Somewhere along the way, most of us were told that meditation means sitting still and emptying the mind. Then we tried it, and the mind refused. If that has been your experience, you are in good company, and you are not doing it wrong. Kriya Yoga meditation starts from a different place. It gives the restless mind something to do, and it does so through the one thing that is always with you: the breath.
Kriya Yoga is one of the oldest living paths of inner practice, and it is also one of the most misunderstood. It is not a workout, and it is not a trend. It is a method of working with breath, attention and awareness so that the mind settles and the deeper layers of experience come into view. Its modern story runs through four teachers: Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteswar and Paramahansa Yogananda, whose Autobiography of a Yogi carried the practice around the world.
This guide is the full picture, written for seekers who want to understand before they commit. You will find where Kriya Yoga came from, what the word actually means, how it connects to the classical eight limbs of yoga, what breath and energy have to do with it, what to expect from a practice, how to find a real teacher, and a simple seven-day way to begin building the habit today. Along the way, you will meet teachers and authors who have lived this path, in conversations you can watch right here on Next Level Soul.
What Is Kriya Yoga Meditation?
Kriya Yoga is a system of meditation and breath-centered practice designed to calm the nervous system, steady the mind and turn awareness inward. The Sanskrit word kriya means action or deed. In this context, it means a specific inner action you perform, as opposed to a belief you hold. That distinction is the heart of the path. You are not asked to take anything on faith. You are asked to practice, observe what happens, and let your own experience be the teacher.
Most people meet Kriya Yoga through Yogananda, who described it as a scientific method for quickening spiritual growth. Others meet it through the lineage of Lahiri Mahasaya, the householder yogi of Benares who, according to the tradition, received the technique from Babaji and began teaching it to ordinary families. Still others come to it through living teachers who carry the lineage forward today.
What unites all of these streams is a simple idea. Attention and breath are connected. When the breath is rough and rapid, the mind is scattered. When the breath is slow and even, the mind follows. Kriya Yoga works with that connection deliberately, and then it goes further, using the quiet that results as a doorway into stillness, insight and a sense of the self that does not depend on your thoughts.
It is worth saying plainly what Kriya Yoga is not. It is not a physical exercise routine, although many practitioners also do postures. It is not a religion you must join, although it grew out of the Indian spiritual tradition and often uses devotional language. And it is not a shortcut. Most teachers describe it as a long, steady practice whose fruits arrive gradually, the way a garden grows.
What the Word Kriya Means
The phrase Kriya Yoga appears in one of the foundational texts of yoga, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, compiled roughly two thousand years ago. In the opening of the second chapter, Patanjali defines it in a single line: Kriya Yoga is self-discipline, self-study and surrender to the Divine. Three short ideas, and each one is practical.
The Sanskrit terms are tapas, svadhyaya and ishvara pranidhana. Tapas is the willingness to practice with regularity even when it is inconvenient. Svadhyaya is the study of yourself, supported by wise books and honest reflection. Ishvara pranidhana is the release of the need to control every outcome, a softening of the ego into something larger. Patanjali offers these as the practices that reduce the inner disturbances that cloud awareness and prepare the ground for deeper meditation.
Later teachers in the lineage of Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya and Yogananda used the same term for a particular set of breath and meditation techniques. So you will find the word used in two ways. In the Yoga Sutras it names a threefold attitude of practice. In the modern lineage it also names a specific method of pranayama and meditation. The two meanings are not in conflict. The threefold attitude is the soil, and the technique is the seed planted in it.
A Short History: From Ancient Roots to Modern Revival
Ancient Origins
Practices that work with breath and inner awareness are woven through the oldest yogic literature. The Bhagavad Gita, in its fourth and fifth chapters, speaks of offering the incoming breath into the outgoing breath, and the outgoing into the incoming, and of quieting both. Yogananda, in his commentary on the Gita, read these verses as pointing to an advanced breath technique. Whether or not you take that reading literally, the passages show that breath-centered meditation was already considered sacred and worth guarding.
The tradition says that Kriya Yoga was once widely known in ancient India and then, through the long turn of ages, mostly forgotten or kept secret. That claim is a matter of faith and tradition, not of documented history, and it is wise to hold it that way. What can be said is that breath mastery, meditation and the cultivation of inner stillness are very old threads, and Kriya Yoga is one of the lines through which they have reached us.
