Kriya Yoga | Action For Your Inner Peace

Kriya Yoga To Achieve All Of What Yoga Can Deliver To You.

Want some inner peace?

You’ve probably never searched for “Kriya Yoga Near Me”, or “Kriya Yoga classes near me”,  or anything similar. But, as I outline below, you’ve already been doing Kriya Yoga to some extent. Applying it more consciously will take you further and faster with your yoga. It will also let you achieve more inner peace, a higher consciousness, and whatever other benefits of yoga you seek. It’s also an approach we use in retreats, so as to give you a Kriya yoga retreat experience. Plus, we use the approach in our kriya yoga teacher training methods. So, here’s more about how to use  an approach you might call Kriya Yoga Patanjali style.

Thousands of years ago, a yoga sage called Patanjali, said that it’s only when we are able to quieten our minds that we start to see who we really are.

The problem is that until we learn how to quieten the chatter in our minds, we tend to identify with our thoughts.

As a consequence, we cause our own “suffering”… due to failing to see that we are much more than our sometimes silly or otherwise agonising thoughts.

Yoga is “action” to quieten your rampaging mind!

Patanjali wrote about all this in his book called ‘Yoga Sutras’. His central theme was to discover the workings of the mind.

He went on to explain how it’s only through practise that a yoga student can learn how to still or quieten the fluctuations in their mind.

In turn, that allows the yoga practitioner to overcome their own “suffering”, and thereby make progress towards a higher level of consciousness, enlightenment, and inner peace.

This whole process becomes what Patanjali called “yoga in action”, or Kriya Yoga.

It’s one of the themes I’m exploring right now with those doing teacher training.

Among many other things, I’ll also be exploring it with those coming to the next Bali Retreat (4-10 April, 2024).

The persistent obstacles to practising yoga

So this new post about Kriya Yoga, addresses some of the matters I’ll be discussing. There will also be a longer follow up Post, or Part 2.

So please consider this post at just an introduction to some of the key elements of Kriya yoga.

For a start, below you’ll see what Patanjali identified as the obstacles to practising yoga.

When you see those obstacles, you’ll be amazed that Patanjali, over thousands of years ago, nailed most of the same major obstacles that we all face today.

We often think that where we are today is so unique. But, lo and behold, those attempting yoga have always wrestled with these same obstacles.

So, in summary, Patanjali developed the process of “yoga in action” to help us practise better, quieten our minds, and gain inner peace.

Please check out the blog post below and let me know what you think.

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Check out Flametree’s Kriya Yoga retreat. HERE. 

The 3 tiers of Kriya Yoga

In Chapter 2 of Yoga Sutras, Patanjali coined the term “Kriya yoga”.

Kriya yoga consists of three tiers. These tiers are levels, but should not be seen as stages. In a practice of yoga, we learn to engage with each of the tiers concurrently.

The 3 tiers are:

• Work (Tapas)
• Self-Study (Svadhaya)
• Surrender (Isvara Pranidhana).

In this post, I’ll introduce you do the first tier of Kriya yoga. Then, in Part 2, I’ll explain what is meant by self-study in yoga, and the challenging concept of surrender.

Among other things, I’ll explain why surrender is critical, and how it goes against the grain of everything Westerners are normally about.  But, you’ll also see why surrender is central to achieving your inner peace, enlightenment, and much more.

10 HALF price beginner yoga classes, & 2 FREE

Popular yoga passes for all levels.

Check out Flametree’s Kriya Yoga retreat. HERE. 

You’ve probably already been doing Kriya Yoga

In recent times, many of you will have already been engaged in practising Kriya Yoga.

This could have happened in online or in-studio classes, or at the recent retreat, or in your own yoga practice.

However, you may not have known that you were engaging in Kriya Yoga, in the manner outlined by Patanjali.

In other words, you have already been living yoga philosophy.

I say this because:

• You may have been specifically studying a set of asanas, such as standing poses, or inversions, or whatever;
• We have worked with you to practise them regularly;
• Plus, you worked on a number of specific points as you practised them, such as overcoming your fear, or straightening your legs, or many other similar themes.

