Within Vajrayāna, the subtle body is understood as an inner psycho‑energetic system that parallels the physical body and underlies both bodily and mental experience. It is not presented as a physical anatomy, but as a meditative framework that links posture, breath, energetic experience, and states of consciousness. This system is described in terms of channels, winds, and drops, which together provide the basis for advanced tantric practices such as deity yoga, inner heat, dream yoga, and the realization of clear light awareness. Through working with this subtle body, practitioners seek to reveal an innate, non‑dual mind that is empty yet luminous.

The channels (*nāḍī*, *rtsa*) are said to be fine, non‑physical conduits through which subtle energies and consciousness move. A vast network of channels pervades the body, but three are regarded as primary: the central channel (*avadhūtī*), running along the spine slightly in front, and the right and left channels (*rasanā* and *lālanā*), which flank it. The central channel is treated as the main support for realization, often associated with the union of wisdom and method. Branch channels connect to energetic “knots” or centers, and tantric yogas aim to bring the activity of the right and left channels into the central channel so that subtler levels of mind can manifest.

The winds (*prāṇa*, *vāyu*, *rlung*) are the subtle energies or vital forces that flow through these channels and are said to carry the mind, like a rider on a horse. Traditional presentations describe five main winds with distinct locations and functions, such as sustaining life, governing excretion and reproduction, supporting speech and upward movement, enabling bodily motion, and accompanying digestion and inner heat. These winds are closely tied to both physical processes and mental states, and imbalances are associated with various disturbances. Yogic methods, including specialized breathing and inner heat practices, are used to gather and dissolve the winds into the central channel, thereby stabilizing increasingly subtle and clear states of awareness.

The drops (*bindu*, *thig le*) are described as subtle essences or concentrated points of energy and consciousness located at specific centers within the channels. Two fundamental types are emphasized: white drops, associated with clarity and compassion and often linked with the crown, and red drops, associated with warmth and awareness and often linked with the navel or below. A particularly important “indestructible drop” at the heart is said to be the basis of the very subtlest mind and to persist through the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. In completion‑stage yogas, practitioners work with channels and winds precisely to influence these drops, generating intense experiences of bliss and then uniting that bliss with insight into emptiness. Through this disciplined engagement with the subtle body, the path aims at transforming ordinary processes into a vehicle for awakening.