The Revival Through Babaji and Lahiri Mahasaya
According to Autobiography of a Yogi, the modern history of Kriya Yoga begins in 1861 in the Himalayan foothills near Ranikhet. A government accountant named Shyama Charan Lahiri, who would become known as Lahiri Mahasaya, was transferred there for work. While walking in the hills, he heard a voice call his name, climbed toward it and met a young-looking master. That master was Mahavatar Babaji, who initiated him into Kriya Yoga and told him to share the practice with sincere seekers.
Whatever one makes of the circumstances, the human outcome is clear. Lahiri Mahasaya returned to Benares, kept his job, raised his family, and quietly taught students who came to his small house. His life matters because it shows that this path was never meant to be reserved for monks. A busy person with a mortgage and children can practice it. You can read more in our full guide to Lahiri Mahasaya and our guide to Mahavatar Babaji.
Sri Yukteswar and Yogananda
Lahiri Mahasaya taught many students, and one of the most prominent was Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, a scholar and teacher based in Serampore, near Calcutta. Sri Yukteswar wrote The Holy Science in 1894, a short book that compares the insights of Hindu scripture and the Bible and sets out his understanding of the stages of human consciousness. He also trained a young disciple named Mukunda Lal Ghosh, who would become Paramahansa Yogananda.
In 1920, Yogananda traveled to Boston to speak at an international congress of religious liberals and stayed in the West to teach. He founded Self-Realization Fellowship that same year and spent more than three decades lecturing, writing and initiating students into Kriya Yoga. In 1946 he published Autobiography of a Yogi, which went on to become one of the most widely read spiritual books of the twentieth century. If you would like to see his story told on screen, the film Awake: The Life of Yogananda is available on Next Level Soul, and our review of Awake is a good place to start.
The Lineage at a Glance
One of the things people love about this path is that it comes with a clear human lineage, a chain of teachers who handed the practice from one to the next. Here is the line as the tradition describes it.
- Mahavatar Babaji. A deathless master of the Himalayas in tradition, said to have revived Kriya Yoga for this age. No reliable biography exists, and the tradition does not claim one.
- Lahiri Mahasaya (1828 to 1895). The householder yogi of Benares who received initiation from Babaji and taught Kriya to ordinary families.
- Sri Yukteswar (1855 to 1936). Scholar and teacher, author of The Holy Science, guru of Yogananda.
- Paramahansa Yogananda (1893 to 1952). Founder of Self-Realization Fellowship and author of Autobiography of a Yogi, who brought Kriya Yoga to the West.
Other branches also exist. Teachers such as Yogiraj SatGurunath Siddhanath, whom you will meet in the interviews below, carry the Kriya tradition in their own lines. Each branch presents the teachings in its own style, and it is reasonable to look at more than one before deciding where to learn.
The Three Foundations of Practice
Before any technique, there is an attitude. Patanjali’s three foundations are worth treating as a daily discipline, because they decide whether the technique bears fruit or simply becomes another thing you tried for two weeks.
Self-Discipline
Discipline here is not punishment. It is the ordinary decision to show up. A ten-minute practice you keep every day will do more for you than an hour-long practice you do twice a month. Choose a time, choose a place, and let the habit carry you on the mornings when motivation does not. Many practitioners find that the same hour each day, ideally before the world gets loud, is the simplest way to build that rhythm.
Self-Study
Self-study means two things. It means reading material that deepens your understanding, such as the Gita, the Yoga Sutras and the writings of the lineage. It also means paying honest attention to your own patterns: what makes you tense, what draws your attention away, what quiets you. A short journal after each sitting is a surprisingly powerful tool. Two lines are enough. What did I notice, and what was my state of mind afterward?
Surrender
Surrender is the part that surprises people. It does not mean giving up. It means loosening your grip on results. When you sit to meditate and expect a particular experience, you add a layer of effort on top of the effort, and the mind tightens. Surrender says: I will practice carefully, and I will let what happens happen. For many seekers raised in strict religious settings, this reframes the word entirely. It becomes trust, not obedience.