In addition, especially for those doing the recent Retreat, or who may be in teacher training, you were also asked to reflect on your understanding of those asanas when you started, and how your understanding has changed overtime.

Clearly, as a regular yoga student, you can also choose to use this self-study approach, whenever you choose.

What I mean is that no matter how you do your yoga and breath meditation, you can variously apply the many self study options Flametree Yoga provides. In addition, just listening to and responding to the teachers ongoing directions, comments, explanations, and answers to questions, is a form of the self-study approach you might call Kriya Yoga Patanjali style.

Tapas: working on and through the posture

Tapas translates as work. It is the heat we apply through application of effort to go forward to understand the asana, and to understand ourselves.

Tapas involves application of effort and focus. It also requires that we look at all the obstacles to us practising.

Some obstacles will be the same as everyone faces. Others will be specific to your personality, situation, or approach.

It is through Tapas that we overcome these obstacles within ourselves, as well as grow and change for the better.

Obstacles to practising yoga

Ongoingly, you will have come across many obstacles to you practising your yoga.

Ideally, write some of these as you identify them. Then, reflect on how you dealt with them. In addition, feel free to ask me (Chris Lalor) about them.

It’s also likely that those obstacles are still there!

Over two thousand years ago, Patanjali identified 9 obstacles to practise.

The 9 obstacles to practise are:

• disease,
• inertia,
• laziness,
• doubt,
• heedlessness,
• in-discipline of the senses,
• erroneous views,
• lack of perseverance.

As I said, these obstacles are there for all of us. But you may even be able to identify some entirely new categories, or see examples that fall into these categories.

Seeing what’s going on for you, is the first and necessary step to be able to take a new and better path. In the process, you can avoid or overcome the obstacles that are get in your way.

10 HALF price beginner yoga classes, & 2 FREE

Popular yoga passes for all levels.

Check out Flametree’s Kriya Yoga retreat. HERE. 

Keep watching for obstacles

Tapas involves becoming present to the current moment, and what is going on around you.

In the process, it involves us looking at our habits.

It shows us that it is possible to change the way we think, and the way we do things.

Then, tapas is seen as the heat we apply in our practise to burn off past impressions.

Tapas is the first tier of our yoga practice.

In part 2 of this Post, I’ll write more about the further 2 levels of Kriya Yoga, called self-study, and surrender.

In particular, as I said, I’ll tell you why surrender is not what you think it is.

Get up to 90% off our kriya yoga teacher training approach. HERE.

Yoga is your path to inner peace

Practising yoga and breath meditation is the super highway to everything you want from yoga.

Particular types of yoga, like Gentle Yoga, or Back, Neck & Shoulder Yoga, or Easy Restorative Yoga, are especially good for both de-stressing and stretching.

These are excellent beginner classes when you have not been exercising for a long time, or are stiff. As well as improving flexibility, these classes reduce stress, and fix imbalances.

Back, Neck & Shoulder Yoga has a particular focus on stiffness, pain and other issues in various parts of your back, and elsewhere.

Some Flametree students have found that Back, Neck & Shoulder Yoga works, when nothing else has. 

But, start yoga, or continue your yoga, including breath meditation, at whatever level of skill your at. In the process, apply self-study about yoga, so as to help you go further and faster.

You may even be considering how you can get kriya yoga teacher training, or at least an approach to teacher training that involves all I’ve talked about. If so, check out our teacher training at up to 90% OFF. 

Whatever yoga you do, if you also apply Patanjali’s concept of surrender, you’ll avoid the traps that is part of much conventional physical exercise. I’ll say more about that in Part 2 of this post.

All Flametree classes are both online and in-the-studio, including private classes. There is also a large selection of yoga video courses and classes.

See our most popular passes at the orange link below, or learn more about our Kriya Yoga classes options.

Finally, no matter what else you do, use an approach you might call Kriya Yoga Patanjali style.

10 HALF price beginner yoga classes, & 2 FREE

Popular yoga passes for all levels.

Check out Flametree’s Kriya Yoga retreat. HERE. 

Get up to 90% off our kriya yoga teacher training approach. HERE.

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