The Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health is a
nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
that operates a health and
yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
retreat in
Stockbridge,
.
Its facility is a former
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
novitiate
The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...
and
juniorate
A juniorate is a secondary school for young people planning to enter religious life.
Roman Catholic
For Sisters of the Servants of Mary
The Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary ( la, Ordo Servorum Beatae Mariae Virgin ...
seminary built in 1957.
History
Founder
Amrit Desai
Amrit Desai is a pioneer of yoga in the West, and one of the few remaining living yoga gurus who originally brought over the authentic teachings of yoga in the early 1960s. He is the creator of two brands of yoga, ''Kripalu Yoga'' and ''I AM'' ...
came from India in 1960 as a student at the
Philadelphia College of Art
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...
and taught yoga in Philadelphia. In 1966, he co-founded the Yoga Society of Pennsylvania.
In 1972, Desai set up a residential yoga center in
Sumneytown, Pennsylvania.
In 1974, the organization's name was changed to "Kripalu Yoga Fellowship".
It taught Swami
Kripalvananda
Kripalvananda (January 13, 1913 – December 29, 1981), also known as Swami Sri Kripalvanand or Bapuji, was a renowned master of kundalini yoga and the namesake of the Kripalu Center, Kripalu Yoga style and Kripalvananda Yoga Institute, as well as ...
's teachings, held retreats and other programs, and trained yoga teachers.
In 1975, Kripalu bought Summit Station, Pennsylvania, including a health center that became a key element of its mission.
In 1977, Swami Kripalu moved to the United States, inspiring many people to take up yoga. He returned to India in 1981.
The current Stockbridge, Massachusetts location, a former Jesuit seminary on a property called Shadowbrook, opened in December 1983.
During the 1980s, Kripalu grew to have over 350 residents. In 1994, it was discovered that Desai had had sexual relationships with female residents and resigned.
In 1999, Kripalu changed from a religious order to a secular non-profit organisation.
As of 2008, Kripalu offered more than 750 programs and spiritual retreats attended by about 25,000 people annually. Total annual visitation was reported to be about 30,000 people. Many workshops are conducted by outside presenters. Kripalu Center also offers a semester-long program for young adults; projects in music, weight loss and post-traumatic stress disorder. Independent "Kripalu" instructors pay training and certification fees, in return obtaining liability insurance and other business and marketing support.
The center employed about 626 people as of 2008 and could accommodate more than 650 overnight guests. Kripalu hosted over 700 programs a year in its Schools of Yoga, Ayurveda, and Integrative Yoga Therapy;
its Institute of Extraordinary Living, founded by Kripalu's scholar-in-residence
Stephen Cope
Stephen Cope is a psychotherapist, Kripalu Yoga teacher, and author of several books on yoga and meditation. He is the founder of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living.
Early life
Stephen Cope was brought up in Wooster, Ohio in the 195 ...
;
and its conscious leadership program.
Kripalu Center's 2019 revenue was $37.24 million.
In 2020, Kripalu closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reopening in 2021.
Kripalu Yoga
Kripalu Yoga is a form of
Hatha Yoga
Haṭha yoga is a branch of yoga which uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel the vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word हठ ''haṭha'' literally means "force", alluding to a system of physical techniques. Some haṭha ...
with elements of
kundalini yoga that combines
asana
An asana is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose,Verse 46, chapter II, "Patanjali Yoga sutras" by Swami Prabhavananda, published by the Sri Ramakrishna Math p. 111 and later extended in hatha yoga ...
s,
pranayama
Pranayama is the yogic practice of focusing on breath. In Sanskrit, '' prana'' means "vital life force", and ''yama'' means to gain control. In yoga, breath is associated with ''prana'', thus, pranayama is a means to elevate the '' prana'' ''sha ...
, and
meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...
.
Kripalu states that its teaching is "following the flow" of
prana
In yoga, Indian medicine and Indian martial arts, prana ( sa2, प्राण, ; the Sanskrit word for breath, " life force", or "vital principle") permeates reality on all levels including inanimate objects. In Hindu literature, prāṇa is ...
, or "life-force energy, compassionate self-acceptance, observing the activity of the mind without judgment, and taking what is learned into daily life."
Facility
Kripalu's , include forests, lawns, gardens, and access to
Lake Mahkeenac.
Conservation easement
In the United States, a conservation easement (also called conservation covenant, conservation restriction or conservation servitude) is a power invested in a qualified private land conservation organization (often called a "land trust") or gove ...
s on 225 of the acres were granted in 1997 using a framework of the U.S.
Forest Legacy Program
The Forest Legacy Program was established in the 1990 United States farm bill to protect environmentally important forest lands that are threatened by conversion to nonforest uses. It provides federal funding for conservation easements and fee simp ...
.
![KripaluMainHall 20160204](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/KripaluMainHall_20160204.jpg)
Kripalu's principal building was constructed by the Jesuits in 1957 to replace the
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Weste ...
mansion "
Shadowbrook Cottage." The Jesuits had planned to demolish the mansion due to high maintenance costs, but prior to demolition, the mansion was destroyed by a fire in 1956 which resulted in several fatalities. Jesuits had acquired the former estate in 1922 as a novitiate, but moved away in 1970.
A $15 million, six-story housing annex with 80 guest rooms, was completed in 2010. Designed by architect
Peter Rose, the annex incorporates
sustainable design
Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...
elements
and won a 2010 award for specialized housing from the
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
. The institute commented on the building's interior natural lighting, and noted that the architectural design and climate control systems are integrated and consume 40 percent less energy than a conventional building. Rose also developed a master plan for increasing the center's capacity and developing it into "a model of environmental responsibility" through improvements to existing buildings, landscaping, and new construction.
Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health formerly operated its own
water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...
.
Groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...
from onsite wells was used for its water supply source, supplemented by water purchased from the
Lenox water department.
There were
regulatory agency
A regulatory agency (regulatory body, regulator) or independent agency (independent regulatory agency) is a government authority that is responsible for exercising autonomous dominion over some area of human activity in a licensing and regulatin ...
"concerns" resulting in at least two enforcement actions about the water supply's potential vulnerability to
contamination
Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that spoils, corrupts, infects, makes unfit, or makes inferior a material, physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc.
Types of contamination
W ...
,
and as of 2009 the center's water supply had been converted to rely solely on purchased water obtained from surface water
Surface water is water located on top of land forming terrestrial (inland) waterbodies, and may also be referred to as ''blue water'', opposed to the seawater and waterbodies like the ocean.
The vast majority of surface water is produced by prec ...
sources.
References
Further reading
*Richard Faulds (2005), ''Kripalu Yoga: A Guide to Practice On and Off the Mat'', Bantam Books.
*James Abro (2011), ''An American Yoga: The Kripalu Story'', Aerodale Press.
External links
*
Swami Kripalvananda
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Yoga schools
Modern Denominational Yoga
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Educational institutions established in 1983
Buildings and structures in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Tourist attractions in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Spiritual retreats
Sports in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
1983 establishments in Massachusetts