Every practice of the Kriya path, in the order a student meets it, drawn from five published manuals of the Lahiri Mahasaya tradition and compared line by line. The field below is the whole territory: touch a node to light up its neighbourhood, click it to travel there.
prepares for deepens into settles into preparation first kriya thokar tribhanga fruition
Every practice of the Kriya path, in the order a student meets it, drawn from five published manuals of the Lahiri Mahasaya tradition and compared line by line. The field below is the whole territory: touch a node to light up its neighbourhood, click it to travel there.
Kriya works on one problem: the life current normally flows outward, into the senses. Each technique redirects a little more of it inward and upward, through the spine. The map below shows what acts on what.
Reading left to right: each family of techniques loosens one part of the inner terrain, and each loosening shows up as a change you can actually notice.
Read this first. Kriya has always passed from teacher to student in person. This page is a study reference built from published books, and it can't replace that relationship. The books themselves set the ground rules: never force held breath, never cut the tongue's tether, raise repetitions slowly, and treat everything past First Kriya as work for experienced practitioners. Several practices are traditionally avoided during pregnancy and with heart, blood pressure or neck conditions.
Stage 0
Foundations
Two things come before any breathing: a seat the body can forget, and a feel for where the six spinal centers actually sit.
0.1
The meditation seat (asana)
A steady seat lets the spinal currents be felt without interference. That is its whole job.
Sit facing east on the edge of a firm cushion, so the pelvis tips forward and the spine stands on its own. The back never touches a support.
Half lotus works well. So does siddhasana, with the left heel pressed at the perineum. A chair is fine if the knees object; keep the feet flat and the back free.
Interlock the fingers and rest the hands in the lap, the way Lahiri Mahasaya sits in his photograph. The old texts say this keeps the current circling within the body.
Lower the chin a touch. Close the eyes and let them settle gently toward the point between the eyebrows, without strain.
face eastspine self-supportedfingers interlocked
0.2
Finding the six centers
Muladhara, Swadhisthana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddha, Ajna, and above them Sahasrara
During Kriya the centers matter as felt locations, small points of brightness inside the spine. Each one can be found from a physical landmark before it's ever felt from within.
The books describe the centers glowing like heated brass rather than rainbow colors. The tints here just help you tell them apart.
Center
How to find it the first time
Its inner sound
Muladhara
Tense the muscles between rectum and genitals; the center sits just above the tailbone
bumblebee hum
Swadhisthana
Sacral bone, halfway between the base and the navel's height
flute
Manipura
The lumbar vertebrae directly behind the navel
harp
Anahata
Squeeze the shoulder blades together and note the point between them
deep gong
Vishuddha
Sway the head side to side; the pivot where neck joins shoulders
ocean roar
Ajna
The hollow beneath the skull's base (medulla), paired with the brow point
running water
Sahasrara
Crown of the head, reached through the soft spot of infancy
Om, "like many waters"
0.3
The three knots (granthis)
Three places resist the rising current. The whole sequence of Kriya techniques is really a schedule for loosening them, from the bottom up.
Loosen the lowest knot and the current enters the channel. Loosen the middle one and feeling turns inward. The last one opens by itself, in stillness.
Stage 1
Preparation
The early practices quiet the breath and, over months, stretch the tongue toward Kechari Mudra. None of them need force. All of them reward patience.
1.1
Nadi Sodhana (alternate nostril breathing)
Balances the two side channels and settles the mind before practice.
Fold the index and middle fingers of the right hand. The thumb will close the right nostril, the ring and little fingers the left.
Close the right nostril. Breathe in through the left for six to ten seconds. Pause about three seconds.
Close the left, breathe out through the right. Breathe in through the right, switch, breathe out through the left. That's one cycle.
Three cycles to start. Build to nine or twelve over the weeks.
3 to 12 cyclesoptional warm-up, kept for life
1.2
Ujjayi (the throat breath)
Teaches the soft friction breath that Kriya Pranayama is built on.
Mouth closed, narrow the throat slightly, as if about to whisper. No voice.
