Kriya Yoga vs Kundalini Yoga: What Is the Difference?

Two traditions, one shared vocabulary

Kriya Yoga and Kundalini Yoga each describe themselves as a path to awakening, each works with breath and the spine, and each uses the Sanskrit word "kriya". Beyond that, the two are quite distinct. We practise and teach Kriya, so we have a natural leaning; we have tried to describe Kundalini Yoga as its own practitioners would recognise it.

Where each comes from

Kriya Yoga

Kriya Yoga, as practised today, traces to the tradition revived by Mahavatar Babaji and passed to Lahiri Mahasaya in 1861. Lahiri Mahasaya, a householder, taught it to lay people in India. His disciple Sri Yukteswar trained Paramahansa Yogananda, who came to the USA in 1920 and whose Autobiography of a Yogi (1946) introduced Kriya to readers around the world. You can read more on our lineage page.

It is a meditative, largely seated practice built on pranayama, mantra and concentration. Its advanced techniques are given through initiation by lineage organisations rather than in open classes.

Kundalini Yoga

Kundalini Yoga as most Westerners know it was taught by Yogi Bhajan, who began teaching it publicly in the West in 1969. It draws on older Tantric and Hatha sources but was organised into a distinct, public system with its own sets of exercises, mantras (many of them in Gurmukhi, the script of the Sikh tradition) and a recognisable style of dress and music.

The older word "kundalini" names a latent energy at the base of the spine that many yogic schools, including Kriya, describe. Kundalini Yoga, the system, is one specific way of working with it.

"Kriya" means different things in each

• In Kriya Yoga, a kriya is a specific inner technique: a way of guiding breath and attention along the spine. The core technique is called Kriya pranayama, and the word usually refers to that practice and its related meditations. See Kriya pranayama.
• In Kundalini Yoga, a kriya is a set: a sequence of physical exercises, breathing patterns, mantras and mudras designed to be done together for a particular effect. There are hundreds of such sets, each with its own name and timing.

So "I did my kriya this morning" means a quiet seated breath practice to one and forty minutes of vigorous movement and chanting to the other.

What a session looks like

A Kriya Yoga session

Most of the time is spent sitting still. A session opens with a few gentle postures or energisation exercises, then moves into pranayama, a mantra practice such as Hong-Sau breath awareness, and silent meditation. The spine is upright, the eyes closed or gently lifted. There is little or no music, and an hour can pass with almost no visible movement.

A Kundalini Yoga session

A class begins with a tuning-in mantra, then warm-ups and a named kriya set: repetitive movements held or pumped for set lengths of time, often with rapid breathing such as Breath of Fire. Chanting follows, sometimes with recorded music, then a long relaxation (often with a gong) and a closing meditation. It is physically demanding and emotionally expressive.

Side-by-side comparison

Goals and intensity

Both speak of awakening, but from opposite ends. Kriya Yoga works by calming: breath slows, attention gathers at the spine, and the mind settles toward stillness. Yogananda called Kriya "an instrument through which human evolution can be quickened", and the instrument is subtle rather than forceful. Kundalini Yoga works by stimulating: strong breath and movement shake loose habitual tension and generate a felt sense of energy. Neither is "better". They are different doors.

Who each tends to suit

• Kriya Yoga may suit you if you are drawn to meditation, prefer quiet to music, want a practice that can be done in a small space without equipment, or are already on a contemplative path such as Vipassana.
• Kundalini Yoga may suit you if you want a physical and emotional release, enjoy group energy and chanting, or find it hard to sit still for long and would rather move first.

Caution applies to both. Rapid breathing, breath retention and intense energetic practices should be learned from a teacher, and people who are pregnant or who have high blood pressure, heart conditions, epilepsy, recent surgery or panic disorder should consult a doctor before starting. See Is Kriya Yoga dangerous?

How Kriya relates to Hatha, Vinyasa, Raja and Vipassana

Hatha Yoga is the broad family of physical practices: postures, cleansing techniques and pranayama. Both Kriya and Kundalini draw on it, and most studio yoga in Canada is a form of it.

Vinyasa is a flowing style of Hatha in which postures are linked to breath; it is not, in itself, a meditation method.

Raja Yoga is the "royal" path of meditation set out in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Kriya Yoga is often described as a practical method within Raja Yoga, a technique for reaching the concentration and absorption the Sutras describe.

Vipassana is Buddhist insight meditation. It does not work with chakras or prana; it trains the mind to observe sensations, thoughts and the breath exactly as they are. Kriya, by contrast, is a yogic energetic practice that actively directs breath and attention. We teach both, in the Mahasi Sayadaw tradition for Vipassana and foundational practices for Kriya, because they complement each other: Kriya steadies and quietens, and Vipassana brings clear seeing to the quiet mind. That is why both appear on our retreats.

How to choose

1. Ask what you want: calm and depth, or energy and release.
2. Try each and notice how you feel the next day, not only in the moment.
3. Check that the teacher teaches breathwork gradually and safely.
4. Give your choice a few months of regular practice before judging it.

If you are new to all of this, start with our beginner's guide.

Trying Kriya in person

If this comparison has pointed you towards Kriya rather than Kundalini, the simplest way to confirm it is a day of practice. Kriya breathing and meditation are taught, alongside Vipassana, at every Vipassana.ca retreat in Alberta. Upcoming dates are below; where to practise covers each city.