Kriya Yoga and the Eight Limbs of Yoga
Patanjali described yoga as an eightfold path, and Kriya Yoga fits neatly inside it. Think of the eight limbs as a map of the whole journey, and of Kriya as a vehicle that carries you along several parts of the route at once.
- Yama. Ethical restraints toward others: non-harm, truthfulness, honesty, moderation and non-grasping.
- Niyama. Personal observances: cleanliness, contentment, discipline, self-study and surrender. Notice that the last three are the Kriya Yoga of the Sutras.
- Asana. Posture. In classical yoga, the goal of asana is a seat that is steady and comfortable enough to sit in meditation.
- Pranayama. Regulation of the breath and the life force carried by it. This is the limb most closely associated with Kriya Yoga technique.
- Pratyahara. Withdrawing attention from the senses so that the mind is not constantly pulled outward.
- Dharana. Concentration, holding attention on a single point or object.
- Dhyana. Meditation, an unbroken flow of attention.
- Samadhi. Absorption, a state in which the sense of separation falls away.
The first two limbs matter more than most beginners expect. A meditation practice built on a life that is full of conflict and dishonesty will always feel heavy. That is why teachers in the lineage insist on character as well as technique. The quiet you find on the cushion and the integrity you live off it support each other.
The middle limbs, pranayama, pratyahara and dharana, are where Kriya Yoga does its distinctive work. Breath practice settles the body, withdrawal of attention turns the mind inward, and concentration gives it a place to rest. When those three are in place, the final limbs of meditation and absorption are not forced. They arise, and the practitioner learns to recognize them as natural.
The Role of Breath in Kriya Yoga
If you remember one thing from this guide, let it be this: the breath is the bridge between body and mind. You do not have to believe anything mystical to test it. Take a moment right now and notice how you are breathing. Then slow the exhale a little and see what your shoulders, your jaw and your thoughts do. Most people feel a change within a minute.
The yogic word for working with the breath is pranayama. Prana means life force, and ayama means extension or regulation. Practitioners of Kriya Yoga describe the breath as the most accessible handle on the subtle energy that animates the body. When the breath becomes long, smooth and quiet, the traditions say, the flow of prana becomes steady, and the mind loses much of its agitation.
You do not need to wait for a formal teacher to begin benefiting from this principle. Simple breath awareness, counting a gentle inhale and a slightly longer exhale, is a safe way to prepare. What Kriya Yoga adds is a structured sequence of specific techniques, taught in person, that build on these basics and are practiced with care. We will come back to why that matters in the section on initiation.
Many people are surprised by how physical this can feel. As the breath slows, heart rate often eases, tension drains out of the shoulders and the face softens. This is the ordinary physiology of relaxation, and it is the reason breath practice is a common first step in so many contemplative traditions. The yogic framework layers a further meaning on top of it, but you can begin with the physical experience, and it will be real.
Chakras, the Spine and Subtle Energy
Kriya Yoga draws on a map of subtle energy that appears throughout yogic literature. In this map, the spine is the central channel through which life force can flow, and along it sit a series of energy centers called chakras. The tradition usually names seven: at the base of the spine, the lower abdomen, the navel, the heart, the throat, the point between the eyebrows and the crown of the head.
Each center is associated with a range of human experience, from security and survival at the base to insight and spiritual connection at the crown. Practitioners often use the chakras as points of focus in meditation, directing attention along the spine with the breath. For many people, this gives the mind a clear, simple task, and that alone can make meditation easier.
A grounded way to hold this teaching is as a map and not as anatomy. The chakras are described in symbolic and experiential language, and they do not appear on a medical scan. Many sincere practitioners nonetheless find the map useful, because it organizes inner experience in a way that makes practice feel navigable. You can work with it as a tool for attention without needing to decide what it ultimately is. If you are curious about the broader subject, our guide to kundalini energy explores the same terrain.
Mantra and the Sound of Om
Alongside breath, many Kriya traditions use sound. The most familiar is Om, described in the yogic tradition as the primal vibration from which creation unfolds. In practice, Om is used in several ways: chanted aloud, repeated silently, or listened for as an inner sound in deep stillness.
