Heart Problems Caused By Sudarshan Kriya
Akshata (March 24, 2011 6:17 am)
My sincere appeal to people. If you are having problems due to Sudarshan Kriya please stop immediately. it can worsen your condition if you do not heed the warnings and continue. This practise not suitable for all. It took me almost six months to recover from my three month practise of kriya. I did not have a heart attack as some one was mentioning before. but very strong heart palpitations due to kriya. the doctors warned me that I might even get some of the heart valves damaged.
Be very careful when you practise hotch potch techniques like sudarshan kriya. The teachers themselves do not know how this sudarshan kriya works or do not work. Ask questions to them and do not take their silly answers like guru’s revelation or grace. Otherwise you will suffer like how i suffered.
Thanks to real yoga masters who helped me come out of this dangerous cult practise.
Harshal (March 25, 2011 5:58 pm)
Akshata:
Can you confirm that the doctors told you the following: “SK is causing palpitations and palpitations(or SK directly) can damage your valves”
If he has, how did he reach on to that conclusion? Did he put you on a trademill/ECG while doing SK? If not, did you tell this to the doctor?
Did you ask him, what is the evidence for what he told you. Do you have any pre-existing heard condition or any other disease?
Akshata (March 26, 2011 7:40 am)
Harshal,
The heart palpitations started a week after I started doing the sudarshan kriya and unfortunately I never thought it was due to this practice and continued this practice. I never had any pre-existing conditions and being 24 years of age I have always been in good health. I later came to know that it was a direct result of doing this so called wonderful technique. The aol teacher had no clue about this always spoke some rubbish about cleansing and grace and negativity.
After three months of practice my health only worsened and became eractic. One day I fainted at work and was adviced bed rest. When I went through the treadmill/ECG my heart condition did not show any abnormality. The doctor who was very perceptive asked me about my work and other activities. When I told him about all and even the breathing practice that I do, he suggested maybe I should rethink and stop doing it. It was at that time I realized the actual causal relationship between sudarshan kriya and the heart palpitations. Whenever I stopped this practice for a couple of days the palpitations and discomfort in the heart area reduced.
I fortunately met some very good yoga teachers from the Bihar school of Yoga who made me understand the dangers of practicising improper Pranayama like how they teach in AOL. I was provided a tailored yoga sadhana routine which made me come back to normal and back in to good health. I was able to clearly see how my body got abused due to the AOL pranayama and kriya practice. And the other thing I clearly saw was how the AOL teachers were clueless, insenstive and even subtly abusive towards any one who do not corroborate their false claims of the benefits. I was also surprised to find in internet blogs that anyone who questions AOL gets abused by AOL trolls like yourself. When I first encountered this blog a few days ago I felt that I should share my experience in this post that more people become aware of these dangerous and help them deal with the suffering which can come to them due to AOL as it happened in my case.
Akshata – thank you very much for coming forward and sharing your story here. It seems you are far from alone and there are a lot of people who have had similar experiences to you who have suffered, in some cases quite badly, from practicing kriya.
And as you have already highlighted, whenever anyone complains about having negative experiences like yours, they are usually fed stories about “Guru’s Grace”, “cleansing” / “detoxing”, or abused by AoL teachers and hooligans the likes of Harshal. Basically, Art of Living followers are unable to accept that the technique has any harmful effects whatsoever.
You are absolutely right in that AoL teachers are completely clueless about what the technique actually does, and they have no idea as to what to do whenever things go wrong or people report negative effects, hence all the stock answers they tend to give.
They regard the technique as something sacred which was revealed to their Guru through divine, mystical insight from the highest authority, and hence don’t actually question it or even believe it has any harmful effects. This isn’t entirely their fault as it is actually what they have been conditioned to believe from all the various processes they have been through in Art of Living, most prominently those taught during DSN and TTC courses.
It is a good job that you actually sought medical advice in the matter and didn’t just listen to the teachers, and likewise that you actually got proper instruction from a well-established school of yoga such as Bihar which is highly respected in India and which actually tailors the practices to suit each individual. This is another one of many criticisms that we have already made about Sudarshan Kirya elsewhere on this blog.
To reiterate the point you made at the start of this post Akshata:
If you are having problems due to Sudarshan Kriya please stop immediately. it can worsen your condition if you do not heed the warnings and continue. This practise not suitable for all.
Whatever Art of Living is saying about this technique being suited to everybody, this clearly isn’t the case. If it works for you, then that’s great, but if it doesn’t, please consider your health first and foremost, listen to your body and consider stopping the practice and see if your condition improves.
Don’t let Art of Living teachers make you feel guilty about not doing it, that your karma is at fault or that you are cleansing or detoxing, and if it comes to it seek medical help in the matter as they will be able to advise you on what to do.
Beyond The Art of Living 
I can see how this will go….
AoLite : “you deny the validity of– number of positive experiences with AOL completely and absolutely outweighing the questionable negatives.”
Some Blog person: nope we are only trying to say that AoL routinely denies the validity of all and any negative experiences of kriya (and other aspects of the org.). It actively encourage followers to do the same. I
nstead, as a first step, if the org openly acknowledges that it is not suitable for many *normal* people (not just special cases like pregnant women, mentally ill etc.), they would certainly sound more honest. Get it?
AoLite:U r not Taking responsibility, it means not blaming others for your failures and misery
Some Blog person:Hmm, taking responsibility for my choices does not mean i cannot ascribe blame to Aol for their failing to uphold their moral/ ethical responsibilities. Both are not mutually exclusive. Get it?
AoLite:Umm, I’ll just come bac and repeat what i keep saying after some time. Bye for now.
This girl is basically making up a story here..
First she says
“the doctors warned me that I might even get some of the heart valves damaged”
then she says
“When I went through the treadmill/ECG my heart condition did not show any abnormality”
Why would the doctor tell her that she will get her valves damaged if there is no functional abnormality on ECG? For example, if you have a chest xray which comes out all normal will you be told that you will get pneumonia?
Second: there is no relationship between palpitations and valve damage in a normal heart what-so-ever. I wonder how she cooked up that association! palpitation is just an awareness of ones own heart beat, either heart can beat slowly or fast and there is NO association with valve damage. So a well trained doctor can never tell that. Pretty sure that she is making this up.
Third: The doctor says ‘he suggested maybe I should rethink and stop doing it”. A sign that it was an anxiety disorder. He could not find any functional abnormality so usually docs indulge in a trial and error techniques. He had no idea what SK is.
She basically lies when she said that “doctors warned me against doing it as it may cause valve damage” it just contradicts her own statement later on where doctor says ‘maybe’.
All she had , was some sort of transient anxiety disorder which can be due to anything. People like this person are continuously trying to identify “someone” “something” to blame for the problems in their life which is what she did. Once the object of blame is identified, they can attribute all their problems that that object and then they relax and feel good about it.Hence she felt good after stopping kriya. By writing on this blog she is just positively reinforcing the blame-transfer.
Thanks for making this as your headline post. Your ignorance has been highlighted.
@ harshal
hahahahahahahahahaha….. so predictable your response!!!!! i had guessed your reply as soon as i read this post. you sure are advancing the goal of this blog!! keep going….and as you will have a retort to this one, why not address the queries doctor posted on the previous blog? to refresh your memory the entire post is as below, looking forward to your reply
IF YOU ARE SO KNOWLEDGE WHY DID U JOIN ART OF LIVING?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
which agent made you join AOL . Take your course fees back
@Harshal,
I am no medical expert but I searched for “palpitation and valve damage” and discovered that Mitral Valve Prolapse, a common disease whose onset can be signaled by heart palpitations
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/mvp/mvp_signsandsymptoms.html
http://www.texasheart.org/hic/topics/cond/vmitral.cfm
@Akshata
Would you be willing to provide more details on the doctor, hospital and city you consulted?
@Chamiyaar: why is it that you guys always keep proving that you are big idiots. I am sorry to use that word again, but can you see what I have written. Can you read it again, with open eyes?
“there is no relationship between palpitations and valve damage in a normal heart what-so-ever”
Do you see the word ‘normal’ ? her EEG was normal and she has confirmed that she has no past medical history of MVP etc.
Also, palpiations DO NOT cause MVP. PALPITATIONS IS A SYMPTOM of MVP. You ignorant idoit! There is no way in the world that transient palpitations will cause valve damage. She is just making up stories here.
