Have you ever heard the saying that we are the sum of the five people we spend the most time with?

Lately, I’ve been thinking about that a lot—not just how the people we choose to be with shape our attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours, but also, in pranic terms, how the energy of those around us shapes our own.

Over the past year, I’ve been paying closer attention to my own energy, and the more I notice, the more I realise how much prana—the life-force energy yoga describes—is exchanged and shaped in relationship with others.

Talking Energetics

For much of my teaching, I’ve been known for precision and alignment: the way we place the body, the care of posture, the attention and pace that support strength and safety. And I still value that hugely. But the longer I practice, the more I see that alignment of the body serves something deeper.

When the body steadies, the breath flows. When the breath flows, the mind settles. And within and around and through that process, energy flows differently. Change happens. This is what yoga teaches in the layered kosha model of the causal and subtle body.

We can’t always measure prana tangibly, but we feel it: tiredness and vitality, ease and tension, awe and gratitude—the vibes and feelings that are beyond any single emotion. A person’s aura, as if like heat or magnetism emanating through their pores, can make us want to stay longer in their presence or retreat from it immediately.

Words seem to matter less. The language of energetics is what I find myself interested in right now as I ask:

How does my practice, and what I share with students, sustain and refine the flow of this precious energy, for me and out of me? Who am I drawn to?

In Prana and Partnership

In 2023, Rebecca Harvey of Pause Yoga invited me to co-teach a retreat with her in 2025. We didn’t know each other well then, but she extended the invitation anyway. I said yes—without overthinking it, just trusting the energy of that yes.

That yes carried me into the most beautiful retreat. Before the retreat I had worried a little that our teaching styles might clash, or that our ideas and rhythms might differ—and that I would have to mould myself to another, as I have so often done. But what I found wasn’t discord; it was enrichment.

I believe this came down not just to our personalities, but to our prana—the way our energies supported, balanced, and enhanced each other toward a shared purpose. Watching Rebecca teach, I was struck not necessarily by her words, but her energy - her unique encapsulated prana in motion: her professionalism, generosity, inclusivity, and compassion radiated through the room and to me. Instead of comparing myself, I felt supported and inspired to grow and give more, while still being myself.

This is one of the most wonderful gifts of partnership: the chance to share not just knowledge, but energy in a way that lifts everyone involved. Better, together.

Me and Rebecca, last day of retreat :)

Raising Vibration

Leaving Spain, enveloped in a cocoon of uplifting energy, I reflected on the people who surround me in daily life. Perhaps this is why some relationships fall away while others draw me closer—because prana recognises prana. Energy attracts or repels.

I honestly believe that when we “raise our vibration,” we naturally attract others doing the same. Back to the notion of the five people we spend the most time with: who are my five? The people whose energy heals, steadies, emboldens, and encourages me. And who would I choose, if I could, to be the five who most inspire and nourish me into the fullest, most compassionate, and most alive version of myself?

The Prana We Transmit

On the retreat, I shared a reading from The Language of Yin by Gabrielle Harris, first introduced to me by one of my own teachers:

“Sometimes if we are still, quiet, we can feel nature’s voice of energy in the crashing waves, the shade of a tree, or in the power of the sun. It can also explain why we feel good in another’s presence, as they are sending out Qi or prana that matches or lifts our own. The world needs this. It needs people who heal, people who listen, people who care, love, serve—who raise the vibration of themselves and those around them.

At times, we need to be moved and inspired. Consider your practice as a means of making the fullest use of your time here on earth by fortifying and cleaning your energy so those who are in need can be held or supported by the prana you transmit.”

This passage captures what I witnessed on retreat so beautifully: the power of conscious, loving energy moving between people, teaching us as much as any physical practice ever could.

Your Pranic Circle

So, I leave you with a simple reflection: who are the people in your life whose prana uplifts you? Who transmits energy that heals, steadies, or inspires you? How is your own energy? And how can your own practice—your alignment, your presence—help cultivate and radiate this energy outward?

Being mindful of prana in our own body and in the people around us transforms yoga practice into something more than physical: a shared field of energy that teaches, uplifts, and strengthens us all. Whether practicing solo or in partnership, the yoga we do has the power to fortify and move not just ourselves, but everyone around us.

Let's practice.