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Ananda Yoga

Ananda Yoga™ was developed by Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters), Ananda's founder and author of Ananda Yoga for Higher Awareness. It is based on the training he received from Paramhansa Yogananda, author of the spiritual classic, Autobiography of a Yogi. Here are some basics of the system:

PROPER ALIGNMENT AND SAFE TECHNIQUE and adapting the postures to the individual student's abilities and needs are important both for preventing injury and for experiencing the inner dimension of hatha yoga.

CHOICE OF POSTURES:Although we do include some challenging poses, Ananda Yoga™ is generally less strenuous than many schools of hatha yoga. We've found that extreme exertion doesn't lead to hatha yoga's deepest benefits.

SEQUENCE: The order of postures in an Ananda Yoga routine is designed to help you feel and direct the life force, and prepare the body to sit for meditation.

TRANSITIONS into and out of a posture are every bit as important as the way you do the posture itself. We emphasize moving consciously, slowly, and gracefully.

PAUSES between poses are as important as the poses themselves: a time to allow your body to integrate the effects of the preceding pose.

AFFIRMATIONS: Most of the basic postures are paired with special repeated affirmations designed to help you tune in to the specific energy flows - and thus the psychological benefits - that each posture promotes.

ENERGY-CONTROL (PRANAYAMA): In addition to specific breathing techniques for energy control, you'll explore something unique among hatha yoga schools: the marvelous "Energization Exercises" developed by Paramhansa Yogananda.

MEDITATION is essential to experiencing the spiritual dimension of yoga. At Ananda, you'll learn how to incorporate effective, classical meditation techniques into your hatha yoga practice.

The Essence of ANANDA YOGA
When you practice the yoga postures, remember that you are not practicing merely a system of calisthenics. You are practicing what might be called 'meditation in action.' Movement meditation, as if you were doing almost a kind of spiritual dance.

"Remember that your state of consciousness while doing the poses is a very, very important part of the poses. Because finally speaking, these poses are intended to change your whole being. And that being is a radiation outward from within. What you are within, that you will be without.

–Swami Kriyananda