinics, hospitals and treatment rooms. The different directional influences are special types of Vayus, the winds from different directions.
Vayu at the level of the solar system is responsible for the movement and revolution of the planets. The Sun itself has its solar wind or solar Vayu, its electromagnetic forces that hold the solar system together. The stars are gaseous forms of fire, sustained and generated by the powerful cosmic Vayu. At the level of the galaxy, Vayu is responsible for the movement and revolution of the stars. The galaxies themselves are smoke clouds created by the Cosmic Vayu. Vayu governs the creation and equilibrium of the universe as a whole, yet stands beyond the universe as well.