Mantra gives the mind an anchor. When thoughts rush in, you return to the sound, the way you return to the breath. This is not a technique of suppression. You are not fighting the thoughts. You are giving attention a home so that the thoughts lose their grip on their own.
If you are new, a simple and honest approach is enough. Sit comfortably, breathe naturally and silently repeat a single word or sound with each exhale. Many people choose Om, others choose a word that is meaningful in their own tradition, such as peace or love. What matters is steadiness. Let the repetition become soft and almost effortless, and if the mind wanders, return without scolding yourself.
Kundalini Awakening and Kriya Yoga
You will often see Kriya Yoga mentioned alongside kundalini, the energy that tradition describes as lying dormant at the base of the spine. The tradition says that, through steady practice, this energy can rise along the spinal channel and bring an expansion of awareness. Practitioners describe the experience in many ways: warmth, light, a sense of stillness moving upward, a deep feeling of peace or devotion.
It is wise to approach this subject with both respect and balance. Teachers in the Kriya lineage generally emphasize that awakening is not something to chase. They tend to describe it as a gradual unfolding that follows steady practice, ethical living and the maturing of the heart. Forcing intense experiences is considered unwise, and many teachers warn that overly aggressive methods can leave people unsettled, anxious or ungrounded.
If you do have unusual sensations in meditation, such as strong heat, pressure, vivid imagery or waves of emotion, the usual advice is simple. Do not cling to them and do not fear them. Return to your breath, ease off your effort, and speak with an experienced teacher if the experiences are strong or persistent. Grounding practices such as walking, eating well, resting and spending time in nature are part of the path, not distractions from it.
What a Kriya Yoga Practice Looks Like
Because Kriya Yoga is traditionally taught person to person, specific techniques are not published here, and it would not be right to present a written recipe as a substitute for instruction. What we can describe is the shape of a practice, so you know what you are walking toward.
Preparation
Practitioners usually begin with a short period of preparation. This can include gentle stretching or a few postures to loosen the body, followed by a few minutes of calm breathing to settle the nervous system. The aim is to arrive at the cushion with a body that is relaxed and a mind that is a little quieter than when you started.
The Core Practice
The central part of the practice is a sequence of specific breath and attention techniques, repeated in a measured way. Students are generally encouraged to start with small numbers of repetitions and to build slowly, never forcing the breath or straining the body. The emphasis is on awareness during the practice, not on performance.
Stillness and Integration
The practice ends with a period of silent meditation. After the breath work, many practitioners notice that the mind feels spacious, and this is the moment the lineage treasures most. You rest in the quiet, without trying to produce anything. Then you close gently, take a few moments to return to ordinary awareness and carry the stillness into the rest of the day.
Most students practice once or twice a day, and the full sitting can range from twenty minutes to an hour or more, depending on experience and schedule. Consistency matters far more than duration. A short sitting every morning will take you further than a long one when the mood strikes.
Initiation and Finding a Real Teacher
In the Kriya lineage, formal practice begins with diksha, or initiation. Initiation is a ceremony in which a qualified teacher transmits the technique, instructs the student in how to practice it safely, and commits to supporting the student’s progress. Different organizations handle this differently. Self-Realization Fellowship, for example, offers a series of lessons, delivered by mail and online, that prepare students for Kriya initiation. Other lineages hold in-person initiations and retreats.
Why is the personal element considered important? Partly because the techniques involve breath and attention in ways that benefit from guidance, and partly because a teacher can see what you cannot. A good teacher notices when you are straining, answers questions that arise in your practice and helps you interpret experiences without exaggerating or dismissing them.
Here are some thoughtful questions to ask as you look for a teacher or organization.
- Is the lineage clearly explained? A teacher should be able to tell you who taught them and how the practice reached them.
- Are the teachings consistent with the teacher’s life? Look for humility, steadiness and kindness, not display.
- Is there pressure? Real teachers do not use fear, urgency or flattery to secure commitment.
- Is the cost transparent? Fees for retreats and materials are normal. Hidden costs and escalating demands are not.
- Do you remain free? You should be able to ask hard questions, take your time and walk away if it is not right for you.
At Next Level Soul, we hold a simple conviction: the power is within you, and every teacher, book and course is a guide to help you remember what you already carry. A good teacher points you inward. If someone points only at themselves, take that as information.