I have a suggestion for you. If you are not a medical expert, don’t try to be one!
@Harshal
You might win some friends if you were a little polite and tentative instead of shouting others down in this condescending and crude fashion but I suppose that is too much to expect given your provincial upbringing in rural Maharashtra.
“Also, palpiations DO NOT cause MVP. PALPITATIONS IS A SYMPTOM of MVP. ”
I did not say palpitations cause MVP. I said “onset can be signaled”. It is a common phrase AFAIK which does not imply causation. For instance “What Symptoms Signal The Onset Of AIDS?”
she consulted Dr lalu prasad yadav at the rabdi devi hospital in bihar. how does it matter?. Only if she can get it in writing that the doctor warned her that kriya will cause valve damage then we can talk more about it. otherwise this is just a big fat lie.
Clearly am improvement in hear health shows that her doctor was correct in making his diagnosis that SK was harming the patient’s health. The doctor of course cannot make a blanket statement like Kriya damages heart valves from only one patient – only AOL makes outrageous claims like SK lowers BP, based on anecdotal data and poorly designed experiments.
Any personal trainer and yoga instructor will tell you that while his regimen works, you should consult your doctor and follow his advice over his. By sticking to your ridiculous position that SK is a cure-all elixer for all you are showing your ignorance, not your knowledge. While people’s faith in alternative therapies is not a bad thing in itself, the human body is a complex machine, and there is far too little knowledge about how these techniques work, for AOL teachers to claim that it absolutely does not have harmful side effects.
@Harshal:
Unfortunately for you Akshata is not alone. Please see here another similar incident:
how is it similar? trembling=palpitations?
@Chamiyaar: You are replying to a post with implies causal relationship of palpitations and valve damage. If you know that it is not causal, why are u brining it up?
I was not brought up in rural Maharashtra and i do not intend to win any friends in this hypocritical , demented collection of anonymous people.
Harshal
Maybe akshata is a Jehadi terrorist who has come here to defame AOL and Sudarshan Kriya. If you ask your spiritual brother Sad Swami Sadyojatha he can give more details. According to him anyone who does not agree with AOL’s propoganda is a terrorist.
sad swami will also say that akshata is bipolar and since her ulterior motives of climbing the AoL ladder of success met with complete failure, she is hostile and untrustwothy. this is why she wants to discredit aol.damn, you aol guys are so ugly and pathetic!!!
Clearly her doctor was a medical expert, and she did well to take his advice over that of AOL teachers who push SK mindlessly.
@Harshal,
Thanks for completely ignoring my question – again:
https://aolfree.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/is-sudarshan-kriya-safe/#comment-4973
You’ve now had two opportunities to answer it, and both times you’ve just completely ignored it.
It’s such a simple question, and I would have thought someone with your level of expertise should have no trouble whatsoever at least attempting to answer it. You couldn’t have overlooked it as you clearly read all the comments, and you certainly wouldn’t have overlooked it twice because you always respond to comments I make directly addressed to you. Yet here you are and you have quite clearly avoided answering it again.
So I’ll repeat it one more time, maybe I’ll get lucky third time round?
Harshal – please explain this contradiction to me and to everyone else reading this blog, because clearly you believe there are no harmful side effects yet the above seems to contradict that.
Unless you’re successfully able to do this, everything you have ever said about SK having no harmful side effects becomes completely null and void.
Once again, over to you Harshal …
I have explained this. Can you now explain
1) the contradictions in this post which I have just highlighted
2) ask the person who suggested that someone had heart-attack after doing SK to tell us where this event happened. He doesn’t have to identify this person. He can just tell us where this happened and who the AOL teacher was.
There was a death during an AOL course in, I believe, Pittsburg, PA. Not sure if the diagnosis was a heart attack, per se, but very likely it was. I know it first hand from the person who organized the course and who was a participant in my TTC.
He’ll never answer… Harshal is just a stupid troll who gets his biggest joy in life from trying to hurt other people. He’s not interested (or capable) of having an intelligent discussion.
A Request – Please allow Harshal type AOL persons to express their view freely. They are victims who can’t speak anything in their organisation except Jai Gurudev. Let them free their mind here, otherwise they will be mental hospital.
@Peaceful Warrior:
“The doctor of course cannot make a blanket statement”
In this case the doctor apparently not only made this statement but also warned her that her that if she keeps doing it her valves will be damaged.
So either the credentials of this doc are questionable or she is just plain lying. What do you think?
“So either the credentials of this doc are questionable or she is just plain lying. What do you think?”
Anybody who questions His Holiness Sri Sri Ravishankar and his organization will be scruitinized and credentials questioned by AOLites. But these intelligent, non-idiotic souls are impotent to question their own guru’s credential as an omniscient, omnipotent, “enlightened master”. Pathetic! We can only pity the likes of Harshal and pray for their recovery. May sense prevail on them before it is too late.
Akshata’s is not an isolated case. I know a case where the patient had to be admitted to the ICU just a couple of months after doing part -I course. I know cases where people developed hypertension due to SK and they were back to normal after they stopped. And I know AOL knows about numerous such cases which they routinely brush under the carpets. I remember having a conversation with Dr Vinoda Kochupillai of AIIMS, one of the primary researchers who published papers on SK and its benefits. She admitted to me, a few years ago, during a TRM that she had observed the practice of SK leading to hypertension in many patients. But AOLers are all non-idiotic, intelligent, divine souls like Harshal, whose minds reside on an astral plane, different from that of simple, idiotic, worldly folks like us.
Actually, HHSSRS told me himself that someone (who will go unnamed here for fear of lawsuit) did die during the course, when HHSSRS was present. He told me that he brought this person back to life, and that the person is eternally grateful. He said that this person died of heart failure during the SK. Also, once when I was participating in a “Maha” Kriya, a man in the group lost consciousness. I opened my eyes to see many people hovering over this man, including HHSSRS, and the man was brought to another part of the room. Afterwards, again, HHSSRS told me personally that the man had died of heart attack, and because he, HHSSRS was present, he was alive, as he revived him. Otherwise, he told me, the man would have stayed dead.
You can believe this or not, Harshal, and that’s just tough. There were lots of people at that occasion, and the first story has been told to many AOL teachers who shared the same thing with me as well. At least these two cases were claimed to be deaths by the “master” himself, and he claimed to have brought them back from death itself.
oh the doctor can indeed make a statement about the effect of the technique on this particular patient. But he will refrain from making absolute statements like SK causes heart valve damage – unless he has more than one data point.
LOL, I’m sure this person is just making all this up. Right…
Harsh, I’m interested in why you haven’t responded to the Doctor’s questions. Are you capable of having an intelligent response? It’s interesting that someone who believes in Guru grace and follows a cult so blindly is so keen on seeking proof. Obviously, you live your life largely on faith, not proof.
Harshal,
The doctor I consulted is one of the most reputed cardiologist in Bangalore. Let me give more details on what transpired. Due to the heart paltitations and my erratic pulse, he asked me to undergo an ECG (the treadmill test). He had suggested to my father that there might be a possibility of a heart blockage and this can be found from the ECG and a subsequent angiogram. Fortunately the ECG was found normal and the fears of any blocks was ruled out and there was no need for an angio. But anlayzing further on the cause of the palpitations, he went into my lifestyle and practices. When I spoke about the Sudarshan kriya and explained the technique to him, he mentioned that it might be the cause as it involves rigourous breathing and hyperventilation. He mentioned very clearly that such practices continued for a long time can damage the heart valves. I felt that there is truth in what the doctor is saying and for the first time I started questioning the practice which I at that time held in great esteem. I stopped the practice for a few days and suddenly I could see the heart palpitations decrease. My pulse and blood pressure also normalized.
When I told this to the AOL teacher he made me into some kind of a villan and started mocking me. Any sensible person would atleast listen to the actual facts of the case and try to see if there is anything wrong with the Sudarshan Kriya technique. If you look at some facts and exceptions it is possible that you can atleast refine the technique. Maybe sincere wish is that Ravishankar and his teachers look into this and try to see that people do not get harmed. Although, I am appaled at the responses from fanatics like Harshal, it is not something new as I have already experienced such hooligan behaviour from the AOL teachers. Maybe it is their cult indoctrination which make them insensitive and just blind like ostriches.
But like an ostrich the AOL teacher shut his eyes.
