What Exactly Is a Kundalini Awakening?

You’re probably already familiar with the concept of a kundalini awakening, which is commonly described in yoga tradition as a transformational moment in which a person experiences a sense of connection or “oneness” with all beings in the known and unknown universe.

The descriptions of what actually transpires in such an awakening vary from rapturous euphoria to irrepressible and erratic movement. According to many, the event marks a turning point in life after which nothing is the same. So, what does such an epic moment feel like? There is no single answer.

The book Kundalini Rising: Exploring the Energy of Awakening is a compilation of essays from medical doctors, scholars, and spiritual teachers who say they have experienced an awakening. Each story is unique. Dorothy Walters, PhD, recalls, “Suddenly, I felt a ball of rapturous energy in my lower abdomen. And, within seconds, it seemed these energies rushed up towards my head. I felt an influx of ecstatic energy streaming into my skull while my very brain was infused with rapture. As my crown opened, it felt like ‘a thousand petals unfolding,’ just as the ancient texts described…”

In another essay, Penny Kelly likens her kundalini awakening to “[uncontrollable] orgasms in my head.” A less pleasant experience awaited someone, identified only as Sherry, who felt “pain and anxiety on the left side of [my] body. [I] thought [I] was having a heart attack.”

Others in the book describe their kundalini awakenings as “near-death experiences” or even “psychosis,” while other yoga practitioners have described the moment as “a total and complete sense of peace that could only be described as bliss.”

These varied experiences can prompt more questions than answers. Including, “What gives?”

What Is a Kundalini Awakening?

In Sanskrit, kundal means “coiled snake.” Kundalini refers to the energy that is believed, in tantric yoga tradition, to be present within each of us since birth and coiled at the base of the spine. Kundalini energy is considered to be the ultimate life force and the source of our creative power, spiritual gifts, and shakti, or divine feminine energy.

Tantric yoga tradition holds that when dormant kundalini energy is unleashed in an awakening, it flows upward through the seven chakras (energy centers) to the crown of the head, balancing the energetic body and accessing expanded consciousness.

It is believed that your entire being—mind, body, and spirit—goes through a massive energetic shift, causing you to move through life in a very different way. According to tradition, an awakening can instigate long-term changes, including:

• Feelings of blissfulness
• Improved self-awareness
• Enhanced psychic abilities
• More compassion and empathy
• Increased creativity
• Increased spiritual connection
• Feeling aligned and “in the flow” of life

How Do You Have a Kundalini Awakening?

Practitioners of yoga traditionally spend years preparing for the highly anticipated event of an awakening. It can happen through practices like meditation, pranayama (breathwork), yoga, traditional Indian dance, and prayer. Or it can happen without warning. But unlike the snake that is hypnotized by the snake charmer’s mystical melody, a kundalini awakening cannot be summoned. Yoga tradition holds that you don’t have control over when or even if your kundalini energy awakens.

According to Alan Finger, a tantra master who has taught yoga philosophy for more than 50 years, the way to unlock shakti, or power, is the release of avidya, or “ignorance.” Finger describes avidya as the beliefs of the mind that maintain a chokehold on you. These misperceptions are obstacles to stepping into your authenticity because they cause you to see from the mind rather than observe from the soul.

Finger explains that kundalini energy is gently and gracefully released through regular, daily practice, known as sadhana in Sanskrit. “[Daily sadhana teaches people] “to get out of the mind and find passage to the soul, find Brahman or universal consciousness.”

Practicing kundalini yoga is one tool to expand consciousness and reach a state of lightness and boundless love, although it is not required. The first known mention of kundalini yoga is in the Upanishads, a Sanskrit scripture written approximately 1000 B.C. that focused on the metaphysical connection between humanity and the cosmos. Yogi Bhajan, an Indian Sikh, brought a set practice of movement, meditation, breathwork, chanting, and beliefs to the West in the late 1960s and essentially created a practice he claimed combined ancient knowledge with contemporary practicality and called it kundalini yoga.

Although opinions and advice for cultivating the conditions for a kundalini awakening vary, Finger suggests simple practices—asana, pranayama, and tuning into your five senses. It can take many hard years of dedicated practice for some, and, for others, it can happen spontaneously. The process is uniquely individual and quite often unpredictable.

What Are the Signs of a Kundalini Awakening?

