Kundalini Awakening: What's Really Going On Here?

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A Kundalini Awakening is by far the most intense, beautiful, yet destabilizing experience all wrapped in a package.

Within my experiences of astral projection, interdimensional travel, and shamanic ceremonies, nothing holds a candle to one experience that permanently changed my life during my early twenties.

I’m not talking about a mere perception shift that set me on a different life path, this was a BIG deal. 8 years later, it’s still something I’m still trying to wrap my head around.

During a particularly powerful plant medicine experience, I experienced a profound Kundalini Awakening that opened my reality to new dimensions. This experience offset a spiritual awakening, wiped away years of trauma, and permanently changed my perception of life.

This Kundalini Awakening opened me up to something undeniably real: facilitating a death experience followed by a rebirth. Upon awakening, I did not doubt that spirituality was real, that god was real, and that there is a whole lot more to life than the slither of it I was experiencing.

My Kundalini Awakening made me realize my potential, and not just realize it, but embody it. It was perhaps a year after this occurred that I began my soul-searching nomadic lifestyle, which I’m still on today.

What is a Kundalini Awakening?

Kundalini is a powerful feminine energy that translates to ‘potential’. This spiritual energy lies dormant at the base of our spines, and channels upwards through the root chakra, exiting the crown chakra.

In certain yogic philosophies, Kundalini is described as a serpent that sits dormant in the root chakra. A Kundalini Awakening occurs when this serpent wakes up, unfurling and making its way to the crown chakra which manifests as a surge of energy rising from the base of your spine.

Kundalini takes form as a crimson red, hot flow of upward energy. Although Kundalini doesn’t burn, it feels hot as it passes upwards through the center of your being. How much Kundalini is activated depends on factors such as the individual’s spiritual readiness and the techniques used to arouse it. Most people who experience a Kundalini Awakening tend to experience a trickle of energy, but it can range from a drip to a river.

In my experience, a Kundalini Awakening is a very real (and astoundingly powerful) experience. There was no doubt in my mind that I was experiencing something out of this world, although this was before I cultivated spiritual beliefs (and what awakened my consciousness to spirituality).

There are 2 ways to experience a Kundalini Awakening:

Gradual Kundalini Awakening: This is the most common form, where Kundalini energy is aroused, and slowly begins taking effect. This process can last for many years, leads to spiritual awakening, and can be a rough journey due to the concurrent physical, emotional, and spiritual symptoms the person will experience.
Abrupt Kundalini Awakening: This occurs when Kundalini is suddenly activated, resulting in a surge of energy. An abrupt Kundalini awakening usually doesn’t persist, however, this experience can be dangerous due to the extreme voltage of the energy.

What does a Kundalini Awakening feel like?

During my Kundalini Awakening, I felt what can be described as a crack at the base of my spine. From this moment, what felt like a river of heat began rising from the base of my spine to the top of my head.

This energy had a visual representation and took the form of a crimson-red color. It was hot but not uncomfortable. The energy of Kundalini rising felt like a hot, strong breeze.

When my Kundalini Awakening started, I lay on my bed to be present with the experience. Over perhaps 10 minutes, this river grew into a torrent, spraying out of my crown and my heart space. This physical sensation of heat channeling through my body was accompanied by profound feelings of unconditional love, gratitude, and joy in the absence of all pain, suffering, or negativity.

As the sensation grew stronger by the minute, I became absorbed in a state of unconditional love that I had never felt (nor imagined possible).

I was in disbelief, thinking this experience wasn’t something a human could experience. However, these feelings only grew stronger to the point it was indescribably profound. Due to the overwhelming, ungrounding nature of the Kundalini awakening, I began resisting. I told myself this was too good to be true, and I needed to ground myself. This is when the torrent of hot energy closed off, and I returned to reality.

Most people experience a gradual arousing of Kundalini which creates more of a narrative. The symptoms of a gradual Kundalini awakening vary. Generally, people have a rough time as it facilitates the dismantling of self, leading to feelings of disorientation, disillusionment, and often physical sickness or illness.

