What is Amrit Yoga?
Amrit Yoga is a hatha yoga system that synthesizes the disciplined structure of Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga with the spontaneous energy cultivation of Kundalini Yoga. The practice emphasizes “meditation in motion”—a state in which conscious breath, postural alignment, and witnessing awareness converge to allow prana (life force) to guide movement rather than willful effort. Originally known as Kripalu Yoga and renamed Amrit Yoga after 1996, it combines asana, pranayama, and pratyahara (sense withdrawal) into a single integrated method designed to activate inner intelligence and release accumulated tension.
Origins & Lineage
Amrit Desai was born on 16 October 1932 in Halol, Gujarat, India, and met Swami Shri Kripalvanandji in 1947 when he was 15 years old, immediately becoming a disciple of the renowned Shaktipat Kundalini master. Desai arrived in the U.S. in February 1960 initially to study art at the Philadelphia College of Art.
In 1966, the Yoga Society of Pennsylvania was formed (renamed in 1972 as the Kripalu Yoga Fellowship), which by 1970 had grown to 150 yoga classes attended by more than 2,500 students per week. The watershed moment came in 1970: Desai claimed to have had a Kundalini awakening experience that revealed to him that Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras are a manual for practice rather than mere philosophy, out of which he created a form of hatha yoga called Kripalu Yoga, named in honor of his guru.
In 1974, Swami Kripalu initiated Desai and empowered him as a guru in his own right. The lineage traces back through Swami Kripalu to Lord Lakulish, a figure in the Shaivite Pasupata tradition from Kayavarohan in Gujarat. In 1983, the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health was founded in Lenox, Massachusetts, which grew to 350 full-time resident staff.
In 1994, Desai resigned from Kripalu Center following revelations of sexual misconduct. He resumed teaching in 1996 at the original Kripalu Ashram in Sumneytown, Pennsylvania, and the Desai family relocated to Salt Springs, Florida in 2002. He refined his teachings into what is now known as the Integrative Amrit Method (I AM Yoga), and founded the Amrit Yoga Institute in 2001.
How It’s Practiced
The Meditation in Motion approach is based on the practical application of Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga in daily life, combining the rigorous discipline of Ashtanga yoga with the path of initiation and surrender that is Kundalini yoga. In this system, the student begins with the practice of willful discipline and gradually moves on to the more advanced practice of surrender to prana.
Practitioners use conscious breathing to shift from ego-driven performance to witnessing presence. The method encourages observing mental modifications while moving through postures, allowing the body’s innate intelligence to guide transitions rather than forcing alignment. This three-stage process involves proper body alignment, coordination of breath, and meditative awareness. Advanced practitioners report spontaneous movements, kriyas (involuntary purifications), and an energetic flow state where “doing and non-doing happen simultaneously.”
The lineage also includes shaktipat transmission—direct energetic initiation from teacher to student meant to awaken dormant kundalini energy at the base of the spine.
Amrit Yoga Today
Amrit Yoga training programs have reached more than 40 countries worldwide and over 8,000 teachers have been certified. Regular yoga teacher trainings are offered in the Integrative Amrit Method (I AM techniques); in 2014, Desai co-founded the International University of Yoga and Ayurveda; he is the founder of five yoga and health centers in the US.
The Salt Springs property was sold in 2023, but the Amrit Yoga Institute continues to hold online classes as well as in-person classes elsewhere, and Yogi Desai continues to teach. Programs include I AM Yoga Meditation in Motion, Yoga Nidra, Quantum Breath Meditation, and Yoga Therapy certifications accredited by Yoga Alliance and the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
The Kripalu Center continues to operate and is presently one of the largest yoga and health centers in North America, though it no longer follows the guru-disciple model and operates independently of Desai.
Common Misconceptions
Amrit Yoga is not synonymous with Kripalu Yoga, though they share the same origin. Kripalu Yoga refers to the earlier system taught at the Kripalu Center until 1994; Amrit Yoga is the post-1996 refinement taught by Desai and his direct students. The Kripalu Center itself no longer teaches Desai’s methodology and has evolved into a secular wellness institution.
Amrit Yoga is not merely a gentle or restorative practice. While it values surrender, the methodology includes rigorous postural work, breath retention, and energetic intensity. It is also not a standardized sequence like Ashtanga Vinyasa; instead, practitioners are encouraged to follow prana’s guidance, resulting in unique flows.
The tradition carries significant ethical controversy. Desai’s 1994 resignation followed documented admissions of sexual relationships with female students while publicly advocating celibacy—a betrayal of the guru-disciple contract that fractured the community and led to lawsuits and settlements. This history remains inseparable from the tradition’s evaluation.
How to Begin
Prospective students can explore Amrit Yoga through the Amrit Yoga Institute’s online and in-person offerings, including introductory immersions and teacher training programs. The methodology is detailed in Desai’s books Amrit Yoga and the Yoga Sutras and Kripalu Yoga: Meditation in Motion. Teachers certified in the Integrative Amrit Method are active in over 40 countries.
Those drawn to the meditative and energetic dimensions of yoga—particularly practitioners interested in pratyahara, witnessing, and spontaneous movement—may find resonance with Amrit Yoga’s approach. However, students should research the lineage’s history, including the ethical breaches that led to Desai’s departure from Kripalu, and assess whether the teaching structure aligns with their values around power, consent, and spiritual authority.