Unlike many other forms of yoga practice, Kriya yoga focuses less on spiritual control of breathing and more on an individual connection to and love of God. This means that the focus is more on the connection between the breath and the mind. It is learned and practice by establishing a guru-disciple relationship in which the more spiritually learned transfers this love from a Higher Being through a medium (the guru) and to a recipient (a disciple).

Kriya yoga techniques have been associated with the deep breathing, posture holding, stretching or meditational chanting rituals that are often present in yoga practice. Yoga is so much more than these physical practices. It is a spiritual custom that allows you to balance your mind, body and spirit. The spiritual aspects of yoga should not make you automatically connect this practice to religion. Yoga is not a religion, and there is no code of beliefs connected to it. Its non-material focus, however, gives it a reputation for spirituality.

There are eight different limbs of yoga practice. The branch that kriya yoga techniques are most closely linked to is bhakti yoga, which emphasizes the love and devotion of God and human submission to the will of God. There are also elements of karma yoga, which emphasizes detachment from the actions of the known world, and jnana yoga, which focuses on attaining spiritual knowledge and wisdom.

Modern kriya yoga is said to be derived from the Guru Mahavatar Babaji through his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya around 1861. The principles of Babaji kriya yoga were introduced to Westerners through a book written by Paramahansa Yogananda titled Autobiography of a Yogi. The book is basically the life story Yogananda and details his search for a guru. This book is considered an introductory springboard for the meditations of kriya yoga and has sold over a million copies worldwide. Prior to the publication of this book, no written documentation of kriya yoga existed. The practice model of moving from master to aspirant has kept this mostly an oral tradition.

Yoga kriya principles seem to provide an optimum opportunity for hastening spiritual development and changing your life. Kriya yoga meditation has a laser focus on oneness with God and encourages practitioners to focus on the inner soul as the means to achieve that oneness.

Kriya yoga is practiced at ashrams around the world. In order to begin practice, you must go through an introductory program or initiation. It is usually recommended that you be initiated by an authorized leader in order to participate in the guided meditations practiced in kriya yoga centers.

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