Benefits: What Practitioners Report and What Research Suggests
Calmer Mind and Steadier Emotions
The most common report from practitioners is a quieter mind. People describe less rumination, a longer pause between a trigger and a reaction, and a greater sense of being at home in themselves. This lines up with what broader research on meditation and slow breathing suggests: regular practice is associated with reduced stress and improved mood for many people, though results vary and meditation is not a replacement for professional care.
Physical Wellbeing
Slow, regular breathing is associated with a more relaxed nervous system. Many practitioners notice that they sleep more easily, carry less tension in the neck and shoulders and recover from stress more quickly. These are modest, practical benefits, and they are often what keeps people practicing during the early months before deeper experiences arrive.
A Deeper Sense of Meaning
Beyond stress relief, many people describe a growing sense of connection and purpose. Practitioners often speak of feeling less alone, more compassionate and less driven by fear. For those who came to spirituality after leaving a rigid belief system, this is often the most precious change: a quiet confidence that their inner life belongs to them. If you are interested in the larger arc, our guide to spiritual enlightenment sets Kriya Yoga in a wider context.
Honest Cautions
A trustworthy guide names the limits. Please keep the following in mind.
- It is not a medical treatment. If you live with anxiety, depression, trauma or a medical condition, talk with a qualified professional before changing your practice. Meditation can complement care, not replace it.
- Breath practices should be gentle. Do not hold your breath to the point of strain, and stop if you feel dizzy, panicky or unwell. Women who are pregnant and people with heart or respiratory conditions should speak with a doctor first.
- Intense experiences deserve care. If meditation brings overwhelming emotion, disorientation or distress, pause the practice and seek support from an experienced teacher or a healthcare professional.
- Miracle stories are stories. The lineage’s accounts of Babaji and others are part of a sacred tradition. You can be moved by them without treating them as documented fact.
- Be wary of promises. Anyone who guarantees enlightenment, healing or wealth in exchange for money is selling, not teaching.
A Seven-Day Way to Begin
You do not need to wait for initiation to begin building the foundation. This simple week prepares the body, the breath and the habit. It uses only safe, gentle practices, and it is designed to fit into a real schedule. Keep each sitting between ten and twenty minutes.
Day 1: Choose Your Seat
Pick a spot and a time. Sit on a chair or a cushion with your spine tall and your shoulders relaxed. Rest your hands on your thighs. Close your eyes and simply notice your breath for ten minutes, without changing it. If your mind wanders, bring it back. Do this at the same time tomorrow.
Day 2: Lengthen the Exhale
Begin as yesterday. After two minutes, gently count four on the inhale and six on the exhale, with no strain. If it feels forced, shorten the count. Notice how your body responds to the longer exhale.
Day 3: Add a Sound
Breathe naturally and silently repeat Om, or a word that is meaningful to you, on each exhale. Let it be soft and slow. When thoughts arrive, return to the sound. End with two minutes of silence.
Day 4: Feel the Spine
Sit tall and bring attention to the base of the spine. On each inhale, imagine your awareness traveling up the back, and on each exhale, imagine it resting at the crown of the head. Keep the imagery light. It is a way of directing attention, not a force to push.
Day 5: Study
Before you sit, read a few pages of something that deepens your understanding. A chapter of Autobiography of a Yogi is a fine choice, or a few verses of the Gita. After your sitting, write two lines in a journal about what you noticed.
Day 6: Let Go of the Outcome
Sit as usual, and at the start, say silently: I will practice, and I will let the results be. Then simply practice. Notice how often the mind reaches for a result, and let it go, again and again.
Day 7: Review and Commit
Do your favorite practice of the week for twenty minutes. Afterward, ask yourself three questions. What helped most? What got in the way? What will I keep doing? Choose a ten-minute daily practice for the next thirty days. If you feel drawn to deeper instruction, this is a good moment to explore teachers and lineages.
Making Kriya Yoga Part of Real Life
The point of all this is not to become a person who meditates well. It is to become a person who lives well. The proof of a practice is in how you meet an ordinary Tuesday.
