In *Autobiography of a Yogi*, Kriya Yoga is portrayed as an ancient, “definite scientific technique of God-realization,” a psychophysiological method that works directly with prana, or life force, in the spine and brain. It is described as a refined form of pranayama, coordinated with mental concentration, whose purpose is to accelerate spiritual evolution, dissolve karmic obstacles, and lead to samadhi, the direct experience of divine union. Rather than being presented as a matter of belief, it is framed as a precise discipline that produces predictable inner results when rightly practiced. The text emphasizes that this is not a casual or improvised practice, but a systematic path intended to quicken the natural process of spiritual unfoldment.

Central to Yogananda’s explanation is the idea that ordinary human life keeps prana bound up with breath and the senses, thereby fixing consciousness outward. Kriya Yoga reverses this habitual flow by teaching the practitioner to withdraw and consciously circulate life force up and down the astral spine, through the spinal centers or chakras, between the base of the spine and the brain. This circulation is said to “revolve” the energy around these centers, gradually purifying and illumining them, and loosening the compulsion of breath and restlessness of mind. In this way, the technique systematically disengages life force from external sensory involvement and redirects it toward inner, spiritual awareness.

The book also links Kriya Yoga to a broader spiritual and physiological vision of human life. Breath is treated as a key measure of one’s allotted span, and Yogananda cites the teaching that by interiorizing and slowing the breath through Kriya, the practitioner can neutralize or “burn” seeds of karma at an accelerated rate. Symbolically, one correctly performed Kriya is said to yield the spiritual benefit of a year of natural evolution in right living. The practice is further described as decarbonizing the blood and recharging it with oxygen, calming the heart and metabolic processes, and thereby supporting the inner stillness required for higher states of consciousness.

Yogananda situates Kriya Yoga within a sacred lineage and scriptural context, presenting it as a revival of an ancient science associated with figures such as Krishna and Patanjali, and historically reintroduced through Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, and Sri Yukteswar. This transmission underscores that Kriya is not merely a technique but a guru-given path, traditionally imparted through initiation by an authorized teacher rather than through books alone. The memoir repeatedly stresses that ethical living, devotion to God and guru, and regular meditation form the necessary foundation for the practice, without which its deepest fruits cannot be realized. Within this framework, Kriya Yoga emerges as both a precise method of working with breath and prana and a comprehensive path aimed at God-realization and the gradual loosening of ego-identification.