Kriya Hatha Yoga

Babaji's Kriya Yoga teaches a foundation of 18 asana with variations. "The Siddhas, masters of Yoga, recorded their teachings on palm leaves. The Siddhas viewed ones life and body as their experimental field. A human body they said, was to be transformed into a divine body and used as an aid to self-realization. The Siddhas spoke of some 8.4-million hatha yoga asanas. Babaji distilled the practice of his Hatha Yoga down to the standard 17 and the sun salutation series, with variations to be used to condition the subtle body and to prepare it for deep states of meditation.

This series of asana when practiced daily with the "kriyas" (repetitive micro-movements), deeply and thoroughly massage and cleanse energy pathways and strengthen organs and systems throughout the physical body, in addition to stimulating the awakening of the kundalini shakti, by generating an internal heat.

The intensity of a daily practice greatly benefits us both physically and spiritually. For indeed, it is the daily repetition, practicing patiently with ever increasing perseverance, which generates this internal heat. The physical movements of the asana alone strengthen the body and the developing awareness can bring success in day-to-day activities. But in addition, the daily practice of Kriya (action with awareness) Hatha Yoga, which combines awareness with physical control, activates the process of realizing who one truly is. Who we are is pure consciousness residing in a body.

Our life is interspersed with movements from all our planes of existence, our thoughts, emotions, tensions, sense perceptions and our memories. We are caught in a complex web. The postures within the 18 series were chosen to purify us on all five levels of existence. To purify and calm the mind is to purify a certain function of consciousness, but it has to be supported by work on the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual levels.

These postures as a science can teach us to have awareness of the physical body as a whole without separating it into mind, body, and sensations. We have to change the whole of life simultaneously, not just in bits, piece by piece. We must learn to be attentive to the physical body and its inner sensations, for the body itself is a guide to our health. We can support the body by strengthening its nervous system.

We build strong nerves by directing the movements of energy within the body in the stillness of a static pose. In stillness with attention on slowing the breath, our thoughts slow and come to rest leading us to discover the source of our thoughts. From this place, we can begin self-examination of our habitual doubts and fears and impulses, as well as perceive and nourish our spiritual aspirations. It is only with a calm mind that the higher spiritual faculties of insight and intuition can work on us. This is a Yoga of transformation.