Kriya - Definition and Overview

A kriya (from the Sanskrit, "deed, operation, effort") is a technique or practice within a yoga discipline, or more generally any practice with the goal of attaining higher knowledge. Different yoga schools often maintain different practices of yoga, and so the kriyas involved may vary widely.

One form of kriya is the spontaneous movement of the physical body caused by voluntary action, prana, or Kundalini energy. These movements are designed to break up blockages in the physical, emotional (or subtle), and causal (or mental) bodies.

Certain kriyas eventually developed into the asanas of hatha yoga.

"Kriya yoga" is a kriya-based form of yoga popularized in the West by Paramahansa Yogananda and Mahamandaleshwar Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda.

Prem Rawat has popularized in the West a set of four kriyas he calls "Techniques of Knowledge".