What is Kriya yoga?

In Sanskrit, “Kri” means “act” and “Ya” means “soul”. Therefore, Kriya in Sanskrit means an act or a completed action for the experience of the Divine. Kriya Yoga refers to a technique or practice that is supposed to achieve a specific result. It is a scientific technique of meditation that helps in the development of the mind, the body, the soul and the intellect. It combines the essence of many other Yoga techniques through the practice of which a person can go beyond the body sense, thoughts and sense organs. It includes many concentration and breathing exercises as well as simple body exercises. The objective of practicing this technique is the transformation of one’s life energy into a higher form of awareness, i.e., the supreme (or the highest) state of cosmic awareness.

Given below are a few practices that are a part of the first level of Kriya Yoga:

• Talabhaya Kriya (Tongue Action): Press your tongue to the roof of the mouth and drop your lower jaw so that the part that joins the tongue to the base of the mouth is stretched. Release the tongue and push it out of your mouth. Exercise the tip of the tongue till it touches the tip of the nose. This is called the Khechari Mudra.
• Nabhi Kriya (Navel Power Action): Place your chin against your throat and focus on your navel. In your mind, chant “Om” about 75 times. Raise your chin, so that your head is thrown back. Use your mind to concentrate on the spinal point behind your navel and chant “Om” 25 times, in that position.
• Mental Pranayama (Using the imagination to control the mind): Imagine that your spine is a tube through which your mind can travel up and down. Chant “Om” at each of the spinal centers.

Benefits of Kriya Yoga
By practicing Kriya Yoga, an individual can experience divine knowledge, light, sound and vibration. It can effectively change a person’s life in a positive way. A mental benefit is that, a person feels calm and peaceful from the inside and can live in the present, rather than the past or the future. It reduces stress and anxiety and helps you focus and concentrate on positive things. Emotionally, Kriya Yoga can help transform negative emotions, such as anger, worry, resentment, bitterness, etc, into positive emotions and energy. Physically, it improves flexibility and tones some of the major organs of the body, like the liver, kidneys, stomach, spleen, etc.

Precaution
Kriya Yoga should never be practiced without the help and supervision of a qualified master in the initial stages. The initiation of Advanced Kriya Yoga too can only be given by the qualified master.

Submitted by A on July 1, 2010 at 05:53

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