However, it’s not all bad. A Kundalini Awakening creates a transformation in consciousness and cultivates a deeper connection with spirit via spiritual awakening, self-realization, and all the positive characteristics that ensue.

My experience felt like plugging a cord into a power socket, however, most people have a more subtle experience. A few of my clients have sought counsel while going through a Kundalini awakening. Each of these clients had fairly similar symptoms including:

Dysregulation and overwhelm of the central nervous system
Long-lasting physical sickness, nausea, and disorientation
Sleep disturbances, fatigue, burnout, and the inability to focus
Loss of self, and ego disillusion
Feelings of psychosis and ungrounding
The offset of a spiritual crisis
Months or years of shadow work, disorientation, and deep-rooted healing following the activation of Kundalini
Dismantling of their patterns, programs, and conditioning
Spikes of motivation and inspiration
Heightened sense of awareness and spiritual embodiment
Desire to follow a new path in life (recalibration towards the soul)
A deeper focus on spirituality, spiritual growth, and healing

One client described her Kundalini awakening as an electric shock up the spinal cord. However, she suffered chronic fatigue syndrome for many years following the arousing of Kundalini energy.

Another client of mine experienced heavy nausea, dizziness, and feelings of losing oneself which continued for years. A Kundalini awakening is not a pleasant experience for most. It’s a breaking down of one’s fundamental identity to crack open the spiritual shell, and this process often involves some pretty intense symptoms – mental, emotional, and physical.

Think of it this way…

Kundalini energy is trying to activate your potential by connecting you to the god within, but it may not be able to permeate your consciousness in the way it would if there were obstacles in the form of blockages, traumas, and combatting energies.

Therefore, Kundalini dredges up all the shit inside you to be processed and discarded. This is at least partially responsible for why people tend to have such a difficult time while going through a Kundalini awakening because it induces a spiritual awakening, a dark night of the soul, and illuminates all of your wounds to be healed.

This is why a Kundalini awakening can be considered dangerous, and it’s advised only to practice arousing Kundalini under the guidance of a well-trained teacher.

Kundalini illuminates your expansive, multidimensional consciousness and recalibrates your desires, motives, and person toward deeper spiritual awakening, but you must walk the past. Kundalini will not solve your problems, you’re a human after all, and you need to do the work, but it will show you what’s possible.

Why do people have a Kundalini Awakening?

So why does this happen? Why do some individuals experience a Kundalini Awakening, and others don’t?

Well, there are different reasons, but generally, a Kundalini awakening is a very rare experience. I believe everyone will experience it at some point throughout their cycle of samsara, but you can’t expect to experience it in this lifetime.

Everyone activates Kundalini energy (in small doses) at different times, however, a Kundalini awakening is a different story, which is like experiencing a stream of this energy rather than drops.

Kundalini can be aroused through spiritual discipline, especially through yoga. On the other hand, people can also undergo a Kundalini awakening during a period of unbearable suffering, similar to a spiritual awakening. In my eyes, this can be a mechanism to transform consciousness when it can’t take anymore, the person must fully surrender to the experience of suffering, and this moment of letting go might activate the Kundalini.

Kundalini is the energy of self-realization: To realize that we are god and that we have infinite potential to create whatever reality we want for ourselves. Kundalini translates to potential, showing us our divine nature… that we are god experiencing oneself in infinite manifestations.

In my opinion, there are karmic influences behind every experience we have. I believe big spiritual episodes, such as a Kundalini Awakening or other interdimensional experiences are experiences our souls signed up for. I believe these sorts of spiritual experiences are quite advanced, and will only occur if the soul is ready.

Tapping into kundalini

Kundalini is an energy that must be aroused. We all have it, and it sits dormant at our root chakra. We all experience small doses of kundalini even if we don’t recognize it.

Moments of sudden inspiration and motivation are like drops of Kundalini being shaken from the coil. However, the unfurling of the entire coil causes the awakening phenomenon.

Some people may deliberately activate Kundalini through spiritual disciplines such as yoga, meditation, breathwork, or with the aid of plant medicines. There are specific practices designed to arouse Kundalini, such as Kundalini yoga or Kundalini meditation.