In my AOL class, high BP patients were advised NOT to do fast short cycles and instead do medium ones ( I may be wrong in the exact details, but this is what i remember )
If people with certain medical conditions/ pregnancy should not do kriya or do a modified version, it is not emphasized at all either in follow-ups or adv courses. Many things may develop later and a regular practitioner may not realize that it is harmful now. I had no idea about fast cycle/ vigorous bhastrika to be avoided in Hypertensives, about different posture in 3rd stage of pranayam for cervical spondylitis patients till I assisted courses. If someone is having bad experience/ symptoms, it makes sense to stop for a while and observe or have a full medical checkup than to brush it aside saying that toxins are being released!
I don’t think Harshal ever admitted doing regular kriya.He only mentioned regular meditation.
I am sorry to be condescending but you have no idea how medicine/clinical research works. All you can think is anti-aol.
Unless an effect of an treatment/intervention is proved across multiple data points no one will dare to assume a causal relationship at a single point.
Consider this, you are taking metformin for your diabetes and you develop valve damage. Will the medic tell you that your valve damage is because of metformin. No. Because either he knows that thousands of patients are taking metformin and it does not cause valve damage or he does not know anything about metformin. If he cannot find any other reason, he will say , ‘maybe’ it is metformin, but he will not warn you against taking metformin.. like he warned this girl …who is just making up this story.
More importantly science has completely described how and what causes valve damage in humans. However, your ignorance about the pathological process of valve damage allows you to make statements like these.
Anoop you are right. The teachers manual apparently has guidance about who should do what with regards to blood pressure/asthma/pregnancy/allergies /mental disorders and other things.
It is not a one blanket thing for everyone as people here claim.
well consider this – if you take vioxx and you start to develop heart trouble, and then when you stop taking vioxx, it goes away, the obviously vioxx was the culprit. To say that vioxx causes heart trouble, lots of data is required – but to say vioxx caused heart trouble for that patient – a single case study is enough.
Some techniques are not for everybody – this case clearly illustrates that. It’s surprising you claim to be such an medical expert, but don’t seem to grasp such a simple point.
Very sorry to hear this Akshata. There’s no use in talking to Harshal – he’s not interested in facts. He just wants to hurt people. He won’t even answer simple questions asked by the doctor.
While I didn’t develop the problems you had, my allergies went away within a few months after stopping the practice of kriya. I wonder if someday we’ll see a large lawsuit against AOL for all the health problems it caused many people…
Thanks for sharing your story – it will help others question the practice.
It is evident from his reponse to Akshata’s post that in addition to being a brainwashed zombie, Harshal
1) has poor reading comprehension skills
2) lacks common sense
Whether heart palpitations can cause valve damage or not is not the issue here. People posting here are not doctors or experts in medical research field and there could be inacuracies expected of a layman in these posts. No medical professional will scrutinize a layman’s language to that extent, but will certainly take the larger message.
The issue here is that Akshata developed heart palpitations after practising SK and the doctor advised her to discontinue and she was cured when she discontinued. What exact language the doctor used in rendering that advice, is irrelevant. But our intelligent, non-idiotic friend here fails to understand that, and the fact that doctors prescribe individual treatments on a case by case basis and not based on results of randomized trials. But unlike us idiots, Harshal’s intellect is constantly being sharpened by the rigorous practice of the spiritual technique called Sudharshan Kriya.
Akshata very accurately described SK – “a hotch potch technique”. It leads to a dizzy light headed sensation which can be fully explained by science. But His Holiness and his junta sells this hotch potch technique and the resulting light headedness as “spiritual experience”. The whole “movement” is based on this fraudulent notion. They inflate the “benefits”, suppress the risks and create a huge hype around SK and many lives are spoilt in the process, the victims not even realizing that they are being exploited. The public in India and all over the world need to be made aware that SK is not a “yogic breathing technique” as AOL claims it to be. Kudos to Akshata for coming out with this. Don’t let Harshal intimidate you with the intellect bestowed up on him by SK and HHSSRS.
Hi Harshal
Apparently is a key word you used Sir Harshal. But your not a teacher are you. Just to clear up this point. Unfortunately it is not the case, in the manual they will refer to the Kriya notes. I am sure all the teachers will remember how we received those, we had to write them down and if you missed half of it (they read them so fast and would not go back)it was ok. We were told we got what we needed and the guru will always be with us when we were teaching. It created more of the mystique around the whole kriya of course at this point you were so far gone you believed it all, because you became one of the special ones.
But truly a spiritual technique which could have such effects on people as descibed in the notes should be given out very carefully. And lets hope that the remedies given will work. If you remembere them or wrote them down correctly
The point is that no matter what the kriya is always presented as a wonderful positive thing. And never with a disclaimer, like when you look at a tv commercial for a medicine, they will always tell you if you have certain conditions be careful. And they will tell you this beforehand.
I don’t remember any Intro talk where all these conditions were discussed the focus was always on recruiting people. You had to sign people up first get them in, and have them pay. I do remember the disclaimer people had to sign, when they took the course, which basically stated that your taking this course at your own risk and that the AOL organisation can not be help responsible.
I wonder why a spiritual organisation would have people sign something like this.
@Harshal
“The best sign of a person’s inferiority complex is his attempt to portray his opponent as inferior”
The abuses you hurl at other people at this blog shows how much you have benefitted from your association with AOL and Sudarshan kriya.
What good is “Guru’s grace”, Seva+Sadhana+Satsang if it doesn’t make you a better human being?
@profhughakston: I never claimed that I do seva or that I have guru’s grace. I just meditate everyday without fail. So you are making a hypothesis based on faulty assumption. what does that make you?
Sorry Harshal,
But your daily meditation is making you a very angry man unwilling to admit that many people have suffered because of their affiliations with AOL and Ravi Shankar. Fact is, many have suffered. The closer they got, the worse it was. And those who are very close and remain, well, their actions and attitudes and clone-like dress and behaviors speak for themselves. If you happen to belong to AOL (I suspect so), you are kidding yourself if you think it is benign. It’s not. It’s a crooked money making scheme which now even involves the government, not surprisingly, since it’s known for it’s graft and corruption. You can go on defending what you either don’t know about, or what you are afraid to admit. But it won’t make the wrongs being done in the name of Peace and Love and helping humanity, just go away. I fail to see what about the fact that people coming here sharing their experiences of hurt and illness and pain experienced from association with AOL and Ravi Shankar would ‘entertain’ you as you put it. What exactly is entertaining about people who have been injured by something? Injury is not imagined. It’s real. Again, either you are simply unaware of the facts of this man and his organization, or you are just crassly indifferent about how human beings can be treated there. Which type of meditation would make someone so callus and uncaring for his fellow man? Please let me know so I never go near that practice.
harshell is an angry man because the truth that SK is dangerous is now out in the open. infact, all of aol is angry now, as they are feeling threatened . these revelations will bring major monetary losses and also loss of credibility and respect. the more this fool opens his mouth, the deeper the grave he’s digging for aol.
@Akshata:
You are being unnecessarily pesky. Harshal has already told you that Art of Living did not cause those palpitations. What more evidence you need? If you want to trust your petty experience over the pronouncement of an enlightened master and his equally enlightened ha ha disciple, then you are doomed.
Contrary to AOL claims, in my experience the practices had an adverse effect on short term memory, the ability to focus, and the ability to sleep.
@Peaceful Warrior
“if you take vioxx and you start to develop heart trouble, and then when you stop taking vioxx, it goes away, the obviously vioxx was the culprit”
LOL! No.Medical science doesn’t work this way. This is too simplistic assumption and it doesn’t take an expert to realize this.
However, why don’t you just ask your doctor and come back and tell us what he says about this assumption of yours. I will trust you – i know you well by now to know that you wont make up stories like this palpitation woman.
“This is too simplistic assumption and it doesn’t take an expert to realize this.”
On the contrary, that is exactly how doctors do diagnosis in the real world. Of course it is more complex – it takes years of experience for a doctor to develop an intuition for what might be causing what – and human body being the complex machine where everything is interrelated it is no easy matter to find the root cause. The case of vioxx is a real world example – those things actually happened. Doctors started seeing people getting heart problems with people using it, and soon it was revealed that merck knew about it, but had suppressed evidence as it “felt” it did not impact “most users” of the drug.