Breathe in for ten to fifteen seconds with a soft "shaaw" sound. The belly expands; the shoulders stay put.
Pause three seconds. Breathe out just as slowly with a finer "sheee" sound.
Keep the in-breath and out-breath the same length. Six rounds, building to twelve.
6 to 12 roundsin-breath louder than out
1.3
Talabya Kriya (the tongue stretch)
Lengthens the tongue's tether for Kechari. Done on its own it also thins out the stream of thoughts, which you can verify within a week.
Rest the tongue with its tip lightly behind the upper teeth.
Press the body of the tongue up against the palate until it holds by suction. The tip stays relaxed. Don't curl the tongue back.
Keeping the suction, lower the jaw until you feel the tether under the tongue stretch.
Let go with a small click, like a frog dropping into water.
Stick the tongue out toward the chin and hold the stretch a moment. Do this after every ten repetitions.
10 a day at firstgoal: 50 in about 2 minuteskept up even after Kechari
Lahiri Mahasaya flatly forbade cutting the tether. Stretching, never surgery.
1.4
Kechari Mudra (the tongue seal)
When the tongue slips behind the soft palate and rests in the nasal cavity, the usual outward leak of attention closes and the mind goes remarkably quiet.
Months to years of daily stretching, never hurried. Two of the five source authors treat full Kechari as optional; the simple raised tongue serves the same purpose at first.
1.5
Om Japa in the centers
Trains the mind to land on each center by name, before any breath work is added.
After the warm-ups, forget the breath. Rest the gaze at the brow point.
Chant Om once in each center, going up: base, sacrum, navel, heart, throat, and the medulla behind the brow.
Come back down the same ladder. A full round takes about half a minute.
Three rounds aloud and three silent. After a few weeks, six or more rounds, all silent.
6+ rounds dailylisten for each center's sound
1.6
Guru Pranam (the bowing kriya)
A bow for each center. It flexes the spine, drains heaviness, and settles the mind before the seated work. The Giri line opens every session with it.
Sit cross-legged. Rest attention in the base center.
Breathe in slowly, drawing the current from that center up to the crown.
Hold the breath and bow, bringing the forehead toward the floor.
Sit up, then breathe out slowly from the crown back down to the same center.
Repeat once for each center, seven bows in all. The seventh, at the crown, is offered to whatever form of the divine you hold dear.
7 bows, once per sittingbreath only, no bow, if the back objectsskipped with high blood pressure
Stage 2
First Kriya
The core of the whole system. A classic sitting runs Maha Mudra, then Kriya Pranayama, then Navi Kriya, with Yoni Mudra saved for bedtime and Mental Pranayama closing everything. Each practice hands its momentum to the next.
2.1
Maha Mudra (the great seal)
Stretches the spine, joins the three body locks in one movement, and loosens the knot at the base so the current can enter the channel.
Breath held through each bend. Om sounds at the brow point, six to twelve times.
Sit with the left heel pressed at the perineum, right leg straight out.
Breathe in slowly, drawing the feeling of energy from the base up to the brow.
Hold the breath. Bend forward and take hold of the right toes. The chin drops toward the chest on its own. Gently firm the muscles of the floor and belly.
Chant Om at the brow point, six to twelve times, silently.
Still holding, sit back up. Breathe out slowly, letting warmth sink to the base of the spine.
Repeat on the other side, then with both legs out. The three together make one Maha Mudra, a bit over a minute. Do three.
3 roundsone Maha Mudra per 12 Kriya breathsalso 3 at night before Yoni Mudra
2.2
Kriya Pranayama (the spinal breath)
Called simply "Kriya proper". Everything else on this page exists to serve it.
The breath is made slow, even and slightly audible, and attention rides it up and down the spine. A cool current rises as you breathe in; a warm one falls as you breathe out. In time the breath refines into a faint inner whistle, and then toward no breath at all.
Take the seat. Tongue raised or in Kechari. Eyes settled at the brow point, attention resting at the medulla.
Breathe in through the nose for ten to twenty seconds with the soft "shaaw" throat sound, drawing a cool current up the hollow of the spine from the base to the medulla.
