Sahaja Yoga is a new religious movement

New religious movement

A new religious movement is a religious community or ethical, spiritual, or philosophical group of modern origin, which has a peripheral place within the dominant religious culture. NRMs may be novel in origin or they may be part of a wider religion, such as Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism, in...

 founded by Nirmala Srivastava

Nirmala Srivastava

Nirmala Srivastava was the founder of Sahaja Yoga, a new religious movement...

, more widely known as 'Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi' and affectionately as 'Mother' by her followers (Sahaja Yogis). According to the movement, Sahaja Yoga is the state of self realization produced by kundalini

Kundalini

Kundalini literally means coiled. In yoga, a "corporeal energy" - an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force or Shakti, lies coiled at the base of the spine. It is envisioned either as a goddess or else as a sleeping serpent, hence a number of English renderings of the term such as 'serpent...

 awakening and is accompanied by the experience of thoughtless awareness or mental silence (Nirvichar Samadhi). Practitioners of the Sahaja Yoga meditation technique feel a cool breeze on their hands and on top of their head while meditating, other effects include a dilation of the pupils and deep physical and mental relaxation.