“soon it was revealed that merck knew about it, but had suppressed evidence”
Exactly like AOL has been doing for years, if not decades.
oh but SSRS has deemed the technique safe, and powered by grace and SSRS is an honorable man!
Peaceful Warrior:”On the contrary, that is exactly how doctors do diagnosis in the real world”
Wrong. This is not how doctors do diagnosis in a real world.You are just putting out a huge vomitus of BS here. Would you reconsider claiming this, if you knew that you were talking to a doctor?
PW was referring to normal doctors in the real world, not brainwashed zombie doctors.
“Would you reconsider claiming this, if you knew that you were talking to a doctor? ”
Nope – what you say defies not just scientific method, but also common sense. While I’m not a doctor myself, i am quite familiar with the medical profession, particularly medical practice. i come from a family of distinguished physicians where drawing room conversations revolve around case discussions and articles in Lancet and NEJM – the fact that you may have a medical degree does not compensate for the fact that your arguments seen non-sensical and contrary to even established medical wisdom regarding the dangers of hyperventilation. And of course you have the gumption to call a practicing medical doctor a quack just because he advised against sudarshan kriya – when all he was doing was using his knowledge and experience to make a recommendation to a suffering patient.
You just need to check out the effects of prolonged hyperventilation ( SK is one hour) to know how dangerous SK is. And if AoL people insist SK is not hyperventilation, check the defination of hyperventilation. Swami Ramdev, in one of his talks also warns against SK. Really, SK is dangerous.
I am doing kriya since last one month. I somehow felt it is not something right. This post has really scared the wits out of me. I read this article on hyperventilation and heart problems.
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/807277-overview
I am stopping this practice folks. It is too risky.
@Harshal
“I just meditate everyday without fail”
Is your meditation making you a better human being- more loving, more peaceful, more joyous, more open-minded(i.e. able to respect others’ viewpoint?)
As your comments and abuses in this blog prove, definitely not!
So what good are your practices?
Again permalink
October 19, 2010 7:37 am
Albert
October 14, 2010 3:01 pm
Dear all,
Ravi Shankar has cognized sudarshan kriya in following way (this is out of his mouth): “As a child I spent a lot of time with my grandma. During the night I was watching my old grandma, I was observing her breathing during her sleep. There were some patterns …“
Now, if he used the patterns of old lady’s breathing during the sleep as rhythms for SK, that is deathly dangerous. Why? Because, from medical literature it is known that during early morning hours, morning heavy breathing effect (read: hyperventilation, overbreathing) is cause of death in the sickest.
What SK is, can be easily proven by making brain scan before and after SK. After hyperventilation there is reduced oxygenation of the brain, reduced blood flow.
Majority of people believe that a deep or heavy breathing pattern provides more oxygen for body. It is totaly wrong because overbreathing reduces oxygenation of the human body (and all vital organs – read: brain). There is no scientific evidence, a medical study, medical doctor or physiologist who has proven or shown that a overbreathing (like sudarshan kriya) improves body oxygenation or is good for people.
Role of CO2 is most important in maintaining human health and it is not waste gas. Capability to hold breath longer in effortless manner is sign of good health.
Yogic breathing technics (pranayamas) are meant to achive this. But for every person there should be totaly individual approach because every person has different starting capacity.
Ravi S. has no real yogic knowledge, and it is obvious for people who know a little bit more about yoga and physiology.
“Pranayama is the cessation of inspiratory and expiratory movements.” – The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali
“Breath-control exercise may be classified into two main groups: long-slow type and short-quick type. Breath suspension forms the most important part of long-slow type.”- S. S. Goswami in “Hatha Yoga”
What Ravi S. is doing is totaly opposite to real yogic tradition and knowledge. His invention, sudarshan kriya, is in real yoga nonexistent long-quick type of breathing and it is dangerous for human health.
Dr. Yogiji
October 14, 2010 4:29 pm
Hyperventilation is used in specific pranyamas in yoga, but only for a limited time and wih enough caution. Hyperventilation can also be used to create alkalinity in blood, which is many a times required to get balance.
That said sudarshan kriya is a highly amateurish technique without much insight into how the prana and human body works. This kind of long term hyperventilation is very bad and you can find many many aol senior practitioners who are all quite sick and unhealthy. The folks who are healthy like kishanji are people who do not practice kriya. The pure diet and disciple is what has kept many of the sk practioners out of harm. SK in short is a harmful technique of hyperventilation.
And those who believe all that tingling and numb sensations are some prana flowing in the body or is due to Guru’s grace. This is the medically observed effects of hyperventilation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperventilation
“Hyperventilation can, but does not necessarily always cause symptoms such as numbness or tingling in the hands, feet and lips, lightheadedness, dizziness, headache, chest pain, slurred speech, nervous laughter, and sometimes fainting, particularly when accompanied by the Valsalva maneuver.”
How many of you experienced or witnessed these symptoms during SK, raise your hands.
Reply
ex-cultie
October 15, 2010 6:47 am
As someone else commented earlier on the process of kriya, I shared some concerns with an old friend of mine who has been a yoga practitioner, researcher, advocate and part time teacher for nearly 50 years. He tells me he’s only come across the fast cycle type of SK breathing a few times, and that was to address some very specific temporary condition in the body. He’s never seen this fast breathing practiced daily, as its long term effects when practiced daily have never been studied in detail, and that the impact on the body is quite immediate and rapid.
He advised me to do the 20-40-40 very gently and with very shallow breaths, not to try breathing too deeply or force it, and if possible, avoid the fast cycle completely.
This goes against the teaching in the basic course and the follow up sessions where most people do the 20-40-40 with great vigor and intensity, literally kicking up a storm.
I remember asking one of the basic course teachers about this many years ago. She pointed to kapalbhati and agnisara pranayam, saying that the medium and fast cycles were very similar. This struck me as very shallow, since the process for kapalbhati and agnisara are completely different from the 20-40-40 in SK. There is no breathing at all during the repetitions in agnisara. Kapalbhati focuses more on the stomach movements, the breath itself is secondary.
I wonder how AOL considers these teachers qualified to teach yoga and pranayama when their basic knowledge of this field does not go beyond what they are taught in AOL TTC courses, which is precious little about yoga itself and more about the different processes, marketing, hot seat and all that other stuff.
AOL teachers and old timers know quite a lot about the bad effects of Sudarshan Kriya. Some of them have experienced it themselves and stopped practicing. Being an ex-AOL teacher, I personally know several AOL teachers who do not practice Sudarshan Kriya as it does not suit them at all. Even Ravishankar does not practice sudarshan kriya, not because he is enlightened and all that BS.He practices regular yoga asanas and pranayama. I have seen him do yoga asana practice in Rishikesh during one of the camps in 90s. He does not trust his technique on himself as he very well knows how he cooked it up.
If any of you folks have studied AOL propoganda over the years, initially they used to pitch a lot on Sudarshan kriya. As years have progressed their conviction on the technique and more factual data on the ill effects were seen they have toned it down. Although they never tell this openely just catch any of the teachers in their unguarded moments they have lot of tales to tell on sudarshan kriya, and most of them not part of the official party line. The current AOL marketing pitch is that Sudarshan Kriya is one among the other techniques like Sri Sri Yoga, Suryanamaskara and Padmasadha. Of course they cannot completely remove the previous sales pitch of Sudarshan Kriya as it was such a success in roping in people.
Hello everybody
I found this blog a couple of weeks back, and have been following the posts and discussions since. I have been doing SK for about 3 years. The practice is a good meditation technique for me, just as some other non-AOL techniques I have. I have not had any bad experiences with SK.
I do believe that SK is good for most people, neutral for some people, and harmful for very few people.
But if SK is harmful to, for example, one out of 100.000 persons, then it is wrong for AOL to claim it as an universal beneficial technique. The discussion here seems to be “Can SK be harmful to some persons?”. Saying “no” to this, is a very special (in lack of a better word) opinion, since there are people out there allergic to water and light.
It is most likely, that SK might be harmful to a few people.
Sudashan Panda,
I beg to differ. I would say a majority of the people cannot take sudarshan kriya as it is something quite unnatural. This has been my experience as a teacher of SK for many years. If you look at the basic course statistics not more than 1% continue the practice. Most practice for a few days and leave. One key reason for this is that their bodies reject these breathing techniques. In fact many of these people who do not practice will also talk about how good the technique was. This has been my true experience.
