Umoya — breath, wind, spirit
Animating movement and vitality
Umoya is rendered at the chest as breath, wind, and animating spirit in a deliberately broad sense. The chest placement makes respiration and movement visible, but the point must not be read as a Zulu equivalent of qi, pneuma, or the Akan sunsum.
Point 2 of 5 in Zulu / Nguni Body-Spirit Complex
Cross-tradition overlaps
No overlapping points are registered for this point.
Sources
Axel-Ivar Berglund, Zulu Thought-Patterns and Symbolism (scholarly_modern)
Berglund's discussion of Zulu terms for life, wind, spirit, and symbolic movement supports umoya as a breath/spirit rendering, not a universal soul definition.
Harriet Ngubane, Body and Mind in Zulu Medicine (scholarly_modern)
The medical ethnography supports the importance of breath, bodily state, illness, and spirit explanations in Nyuswa-Zulu thought and practice.