Start with your mornings. Many practitioners find that meditation before email, news or conversation sets a different tone for the day. Even five quiet minutes can help. In the evening, a short sitting before bed can ease the transition into sleep and let you release the day.
Then bring the practice into small moments. Pause for three slow breaths before a difficult conversation. Notice your shoulders when you are stressed and let them drop. Take your lunch without a screen for five minutes. These tiny returns to presence are the daily expression of the discipline, self-study and surrender that Patanjali described.
Finally, be gentle with yourself when life gets in the way. You will miss days. Everyone does. The lineage’s own stories are full of householders with jobs, families and interruptions. Begin again, without drama. Consistency is not perfection. It is the habit of returning.
How Kriya Yoga Compares with Other Meditation Styles
If you have tried mindfulness, mantra meditation or guided relaxation, you may wonder where Kriya Yoga fits. The honest answer is that these approaches overlap and complement one another, and the differences are mostly about emphasis.
Mindfulness trains you to observe thoughts, sensations and emotions as they arise, without judgment. Kriya Yoga includes that kind of observation, but it usually begins by giving attention a structured task through breath and inner focus, which many beginners find easier than open awareness.
Mantra meditation, such as the repetition of a single word or sound, is a close cousin. In Kriya practice, mantra is often one tool among several, used alongside breath and attention to the spine.
Guided meditation relies on a voice to lead you. It is wonderful for relaxation and for building the habit, and it can be a gentle doorway into more silent practice. Kriya Yoga moves, over time, toward sitting in your own silence without outside direction.
None of this is a contest. Plenty of seekers use a guided meditation on a hard day, mindfulness during the workday and a deeper breath-based sitting in the morning. If you want ideas for building a varied practice, explore the meditations and courses available on Next Level Soul TV.
Common Misconceptions About Kriya Yoga
“It Is Only for Advanced Practitioners”
The lineage’s own story argues the opposite. Lahiri Mahasaya taught clerks, merchants and mothers. The foundations, steady practice, honest self-study and a willingness to let go, are available to anyone starting today.
“It Requires Leaving Your Life”
Monastic life is one option, and it is not the only one. Many Kriya teachers emphasize living fully in the world, with work and family, while keeping a daily inner practice. The tradition treats ordinary life as the training ground, not an obstacle.
“It Is Dangerous or Secret”
Kriya Yoga is not a secret society. Its techniques are traditionally taught with care, because breath practices benefit from guidance, and not to keep people out. The teachings, history and philosophy are openly published, and you are free to read and ask questions as long as you like.
“It Will Fix Everything Quickly”
Nothing in the lineage promises that. Teachers describe a patient process in which small changes accumulate. If a practice makes sweeping promises, it deserves skepticism.
“You Have to Believe It for It to Work”
This may be the most important point. Kriya Yoga is offered as a method to be tested, not a creed to be accepted. You can approach it with curiosity, doubts and questions and still benefit from sitting quietly and breathing with care. Let your experience, over weeks and months, tell you what is true.
Books to Read Next
If you would like to go deeper, these books are good companions. They are listed in the order we suggest reading them.
- Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. The classic that introduced Kriya Yoga to the world.
- The Holy Science by Swami Sri Yukteswar. A compact, demanding text on the stages of consciousness.
- The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The foundation of classical yoga and the source of the term Kriya Yoga.
- Journey to Self-Realization by Paramahansa Yogananda. A collection of his talks and essays.
- Life of Yogananda by Philip Goldberg. A thoughtful modern biography.
On Screen: Awake
Awake: The Life of Yogananda is a feature film that follows the life of the teacher who carried Kriya Yoga to the West. It moves from his childhood in India through his years with Sri Yukteswar and his decades of teaching in America, and it traces the lineage back through Lahiri Mahasaya to Babaji. If you would like to see the story behind this guide told in full, it is a good place to begin. You can read our review of Awake first, then watch the film on Next Level Soul.
Who Will Connect with This Path
Kriya Yoga tends to speak to people who want a method they can test, who are comfortable with devotion but wary of dogma, and who have a feeling that the answer lies closer than they have been told. If that is you, you are welcome here. Start with the seven days above, read slowly and let the path reveal itself at its own pace.