As the current passes each center, place one silent Om there. Pause two or three seconds at the top.
Breathe out just as slowly with the finer "sheee" sound. A warm current falls back down, center by center, Om at each.
Twelve breaths to start, later twenty-four. A mature breath takes about forty-five seconds. When the out-breath starts to sound like a distant flute, the practice is working.
12 → 24 → 48 breathsbelly breathing only
A gentler entry, taught in the Mukherjee line: skip the throat sound and the visualizing. Watch the brow point and chant Om silently six times as you breathe in, six as you breathe out, for 108 natural breaths. The spinal sensations then arrive on their own. Lahiri's arithmetic for the standard form: the senses withdraw after 12 good breaths, meditation sets in near 1,728, deeper absorption near 20,736.
2.3
Navi Kriya (the navel kriya)
Works the knot at the navel, where the upward and downward currents cross and cancel each other.
The breath stays natural throughout and is never timed to the chanting. Carry one Om up the ladder of centers first.
Drop the chin to the throat. Interlock the fingers palms down so the thumbs rest on the navel.
Chant Om at the navel about a hundred times, tapping softly with the thumbs on each one.
Raise the chin as far as comfortable. Move the hands behind the back, palms up, thumbs on the lumbar vertebrae.
Chant Om about twenty-five times into the navel center from behind.
Hands back to the lap, one Om down the ladder. That's one round. Do four; the whole thing takes five to seven minutes.
4 roundsOm ×100 front, ×25 backafter Maha Mudra, before the spinal breath
2.4
Yoni Mudra (the seal of light)
The fingers close every opening of the head, and whatever light the day's practice has gathered shows itself at the brow. Done once, at night, before sleep.
Take one deep Kriya breath, drawing the energy up to the center of the head. Fill the lungs nearly full.
Raise the elbows out to the sides. Thumbs close the ears. Index fingers rest at the corners of the closed eyes, on the bone, never pressing the eyeballs. Middle fingers close the nostrils; ring and little fingers seal the lips.
Hold the breath and repeat Om silently at the brow, watching whatever light appears.
Add one Om per day. The traditional ceiling is two hundred, reached over months, never by strain.
When the breath asks to return, free the nostrils and breathe out gently down the spine.
The light matures in stages: darkness, then a diffuse glow, then a golden ring around a dark blue field, and at last a white five-pointed star.
once, at nightOm count grows by 1 a daythree Maha Mudras first
2.5
Mental Pranayama
The quiet half of the sitting. The centers respond to bare attention now, without breath or movement, and this is where the breathless state most often first arrives.
After the spinal breaths, take three ordinary breaths and then forget breathing altogether.
Rest attention ten to twenty seconds in each center, going up from the base to the medulla, then back down.
No contractions, no effort. Om is optional. Stay with each center until it softens, or shows a trace of color at the brow.
A round takes two to four minutes. Continue while it stays effortless, then let even this go.
2–4 min per roundat least a third of the sitting, once Thokar begins
2.6
Paravastha (the state after Kriya)
Not a technique. The point of all of them.
Sit without doing anything. Listen to whatever inner sound is present, watch whatever light, and let attention drift up from the brow toward the crown. Thoughts pass without a landlord. When you finally open the eyes, keep most of the attention high, and look at the room without looking at anything. The books insist on one rule only: never cut this short to get on with your day. The deepening of this state over years is what Kriya actually is.
as long as it lasts
Stage 3
Second Kriya: Thokar
After a year or more of steady First Kriya, the twelve syllables of Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya join the breath, and the head begins to move. Thokar means a knock. The knock lands on the heart.
3.1
The twelve syllables on the spine
This map underlies every higher kriya. Six syllables climb with the in-breath, six descend with the out-breath.
Up: Om, Na, Mo, Bha, Ga, Ba. Down: Te, Va, Su, De, Va, Ya. The syllable Su carries the knock into the heart.
3.2
The elementary Thokar
Quiets chitta, the restless current that runs between heart and mind, by striking the heart center with breath, sound and movement landing together.
Hands interlocked over the navel. Chin on the chest. Gently firm the muscles at the base of the spine.
