Atkinson/Krishnamacharya, 1. Introduction

Chapter 1 introduces the South Indian yoga teacher Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888- 1989) and the concept of kuṇḍalinī. Most yoga traditions describe kuṇḍalinī as a serpentine energy that rises, granting liberation. Krishnamacharya, however, taught that prāṇa (breath / vital energy) rises, not kuṇḍalinī. To him, kuṇḍalinī is a blockage that prevents prāṇa from rising. Kuṇḍalinī is not something to be raised: it is something to be destroyed. This is a unique perspective among modern teachers of yoga.