Kripalu Yoga | Kripalu Yoga, Sivananda Yoga, and Nia classes and private lessons in Knoxville, TN
Swami Kripalu (also called Kripalvananda-ji) was an Indian yogi and scholar who came to the United States near the end of his life at the bequest of his student, Amrit Desai. Desai had immigrated some years before and built quite a following of Western yoga students at an ashram he named after his teacher.
At the instruction of his teacher, Desai modified the yoga practice to fit the Western mindset, continuing the process of change that has always been present since the beginning of yoga… and every spiritual tradition, really.
A Hatha yoga style emerged, greatly influenced by both sahaja kundalini practice (an ancient “natural” awakening practice shared by several traditions and not to be confused with either the Kundalini Yoga of Yoga Bhajan’s 3HO or the Sahaja Yoga brand-name organizations) and the Classical Yoga of Patanjali.
The evolution continued when Yogi Amrit Desai left the Kripalu Center after a scandal (the same old preacher-choir director story — where there are people, there are scandals).
Kripalu Yoga no longer has a guru, making it the first traditional yoga style to transition away from the guru-disciple relationship while maintaining integrity to spiritual roots which reach back four and a half thousand years to the time of Lord Lakulish, the first teacher in the tradition.
Like other forms of Hatha yoga such as the Iyengar method (there are several other good examples of Hatha yoga methods firmly grounded in tradition, but the Iyengar method in particular is what most plain-jane Hatha classes in the United States are modeled after), the purpose of Kripalu Yoga practice is to live fully and transcend the “ego” self to live consciously connected to the greater Self (you’re already connected whether conscious of it or not).
Many — not all — of the asanas in Kripalu Yoga and Iyengar look the same and share similar names, too. Though the two styles look somewhat similar and aim for the same “results” — and I use the term loosely — the methodologies behind them are quite different.
Whereas the Iyengar method emphasizes concentration on the intricate details of physical alignment, bringing alignment of breath, mind, and awareness with it, Kripalu Yoga emphasizes surrender.
There are three stages in Kripalu Yoga practice:
The first stage is finding physical alignment in the postures. We emphasize alignment for safety as well as for optimal movement of energy, or prana, through the body.
In the second stage, we bring awareness to physical sensation as well as the movement of prana, the breath, our thoughts and feelings, and our experience of our bodies and ourselves in the moment.
In the third stage we surrender to prana. Usually this occurs during a few minutes in class set aside for you to do your own thing, allowing movement to guide you rather than the other way around.
You stay relaxed, conscious, and in complete control. Sometimes this “meditation in motion” looks like a flow of yoga postures. Other times it looks like dancing. Other times it looks like lying on the floor.
As you might imagine, this is a very difficult practice for many of us, at least at first. But once we realize that it’s safe and that we really want to open up and express our true Self in the moment, we can.
In yoga as in life, vulnerability is power.
Other parts of Kripalu Yoga that might be new to you are pranayama — breath control, sitting meditation, and mantra — the healing sound of transformation.