There can be many different indications that your kundalini is awakening. When you experience kundalini “symptoms,” the energy is said to be knocking on the door to get your attention and awareness so that you can make the changes that your soul desires. When that happens, you are able to become who you are meant to be and live your highest calling. Some of these symptoms include:

• Experiencing a heightened awareness of intuition
• A deep sense of purpose and destiny
• The urge to make life changes
• Physical and emotional changes, including sleep disturbances, anxiety, surges of energy, and shaking

Whatever symptoms you experience, try not to fixate on whether or not they may be related to kundalini. Instead, focus on allowing the energy to move through you and release any uncomfortable symptoms. The less you resist these feelings, the quicker they will pass. Allow them to take you where you need to go. They are your teachers. (Of course, if you experience concerning symptoms, consult with a physician.)

At the end of the day, only you can know if you’re experiencing some sort of awakening or not. And your awakening could be quiet stillness rather than mind-blowing “brain orgasms.” Use your discernment and self-awareness to understand and process what you’re experiencing. Trust yourself.

Is a Kundalini Awakening Safe?

Google “is a kundalini awakening yoga dangerous,” and you’ll find some pretty wild stuff, including websites asserting that kundalini yoga is an occult practice tied to dark forces. Other sources warn against releasing such powerful energy without being guided by an expert.

Meditation teacher Sally Kempton says she experienced an intense kundalini awakening in her late 20s. Although she acknowledges that the experience of the divine feminine energy can be terrifying for anyone without an experienced teacher to guide them through it, she believes that an awakening is a gift. “In our tradition, we honor and respect kundalini,” she says. “Her energy is trying to awaken you, expand you, and put you in touch with your own deep energy, which is a fundamentally benign process.”

However, according to Kempton and Stuart Sovatsky, a psychotherapist specializing in spiritual work, kundalini awakenings are rare in Western students because yoga is practiced in a less spontaneous way. “People are trying to hold the poses in a certain way, as opposed to doing poses that release energy blocks specific to their body,” says Sovatsky.

Many teachers caution against attempts to induce an awakening through intense pranayama or other methods, which may cause symptoms such as light-headedness and dizziness. Instead, it should occur naturally, when the body, mind, and soul are ready. Finger agrees that a slow and steady approach is best. “Experiencing a big bang kundalini awakening isn’t a good thing.” he said. “The kundalini awakenings that have gone wrong are the ones you hear about…It means that the kundalini energy has entered the wrong channel, which can cause a variety of negative effects such as sadness, fear, introversion, and unwillingness to talk.” There is no way to know exactly which symptoms you will experience; self-reports vary dramatically.

Everyone’s experience is unique. For some, the experience can be filled with feelings of bliss and a sense of the interconnectedness of all things. For others, it can feel more like a bad drug trip or mimic symptoms of psychosis such as altered sleep patterns, changes in personality, and the onset of depression. This discrepancy has led many Westerners to consider the coiled serpent resting in their spine fearsome, as if it were poised to strike.

Kundalini awakenings remind us that consciousness is more vast and nuanced than most of us have ever imagined. Sovatsky says that people who experience extreme and alarming symptoms following an awakening usually have past experience with instability, high levels of stress, and lack of emotional support. Both Sovatsky and Kempton recommend that anyone concerned about troubling side effects from a kundalini awakening seek support.

There’s yet another interesting aspect of this question, which is whether a kundalini awakening is safe to the status quo of your life and of society at large. Self awareness and spiritual growth often cause us to rethink our own values, goals, relationships, and career and can disrupt our lives. On a systemic level, they can inspire us to rethink the structure of society as a whole, especially in terms of caring for others, sharing resources, and dismantling tools of oppression. An awakening should—and likely will—transform your life. Are you ready for that?

Is a Kundalini Awakening Necessary?

What if you practice yoga your whole life and never experience a kundalini awakening? Are you wasting your time?

Absolutely not. The purpose of the practice isn’t an awakening or what many refer to as “enlightenment” or even what the Yoga Sutras refers to as samadhi, which is the transcendence of the ego and the end of mental suffering. Those are noble pursuits but rather lofty and specific expectations that encourage attachment to the outcome rather than the process.

The purpose is the practice itself, which will help you understand where you need to focus your energy, when you need to find more compassion for yourself and others, and how to become more aware of your own needs.

Your own kundalini awakening could be as soft and gentle as sitting in quiet meditation for 15 minutes and experiencing more peace than ever before. It could cause feelings of anxiety. Or any range of experiences in between.

The point isn’t the actual moment of the kundalini awakening. It’s the continued awareness that accompanies it. Keep practicing.

Originally published May 4, 2021. This article has been updated.