What is Kriya Yoga, exactly ?

Kriya yoga 

The Kriya Yoga Technique 

The ancient meditation practice known as Kriya Yoga is a component of a thorough spiritual path. It is a powerful method that engages the spiritual energy buried deep within our spines, the true wellspring of growth.

This energy is used by all yoga methods, usually in an indirect way. For instance, yoga poses can help balance the energy in the spine and open up the spinal channels. Yoga pranayama or breathing techniques might aid in arousing that energy.

The Kriya method is significantly more straightforward. Drawing the life force with awareness and willpower up and down the spine aids the practitioner in controlling it. Yogananda asserts that one Kriya, which lasts approximately a half-minute a year of organic spiritual development.

Initiation is used to teach the method itself. Yogananda stated in his Autobiography of a Yogi that "I cannot give a full explanation of Kriya Yoga in the pages of a book intended for the general public due to certain ancient yogic injunctions." A Kriyaban or Kriya Yogi must teach the actual technique; in this case, a general reference is sufficient.

Kriya yoga is a tool that can hasten the evolution of humanity. The ancient yogis recognized that breath control is closely related to the secret of cosmic consciousness. This is India's one-of-a-kind and eternal contribution to the global knowledge base.Quoted in Autobiography of a Yogi by Sri Yukteswar

The History of Kriya Yoga

The historic Kriya method For many years, yoga was kept a secret from the public. When the renowned yogi Mahavatar Babaji shared the technique with his student Lahiri Mahasaya during their encounter in the Himalayas in 1861, it was revitalized.

Up till this day, Kriya has been taught in an uninterrupted chain of spiritual transmission. To initiate competent individuals into Kriya Yoga, Paramhansa Yogananda personally gave his student Swami Kriyananda (the founder of Ananda) permission.