I think most people stop doing SK because they don’t have the discipline to continue. About 10 members of my family have taken the Part 1 course and they all felt good after the course, but most of them stopped doing SK after 2-3 months because they say they can’t find the time or it is too boring! My wife and I have continued doing SK regularly for three years now and find it extremely beneficial. Of course, I have no way of knowing whether SK is good for everyone and I find no reason not to believe those for whom SK has not worked or has caused harm. But, we should not extrapolate those experiences (harmful) to say that SK doesn’t work for most people.
By the way, at a part 1 course our teacher said “It is not possible to hyperventilate through the nose, so therefor Sudashan Kriya is not hyperventilation”. Im only a layman, but I doubt the validity of that argument. Any opinions on that one?
Welcome.
You’ll find more than just a few people here have had major problems with kriya, myself included. I practiced it fairly regularly for 8 years. I was in great health, but I began seeing problems after 4 years, and grew worse after that. All my issues healed after a few months of stopping kriya. It was proof to me that the practice was dangerous.
Is it dangerous for all? Probably not. Some appear to have good experiences, including yourself. Not everyone can follow the same diet, and not everyone can do the same practices.
If you continue to practice, just monitor your health very carefully. Watch for signs like eyes getting dark circles. allergy issues may come from nowhere, blood pressure or pulse problems are possible, energy level may reduce significantly, critical thinking or desire for life may disappear… these are all very possible when practicing kriya for the long term.
It is very much possible to hyperventilate through the nose. Your AOL teacher was either ignorant or lying.
“By the way, at a part 1 course our teacher said “It is not possible to hyperventilate through the nose, so therefor Sudashan Kriya is not hyperventilation”. Im only a layman, but I doubt the validity of that argument. Any opinions on that one?”
So this is what they are telling people these days to try to not scare them away from the practice? While it is true that people hyperventilate more with their mouth, you can clearly achieve the same effect by breathing too rapidly through the nose.
Actually, HHSSRS told me himself that someone (who will go unnamed here for fear of lawsuit) did die during the course, when HHSSRS was present. He told me that he brought this person back to life, and that the person is eternally grateful. He said that this person died of heart failure during the SK. Also, once when I was participating in a “Maha” Kriya, a man in the group lost consciousness. I opened my eyes to see many people hovering over this man, including HHSSRS, and the man was brought to another part of the room. Afterwards, again, HHSSRS told me personally that the man had died of heart attack, and because he, HHSSRS was present, he was alive, as he revived him. Otherwise, he told me, the man would have stayed dead.
You can believe this or not, Harshal, and that’s just tough. There were lots of people at that occasion, and the first story has been told to many AOL teachers who shared the same thing with me as well. At least these two cases were claimed to be deaths by the “master” himself, and he claimed to have brought them back from death itself.
What is all this fuss about revival after death?
In AOL circles it is quite normal. Lot of devotees have been revived after death by the grace of HHSSRS. One highly evolved devotee (Dushyant Savadia) actually experienced his death and then came back to life. With the grace of an enlightened master such miracles are no big deal.
If you still have any doubts, being a qualified doctor, Harshal can dispel such petty doubts from your mind. Why? He might himself have revived a few by the power of JGD.
Don’t waste your time telling subtle, precious stories like this to people who have decided a priori that SSRS is some sort of fraud. They have no experiences like this and will only attack you because they must prove to themselves and erases all doubt that he is a Sat Guru. But there’s always a little doubt there, isn’t there? ….
people who have decided a priori that SSRS is some sort of fraud.
Excuse me, what part of people who have been in AoL for years or decades, plus been teachers etc. did you miss out? no “apriori” decisions against “SSRS” going on here…
Good to see lot of comments from everyone after long time.
@Dayalu – nope was not silenced by anyone, was checking the blog on and off for a while, seems like more traction again.
On a lighter note – any one wants a 3 week trip to Europe – its under 5k (Rs. 200000) all inclusive. Check it out.
http://bawandinesh.name/europe-2011-b/
Another negative SK experience:
http://parthchoksi.com/knowledge/my-experience-of-doing-sudarshan-kriya-of-sri-sri-ravishankarart-of-living-organisation/
Also note the response of the poster “Nitin”: it never ceases to amaze me how over-zealous some AoL supporters become when people criticize their organization, Guru or the technique.
Guruji said that SK is not for everybody. If it bothers you, stop. Don’t listen to anybody except yourself and Guruji. You guys complain too much. Silly rabbits!
This blog as I understand is for warning others about AOL bad practises. And its definitely serving the purpose.
@Hershal,
There is a marathi article online debunking AOL and its parent TM.
http://www.maayboli.com/node/21978
Care to respond ?
@ Marathi boy: I don’t know what to say about the link you are posting here. That site is has something bad to say about all the contemporary gurus in modern India.
Would you be ok if someone criticized dynaneswar, namdev tukaram tukdoji maharah, gajanan maharaj? You might be ok actually because you don’t care. You are just an ignorant low-life. Did you see yesterday’s world cup final and how bhajji and yuvraj thanked their Guru’s after the victory. What will you do with all your Guru bashing attitude?
@ doctor and other who think they have paid money and hence don’t want to respect AOL or any other tradition:
Only selfish morons will have that attitude. If shankaracharya did not regenerate the practise of meditation,this planet would have seen so many more miserable lives . If Maharishi, Osho, yogananda, etc did not bring meditation to west , west would never have understood the dynamics of consciousness. They didn’t do it for money. Only if you are a selfish moron and who sees the world as a place where everything can be purchased with money, then you can think that way. Your attitude is like this- “I paid for a TV and I am enjoying it . I don’t have to thank the TV store since I paid for it”. Do you think the same logic can be applied to spiritual realms? You are such miserable people. I pity you.
The only positive side to your life and other people on this blog is that you guys don’t have to worry about going in hell. You are already in it.
“@ doctor and other who think they have paid money and hence don’t want to respect AOL or any other tradition:”
it’s not the paying money – who cares about money. It is abuse of spirituality, and manipulation of people for the pursuit of personal wealth and fame by a person sitting in guru’s seat. While all gurus are not bad – people like SSRS give spirituality a bad name – they don’t deserve to be in guru’s seat. They are charlatans.
While our being in hell is debatable, I prefer this hell to the lobotmized heaven of AOL
P.S: Please don’t bring bhajji and yuvraj into this – SSRS ain’t their guru. Their guru taught them to become champions in the real world,not “teachers” in a cult. Plus it was their hard work and faith which made them who they are – not magic from their guru.
@Harshal,
@ doctor and other who think they have paid money and hence don’t want to respect AOL or any other tradition:”
…
Your attitude is like this- “I paid for a TV and I am enjoying it . I don’t have to thank the TV store since I paid for it.” Do you think the same logic can be applied to spiritual realms?
Funnily enough, I recently bought a new TV. And I actually did take the time to thank the clerk in the store who sold it to me, who was a very friendly and sincere Indian gentleman as it happens. 🙂
Now some interesting observations:
1) I paid a few hundred dollars for the TV.
2) I really enjoy using the TV and I get a lot out of it.
3) At no point have Samsung ever hassled me to get any of my friends to buy a one of their TVs.
4) At no point have Samsung made me feel that I somehow owe my life to them, that what I paid for the TV is somehow negligible compared to what I have received, and they haven’t made me feel that I am somehow indebted to them in any way because of the benefits I gain from watching the TV. Nor have they at any point implied that I must somehow be loyal to them, because loyalty is a concept which simply doesn’t have any relevance here.
5) At no point have I felt the inclination to buy a photo of the CEO of Samsung and place it in my living room on an alter, nor have I ever felt the need to meet the CEO in person, let alone bow down to him because his company made my TV.
6) Samsung did not invent the TV. TVs have been around since the middle of last century.
Traditionally in “spiritual realms” as you like to call them, Gurus do not demand donations from those they teach, nor do they own any for-profit businesses, jet-set around the world in business class, or stay in five-start hotels. All of us here respect well-established traditions, we just don’t think AoL belongs to any well-established tradition because, and this may sting a little, there is zero evidence to show that it does as you very well know.
It is first and foremost a business, albeit one very cleverly disguised as a spiritual organization which does some token charity work. You know this as well as the rest of us, and that’s the only reason you’re here.
