What is Kripalu Yoga?
Kripalu (Krih-PAH-loo) means "being compassionate" in Sanskrit, the language of the yoga tradition. Kripalu Yoga was named in honor of Swami Kripalu (1913-1981), a yoga master renowned in India for the depth of his compassion and the intensity of his spiritual practice.
Kripalu Yoga is an approach to yoga practice designed to bring you fully present to the moment-to moment experience of being alive. When performed with a flowing breath, relaxation, and an emphasis on feeling, yoga postures release chronic tension from the body. An inner attitude of compassionate self-observation allows a state of flowing awareness to arise in the mind. This combination activates the life force energy that yoga calls prana, initiating a natural process of physical healing, psychological growth and spiritual awakening.
Prana, the Life Force
In deep meditation, the yogis of ancient India perceived that the physical body in animated by a flow of life force intimately connected to the breath. they named this life force prana and carefully mapped its flow through a network of pathways called the energy body, which closely resembles what we think of as the nervous system. Conscious and rhythmic breathing or pranayama charges the system with life force, which is absorbed by olfactory organs located in the back of the nose. Postures encourage it to flow freely and evenly through the body. When life force flows freely, radiant health and peace of mind naturally result. During Kripalu Yoga practice, some people sense prana as tingling, warmth, vibrations or currents of energy.
Fully Present in the Body
The essential practice of Kripalu Yoga is called the Practice of Being Present, which consists of five steps:
BREATHE Let your breath flow freely and naturally in and out.
RELAX Consciously soften your muscles and let go of mental tension.
FEEL Open to the full spectrum of sensations flowing through you.
WATCH Observe this moment closely, without grasping what is pleasant or pushing away what is painful.
ALLOW Accept yourself and your experience exactly as it is, dropping the need to change it in any way.
When you are fully present in the body, the techniques of yoga become powerful tools for physical healing, psychological growth, and spiritual awakening.
~Use Yoga as a Therapeutic Approach~
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