Finding Your Best Yoga Practice - Kripalu

Before you realized it was a style of Hatha Yoga, you might have heard of Kripalu as it is also one of the most well-renowned centers for yoga and health in the country located in the grand Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts. The Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health was started in 1966 when Yogi Amrit Desai founded the Yoga Society of Pennsylvania, which was established to teach yoga classes and train teachers. It later evolved into the nonprofit wing that operates as the Kripalu Center today. For an in-depth interview of Yogi Amrit Desai, please view the piece in the wonderful spiritual magazine What is Enlightenment? (WIE) entitled “Yoga, Ego and Purification” by WIE’s founder Andrew Cohen.

What is the style/class like?

Kripalu Yoga is broken into 3 stages:

• Stage 1 focuses on learning the postures and exploring the body’s own abilities
• Stage 2 one holds postures longer and develops concentration and inner awareness
• Stage 3 is the “Meditation in Motion” stage where movement from one pose to another arises unconsciously and spontaneously

A Kripalu class can be gentle and mellow or quite vigorous. This really depends on the teacher. So this is not a style where all teachers teach the same. I would try a few Kripalu teachers before deciding on one. But first and foremost, Kripalu is a great style for people with physical limitations and/or wanting a slower, meditative and grounding practice.

Personal insight and who might benefit from this style:

My greatest take-aways after the few Kripalu classes that I’ve taken is that they start off or feel slow, but are incredibly grounding then get very intense. I also found of all the styles that Kripalu’s whole vibe is the least judgmental and has the most varied clientele. Seriously the last class I went to ran the gamut - from a college age male jock nursing an injury, to a newly pregnant hard core yogi, to an elderly woman, to me - a yoga teacher. And everyone left class feeling challenged, centered, grounded and very kind to one another at the end of class. If you’re looking for a non-judgmental environment no matter what your level is that will focus on alignment as well as the meditative qualities of the practice - Kripalu might just be for you.

Additional Information:

Please visit www.kripalu.org

Note: Most Kripalu affiliated studios are on the east coast and span a bit to the midwest. Since Kripalu is an east coast based association, it might be difficult finding this style nationwide.

Written by: Michelle Barge