In human beings this primary consciousness becomes operative through a system of psychophysiological centers. So far we have been traveling along the finest current. Now we begin to look from the opposite, grosser end called the physical body. This body with all its cells, as we said earlier, is run by prana; the prana is directed by the mind and the mind is guided by consciousness. There are areas in our human personality where these various energies are joined together in close consonance, resonating to each other's vibrations, deriving their power from consciousness,which, however, is absolute in itself and resonates to no other. In these specific areas the vibration passes from consciousness into the mind-prana-body system--and from these areas the energy is distributed into the rest of the personality. These are the psychophysiological centers that are plugged into the current of consciousness and that respond to its universal rhythm.

Take, for example, our breathing processes. What is the origin of breath which, when looked at physically, is nothing but a series of pockets of air trapped into certain cavities? What turns that air into flowing breath? The rhythm of the movement of certain organs. What moves the organs? The prana. What causes the prana to vibrate so that the organs linked to its specific areas should thus move rhythmically? The mind, of course. The mind is moved by consciousness.

Again, look at it differently. The universal consciousness, which makes the world dance by its power, sends the tiniest spark of its thrill through the mind into our psychophysiological centers in such locations as the navel, cardiac center, throat, and the pineal area. The thrill creates a pulsation in the prana system that in turn creates certain rhythmic movements in the organs connected therewith. The rhythm is synchronized, coordinated, because it originates with the same original thrill. Through this process, air, which would otherwise remain trapped in the cavities (as in a dead body) begins to flow as a smooth stream, and we say that the child has begun to breathe. On the other hand, when the thrill of consciousness is withdrawn, the breath simply becomes trapped air, and the doctor says that the person is dead. He who understands the source of the thrill knows that the rhythm of his breath responds to the same vibration that produces pulsations in the hearts of suns. It is thus that the yogis give to some of their breathing exercises names such as "piercing through the sun," surya-vedhana.

Some helpful reading: http://www.swamij.com/swami-rama-energy-consciousness.htm