Mountain Top Yoga: Philosophy: Ananda Yoga

Ananda Yoga
Although Ananda Yoga® has been taught and practiced at Ananda since it's founding in 1968, Swami Kriyananda began developing the system not long after he first came to Paramhansa Yogananda's teachings in 1948. Kriyananda was dissatisfied with the purely physical approach to yoga that he was seeing as he felt there should be more, and so he explored on a deeper level:
"As I meditated on hatha yoga, I realized that there is a very close connection between the positions of the body and the attitudes of the mind, and also of the soul. For example, a spiritual attitude is going to make you graceful, not awkward or hasty. It will lead you to relaxation, not tension. I also thought about how to use the postures to advance the purpose of the foundation of hatha yoga, which is Raja Yoga: to awaken the energy, loosen the spine so the energy can reach the brain more easily, bring it up the spine to the brain, and give you the experience of centeredness and upliftedness."
He also brought into asana practice the powerful tool of affirmation, which Yogananda so ardently advocated as a technique for raising consciousness. As Kriyananda meditated on the psychological and spiritual benefits that could come from practicing the asanas with affirmations, he wove the asanas and affirmations together into a system.
Originally called "Yoga Postures for Higher Awareness," the system is now called "Ananda Yoga for Higher Awareness," - or more succinctly, "Ananda Yoga."
There are nine key aspects which make Ananda Yoga different from other forms:

1. Continuous Awareness

2. Safety Precautions

3. Sequence

4. Pauses

5. Begin on the Left

6. Using the Breath

7. Energy and Chakra Awareness

8. Affirmations

9. Attunement with the Yoga Tradition