Now, earlier, you called me a “hypocritical traitor”, however it seems you have been unable to back this up at all, hence you are trying a different tactic here. Does that mean you are sorry you made this comment, or are you just trying to brush it under the carpet and pretend you never said it?
Its not you but your “MIND” that is talking this! I hope you’ll realize it soon and be aware of what you really feel.. Btw your comments are funny =)) U argue and complain way too much… No one can help you
@Doctor:
“Now some interesting observations:
1) I paid a few hundred dollars for the TV.
2) I really enjoy using the TV and I get a lot out of it…”
One more point.
Did Samsung claim that the amount collected for TV was actually meant for charities? Did they also show you pictures of a few popcorn cahrities to convince you of their noble intentions?
I think not. They are much more ethical than that.
@Harshal:
“Would you be ok if someone criticized dynaneswar, namdev tukaram tukdoji maharah, gajanan maharaj?”
Would you be ok if you somehow discovered that dynaneswar, namdev tukaram tukdoji maharah, gajanan maharaj ran fixed price shops to sell spiritual instructions?
I attended AOL foundation course . Whether SK is good or bad is beyond my knowledge , but I can very well say that AOL teachers simply do not understand medical science , they are bunch of good marketing folks
Hi,
Sudarshan Kriya in general is really good without any undue permanent ill effects, Provided it is done properly as specified with all due measures taken.
I just incidently saw this blog and thought of putting few words here.
Palpititions per se cant cause valve damage nor does kriya.It might be just a coincidence.There are innumerable patients who corelate their heart symptoms to other things though in fact its not at all related to that.
I personally recommend SK.It does have scientific ground though AOL people themselves being non medicos may not be able to clarify it medically.But its nonetheless a great thing !
Those are some big claims for a doctor. I’m not a doctor and even I know your statement is severely flawed. You might be able to argue that it’s not bad for everyone, but it’s been well shown all over the internet that this practice is not safe for everyone. Some people who have taken the courses have even told me they felt worse after doing it after their first basic course.
Sudarshan Kriya in general is really good without any undue permanent ill effects, Provided it is done properly as specified with all due measures taken.
What about all the people who have done it “properly” (as per Aol) and still have reported several side effects, all of which went away sometime after they stopped SK. Also coincidental??
Can you tell how it is beneficial in medical terms ?
You know, there are eerie similarities with the practices taught by another cult leader, the now famous Nithyananda. I’ve seen his “Nithya Dhyan” which is pretty much a bunch of disconnected practices thrown together and a lot of hyperventilation. I even tried it once, and the effect is quite similar to SK, you feel light headed and don’t think much.
There again, they advise against Nithya Dhyan for heart patients, people with high BP or other similar problems.
These practices put you into a state where you are easily susceptible to information or brainwashing by others.
Make no mistake, SSRS and Nithya are smart chaps, they’ve studied this stuff and know how to exploit this response of the body and brain, to slowly shape your thinking and behaviour to be more aligned with their cults.
Intensive meditation sessions produce what they are intended to produce – i.e. a feeling of detachment from worldly life. Generally only monks who had already renounced the world and wanted to dedicate themselves full time into spiritual pursuits, engaged in such meditation marathons. There are numerous studies which indicate that intensive meditation sessions may even be harmful for those who want to lead a “normal” life. They bring about changes in our perspective that may be incompatible with a “normal” life.
Those of us who are not so ambitious about their spiritual goals should restrict their meditation practice to moderate levels.
Jaggi Vasudev also has a similar technique called Shambhavi Maha Mudra. You hyperventilate for 7 minutes; Chant OM for 7 minutes; be silent for 7 minutes.
Nithya’s technique: you hyperventilate for 7 minutes; Humming for 7 minutes; focus on seven chakras for seven minutes and then be silent for 7 minutes
Ravi Ravi’s technique: You hyperventilate in three rhythms for three cycles in short kriya and seven cycles in long kriya and be silent for some time.
The parent technique of all this which Osho introduced in 1970 his famous Dynamic meditation:
10 minutes chaotic breathing; 10 minutes catharsis;10 minutes jumping and chanting Hoo Hoo and 15 minutes silence followed by a celbratory dance.
Lesson: Wannabe Gurus should invent their signature technique by varying combinations of breath, chanting, physical postures and silence.
Bhastrika and Kapalbhati have been part of yogic practice for centuries. But they are not for everybody. Yoga practice has to be tailored to suit the individual, and one has to do these thing with awareness – not like a blind fool.
Also techniques are not the purpose of yoga. Techniques do help, especially when you are a beginner, but long term changes come only from living with awareness and wisdom. Otherwise technique is just a sedative, which dulls the pain of life for a few moments.
“They bring about changes in our perspective that may be incompatible with a “normal” life”
You keep climbing new peaks of stupidity and keep hoisting your flag there. Congratulations you have just conquered another peak. and while you are there, can you define what ‘normal’ life is and how can you individualize normality?
Dude Harshal,
–They bring about changes in our perspective that may be incompatible with a “normal” life–
An example of perspective in a normal life is, over breathing causes hyperventilation. How AOL manipulates that? By saying you had a mystical experience. Clear? If not, see this from the Guy (Dr Janakiram) AOL claims who conducted Research on AOL Sudarshana Kriya (You can see his name in the AOL research site also)
“But if anyone keeps breathing like that- essentially they are hyperventilating and flushing their body with oxygen, which is what is going to happen. There is no mystical meaning behind the tingling in their fingers and all that.
Then you have those people who will say that they felt guruji’s presence while doing the SKY and when you ask them why they will say the same thing- that they felt this tingling sensation-Arre if you keep breathing like that then what else will happen. I know these things- they say all this because they are swayed into believing that what is happening to them is spiritual or mystical but it is not. It is a common physiological reaction to hyperventilation.”
More details here https://aolfree.wordpress.com/2011/05/08/refuting-scientific-research-on-sudarshan-kriya/ if you care. But you don’t care, do you?
@Harshal:
“You keep climbing new peaks of stupidity and keep hoisting your flag there. Congratulations you have just conquered another peak. and while you are there, can you define what ‘normal’ life is and how can you individualize normality?”
Rest assured that “normal” life doesn’t mean massaging your master’s tap and drinking the “nectar” from there -which you are so fond of.
dude anonymous
Looks like you are a new kid here.
I will use your logic to say: During meditation the basal metabolic rate goes down, the respiratory rate ,the heart rate goes down. Since ‘thinking’ is just an energy consuming activity – the lowered metabolic rate means less thinking. And because of this decreased thinking people have a feeling of peacefulness, calmness and a sense of well-being. So there is no mystical meaning to peacefulness, calmness and a sense of well-being, blissfulness which people experience during meditation , it is just a response to altered physiology and all the grandiosity attributed to meditation since time immemorial is illogical.
What do you say to that?
If you say yes: you could only be partially right. All experiences have simultaneous co-occurring physiological collaterals. However, There is no way you can determine the temporal relationship between the two. If you say that the physiological changes caused the experience, you would be discounting the the initial belief or readiness the individual had which makes him capable of having that experience.If you , on the other hand say no, you are more likely to be more right as then you are just acknowledging the initial readiness/belief of the individual. There could be more to add on proving the non-temporality of the physiology and psychology, however this was just an example.
In short, all mysitical experiences have simultaneous co-occurring physiological collaterals , however, that doesn’t give you the right to discard either of these.
When a relative was dying a few years ago, before lapsing into a coma, they began breathing very deeply, in what I counted out to be the ‘middle’ circles of breath as used in SK. We were all very concerned, and asked the doctor who replied that when people are dying, they often begin this type of continuous, rapid breathing, sometimes at various rates, first slow, then faster as we were witnessing in our relative, and even very fast. This puts them into a coma he said, which helps them to die. He was a hospice doctor. He said it is one of the mysteries of natural death, someone dying without respirators or feeding tubes. Indeed, this person continued to breath in “circles”, continuously, for 48 hours! And then died peacefully. Other than during SK, it’s the only time I’ve ever seen someone breathe like that, but all the nurses and doctors said it was fairly common at the end of life in hospice. I don’t know what this means about hyperventilation, but it doesn’t seem like it would be good. SK is hyperventilation, and produces all the symptoms of hyperventilation. The only ‘research’ that has been presented has been by doctors and researchers who believe in SSRS. So how can they be trusted? They want to be right. My own doctor, when I showed and explained what the SK was, said to stop immediately, that it was medically very dangerous to do something like this and would possibly cause long term damage. This doctor also recommended yoga practice, and practices yoga. I asked about other types of breathing and was told that in moderation all these yogic breathing techniques produce relaxation when done properly, but that SK, the 3 circles, done for 5 or 30 minutes, was very harmful and should not be done. That’s just my M. D. who does not know HHRS. Anyone else here ever ask their doctor?
nice. Can we now have a headpost saying “SK causes premature deaths” as now we have sufficient evidence to prove this.
