In episode 27 of The Kriya Yoga Podcast, Donelle Mason, a Kriya Yoga Teacher from New Zealand, offers a thoughtful talk on Yoga Sutra 1.30.

This sutra names the obstacles that can arise on the path of yoga meditation, including illness, dullness, doubt, carelessness, laziness, sense craving, false perception, lack of progress, and instability. Donelle explores how these obstacles appear in practice and how sincere practitioners can work with them skillfully.

Through practical reflection and yogic insight, this episode encourages steady effort, self-awareness, and patience as essential supports for meditation and inner transformation.

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🌟 Stay Connected & Deepen Your Practice

If you’d like to participate in future live sessions, consider joining the Kriya Yoga Online Patreon Community or applying to the Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship Program.

📘 For continued inspiration and instruction, check out Ryan Kurczak’s latest book:

🧘‍♂️ Your host, Ryan Kurczak, is a Kriya Yoga meditation teacher and author, authorized to teach in 2005 by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct student of Paramahansa Yogananda.

🔗 Explore more resources:

Patreon Community: Support the work & access live sessions

Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship, blog posts & books:

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Hundreds of free videos on YouTube:

Thank you for listening, and may your path be filled with clarity, strength, and peace.

In episode 26 of The Kriya Yoga Podcast, host Ryan Kurczak reflects on what it means to be with a guru.

Drawing from the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, Roy Eugene Davis, and his own years of spiritual practice, Ryan explores the guru as a dispeller of darkness and a living access point to wisdom, clarity, and spiritual freedom. He discusses how a sincere relationship with a teacher can support meditation, deepen discernment, and help practitioners attune to the inner guidance that leads toward liberation.

This episode also considers how students can remain connected to their teachers through study, meditation, remembrance, sacred texts, recorded teachings, and the practical application of spiritual principles. Ryan emphasizes that being with a guru is ultimately expressed through attunement, integrity, devotion, and the willingness to live what has been taught.

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🌟 Stay Connected & Deepen Your Practice

If you’d like to participate in future live sessions, consider joining the Kriya Yoga Online Patreon Community or applying to the Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship Program.

📘 For continued inspiration and instruction, check out Ryan Kurczak’s latest book:

🧘‍♂️ Your host, Ryan Kurczak, is a Kriya Yoga meditation teacher and author, authorized to teach in 2005 by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct student of Paramahansa Yogananda.

🔗 Explore more resources:

Patreon Community: Support the work & access live sessions

Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship, blog posts & books:

Online Classes for All Levels:

Hundreds of free videos on YouTube:

Thank you for listening, and may your path be filled with clarity, strength, and peace.

Kriya Yoga teacher Donelle Mason from New Zealand joins Ryan Kurczak for a thoughtful conversation on insight, Self-realization, lineage, Sanskrit, renunciation, ritual, and spiritual maturity.

This episode explores the difference between genuine spiritual insight and mental understanding, the gradual or sudden recognition of Purusha, and how to understand the many branches and variations of Kriya Yoga after Lahiri Mahasaya. Ryan also discusses Sanskrit study, householder life, renunciate ideals, tapas, brahmacharya, desirelessness, kaivalya, and the role of ritual in yogic practice.

The conversation concludes with reflections on what Ryan wishes he had known at the beginning of the path and how students may deepen from recognizing the Self to seeing the Self in all beings, as taught in the Bhagavad Gita.

For students of Kriya Yoga, meditation, Yoga philosophy, the Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, Self-realization, and sincere spiritual practice.

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🌟 Stay Connected & Deepen Your Practice

If you’d like to participate in future live sessions, consider joining the Kriya Yoga Online Patreon Community or applying to the Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship Program.

📘 For continued inspiration and instruction, check out Ryan Kurczak’s latest book:

🧘‍♂️ Your host, Ryan Kurczak, is a Kriya Yoga meditation teacher and author, authorized to teach in 2005 by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct student of Paramahansa Yogananda.

🔗 Explore more resources:

Patreon Community: Support the work & access live sessions

Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship, blog posts & books:

Online Classes for All Levels:

Hundreds of free videos on YouTube:

Thank you for listening, and may your path be filled with clarity, strength, and peace.

