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Kripalu
Yoga
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Kripalu
Yoga is a system of mind and body integration that strengthens and
relaxes your body to improve overall health and vitality. Since
strength, healing, and transformation is achieved through consistent sadhana
(personal practice), the NY Kripalu Center wishes to support your sadhana
by listing many of the certified Kripalu yoga teachers in the area.
In
December 2004, the Kripalu Center in Lenox, MA held a program that
celebrated the life and legacy of Swami Kripalu (affectionately called Bapuji,
dear father.) The event was
infused with bhakti (spiritual
devotion) and a sense of community among all attendees, whether they had
known Bapuji years ago or had only recently encountered him through his
teachings. Our bodies,
minds, & hearts were inspired through chanting, stories, practicing
yoga postures, and hearing wonderful presentations about the history and
the future of the Kripalu lineage by Atma Jo Ann Levitt, Kaviraj Stephen
Cope, Shobhan Richard Faulds, Vidya Carolyn Dell’uomo, & Yoganand
Michael Carroll.
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The
Essence of Kripalu Yoga |
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One
of the especially interesting talks was Shobhan’s description of the
qualities and principles particular to Kripalu yoga (notes below from
Vibhusha, with many thanks to Shobhan and to Joan Stenzler for their
contribution.)
You’re
encouraged to come to a Friday night class or take a class with a local
Kripalu teacher to experience Kripalu Yoga.
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- Kripalu
Yoga is empowered spirituality for people leading active lives in
the world.
Renunciation is not required for spiritual growth.
Living life is a transformative opportunity.
- Kripalu
Yoga asana (posture)
practice is a ritual of being deeply present in the body.
- Kripalu
Yoga emphasizes the technique of Breathe, Relax, Feel, Watch, and
Allow
(sometimes abbreviated as BRFWA) and doing postures with
consciousness and sensitivity.
- Conscious
breathing is essential to Kripalu Yoga postures.
- Kripalu
Yoga enlivens the subtle body by building and releasing prana
(the life force and the vehicle for the transformative process)
through a dance of willful and surrendered approaches to moving the
body.
This is why Kripalu Yoga is often described as
meditation-in-motion.
- Kripalu
Yoga encourages students to find their own practice through
exploring postures, micro-movements, longer holding, and flowing
into variations.
- Kripalu
Yoga features the technique of riding the wave (of energy,
sensation, emotions) in postures – opening and releasing chronic
tensions by being present to our entire experience.
- Kripalu
Yoga teaches witness consciousness – observing without judgment.
We learn to love the body, not “whip it into shape.”
- We
are all born Divine – all of us are already whole and complete in
this moment. Kripalu Yoga practice is a way to uncover blocks that
prevent us from realizing this.
- Practicing
Kripalu Yoga postures is part of a healthy and supportive lifestyle,
balancing work, play, rest, and a moderate diet.
- Kripalu
Yoga acknowledges that we grow best within a community of people
committed to love, service, and personal transformation.
- Kripalu
Yoga is based on a deep respect for the yamas
and niyamas (restraints and observances described in yogic scriptures,
including non-violence, non-stealing, non-attachment, moderation,
truthfulness, austerity, purity, contentment, self-study, and
surrender to the Divine.)
- The
practice of Kripalu Yoga strengthens our container and improves our
ability to digest our experiences, both on and off the yoga mat.
It nurtures the roots of health, opens the heart, clears and
concentrates the mind, awakens a greater intelligence beyond the
mind, and prepares us for a deep energetic practice.
Its consistent practice promotes healing, growth, and
transformation.
- Kripalu
Yoga embraces life as a Divine mystery and asks us to be fully
present to life’s unfolding moment by moment.
What we try to split off and disavow will come back to us.
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International
Online Discussion Group about Bapuji |
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To
continue the celebration and the discussion of Bapuji’s legacy and
lineage, including the ideas noted above, a forum has been created in
which we can all participate.
The "Bapuji - Kripalu dharma" tribe is a discussion
group on tribe.net, a free service for connecting to a community of
people with common interests. This is the place to have the conversation
about what the Kripalu lineage is as we go forward, our experiments in
love, and anything else related to Bapuji.
Please
check it out and spread the word- see http://bapuji.tribe.net
To
join, click the button in the upper right corner and create a profile
with as much or as little information as you want. To continue the
celebration and the discussion of Bapuji’s legacy and lineage,
including the ideas noted above, a forum has been created in which we
can all participate.
The
"Bapuji - Kripalu dharma" tribe is a discussion group on tribe.net,
a free service for connecting to a community of people with common
interests. This is the place to have the conversation about what the
Kripalu lineage is as we go forward, our experiments in love, and
anything else related to Bapuji.
Please
check it out and spread the word- see http://bapuji.tribe.net.
To join, click the button in the upper right corner and create a
profile with as much or as little information as you want.
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