Kripalu Center facts for kids
Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health
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| Former names | Yoga Society of Pennsylvania |
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| Location | Stockbridge, Massachusetts |
| Type | Retreat |
| Opened | 1983 |
The Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health is a special place in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It's a non-profit organization that offers health and yoga retreats. A retreat is a place where people go to relax, learn, and focus on their well-being. Kripalu's main building is very large, about 160,000 square feet. It used to be a school for Jesuit students, built in 1957.
Contents
The Story of Kripalu
How Kripalu Started
The founder of Kripalu, Amrit Desai, came from India in 1960. He was a student in Philadelphia and started teaching yoga there. In 1966, he helped create the Yoga Society of Pennsylvania.
In 1972, Desai opened a yoga center where people could live and learn in Sumneytown, Pennsylvania. Two years later, in 1974, the group changed its name to "Kripalu Yoga Fellowship." They taught the ideas of Swami Kripalvananda, held retreats, and trained yoga teachers. In 1975, Kripalu bought a health center in Summit Station, Pennsylvania. This health center became a very important part of their mission.
A New Home in Stockbridge
In 1977, Swami Kripalu himself came to the United States. His visit inspired many people to learn about yoga. He returned to India in 1981. The Kripalu Center moved to its current home in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in December 1983. This new location was a former Jesuit school called Shadowbrook. During the 1980s, Kripalu grew a lot, with over 350 people living there. In 1994, the founder, Amrit Desai, resigned from his role. By 1999, Kripalu changed from being a religious group to a non-profit organization that helps everyone.
Kripalu Today
By 2008, Kripalu was offering more than 750 programs and spiritual retreats each year. About 25,000 people attended these programs, and around 30,000 people visited the center in total. Many workshops are led by teachers from outside Kripalu.
Kripalu also has special programs. For example, they offer a semester-long program for young adults. They also have projects focused on music, healthy weight, and helping people who have experienced very stressful events. Yoga teachers who want to teach "Kripalu Yoga" can get training and certification from the center.
In 2008, Kripalu employed about 626 people and could host over 650 guests overnight. The center offered more than 700 programs a year through its Schools of Yoga, Ayurveda (an ancient Indian health system), and Integrative Yoga Therapy. It also has an Institute of Extraordinary Living and a program for conscious leadership. In 2019, Kripalu's income was $37.24 million.
Like many places, Kripalu closed in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened its doors in 2021.
What is Kripalu Yoga?
Kripalu Yoga is a type of Hatha Yoga. It also includes parts of kundalini yoga. This style of yoga combines different elements:
- Asanas: These are the physical yoga poses.
- Pranayama: These are breathing exercises.
- Meditation: This is a practice of focusing your mind to become calm and aware.
Kripalu teaches that its yoga style is about "following the flow" of prana. Prana is like a "life-force energy." It also focuses on being kind to yourself, watching your thoughts without judging them, and using what you learn in yoga in your daily life.
The Kripalu Campus
Exploring the Grounds
Kripalu is located on 100 acres of land. This includes beautiful forests, open lawns, and peaceful gardens. Guests can also easily get to Lake Mahkeenac. In 1997, 225 acres of the land were protected so they would remain natural. This was done using a program called the U.S. Forest Legacy Program.
The Main Building
Kripalu's main building, which is 160,000 square feet, was built by the Jesuits in 1957. It replaced an older mansion from the Gilded Age called "Shadowbrook Cottage." The Jesuits had planned to tear down the old mansion because it cost too much to keep up. However, before they could, the mansion was destroyed by a fire in 1956. The Jesuits had bought the estate in 1922, but they moved away in 1970.
New Guest Housing
In 2010, a new six-story building was finished. This building has 80 guest rooms and cost $15 million to build. It was designed by architect Peter Rose. The new building was made with "sustainable design" in mind, meaning it's good for the environment. It even won an award in 2010 from the American Institute of Architects for its special housing design. The architects praised how much natural light the building has inside. They also noted that the building's design and climate control systems work together to use 40 percent less energy than a regular building. Peter Rose also created a bigger plan for Kripalu. His plan was to increase the center's space and make it a "model of environmental responsibility" by improving old buildings, adding new landscaping, and building new structures.
Water Supply
The Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health used to have its own water supply. They got water from wells on their property. Sometimes, they also bought water from the Lenox water department. There were some concerns about the well water possibly getting dirty. So, by 2009, the center changed its water supply to rely only on water purchased from other sources, which comes from larger bodies of water.