Breathe in up the spine, placing Om, Na, Mo, Bha and Ga in the first five centers and Ba at the top. The chin rises with the breath until level.
Hold the breath. Turn the head a little left, back through center, then let the face swing right: sound Te at the top of the right lung.
Swing to the mirror position on the left: sound Va at the top of the left lung.
Drop the chin to the chest and let Su land in the middle of the heart. That's the knock. Firm the root lock as it lands.
Breathe out slowly down the spine with De, Va, Ya, letting everything settle in the heart. At least twelve rounds, then Mental Pranayama.
12+ rounds20–30 seconds eachspinal breaths before and after
Stage 4
Third and Fourth Kriya
The knock deepens. First it repeats many times inside one held breath. Then it travels below the heart, all the way to the base.
4.1
Third Kriya (rotations in one held breath)
Breathe in as in the elementary Thokar, placing the six climbing syllables. Hold.
Within that one held breath, repeat the whole rotation again and again: Te to the right, Va to the left, Su dropping into the heart. Between rounds the chin lifts and touches Ba for an instant.
The sense of light grows with each round. Breathe out when the body asks, never later.
Twelve rotations in a breath takes around eighty seconds. Once a day is the dose.
The old progression adds one rotation a day. Two hundred in a single breath marks mastery, and it takes years. Past fifty, shrink the head movement to spare the neck.
once daily12 → 200 rotations, one added per dayno forcing, ever
4.2
Fourth Kriya (the full descent, with Maha Veda)
The strike now walks down the whole ladder: heart, navel, sacrum, base. At the bottom, three soft jolts of the seated body drive the awakened current into the channel. The old name means the great piercing.
Breathe in the six climbing syllables. Hold.
One Te–Va–Su knock on the heart. Still holding, strike De into the navel center, Va into the sacral center, Ya into the base, each strike swinging from the upper left.
Breathe out. Repeat at least twelve times.
For Maha Veda: when the strike reaches the base, press the hands down, lift the body a few millimeters, and let it drop. Three mild jolts, breath held.
Breathe out very slowly and let the ecstatic feeling spread. That feeling is the sign the current has entered the spine.
Afterwards, breathe in slowly along the inside of the spine itself, center by center, up to the head. The books call this the internal breath. Six to twelve rounds; wait months before adding more.
6–12 rounds3 jolts per roundgentleness is the entire secret
4.3
Gayatri Kriya (offering the centers)
The closing rite after Thokar. Each center rises to the brow, shows itself there like a full moon, receives its old cosmic name, and returns.
Six centers rise in turn, Om Satyam sounds at the crown, five descend. Six to twelve rounds, each mantra at least three times.
Stage 5
Fifth and Sixth Kriya: Tribhangamurari
The last kriyas of the Lahiri line trace the triple curve of Krishna's flute-playing posture, first as a large circuit through the trunk, then in miniature inside each center.
5.1
Fifth Kriya (the large circuit)
The current climbs the spine, then descends along a path with three bends, crossing the medulla, the heart region and the base. Those are the three knots, and the repeated passage wears them thin.
Silent form (amantrak)
Natural breath. Raise attention from base to Bindu over about thirty seconds, then descend the three-bend path over thirty more, keeping a steady inner pressure along the whole circuit. Start near two dozen rounds a day and grow slowly, a step every two weeks.
With mantra (samantrak)
The same path with the twelve syllables laid on its twelve stations. Six on the spine going up. Te slices through the medulla, Va, Su, De and Va mark the four turns of the descent, and Ya taps the base. One round takes a minute, exactly.
With head movement (Tribhanga-Thokar)
Finally the head joins in. The chin rises in fifths with the climb. On the way down it swings: to the right shoulder with Va, to the left with Su, twice along the left collarbone with De and Va, and a last soft blow to the chest with Ya. Thirty-six rounds; the old schools grew this weekly toward marathon sittings.
1 minute per round24/day → 192/day, raised every two weeksrest the neck every few days
5.2
Sixth Kriya (the circuit in miniature)
The same three-bend movement, now traced inside each center on a disk the size of a coin. This is the last technique Lahiri gave as standard, meant to settle the risen current for good.
