“Kriyas, as an indispensable tool, lighten the burden, quicken the cells and atoms, bring brilliance and dance, transform the dross, and pave the highway with gold.

The kriyas heighten our sense-ability, they strengthen the nerves, and open the Heart Mind. Thus the inner wisdom shines forth on its own. I bow down to the inventor, Siva, the master of Yogis, the indwelling Source within All of Creation.”

In Ayurvedic medicine as well in yogic therapy, these kriyas were also applied for a wide variety of ailments of the body/mind. Within yoga therapy and Ayurveda the kriyas are especially beneficial for those who suffer from symptoms created by irritations as well as stagnant diseases which are the result of obstructions of any kind such as what are called diseases caused by an excess of kapha.

In particular hatha yoga kriyas stimulate and accelerate body/mind/spirit change and evolution so we become a more powerfully embodied vehicle of evolutionary love, healing, and consciousness. Here the dross of the body, the impurities, and constrictions of the nervous system and psychic nerves (nadis) are washed away. These practices will be found specifically valuable to asana, pranayama, and meditation students because spiritual and physical progress can be severely hampered in the presence of physical toxins, irritants, impurities, congestive/constrictive habituations, pathway (nadis) blockages, contractions around imbedded irritants, and other similar obstructions of the energy body or physical body. As these processes affect the blood stream in a sanguine manner, a burden is lifted from all the organs including the brain and nervous system allowing them to function more efficiently and with greater lucidity.

As the asanas liberate evolutionary energy permitting them to circulate in the activated or evolved body/mind, the presence of toxins will cause shut down systems while in many cases create disease patterns unless eradicated. This is obvious in severe cases of liver, kidney, and gastrointestinal syndromes, but it can be applied to the health or stress upon any cell of the body, since the blood stream is affected.

Some areas and systems that have been asleep, de-energized, or not used for along time may be atrophied, congested, full of toxins, or in need of being flushed and cleaned out while other areas are sources of chronic irritation, inflammation, stress to the immune system, anxiety, mechanical sources of spasm, clumping, and contraction, and the like until their associated obstructions or toxins are loosened and excreted. The hatha yoga kriyas (cleansing activities) are specifically designed to clean the body, energy body, and chakra systems quickly and painlessly. They are often broken down into six or eight divisions of action such as the shat (six) or ashta (eight) karmas (actions).

 The kriyas will sometimes also release and thus expunge some negative emotional contractions (kleshas) and holding patterns (vasanas) such as pride, fear, anger, greed, jealousy, possessiveness, secretiveness, neurotic desire, attachment, and so forth.