In this episode of The Kriya Yoga Podcast, we explore Yoga Sutra 1.38 and the practice of clarifying awareness through knowledge of dreams and sleep. Building on the previous Preparation for Samadhi teachings from Sutras 1.33–1.37, we examine how serenity, breath awareness, balanced prana, inner sensitivity, sorrowless luminosity, and freedom from attachment prepare the practitioner to remain aware through waking, dreaming, and deep sleep. This episode also offers practical guidance for gently cultivating awareness during naps, shavasana, and dream contemplation, helping us recognize the witnessing presence that remains steady through all changing states of experience.

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🌟 Stay Connected & Deepen Your Practice

If you’d like to participate in future live sessions, consider joining the Kriya Yoga Online Patreon Community or applying to the Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship Program.

📘 For continued inspiration and instruction, check out Ryan Kurczak’s latest book:

🧘‍♂️ Your host, Ryan Kurczak, is a Kriya Yoga meditation teacher and author, authorized to teach in 2005 by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct student of Paramahansa Yogananda.

🔗 Explore more resources:

Patreon Community: Support the work & access live sessions

Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship, blog posts & books:

Online Classes for All Levels:

Hundreds of free videos on YouTube:

Thank you for listening, and may your path be filled with clarity, strength, and peace.

In this episode, “The Spiritual Importance of a Human Life,” we explore why human birth is considered so sacred within the yoga tradition.

Human life holds a unique place in creation because it gives us the capacity for self-awareness, moral choice, spiritual discipline, and direct realization of the Divine. We carry instinctual forces within us, yet we also have the ability to refine the mind, awaken the heart, and consciously participate in the evolution of the soul.

This episode reflects on the rare opportunity of human incarnation, the responsibility that comes with spiritual practice, and how Kriya Yoga helps us make use of this life for awakening, liberation, and a deeper relationship with Spirit.

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🌟 Stay Connected & Deepen Your Practice

If you’d like to participate in future live sessions, consider joining the Kriya Yoga Online Patreon Community or applying to the Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship Program.

📘 For continued inspiration and instruction, check out Ryan Kurczak’s latest book:

🧘‍♂️ Your host, Ryan Kurczak, is a Kriya Yoga meditation teacher and author, authorized to teach in 2005 by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct student of Paramahansa Yogananda.

🔗 Explore more resources:

Patreon Community: Support the work & access live sessions

Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship, blog posts & books:

Online Classes for All Levels:

Hundreds of free videos on YouTube:

Thank you for listening, and may your path be filled with clarity, strength, and peace.

In this episode of The Kriya Yoga Podcast, Bryan Crigler shares a practical and insightful exploration of breathwork, pranayama, and their role in deepening meditation. This talk was recorded during the Kriya Yoga March Equinox Retreat and focuses on how the breath serves as a bridge between the physical body and the subtle experience of prana.

Bryan combines traditional yogic teachings with modern breath science, offering clear guidance on how breathing patterns influence the nervous system, mental states, and meditative depth. He explains the importance of nasal breathing, diaphragmatic breathing, and respiratory efficiency, along with simple techniques to calm the mind, regulate stress, and prepare for meditation.

This episode also introduces key concepts such as pranic sensitivity, the nadis (energy channels), and how breathwork supports awareness of subtle energy within Kriya Yoga practice. Listeners will gain practical tools to improve focus, reduce anxiety, and access deeper states of meditation through conscious breathing.

Whether you are new to pranayama or looking to refine your Kriya Yoga practice, this episode offers grounded instruction that connects ancient wisdom with modern understanding.

To learn more about Bryan Crigler's offerings as a Kriya Yoga Meditation Facilitator, please visit: https://www.kriyayogamidwest.com/

Note: This episode includes guided practice sessions. Be responsible and only practice in safe circumstances and with the approval of your healthcare providers.

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🌟 Stay Connected & Deepen Your Practice

If you’d like to participate in future live sessions, consider joining the Kriya Yoga Online Patreon Community or applying to the Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship Program.

📘 For continued inspiration and instruction, check out Ryan Kurczak’s latest book:

🧘‍♂️ Your host, Ryan Kurczak, is a Kriya Yoga meditation teacher and author, authorized to teach in 2005 by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct student of Paramahansa Yogananda.