Warm up with Navi Kriya, spinal breaths, and about twelve rounds of the moving fifth kriya.
Breathe in fully over five seconds, raising the current to the brow. Hold, without strain.
From the brow, look down at the base center as if from above: a small horizontal disk, roughly an inch across.
Trace the miniature three-bend path across the disk, slowly, like a pen pressed to paper. Three passes.
Do the same for every center, the six of the spine and the turning points of the descent, then release the breath. Up to twelve rounds.
In the final form the twelve syllables sound along the tiny path and the body does not move at all. End resting in the light at the crown.
12 rounds, growing by 12 a weeksix months to settletraditionally the preparation for a conscious death
Alongside the stages
Refinement practices
These aren't a seventh stage. They slot into the daily sitting as the spinal breath matures, sharpening one aspect or another of it.
R1
Second and third parts of Kriya Pranayama
Two refinements of the spinal breath, added months apart.
Second part
The same breath, but now one silent Om lands in each of twelve stations: the five lower centers and the brow going up, then the medulla and the five centers coming down. The occipital region acts as an ear; in time each center answers with its own sound.
Third part
The same twelve stations, but attention now rests at the crown, eyes lifted gently as in Lahiri's photograph. The crown acts as a magnet on the whole channel. This one wakes the deep current quickly, so the books say: once a week at first.
12 breaths each, after part onepart three sparingly at first
R2
Short-breath Kriya
The gentle complement to the long breath. Small natural sips of breath carry attention from the base to one center at a time, at the body's own pace.
Rest attention at the base. Wait for the natural urge to breathe.
A short breath in lifts attention to the sacral center. A natural breath out returns it to the base. Pause until the next urge.
Continue up the ladder, one center per breath: navel, heart, throat, brow, medulla, always returning to the base between.
Repeat until the breath is almost too small to notice. Twelve sets before bed prepare Yoni Mudra well.
12 sets at nightalso after Thokar
R3
The three locks (bandhas)
Three muscular seals that keep the gathered current from leaking away. They appear inside Maha Mudra, Yoni Mudra and Thokar rather than as stand-alone drills.
Root, belly, throat. Applied together during held breath they form Maha Bandha, the great lock.
The belly and throat locks are traditionally avoided in pregnancy and with blood-pressure, heart or neck trouble. The belly lock wants an empty stomach.
R4
Bhastrika and Sushumna Sodhana
Two occasional cleansers. One knocks on the heart from outside; the other scrubs the channel from inside.
Bhastrika
A handful of strong chest breaths, Om placed at the front of the heart on each in-breath and at its back on each out-breath. Three to five rounds before the spinal breath, on days when the heart feels closed.
Sushumna Sodhana
After a full breath in, hold, and imagine a line of tiny ants spiraling up the inside wall of the channel, one silent Om per step, from the base to the top. Breathe out straight down the middle. Three to six rounds with a few spinal breaths between.
occasional, not dailyskip Bhastrika in pregnancy or with heart trouble
R5
Kriya in daily life
Small practices that keep the thread unbroken between sittings.
Watch the breath sound So on the way in and Hum on the way out, attention at the brow. Or set an hourly reminder and take one to twelve slow Kriya breaths wherever you are. Or chant your mantra silently in every idle moment; the books ask for 108 spoken repetitions a day besides. Walking meditation can carry the fifth kriya's circuit too. None of this while driving.
So-Humone Kriya breath per hour108 japa daily
Where it all points
Culmination
Past the sixth kriya the books stop giving procedures and start describing states. Three things mark the far end of the path.
C1
Uttam Pranayama (the superior breath)
The spinal breath, practiced for years, stops being something you do. Breath turns into a slow movement of current inside the channel, with almost no air moving at all. The Mukherjee line treats this as the true beginning of Second Kriya: the moment the practitioner can enter the channel at will. Its instruction, from the Gita: when the breath would leave, sip a little in; when it would enter, let a little out. The two currents offer themselves to each other and grow still.
