Kriya, a Spiritual Yoga Experience

People seeking a deeper spiritual meaning in their lives have found Kriya yoga. Yogananda brought Kriya yoga to the West in the 1920's. He established the Self-Realization Fellowship as a total yoga experience that addressed the spiritual as well as the physical, all most other western yoga disciplines concentrate on.

A Kriya yogi, as described by Yogananda, mentally moves his life energy around the six spinal centers - the medullar, dorsal, lumbar, coccygeal, cervical, and sacral plexuses. These each relate to the twelve zodiac signs. This subtle energy revolution progresses his evolution, and it is said that this 30 seconds of Kriya is equivalent to a year of natural spiritual growth.

Kriya yoga is based on Kundalina yoga and includes similar asana and meditation methods. Kriya adds some spiritual and esoteric guidelines. It does have its detractors that point out Kriya does not maintain your power comes from within, but that you need a teacher, or guru, to release your spirituality. Although it sounds like an admirable goal, Kriya's attempt to eliminate obstacles begs the question, are the obstacles there for a reason? Is the guru the right person to decide how and when to remove them? It is very important to go into Kriya yoga with a strong sense of self. Never allow another to hijack your self-determination!

Advocates of Kriya yoga believe they can achieve self-realization faster by combining three other yoga methods:

1. Karma yoga is concentrated on the movement of the soul, both out in the world and the inner actions of the mind.

2. Bhakti yoga aims to achieve peace with all the elements of your life through the power of love. It is often stated as "oneness with all creation and cosmic consciousness."

3. Jnana yoga is concerned with intellectual discipline leading to wisdom gained from spiritual knowledge giving freedom of the mind.

Thus, Kriya joins the three into a single discipline. It highlights the relationship between breath and mind. Breath control is self control. Breath mastery is self mastery.

Preparation is the first step in Kriya yoga. The body is prepared with a Hatha yoga exercise routine. For beginners or the less flexible, other alternative preparation routines are provided.

Mind preparation comes next. Here you focus your mind by studying general conduct, analyzing your overall health, cleanliness and purity. You may even study your relationship to certain metaphysical principles. These reflective studies help to prepare the mind for later techniques intended to refine and improve the nervous system.

Mantras are taught in Kriya meditation in order to tune the mind and body to a single frequency. Again, the detractors point out, one must be careful that YOU are the chooser of the destination and your mind isn't being controlled by another, even a trusted other.

Although one of a handful of more controversial yoga paths, Kriya yoga has helped many attain spiritual levels they couldn't quite reach with other methods. It may be right for you, but go into it with your eyes open and your protection activated.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Yoga

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10 Lazy Ways To Squeeze A Little Exercise Into Busy Days

There are a lot of us baby-boomers. I think we all recognize that the ease with which we used to discard a few extra kilos, no longer quite works as quickly as it used to in our twenties and thirties.

Many of us also have lifestyles that place greater demands on our time and energy. Some of us are no longer willing to spend the hours at the gym or on the road jogging, like we used to. So here are some ideas for getting movement squeezed into a fast paced schedule. Many of these you may have seen before, however how many have you actually incorporated into your life? Its always good to be reminded.

Have music I your kitchen or wear your iPod then dance as you cook or do the dishes. Same with any housework activity such as hanging up the washing go ahead, wiggle those hips! Measure a walking distance in your back garden. Take 4-minute breaks from computer work or any other sedentary activity e.g. my distance measured is 30 metres. Five times each day I drink a 200ml glass of water and directly follow that with 7x30metre walks. This way I get to walk 7 km per week and drink one litre of water daily.

Get a hands-free phone and headset. When having that hour-long conversation with a close friend or family member, walk around the back garden as you chat. Make it a habit for all lengthy calls.

Always take the stairs and always park the car as far from work, as is feasible. Get off the bus or tram a few stops earlier and walk the rest. Tighten your stomach muscles, or raise and lower yourself on your toes to exercise calf muscles, while waiting in a queue.

We used to walk to school by ourselves, several kilometers sometimes. Many parents now drive their children because they say its a safety issue. Could you not walk your children or ride bikes to school together? It has the combined benefit of family fitness and time to speak with each other at length.

Quit making use of the moving sidewalk (travelator) at airports if your work involves a lot of air travel. Use the stairs in large buildings instead of the lifts and elevators, even if only for a few of the floors of that building.

Learn a couple of simple, yet highly effective, yoga, Pilates or stretching moves and before leaving your bedroom each morning, use a few of those moves as a 5-10 min. wake up routine. March on the spot while watching television (and you said you dont have time!), or get up during the advert breaks and do a few stretches or laps of the room. Make it a habit whenever an ad begins. Instead of watching your children play in the playground, sitting on a park bench, get up and push their swing or meet them at the bottom of the slide. Kick or throw balls with them. Walk around the track while youre watching your children play soccer or athletic training.

Trade baby-sitting time with your sister or best friend. Get them to mind the children while youre at the gym and vice versa. Is the same opportunity available at work? What could you trade with a colleague to give each other 30 mins. time-out to go for a good walk each day, or few times a week?

Im sure that while reading some of these ideas it may have triggered a few of your own. Any of these activities are better than just giving in and saying that obesity is your lot in life. All the above is a lazy persons guide to exercise. Anyone can create a healthy body habit by habit. You do not have to be Tarzan and Jane with the six-pack, at the local gym. Movement is movement. Stagnation is stagnation. Choose!

2007 Thea Westra is an international life coach who resides in Perth, Western Australia. She is editor and publisher of a free, monthly newsletter at http://www.forwardsteps.com.au Thea also recommends http://www.lightisreal.com and http://freemoneyebook.com

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