🔗 Explore more resources:

Patreon Community: Support the work & access live sessions

Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship, blog posts & books:

Online Classes for All Levels:

Hundreds of free videos on YouTube:

Thank you for listening, and may your path be filled with clarity, strength, and peace.

In this episode of The Kriya Yoga Podcast, Kriya Yoga teacher Donelle Mason offers a comprehensive introduction to Samadhi, the highest state of meditation described in classical yoga. This talk was recorded during the Online Kriya Yoga Equinox Retreat and presents a clear, practical understanding of how Samadhi develops through consistent spiritual practice.

Donelle explains the eight limbs of yoga, including the importance of the yamas and niyamas as the foundation for meditation. She also breaks down the stages of Samadhi, moving from concentration on gross objects like breath and mantra to subtler states of awareness, including bliss (Ananda) and the sense of “I-am-ness” (Asmita). Common meditation challenges such as mental distractions, attachment to bliss, and the experience of blankness are also addressed in detail.

Listeners will gain insight into key yoga philosophy concepts from the Yoga Sutras, including abhyasa (practice), vairagya (non-attachment), and the role of disciplined effort in achieving deeper states of meditation. This episode also highlights how Kriya Yoga integrates meditation, action (karma yoga), devotion (bhakti yoga), and knowledge (jnana yoga) into a complete path toward self-realization.

Whether you are new to meditation or a long-time practitioner, this episode provides practical guidance on how to deepen your practice, overcome obstacles, and move toward direct experience of Samadhi.

-

🌟 Stay Connected & Deepen Your Practice

If you’d like to participate in future live sessions, consider joining the Kriya Yoga Online Patreon Community or applying to the Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship Program.

📘 For continued inspiration and instruction, check out Ryan Kurczak’s latest book:

🧘‍♂️ Your host, Ryan Kurczak, is a Kriya Yoga meditation teacher and author, authorized to teach in 2005 by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct student of Paramahansa Yogananda.

🔗 Explore more resources:

Patreon Community: Support the work & access live sessions

Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship, blog posts & books:

Online Classes for All Levels:

Hundreds of free videos on YouTube:

Thank you for listening, and may your path be filled with clarity, strength, and peace.

In this episode of The Kriya Yoga Podcast, Ryan Kurczak is interviewed by student and Kriya practitioner Pushya Mistry in a thoughtful, in-depth conversation that explores the inner mechanics of spiritual practice and the realities of walking the Kriya Yoga path.

Drawing from his own sincere inquiry, Pushya brings forward questions that many practitioners quietly carry—about technique, imagination, intuition, realization, lineage, and the long arc of spiritual maturation. Ryan responds with clarity shaped by a couple decades of practice, teaching, and personal experience, offering insight that is both grounded and reflective.

Topics explored in this episode include:

The role of imagination and contemplation in meditation and higher states of awareness

How and when to work skillfully with subtle inner experiences without falling into fantasy

What enlightenment and liberation actually mean within the Kriya Yoga and Yoga Sutra framework

The difference between momentary spiritual glimpses and stable realization

The importance of lineage, fidelity to practice, and embodied understanding

The most challenging and most rewarding aspects of a lifelong spiritual journey

Practical guidance for both new practitioners and emerging meditation teachers

The conversation unfolds as a genuine dialogue rather than a formal Q&A, allowing Ryan’s responses to touch on loss, faith, discipline, discernment, and the quiet confidence that develops through sustained practice. Pushya’s questions give voice to the concerns of serious students navigating depth, distance, and devotion on the path.

This episode is especially valuable for listeners seeking a mature, unsensational understanding of Kriya Yoga—one that honors both inner realization and the patience, humility, and steadiness required to live it.

-

🌟 Stay Connected & Deepen Your Practice

If you’d like to participate in future live sessions, consider joining the Kriya Yoga Online Patreon Community or applying to the Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship Program.

📘 For continued inspiration and instruction, check out Ryan Kurczak’s latest book:

🧘‍♂️ Your host, Ryan Kurczak, is a Kriya Yoga meditation teacher and author, authorized to teach in 2005 by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct student of Paramahansa Yogananda.

