As we’ve given a technique to trigger Kundalini in our discussion of the Tarot card The Hanged Man, this would be an excellent time to discuss what’s known as Kundalini Activation Syndrome as the easy trigger of withholding ejaculation means that many Westerners can invoke an experience for which they are totally unprepared. Many, who have had this energy aroused by trauma, danger, drugs, or spiritual techniques practiced without guidance and preparation ultimately find themselves institutionalized in mental facilities or jails. Others seek to dampen the energy through alcohol and sedative drugs, destroying the psyche and persona until a better way is found to express the energy. If these apply to you, or you’d like to pre-prepare, let’s explore what’s happening internally and what you can do to channel and harness the energy.
The Kundalini awakening is a mysterious and powerful phenomenon that has captured the imagination of spiritual seekers for centuries. It is said to be the unlocking of the divine energy that resides at the base of the spine, and its ascent through the chakras can lead to a profound transformation of the mind, body, and soul.
Those who have experienced Kundalini awakening describe it as a state of heightened awareness, where the senses become more acute and the mind is flooded with a sense of awe and wonder at the universe around us. It is as if a veil has been lifted, revealing the true nature of reality and our place within it.
But the Kundalini awakening is not without its dangers. The sudden influx of energy can be overwhelming, causing physical and emotional discomfort, and leading to a sense of disorientation and confusion. The unprepared seeker may find themselves lost in a world of delusion, unable to distinguish reality from fantasy.
Yet for those who are ready, the Kundalini awakening can be a life-changing experience, leading to a greater understanding of the self and a deeper connection to the divine. It is a journey of self-discovery, where the seeker must confront their deepest fears and desires in order to transcend them.
In the end, the Kundalini awakening is not just a spiritual phenomenon, but a profound testament to the power of the human spirit. It is a reminder that we are all capable of greatness, and that the universe is full of mysteries waiting to be unravelled. So embrace the journey, and let the Kundalini awaken within you.
What is Kundalini? According to authors Mini Sharma,1Mondeep Dhankar,1 and Deepak Kumar2
“Kundalini,” meaning “coiled-up” in Sanskrit, is a type of Hindu Yoga practice. 3 It is also related to the practice of all kinds of Hindu tantra, Tibetan Buddhism, Chinese Qigong (Chi Kung), and some Eastern martial arts. 3
According to the yoga tradition, kundalini is like an energy, a serpent, or a goddess that lies dormant at the base of the spine of all human beings. 3 Sivananda says that the awakening of kundalini manifests itself through various physical and psychological signs and symptoms such as feeling the currents of prana (vital energy) rising to the Sahasrara chakra (thousand-petalled: the individual’s center of spirit, enlightenment, wisdom, universal consciousness, and connection to higher guidance), feeling vibrations of prana in different parts inside the body, feeling electric-like currents flow up and down the nerves, experiencing bliss, having divine visions, and getting inspiration and insight. When kundalini is at one chakra, intense heat is felt there, and when it leaves that center for the next chakra, the former chakra becomes very cold and appears lifeless. 3
Many Mind/Body sciences have been developed to awaken this energy, which is seen by these traditions as a Universal good. However, in the unprepared, the accidental triggering of this process is often identified as psychosis or bipolar disorder. Given some of the symptoms, we will see why. According to the Sai Ayurvedic Institute symptoms of the awakening are:
- Muscle twitches, cramps, or spasms
- Energy rushes or immense electricity circulating the body
- Itching, vibrating, prickling, tingling, stinging, or crawling sensations
- Intense heat or cold
- Involuntary bodily movements: jerking, tremors, shaking; feeling an inner force pushing one into postures or moving one’s body in unusual ways. (May be misdiagnosed as epilepsy, restless legs syndrome, or PLMD)
- Alterations in eating and sleeping patterns
- Episodes of extreme hyperactivity or, conversely, overwhelming fatigue
- Intensified or diminished sexual desires
- Headaches, pressures within the skull
- Racing heartbeat, pains in the chest
- Digestive system problems
- Numbness or pain in the limbs (particularly the left foot and leg)
- Pains and blockages anywhere; often in the back and neck
- Emotional outbursts; rapid mood shifts; seemingly unprovoked or excessive episodes of grief, fear, rage, depression
- Spontaneous vocalizations (including laughing and weeping) — are as unintentional and uncontrollable as hiccoughs
- Hearing an inner sound or sounds, classically described as a flute, drum, waterfall, birds singing, bees buzzing but which may also sound like roaring, whooshing, or thunderous noises or like ringing in the ears
- Mental confusion; difficulty concentrating
- Altered states of consciousness: heightened awareness; spontaneous trance states; mystical experiences (if the individual’s prior belief system is too threatened by these, they can lead to bouts of psychosis or self-grandiosity)
- Heat, strange activity, and/or blissful sensations in the head, particularly in the crown area
- Ecstasy, bliss, and intervals of tremendous joy, love, peace, and compassion
- Psychic experiences: extrasensory perception; out-of-body experiences; past life memories; astral travel; direct awareness of auras and chakras; contact with spirit guides through inner voices, dreams, or visions; healing powers
- Increased creativity: new interests in self-expression and spiritual communication through music, art, poetry, etc.
