Sudarshan Kriya (Art of Living)

Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines · Sri Sri Ravi Shankar · 1981 · India

What it is

Sudarshan Kriya is a breathing practice taught by a modern spiritual organisation; it is not a psychotherapy. The Art of Living Foundation describes Sudarshan Kriya (a trademarked name) as a breathing technique using "specific natural rhythms of the breath" which, in its words, eliminates stress,…

Format

• Format. Either six days of roughly 2–3 hour sessions on weekdays and half-days at the weekend, or a three-day format running Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. The course is described as experiential, with interactive sessions.
• Delivery. Taught "only in the course environment" by a trained teacher, who leads it with a recorded instruction track of the founder's voice and supervises participants personally. The recording is not sold.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Entry course. Sudarshan Kriya is taught in "Art of Living Part 1" (also called the Art of Breathing, or the Happiness Program/Happiness Programme), with age-matched versions (e.g. YES!, Yesplus, ART Excel for younger people).
• Public outline of components. Published research names the practice's components only in general terms, including ujjayi ("victory breath"), bhastrika ("bellows breath") and the Sudarshan Kriya cyclical breath itself, without instructions. Art of Living Canada's physician letter notes that the practice includes faster breathing done under a teacher's guidance and a resting phase lying down. No sequence, rhythms,…
• Teachers. Teacher Training requires having taken the Happiness Programme or Yesplus, at least one year of daily Sudarshan Kriya and Sahaj Samadhi Meditation practice, and age 18+; it is a two-week immersive training, after which selected graduates teach the entry courses. Ongoing re-certification requirements are not published on that page.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status in one line: randomised trials exist in depression and PTSD, including a 2022 non-inferiority trial in veterans comparing SKY with Cognitive Processing Therapy; the organisation's wider health claims (immunity, blood pressure, respiratory function) are its own and SKY is not a…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Dropping indicated treatment; magical expectations. Working: the client uses SKY as one resource among several.
• Shame about disclosure; belief that sitting out means failing. Working: the client discloses and keeps their opt-out.
• The therapist's own bias for or against the group; the client fearing judgement. Working: the client can hold both appreciation and doubt.
• Flashbacks, numbing, panic during or after the course. Working: the client keeps a sense of choice and the practice does not trigger re-experiencing.
• Worsening after each session, derealisation persisting beyond the practice, inability to sleep. Working: symptoms settle with grounding and reduced practice.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.