Kriya yoga, the yoga of action

We come to a yoga practice. We put down our normal everyday selves, and come to sit, breath, and move so we may discover. Discover more ease in the body, the mind and connection to spirit. 

Last month we explored the idea of ritual, routine and rhythm. Ritual is some action that brings us closer to our heart's desire. Routine is the way ritual can become ordinary, as we come again and again day after day. And rhythm is something that can hold us, carry us, and helps maintain the connections we find along the way. 

We each have our own hearts desires. Something that lies deep within, some calling, some gift that is ours that we may desire to offer into the world. In Sanskrit this is called sankalpa. It is beyond an intention, it is ancestral and has been with us longer than we have been alive, and it is something that lives in us whether we choose to pay it any attention.

All of yoga practice is oriented towards releasing the ballast and coming to know our sankalpa clearly. The ballast is all the stuff clouding our vision to see the sankalpa clearly. It is habitual ways of being, ways of protecting ourselves that are no longer necessary, ways of holding tension in our body, unconscious and unaware behaviors initiated from past events that still have hold of us today. 

Today is a new day. We have never seen this day before. We have an opportunity each day to develop a practice, or some structure, that connects us to our true selves, to what's inside down deep. We can learn some structure that will set us free. Let us find structure in order to know freedom. This is yoga.

This month we will turn our attention to a certain structure in yoga called kriya yoga. The term kriya is used in many different ways in yoga. What we will be looking at is kriya yoga as the yoga of action. Kriya yoga is the most practical way that we can focus our action (practice) for the betterment of all aspects of our life. 

One very important part to hold in our understanding is that there is no way to be in life without action. Yoga is not passive. In our world today we can feel besieged by this truth. We are always in action. The necessities of events, people, providing, parenting, and even creative endeavors we set in motion ourselves can prove to be overwhelming. 

So, how do we use this truth of a life filled with action to bring peace into our hearts, to connect with our sankalpa? How do we switch this overwhelm of action to gratitude that guides us deep into our heart space?

Kriya yoga offers tapas, svadhyaya and ishvara pranidhana. This could be translated to health, inquiry and quality of action. Tapas could be defined as something we do that keeps our bodies and minds healthy. Svadhyaya could be translated to the practice of self study, through the understanding of the teachings. Ishvara pranidhana is surrendering to God. However, there is no requirement to accept God in our practice of yoga. In kriya yoga we translate ishvara pranidhana as something that reminds us that the spirit in which we act is far more important than the results of our actions. It is in this moment - now - that we act in the best possible way we know how, and trust that, in that spirit, our actions will lead us towards a harmonious existence. 

There is so much to explore in these three concepts under the umbrella of kriya yoga. Taken as a practice these three concepts can lead us through to clarity and a deep knowing of our sankalpa. And perhaps the greatest achievement in life is to connect with our true self. 

I would also like to offer some opportunities to go into further study on the topic. I offer recommended readings below. 

Website:

Yoga Sutra 2.1 Translation and Commentary

Books:

The Heart of Yoga by T.K.V. Desikachar

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, translation by Edwin F. Bryant