- Intensified understanding and sensitivity
- Insight into one’s own essence
- Enhanced awareness of one’s energetic environment (including “impressions” from others)
- Enlightenment experiences
- Sense of a more expansive reality, transcendent awareness
All of these psychophysical changes brought on rapidly and a source of clear distress can send the practitioner right to Doctors, counselors, priests, cult leaders, or whatever source of guidance they can locate to try and make sense of the experience. The real problem is, the unwary practitioner has not done the preparation of energy work or of the psyche and the energy, encountering a diseased body and mind recoils and attempts release at every energetic point. This is not a hopeless situation.
The Sai Institute has some recommendations that might be helpful, such as ceasing energy work or eating vegetarian, but for me, these did not work, and eating a strict vegetarian diet especially sent me to the heights of mania and psychosis. First, the practitioner needs to ground. Don’t eat a more spiritual diet, eat the heaviest Tamasic diet possible. Meat, burgers, stew, chili. Weigh that energy body down with meat and fat. Put butter in everything. Eat potatoes. Heavy, think heavy, but lay off the alcohol and sedatives. Even though they provide relief from the strain, it is only a temporary reprieve, and you will still have to learn to contain the energy. Start building muscle, the increased testosterone this brings will help with courage. Keep meditating. You have no choice but to live as a cosmic cat and mystical adventurer now so establish that regular meditation practice and connect with the energy at a deep level, drawing it back down to its root. The entire reason these problems are happening is the overall energy of the body was not balanced and strong, so the Kundalini could not rise straight up the spinal channel. You will have to deal with all your blockages and issues until you can rise through the chakras.
Physical blockages and knots in the energy body are known as granthis, and your average westerner never puts in the work of dealing with them. These are psychosomatic traumas and entry points for negative psychic energy. A physical routine of Hatha yoga, combined with the practice of Kundalini yoga will help energize and then release these blockages. Regular massage and physical therapy practices can help. If you want to take a sledgehammer to the problem the breathwork routine of Dr. Stan Grof known as Holotropic Breathwork combined with deep tissue massage can heal years of damage very quickly. Ultimately though there is no easy cure and it’s going to take time to prepare or reprepare the vessel for the successful channeling of this energy.
The key practice is learning to feel, see, and utilize the cosmic energy known as Chi, Prana, or Life-Force. According to Yogic physiology the right and left channels Ida and Pingala have to be in balance for the Sushumna channel to open.
Balanced expression of the mind, body, and spirit are essential, so be calm and guide Shakti to her rightful place through all 7 chakras to the crown. This is the key to enlightenment and it is why the figure of the Serpent is so central to the world’s religions. If you are living this experience, so matter how stressful and disorienting it is now, it is a great gift to put one’s foot upon the path. Hopefully, you can survive and be successful in your journey. Best of luck to you Cosmic Adventurer.
