Ananda Yoga, or ''Ananda Yoga for Higher Awareness'' is a system of Hatha Yoga established by Kriyananda, a Western disciple of

Paramahansa Yogananda Paramahansa Yogananda (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh; January 5, 1893March 7, 1952) was an Indian Hindu monk, yogi and guru who introduced millions to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization Self-Realization Fellowsh ...

, and is based on Yogananda's

Self-Realization Fellowship Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) is a worldwide spiritual organization founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1920 and legally incorporated as a non-profit religious organization in 1935, to serve as Yogananda's instrument for the preservation ...

(SRF) and

Yogoda Satsanga Society of India Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSS) is a non-profit, nonsectarian spiritual organization founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1917 and is a part of the Self-Realization Fellowship which was founded in 1920. The current president of t ...

(YSS) teachings. Ananda Yoga emphasizes inner awareness; energy control; and the experience of each asana as a natural expression of a higher state of consciousness, which is enhanced by the use of affirmations.

History

Ananda Yoga was established by Kriyananda taking from one of the oldest Hatha Yoga systems in the West. Its roots are the 1940s/1950s, when Kriyananda was with Self-Realization Fellowship, he was taught these postures by Yogananda. Yogananda, founder of SRF and YSS, asked Kriyananda (then Donald Walters) and other young monks, to demonstrate the postures for visiting guests, as well as for public events, such as the SRF "Lake Shrine Dedication." Kriyananda and other monks also posed for photos, for articles on the yoga postures in Yogananda's "Self-Realization Magazine." From 1965 Kriyananda through his own organization started to teach Ananda Yoga publicly in California. The director of Ananda Yoga, Gyandev Rich McCord, is a co-founder of

Yoga Alliance The Yoga Alliance is a U.S.-based nonprofit membership trade and professional organization for yoga teachers. The organization is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Registered Yoga Teacher, a title in the United States that designates a yoga ...

and a member of its board of directors.

Principles

Ananda Yoga uses asana and

pranayama Pranayama is the yogic practice of focusing on breath. In Sanskrit, '' prana'' means "vital life force", and ''yama'' means to gain control. In yoga, breath is associated with ''prana'', thus, pranayama is a means to elevate the '' prana'' ''sh ...

to awaken, experience, and control the subtle energies ( prana) within the body, especially the energies of the chakras, supposed energy centres that are arranged along the spine. Its object is to use those energies to harmonize the body, uplift the mind, and above all to attune to higher levels of awareness. A unique feature of this system is the use of silent affirmations while in the asanas, as a means of working more consciously with the subtle energies to achieve this attunement. Ananda Yoga is a relatively inward experience, not an athletic practice. A main goal is to prepare for deep

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

, as Hatha Yoga is considered the physical branch of Raja Yoga in both the '' Hatha Yoga Pradipika'' and the '' Gheranda Samhita''.

Energization exercises

The "Energization Exercises", a vital part of Ananda Yoga, are Yogananda's contribution to yoga. He first developed them in 1916, within his organization then called Yogoda, which he changed to

in the 1930s. He eventually expanded them into a set of 39 exercises. The goal is to tap into cosmic energy, recharging the whole body. Yogananda explains in his ''

Autobiography of a Yogi ''Autobiography of a Yogi'' is an autobiography of Paramahansa Yogananda (5 January 1893 – 7 March 1952) first published in 1946. Paramahansa Yogananda was born as Mukunda Lal Ghosh in Gorakhpur, India, into a Bengali Hindu family. ...

'': "Realizing that man's body is like an electric battery, I reasoned that it could be recharged with energy through the direct agency of the human will…. I therefore taught the Ranchi students my simple 'Yogoda' techniques by which the life force, centered in man’s medulla oblongata, can be consciously and instantly recharged from the unlimited supply of cosmic energy."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ananda Yoga Modern Denominational Yoga Meditation Yoga styles