[2][6] Born Jørgen Dreiager[7][8] on 13 June 1939[9][10] in Copenhagen, Denmark he was introduced to yoga by his medical doctor as a child[11] and continued to practise as a teenager and while in his twenties.

From 1962 to 1965 he was part of a professional pantomime group,[12] in which he learned through intensive practice how to use physical yoga as a means for creative expression and concentration.

[20] The Scandinavian Yoga and Meditation School grew quickly[21] and expanded to 12 independent branches[2] in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany and France.

[25][26][27] For the past four decades, Janakananda has been active in Northern Europe, teaching in Håå Course Center, Småland, Sweden or one of the independent branches of the Scandinavian Yoga and Meditation School.

[28] He was a resident and guest teacher at the Ananda Ashram in New York through the 1980s[29] and again in 2006,[30] and has travelled extensively, teaching meditation, giving lectures and participating in conferences in Sydney, Singapore, Bogota, Buenos Aires, London, and several other locations around the world.

[36] Janakananda maintains that, according to the tradition, and his own teacher, Kriya Yoga should only be taught under the special conditions of an ashram,[37] during a period of strict silence.