Keep Exploring
Keep exploring with Paramahansa Yogananda quotes, kundalini energy, spiritual enlightenment and the ascended masters. Deepen your practice with the teachers in Next Level Soul Mastery.
Hear It in Their Own Words
Philip Goldberg on Yogananda’s Life and Legacy
The author and teacher Philip Goldberg traces how Kriya Yoga and meditation traveled from India to the West.
Yogiraj SatGurunath Siddhanath on the Kriya Path
A living Kriya Yoga master speaks about the lineage, the practice and awakening.
Babaji’s True Origins
Yogiraj Siddhanath shares his account of Mahavatar Babaji and the roots of the tradition.
Want more? Read our notes on the Philip Goldberg episode, the Kriya path with Yogiraj SatGurunath Siddhanath and Babaji’s true origins.
Go Deeper: Watch Awake: The Life of Yogananda
Watch Awake on Next Level Soul TV Not Ready Yet? Read Our Awake Review
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Kriya Yoga meditation?
Kriya Yoga meditation is a system of breath-centered practice and meditation designed to calm the mind and turn awareness inward. The word kriya means action, and the practice asks you to perform a specific inner action instead of simply believing something.
Who founded Kriya Yoga?
Tradition credits Mahavatar Babaji with reviving Kriya Yoga for this age. He is said to have initiated Lahiri Mahasaya in 1861, who taught Sri Yukteswar, who in turn taught Paramahansa Yogananda. No reliable historical record exists for Babaji, so this part of the story rests on tradition.
What does the word Kriya mean?
Kriya is a Sanskrit word meaning action or deed. In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Kriya Yoga means self-discipline, self-study and surrender to the Divine. In the modern lineage, the term also names a specific set of breath and meditation techniques.
Is Kriya Yoga the same as Hatha Yoga?
No. Hatha Yoga focuses mainly on physical postures and breath. Kriya Yoga is a meditation and breath-centered path. Many practitioners do both, since gentle postures help prepare the body to sit for meditation.
Can beginners practice Kriya Yoga?
Yes, with the right preparation. Beginners can start with simple breath awareness, silent mantra and short daily sittings. Formal Kriya techniques are traditionally learned from a qualified teacher through initiation.
Do I need a guru to learn Kriya Yoga?
The tradition recommends learning the specific techniques from a qualified teacher, because the breath practices benefit from personal guidance. You can prepare on your own with basic breath and meditation practices, and you can study the teachings freely.
How long should I meditate each day?
Ten to twenty minutes is a good start for most beginners. Many established practitioners sit once or twice a day for longer periods. Regularity matters more than length, so choose a time you can keep.
What are the benefits of Kriya Yoga meditation?
Practitioners commonly report a calmer mind, steadier emotions, easier sleep and a deeper sense of connection and purpose. Broader research on meditation and slow breathing associates regular practice with reduced stress for many people. Results vary, and it is not a medical treatment.
Is Kriya Yoga safe?
For most healthy people, gentle breath practice and meditation are considered safe. Avoid forcing the breath, stop if you feel dizzy, and speak with a doctor if you are pregnant or have a heart, respiratory or mental health condition. Seek support if meditation brings overwhelming experiences.
What is the connection between Kriya Yoga and kundalini?
Kriya Yoga is often described as working with the subtle energy that tradition calls kundalini, which is said to lie at the base of the spine. Teachers generally describe awakening as a gradual unfolding that comes with steady practice and ethical living, not as something to force. See our guide to kundalini energy.
Do I need to be Hindu to practice Kriya Yoga?
No. Kriya Yoga grew out of the Indian spiritual tradition, but Yogananda and others taught it to people of every background. Many students keep their own faith or have none, and they treat the practice as a method of meditation.
Where can I learn Kriya Yoga?
Several lineages and organizations offer instruction, including Self-Realization Fellowship, which offers lessons that lead to Kriya initiation, and other teachers in the wider tradition. Take your time, ask questions about lineage and cost, and choose a path that feels honest and free of pressure.
Go Deeper with NLS Mastery: Ancient Meditation for Inner Stillness
Time-tested meditation from the Vedic tradition, taught step by step for modern daily life. Acharya Shunya teaches it in Ancient Meditation for Inner Stillness, part of NLS Mastery. Watch the course preview below.