C2
The breathless state (kevala kumbhaka)
Breath stops on its own, without being held, and nothing is missing. The heart quiets. Attention stands alone. Every technique on this page is a way of coaxing this state closer; none can force it. It first shows up for seconds during Mental Pranayama or after Thokar, then for minutes, then it changes the practitioner's relationship to the body for good.
C3
Kriya of the crown
The last work happens above the brow. In the Mukherjee account the yogi pierces the Kutastha and moves attention through the geometry of the crown, point by point, to the upper end of the channel, the "tenth door". In the Hariharananda line the same territory is approached by dissolving the breath toward a point above the head and letting a ball of light settle inward. The maps differ; the direction is the same. Everything below has been preparation for this, and every book agrees it belongs with a teacher.
Putting it together
Daily routines and progression
Kriya rewards short regular sittings over heroic ones. The session always moves from the body upward, and always ends in stillness.
D1
The First Kriya sitting (about 45 minutes)
Order
Practice
Amount
1
Nadi Sodhana and Ujjayi, if wanted
3 rounds each
2
Talabya Kriya
up to 50
3
Maha Mudra
3
4
Navi Kriya
4
5
Kriya Pranayama
12 to 24 breaths
6
Mental Pranayama, then stillness
as long as it lasts
night
Maha Mudra 3, short-breath Kriya 12, Yoni Mudra
once
D2
The higher-Kriya sitting (75 minutes and up)
Order
Practice
Amount
1
Talabya, Maha Mudra, Navi Kriya
50, 3, 4
2
Kriya Pranayama, all parts
12 to 24 each
3
The current higher kriya
per its schedule
4
A few calming spinal breaths, then Mental Pranayama
a third of the sitting
5
Stillness
never rushed
The incremental method sits beside the daily routine: one technique is grown in one long weekly session (36 rounds, then 72, then 108, and so on), with light practice and plenty of quiet japa the other six days. The books compare it to physical training: load, then recover.
D3
How long each stage takes
Before starting
You should already
First Kriya
Sit still twenty minutes, find every center without notes, do ten clean Talabyas
Second Kriya
Have a year or more of steady practice and two dozen smooth spinal breaths in you
Third and Fourth
Hold long retention without any strain, after months of daily Thokar
Fifth and Sixth
Have all the earlier kriyas stable, plus time, solitude, and ideally a teacher
Colophon
Lineage and sources
Everything above comes from five published books, all descending from the same teacher. They agree on far more than they differ, but the differences are honest and worth knowing.
One teacher, several branches, five books. The branches drifted in emphasis, which is exactly why comparing them is useful.
Where the books disagree
Question
Most lines say
The dissent
Spinal breathing
The heart of First Kriya
Mukherjee: watch the brow only, Om six in and six out; the spine reveals itself
Kechari
Valuable, work toward it
Giri requires it before Thokar; Mukherjee's line skips it entirely
Thokar
A daily practice for years
Mukherjee: a single act that opens the door of the brow, and again at death
Doses
Grow by one repetition a day
Giri starts students at just seven Thokar breaths
On the essentials there is no disagreement at all: gentleness, regularity, the primacy of the state after practice, and no surgery on the tongue.
The five sources
Book
What it contributes here
Ennio Nimis, Kriya Yoga: Synthesis of a Personal Experience
The comparative backbone; Lahiri's four levels and the Tribhangamurari kriyas
J.C. Stevens, Kriya Secrets Revealed
The graded 33-lesson curriculum, doses and progression tables
Swami Nityananda Giri, Kriya Yoga: The Science of Life Force
Guru Pranam, Hamsa, the mantric detail of the centers
Rangin Mukherjee, Original Kriya Yoga, vols. I, III, V
The brow-centered dissent and the crown geometry
Kevin Curtis, yoga manual
Physiological notes on the tongue seal and the locks
Once more, plainly. These practices move breath, blood pressure and mood. Learn them with a teacher if you possibly can. Go slowly. Stop if you feel dizzy, faint, panicky or flat, and let the quiet parts of the practice do most of the work. Nothing here is medical advice.