Subtle channels

Subtle channels (Skt. nāḍi; Tib. རྩ་, tsa, Wyl. rtsa) — There are 72,000 subtle channels in the body, but the three principal ones are:

• the central channel (Skt. avadhūtī; Tib. དབུ་མ་, uma, Wyl. dbu ma), running parallel to the spine,
• the right channel (Skt. rasanā; Tib. རོ་མ་, roma, Wyl. ro ma) and
• the left channel (Skt. lalanā; Tib. རྐྱང་མ་, kyangma, Wyl. rkyang ma), which run either side of the central channel.

The right and left channels coil around the central one at a number of points to form a series of "knots". Along the central channel are situated a number of “channel wheels,” the chakras or energy-centers, from which channels branch off like the ribs of an umbrella.

Alternative Translations

• Energy channels