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I have witnessed one pour soul lose mental stability and have to be committed due to manic episodes and delusions of grandeur. I have known two people who had to stop doing kriya because it induced panic attacks in them. During my involvement with the organization, I have witnessed many suffer from mental imbalance and detrimental effects after practicing kriya. I also have my own experience to back up my conclusion that sk is downright harmful. I have yet to see a truly unbiased, well-controlled study with convincing data supporting the unsubstantiated claims that sk is the cure-all it is touted to be.
#Sudarshan kriya benefits wiki full
Most of them (particularly the earlier ones) are lacking in the proper controls, and it is unclear whether subjects are doing the full sk with associated pranayams, or sk alone. Hyperventilation is hyperventilation (no matter how you spin it), and I have gone through a number of the articles on the kriya, most (if not all) of which were published by devotees of ssrs. They might even refer you to the “scientific research” on the kriya that supports its many benefits.
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So I cringe to think of how many brain cells I have fried after my many years of practicing kriya.Īdvocates of the kriya might argue that it is “controlled hyperventilation” and therefore not harmful. The reason for these side effects is because by over-breathing, one is actually depriving oneself of oxygen- hyperventilation excessively rids the body of carbon dioxide, low carbon dioxide causes blood vessels to constrict, and constricted vessels carry less blood and oxygen to the different parts of the body (including the brain.) This is a condition known as hypoxia, and cells starved of oxygen eventually die. Today, its common knowledge that hyperventilation (defined as simply breathing faster or deeper than necessary) can cause dizziness, lightheadedness, numbness in the limbs, and even fainting/loss of consciousness. Practicing kriya for its short-term pleasant effect is no different than doing drugs. I could argue that masturbation is also natural, but just because it feels good doesn’t mean that one should practice it every day. Sure, the kriya is claimed to consist of “natural rhythms” of breathing and therefore cannot be harmful. Even cosmetics need testing for harmful effects. When a drug is discovered, it goes through years of clinical trials before being prescribed.
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But I am left wondering what are its long-term effects. Looking back, it’s amazing to me how many people (including myself) blindly accepted the kriya as something holy and beneficial based on its source and the short-term pleasant feeling it evokes. When students ask where the kriya came from, I tell them it was “cognized” by ssrs during a 10-day period of silence in the early 80’s. This is just one of the reasons why I chose to leave AoL and cease promoting its practices. And coming from a scientific background, I am still miffed at myself for not having researched it back then, but according to the old adage, “its better late than never”…Īfter devoting years of my life to AoL, serving as a volunteer and teacher, and blindly propagating the myth that the kriya is beneficial and should be practiced daily, I now realize that I have made a tremendous error in judgment, and that sudarshan kriya (aka hyperventilation) is harmful. But because of the teacher’s reassurance that these effects are normal, combined with the fact that others in the class shared the same experiences, I ignored my intuition and neglected to research the physiological effects of over-breathing.
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At that time, it did occur to me that breathing faster and deeper than my body required for an extended period of time might actually be harmful. That is how I remember feeling after my first kriya-blank, unable to think, lightheaded, and numb/tingly all over.