🔗 Explore more resources:

Patreon Community: Support the work & access live sessions

Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship, blog posts & books:

Online Classes for All Levels:

Hundreds of free videos on YouTube:

Thank you for listening, and may your path be filled with clarity, strength, and peace.

In this episode of The Kriya Yoga Podcast, we explore a question many meditators quietly wrestle with: Why does life sometimes feel less interesting as meditation deepens?

As spiritual practice grows, interests, motivations, and relationships can begin to shift. Activities that once felt exciting may lose their pull, while inner life becomes richer and more compelling. Is this a healthy sign of spiritual development—or could it be a form of withdrawal from life?

This conversation examines how to recognize the difference between genuine spiritual maturation and subtle avoidance. We discuss how meditation naturally reshapes priorities, why it’s normal to outgrow certain habits or environments, and how to remain engaged with family, work, and creativity while still honoring a deeper inner calling.

The episode also touches on the role of self-reflection, the importance of psychological healing alongside meditation, and how a balanced spiritual path allows both inner realization and meaningful participation in everyday life.

If you’ve ever wondered whether losing interest in the noise of the world means something is wrong—or whether it might signal a deeper transformation—this episode offers clarity, perspective, and practical guidance.

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🌟 Stay Connected & Deepen Your Practice

If you’d like to participate in future live sessions, consider joining the Kriya Yoga Online Patreon Community or applying to the Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship Program.

📘 For continued inspiration and instruction, check out Ryan Kurczak’s latest book:

🧘‍♂️ Your host, Ryan Kurczak, is a Kriya Yoga meditation teacher and author, authorized to teach in 2005 by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct student of Paramahansa Yogananda.

🔗 Explore more resources:

Patreon Community: Support the work & access live sessions

Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship, blog posts & books:

Online Classes for All Levels:

Hundreds of free videos on YouTube:

Thank you for listening, and may your path be filled with clarity, strength, and peace.

In this episode of The Kriya Yoga Podcast, Ryan Kurczak sits down with Bryan Crigler for a grounded, wide-ranging conversation on what it actually looks like to build a mature Kriya Yoga practice over time.

Bryan shares his winding spiritual path—from early curiosity, martial arts, pranayama, and psychedelic exploration, to discovering Kriya Yoga as a steady, embodied way of realization. Together, Ryan and Bryan explore how disciplined daily practice evolves into something natural and enjoyable, and how surrender, curiosity, and consistency shape long-term progress.

Topics discussed in this episode include:

Developing pranic sensitivity and body awareness through breath and attention

The role of imagination in working skillfully with pranayama and subtle awareness

Navigating plateaus, distractions, and shifting expectations in meditation

The difference between peak experiences and stable inner development

Psychedelics and spirituality, and why steady practice offers deeper integration

How meditation naturally reshapes lifestyle choices, relationships, and habits

Working with surrender vs. effort in advanced stages of practice

The practical value of the yamas and niyamas beyond moral rules

Creating less outer drama to support deeper inner stillness

Throughout the conversation, Bryan reflects on how sustained practice gradually raises the baseline of awareness, allowing meditation to remain accessible even on difficult days. Ryan adds context from lineage teachings, emphasizing patience, embodiment, and fidelity to practice over chasing experiences.

This episode is especially valuable for practitioners who are past the beginner phase and are learning how Kriya Yoga integrates into daily life, relationships, and long-term spiritual maturity.

Learn more about Bryan Crigler: https://www.kriyayogamidwest.com/

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🌟 Stay Connected & Deepen Your Practice

If you’d like to participate in future live sessions, consider joining the Kriya Yoga Online Patreon Community or applying to the Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship Program.

📘 For continued inspiration and instruction, check out Ryan Kurczak’s latest book:

🧘‍♂️ Your host, Ryan Kurczak, is a Kriya Yoga meditation teacher and author, authorized to teach in 2005 by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct student of Paramahansa Yogananda.

🔗 Explore more resources:

Patreon Community: Support the work & access live sessions

Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship, blog posts & books:

Online Classes for All Levels:

Hundreds of free videos on YouTube:

Thank you for listening, and may your path be filled with clarity, strength, and peace.