Welcome back to Season 2 of The Kriya Yoga Podcast. Kriya Yoga teacher and psychoanalyst David McGrath (https://www.davidmcgrath.ie/) and I explore the benefits of counseling and psychotherapy as a way to accelerate one's spiritual growth process. Over the last 25 years, I have had significant shifts in capacity for meditation by engaging with a counselor, when needed, to help address psychological blind spots and complexes, and have seen outstanding progress in students of Kriya Yoga who remained steady in their meditation practice and supplemented their spiritual growth procedures with effective guidance from a skilled psychological professional. If you have been practicing for a while, and are curious why your spiritual awareness is not deepening or expanding, the topic of this podcast could make a big difference in your appreciation of the spiritual path. In this discussion we talk about my own experiences moving through difficult internal dynamics as well as the difficulty finding a helpful guide on the path to psychological harmony.  Yogananda was known to have said that 90% of the spiritual battle is psychological, and after that, it tends to take care of itself. In the Bhagavad Gita, the allegory is one of profound inner growth and resolving the tendencies of confusion, doubt, fear, etc.  For those on an advanced path to spiritual realization, consideration of the themes within this podcast will be of great benefit.  You can also explore episode #95 from season 1, Healing Blockages of the Heart Chakra to deepen your understanding of this discussion.  Your host, Ryan Kurczak, is a Kriya Yoga meditation teacher and author. He was authorized to teach Kriya Yoga in 2005, by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct student of Paramahansa Yogananda. If you would like to participate in online live sessions consider becoming a member of The Kriya Yoga Online Patreon Community or applying to the Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship Program. For continued inspiration and instruction, please read my new book, An Essential Guide to Kriya Yoga Practice. Now available in hardcover and softback on Amazon.  Also, now available Understanding the Holy Science: A Theoretical and Experiential Study Guide to Sri Yukteswar's Kriya Yoga Practice. For more information about Kriya Yoga events, courses and online classes please visit: A community of Kriya Yoga practitioners engaged in supporting this work. https://www.patreon.com/KriyaYoga Blog posts, books and information on the Kriya Yoga Apprenticeship Course. https://kriyayogaonline.com/ A Year Long Kriya Yoga Introduction Course Kriya Yoga Online Ashram (teachable.com) Hundreds of hours of videos related to Kriya Yoga and spiritual growth. https://www.youtube.com/user/KriyaYogaOnline