The prevalence of schizophrenia in population is about 1%. I would think this 1% is little too high, however, after coming on this blog I am convinced that the figure is about right.
@Harshal (above — he posts last so no one can reply, I guess)
Hmmmm Ravi Ravi himself says that his organization is for people who are in need of help, told me, when I complained about the crazies teaching for him that if they were not with him they would be mass murderers, or other criminal crazy types. Then, if anyone disobey’s him, or disagrees with him, he and his followers label them crazy. That’s the norm around Ravi Ravi — don’t like him? Question him? You must be nuts. 🙂 Um, then which is it? Those who believe and teach for him are crazy (as he himself has told me on more than one occasion) or those who leave and say what they think of him openly are crazy? You da boss, Harshal. You decide. Having fun with the bags of salt yet? “Squirming” of those on this site giving you complete satisfaction yet buddy? Or are you still frustrated and need to try your damndest to inflict some pain to get your jollies? Who’s the schizo? The poster who just brought up an observation about breathing, and shared his M.D.’s advice? (I didn’t see anything in that particular post that said SK causes premature death, but I did read from the first sentence that the relative of the man was dying at the time and it sounds like in hospice….) Is it that you cannot even read anymore due to the wonderful benefits of Sudharshan Kriya and your Master’s blessings? Or are you just following him loyally down the path of “thou shalt not criticize the Sri Sri Sri 1008 Sri Holiness or thous shall be called crazy….”? 🙂
” Can we now have a headpost saying “SK causes premature deaths” as now we have sufficient evidence to prove this”
That says a lot about what damage SK can do, to some one’s reading comprehension skills. Or maybe this person never possessed any to begin with. I don’t know.
It is quite possible that SK causes premature deaths in some. But more research is needed to confirm the same. One of my cousin died of a heart attack at 34. He was practising sudarshan kriya for 6 years. But their can be other causes as well. He had a family history of cholestrol and heart problems.
great! thank you so much. Now can we have a head post “SK causes premature deaths” please please!!
such jokers your guys are!
@ dayalu: If you can have a headpost ‘heartproblems caused by SK’ based on absolutely no evidence, why can you not have a post about premature deaths….. After all someone has mentioned deaths and SK in the same paragraph, that is good enough for you blogies..
Guess Harshal isn’t close enough to His Magnificent Holiness SSRS to have been told how He His Very Self saved people who died during the Kriya. Since they died during the Kriya, I’d have to assume, since the Great Guruji Himself said so, and that he had to bring them back to life, that SK can cause premature death. Something someone as dense as H should be able to understand. Unless, of course, SSRS was lying? God forbid!!! 🙂 So which is it? He saved them, and they died in the SK, or he’s lying? Take your pick. Lots of people were told this story by SSRS himself. I happened to be present when one man collapsed, and SSRS claimed to me later that the man had indeed died, and that he saved him. So that one is first hand. The other he told me about, I was not present. I also don’t know if in the first case SSRS was lying about the man being dead. So we either have SK causing premature death, or we have a lying Guru on our hands 😉
>> “SK causes premature deaths”
@Harshal
I got a better title which will satisfy both sides “SK can induce near death experience” !!!
Now that can be a good selling point for the basic course 🙂
that would make a great title. I have some more suggestions
1) Bhastrika causes piles
2) alternate nostril pranayam causes deviated nasal septum
3) three stage breathing causes pneumothorax
4) chanting om can cause otosclersosis
and finally
5)Yoganidra causes sleep disorders.
One more suggestion
You guys should start charging people for visiting this blog. I would pay. any one will, where else can you get such unadulterated entertainment these days?
I have just read this blog by chance while searching for information regarding palpitations as this is something I suffered from 5 years back. I’m starting pranayam with a teacher now and wanted to be sure that there are no such risks. I was shocked as i read through the posts. I had joined the aol course at the time (5 yrs bk, just before i got this problem) and after 3 months of the SK practice i suffered severe palpitations which took a year to cure. It took 2 years for me to regain my normal life back. Once I had starting making rounds of hospitals i forgot all about kriya so i never did it again but as i look back i wonder now that the 2 were definitely related! I truly wish there was more popularization of the severe adverse effects such so called techniques can have and how they play with lives. Thanks to all those who are untiringly continuing to reply to the posts of a few fanatics (its very evident to a newcomer here like me on who’s arguing on the basis of facts and logic and who’s not) so that anyone who cares to read or is lucky enough is alerted in time.
This is a great post. I always felt something about this kriya. It felt extremely unnatural when i did it two years ago. This post has nailed the untruths spread by aol scamsters.
this is india ..stupid uneducated people challenge doctors findings …karo sudarshan kriya tumhe achi lagti hai to dusro ko kyo kehte ho karne ko? one person is sharing what happened with him and u r challenging the doctor who helped him…gawar log..
My god! U are so frustated.. There are lot of things which are beyong logic maybe you cant get it! But dont point out on anyone’s faith… How educated are you if just one such comment can trigger your anger? Dont follow it if you dont like it but dont disrespect it.. Take it easy.. there is no point in boiling your blood here …Relax
”no evidence no evidence ..” u ass …doctors cant explain everything to u dumb creature that dosent means its not true…and what fuckiin evidence is given by guru ji’s that sk help your body..
Harshal,, who the F is Harshal,, a sadist,, who does not get importance in his real life, so he keeps shouting here to get some importance,, also he succesfully always ignores the questions put across to him directly and will keep lingering on some idiotic inference he makes out of the post,, dude,, SK is really working on u..
First of all i want to tel that i respect Sudarsana kriya and art of living. Actually i started getting palpitations after ordinary pranayama. So that i approached art of living and started practising S.K. That time also i got palpitations but with hope i did that kriya for about one and half yr. i didn’t get relieved. So i underwent all cardiac investigations and the results all were normal. After that i joined Isha yoga,unfortunately i started getting palpitations again. Then i practised for 6 months and stopped bcoz of more palpitations. I have not been doing any pranayama for 8 months. But still now the palpitation is continuing. My opinion is that certain body types will not tolerate these practises unfortunately. Please give me suggestions to come out of my problem if u had found any solution..
Palpitations will get worsened by heavy breathing. You should take up some physical activity and get some real exercise followed by still meditation.
you got the palpalation in your body there is a solution for that
First off, this is probably due to you not being in direct guidance by a true Enlightened Master. Do not blame Kriyas or ancient spiritual techniques due to your ignorance! You can’t just practice intense kriyas and meditation techniques without such guidance because if you do it intensily as it seems you did, the Kundalini Shakti awakens and if its not controlled by One who is adept in it, then you will have a lot of issues.
When my Kundalini awoke a few years ago, I had a lot of chest pains, like I was having mini-heart attacks every 20-30mins..it was very painful. It does not mean the shakti/practices are wrong, it’s that you do not have the intelligence to control your Prana properly. You have too many blocks! Chest pains or pains around heart area indicate your Anahata Chakra opening. If you are guided by a true Enlightened Master, he will make sure the prana flow/Kundalini energy flow up the right Nadis with the correct amount.
Your claim your kundalini has awoken, yet you’re unable to distinguish between true enlightened masters and charlatans, and between genuine techniques and hotch potch ones like Sudarshan Kriya. If that is the case, I would prefer simple critical reasoning to any kundalini awakening.
You obviously have no idea what kundalini shakti is do you?
Anyone who thinks you can awaken kundalini shakti just by hyperventilating (no, SK is NOT one of the tantric kriyas), or that it causes the chest pains you are describing has obviously never even come close to experiencing how the awakening of kundalini shakti manifests itself in the body.
This is the exact sort of BS that all New Age gurus are trying to feed their devotees, corrupting the original meanings and teachings to suit their needs. If you want to believe it that’s up to you but anyone who has studied and knows anything about it will know that you are talking out your rear opening.
