How Does Kundalini Awaken?

The initial arising of kundalini energy is often part of some intense and concentrated experience This may be in a spiritual practice using energy manipulation, or meditation, but it also can happen in response to an intense challenge such as a near-death experience, a meeting with a teacher who has awakened energy, a beating or other traumatic event, a powerful sexual encounter, an overwhelming emotional experience, or extreme anxiety. In some cases it has awakened during childbirth. In others it seemed to awaken spontaneously, with no obvious cause, while sleeping at night, and even following an initiation in a dream.

Kundalini is a sanscrit word for the primal energy of consciousness, and could be considered the life force. It is said by yogis to set the energy field of the subtle body and chakras into motion, and then curl 3 ½ times at the base of the spineand hold the body in stasis through our lives, until it unwinds and leaves the body at death.

While it is coiled the energy we can feel flowing in our bodies is called prana, chi or ki in various eastern traditions, and sometimes bio-energy in the West. When the residual coiled energy unwinds as a result of spiritual practices it is called kundalini. Its function appears to be the deconstruction of the personal identity, and the clearing and restructuring of our interior space so that consciousness can flow more freely, without attaching to all the held patterns of our personal conditioning.

Since as the energy arises we may experience many phenomena, (sometimes including the opening of abilities to heal, or psychic abilities, or the experience of bliss, or the freeing of the voice or creativity so we become more expressive in the world), some people have associated this energy with gaining powers, called siddhis in yoga and tantric traditions. But every tradition warns against becoming attached to any of these phenomena, saying it will deter us from the original function of the process, which is to bring us into self-realization.

There are gradual schools of training in yogic and tantric traditions which use breathing, energy and concentration to prepare the body, balance the major energy flows in the body, strengthen the body organs, and in time, activate kundalini through specific practices. They generally require strict dietary rules, disciplined practice, a non-stressed and simple lifestyle, and often celibacy, in order to have optimum potential for this awakening to occur and progress smoothly. When this happens the gradual progression of the energy from the base of the spine through the crown chakra leads to a releasing of various contractions in the energy body, and finally to an experience of merging into unitive consciousness. Usually this is a temporary condition, and in time the person returns to their ordinary orientation, but always knowing themselves to be part of this unitive whole.

People can also activate kundalini during or following an experience of self-realization. In the non-dual traditions such as Zen Buddhism or Advaita Vedanta, the teachings and the transmission of an awakened teacher are considered the method to awakening, rather than working with the energy field of the subtle body. Consciousness itself suddenly shifts from identification as the separate person, into a glimpse, or even a lengthy period of knowing itself as pure consciousness or awareness, without attachment to the body/mind or any other object. When the person returns to their ordinary orientation they may feel greatly changed, slightly disoriented, and may find new energy flows in their body that are unfamiliar and disarming. The clearing process in such cases happens after the initial awakening, preparing one in time for a permanent state of realization.

If a student is with a teacher or mentor who has experienced this journey they may receive guidance that helps them make appropriate adjustments along the way, so that the changes they are experiencing are not so frightening. Simply having the context of a spiritual intention in one's life, and understanding that energy changes are part of this, can be an enormous support in the process.

However, many people who have never known a practice or a teacher have spontaneous awakenings. These may occur in conditions related to trauma, body therapy, breathwork, deeply devoted prayer, yoga practices, martial arts, meditation programs that do not explain the phenomena of energy, metaphysical programs that manipulate consciousness, therapies that include deep penetration into alternate states of consciousness, recreational drug use, automobile accidents, and even intense biofeedback sessions. In a few cases it appears someone has had this energy awakened since birth, When unusual energy and consciousness shifts occur in someone who has no context for them it often raises anxiety, and this makes the process more contracted and uncomfortable. People may fear for their sanity and even their lives. Doctors frequently are unable to understand or diagnose this situation because it is out of the paradigm of their training. If during this process they continue to use recreational drugs, use alcohol, work long and stressful hours, have stressful relationships, or do more intense energy practices they may find the kundalini process is very uncomfortable, painful, and feels more like a punishment than a freedom. If they misinterpret the event as something that is dangerous or evil, or shouldn't be happening, their anxiety can greatly intensify the difficulties.

There are many myths about spiritual awakening, the most difficult being that it should only happen to saintly people. This is clearly not the case. It is an interior phenomena of energy and consciousness that supports the realizing of our true nature, of our roots, and is a potential for all humans. Many great mystics and sages did not live exemplary lives before their awakening. It appears to happen both in those who have strong intention and in those who have never even heard of such a thing. It is as if the collective numinous consciousness itself finds a moment in which it can awaken our bodies and minds, and stimulate us to turn inward, in order to discover what we were before we took on all the roles and concepts and emotions of a human life, and what we are now, underneath all these garments of separate identity. To awaken all the way to the Truth is to know the source of our life, and directly feel it living through us. To reach this state the interior energies start to move in new ways, breaking old stuck patterns in our cells and our psyches, opening the belly and the heart to vulnerability and presence, opening the throat to new expression that is free of self-consciousness, and opening the mind to clarity and stillness. This takes some time, usually years, and this is why one is said to be in a kundalini process.