LOL at KSMA!! Very funny!
Unfortunately, I have to agree. It seems there are very few true gurus. And I highly doubt that those sitting in the public eye collecting monies for their organizations (families) are the few true gurus. One very widely respected guru in India, who regularly has airfields filled with masses clamoring to be near him told me this frankly: “This is guru business. It’s a dirty business. I do it because I like to do it. Don’t ever get involved in guru business…” And this man had known SSRS very well! This man also told me: “The only true gurus cannot be easily found or seen — they are hiding from the people, some of them in plain sight, some in remote places…” He went on to say that he is giving some techniques to the masses, and if they do them, they may get help if God wills it. I was horrified and shocked at his honesty. But at least he told me it was business. He didn’t tell all the people assembled, many of whom did end of giving money for the techniques and healings they wanted and expected.
Buyer beware, I guess. It’s not a small thing to try to find the Truth or to gain real Knowledge. People just giving out little things telling you that you will find God, or whatever, get your Kundalini Shakti awakened from those things, are fooling with you. Even with a lifetime of practice and satsangs and seva, one may not gain the Truth. One may never find “God” or whatever you wish to call it. I won’t give up, but I’ll never again submit my will to another human being claiming to be God (like SSRS does).
I’m a doctor and I know feeing tingling sensations, dizziness etc which Ravi Shankar claims are signs of getting rid of toxins are actually side effects of the breathing technique. This is because the human lung in an optimal state should be working just like it does for most people. Actually these breathing exercises make you hyperventilate which in itself is an abnormal physiological state. It is this hyperventilation that causes the acidity of our blood to become abnormal which gives rise to the above mentioned sensations. Actually certain disease states such as panic attacks are also characterised by such physiological changes. So please stop believing in Sudarshan kriya and believe in what the real God has already given you .i.e normal breathing.
Here are my observations: 2 people who were in AOL and did the practice regularly, developed asthma they never had before. 1 person reported doing SK and passing out, and said that others with them said they were having some kind of fit, shaking, etc. At least 3 people I can think of have said they had irregular heartbeat during and after the practice of SK and had not had it before. To me, this means that this practice should not be given in large groups without a doctor present, watching carefully. I believe the practice to be “okay” for some people and critically dangerous for many others. Of course people who had the above experiences would either stop SK immediately, or eventually put 2 and 2 together and realize the SK was harming them, and not do it anymore. It’s a dangerous practice. I knew at least 4 “senior teachers” who never did SK at all, even when they taught.
“I knew at least 4 “senior teachers” who never did SK at all, even when they taught.”
This is very true. Teachers seem to be knowing the ill-effects of this practice and they are rarely present for SK sessions.
I dont think that is the case when you go by instructions given and when i did the course ,many other teachers used to join us for kriya. It is in your mind that is reflecting. You are so very doubtful.Dont let your perception hide the actual sceanrio. You are angry with yourself and so the rest of things. Just calm down and follow your own bliss. Maybe SKY isnt for you.That doesnt mean you generalise it.. I am not here to tell that it is awesome but just to tell it has helped me in way beyond i could express.
take care 🙂
I have undergone AVR (Aortic Valve Replacement) surgery 6 years back. Recently I did a session of SK( Long Kriya and followed by short kriya) . The experience was great. I felt relaxed and light. I feel that SK is a gift to the mankind by SSRS. Having said that, I would also like to mention that I felt pain in my chest and also palpitation after the SK. So I stopped the kriya for a couple of days. Again when I tried the SK, I felt the same discomfort. The teachers advised me that may be I should not have done the BHASTRIKA AND UJJAI PRANAYAMS preceded by the main Kriya. But I can not take a chance , as I have alreday undergone open heart surgery. I need to take proper medical advice from my cardiologist on my next appointment with him. But can anybody( qualified cardiologist and who has practiced SK before) advise me propoerly on this, through this blog. I shall be really obliged to him , because I do not want to be deprived of this great gift of Gurudev to the mankind, at the same time I can not take a risk. I do not doubt the efficacies of the SK. But for me whether it is advisible with some kind of restraints?
Sarbeswar, Bhubaneswar.
Sarbeswar,
It will be very hard for you to find a cardiologist who knows the answer to your question, because there have hardly been any conclusive independent study on the health effects of SK. Most of the studies out there are done by Sri Sri devotees and these have only preliminary findings. One neutral person who had done long term research is Dr Janaki Ramaiah of NIMHANS and he is still a skeptic and does not recommend the practice. Dr Vinoda Kochupillai from AIIMS had admitted to me that she had observed cases of hypertension after the start of the practice of SK in many patients.
Bottomline, be extremely cautious when you practise this, as there have been many cases where SK has harmed people’s healths. And remember, it is only a feel good technique that AOL has created a hype around. it is not part of any of the established traditions of yoga.
Sabeswar,
It’s not uncommon for people to experience chest pain from Sudarshan Kriya. Listen to your body, not what anyone else says. If anything in life is causing you chest pain, I hope that you would realize your body is telling “this is harming my health.” Sudarshan Kriya causes numerous health problems for many people.
Hi All, I did Sudarshan kriya, some times and decided to stop as I found the technique is not natural(breathing fast and slow ) and harmful to my body. I suffered from head aches, sleeplessness, confusion and irritation. I have been practising martial arts for 2.5 years and I never had such bad experiences. I would say, take care when you interefering with your breath and don’t simply listen to AOL teachers. Use your brain! This is a big business now-a-days. Supporting factor: almost 85% people who attended the classess complained about various body related problems and these issues were ignored as ‘body is getting rid of toxin’
Kk
I think your teacher did not teach you the right way. The teacher is the main culprit here. I will tell you one example marijuana is the best drug in the world and it can cure hell lot of diseases. When the American government knew that it banned marijuana is a poisonous drug because they the pharma industry which had tie ups with the Government would not get any money and even the pharma industry would go down. So if you think you can defame AOL then you are the most foolish person in the world. If there is any negativity written here about Sudarshan Kriya you surely are going to be in trouble. So get your analysis straight before you come to a conclusion . If you think breathing kills you. Then it is better not to breathe and choose death.
Mahesh,
It is not defamation to state a fact. If a number of people I know (including myself) have experienced the mentioned bad effects when and after practicing SK, and we learned properly, from senior most teachers, then it’s simply a fact: people have bad results many times with SK. The Art of Living needs to disclose this with grave warnings before teaching people. Maybe you need to smoke some more weed, dude? 🙂 Or maybe hyperventilate some more.
I think you’ve been smoking too much pot, @Mahesh:) Unless you live in North Korea writing negatively about anything won’t get anyone into trouble.
To me it’s plain common sense for people with existing heart issues to ask sincere questions about how SK might impact their health.
@ Doreen [May 22, 2012 4:27 pm]
I think there’s a very high probability that your diagnosis is accurate. The comment sounds like it was written by someone who was stoned immaculate.
@ Mahesh [May 22, 2012 2:17 pm]
Do people in AoL smoke up ???????
I thought one of the advertised advantages of SK is that people quit smoking and smokin’ up after joining AoL.
Could you please enlighten ?
Thanks.
Oh, Mahesh, I also meant to ask you: exactly which type or form of “trouble” do you anticipate that I might encounter for posting my own experience of SK? (you call anything that is not praise of SK or AOL ‘negative’). Do you mean AOL goondas coming to my door if they can find me and threatening me not to say bad things about their Guruji? Or do you mean that some subtle energies will ‘attack’ me? (that is often threatened by devotees of Ravi Shankar — that bad karma will befall anyone who speaks honestly about their bad experience with AOL or SK. Exactly what do you anticipate I should gird myself against? Are you threatening me directly? And anyone else who posts anything about their own personal not-so-good or even very bad experiences of SK?
I would like to say about my own experience with SK.I did it after my 12 std exams.After the course I was very much attached to the kriya and SSR.But after some months I experienced some problems including dull feeling,lack of interest in anything,heaviness in the eyes.But still continued because when i asked aol they said it was detoxification.I believed that.after 8-9 months i had palpitations.but still continued.then a time came when i suddenly got angry and had lot of problems like chest pains.I had dumb feeling also.not interested in anything.
Then I went to a kalari master(Kalaripayattu) and learned kalari.With those I overcame these things.I regret doing SK and wasting a part of my life.This is nothing but fooling people.