Spiritual discipline is a road to arouse Kundalini energy. Some people deliberately try to activate Kundalini through specific meditation techniques, yoga postures, or breathwork techniques, but any spiritual practice can activate Kundalini energy.

Yoga is the primary road to arousing Kundalini energy. Most people who activate their Kundalini tend to be yogis or avid yoga practitioners. This is why Kundalini has a strong association with Hinduism and ancient Indian culture and practices, but Kundalini is a universal energy. Everyone has the potential to awaken this energy, regardless of their culture or ethnicity, the spiritual path they walk, or the practices they engage in.

Meditation, especially via certain techniques can also arouse Kundalini energy, as can particular breathwork techniques. Likewise, certain plant medicine rituals and ceremonies can also offset a Kundalini awakening if navigated correctly.

Blockages of the chakras may obstruct the flow of Kundalini, meaning no matter how much you meditate, or how advanced you are within your spiritual discipline, the energy won’t rise because it simply can’t.

I’m not saying that a Kundalini awakening can’t simply kick down the doors, because it did in my case. However, to organically tap into Kundalini may be a much lengthier process.

Is it safe to awaken kundalini?

As Sadguru put it, activating Kundalini is like plugging yourself into a spiritual power socket. The power socket itself is only a connection, but Kundalini is the powerplant. By successfully plugging into this power socket via spiritual discipline, you access a tremendous amount of energy that can completely overwhelm your system if not careful.

When I was doing my master plant dieta in the Amazon, during one Ayahuasca ceremony I saw an energy. In this vision, it almost looked like magma slowly flowing toward me, however, it was pulsating with energy.

Lots and lots and lots of energy…

Even being close to it, I could sense the tremendous power of this energy. I was standing in its trajectory, and at the time I was a little curious. I was thinking about letting this thick super-charged sludge roll over me and see what happens, but intuitively I knew it wasn’t a good idea.

At this moment, I began having some intense visions of Chernobyl melting down. It was like a vision within a vision… I saw the core shaking violently; unhinged, oscillating frenetically, uncontrollable, and erratic. I could add more adjectives, but it’s hard to capture how terrifying this scene was.

The amount of energy here was immense, and this reactor was mere moments away from catastrophe. But this vision was a metaphor for my mind overloading if I allowed this cosmic sludge to consume me. My mind would scramble like eggs.

This vision painted a picture of the horror of the situation, of an overwhelming amount of energy without a leash. But a psychotic snap in the depths of the Amazon was not something I was looking for, so I stepped to the side. There was a sense of relief as I watched sludge-nobyl roll on past me.

This experience gave me a new perspective on kundalini. Even though this energy was something else, the same rule applies. If there is too much energy, and the container can’t handle that voltage, the container will explode.

Your mind is a container, your body is a container. Your consciousness is simply seated within it. There is a physical architecture of our mind binding us to reality. Like the hardware of a computer, we can upgrade it, improve it, and expand it… slowly, but if you try to run the software of a modern supercomputer on a 1995 Microsoft dinosaur, you’re going to have some issues.

However, people can burst open too, to experience a torrent of energy. Although this is very rare to experience, it’s not something you should seek out. The amount of energy passing through you can be unbearably powerful. Imagine 10,000 volts of electricity shooting into a lightbulb. It will certainly fry it.

Your mind is the same as the lightbulb. If too much energy passes through it at once, it will pop. I’ve heard stories of people who have gone psychotic after experiencing a Kundalini awakening. Teachers have told me that people can die unless they are very spiritually developed to harness this energy.

So sometimes, it’s best to step to the side and take baby steps.

Post kundalini awakening insights

A Kundalini Awakening will change your life by opening your consciousness to deeper levels of oneself and reality. This opening of consciousness facilitates changes in your perceptions, mindsets, beliefs, behaviors, actions, decisions, and ultimately life journey. A Kundalini Awakening sets you on a new course (or dramatically speeds it up), one of self-realization, self-actualization, and unity with god.

Even though my Kundalini Awakening created some significant changes following the experience, there was a lot I still had to do myself. New paths were illuminated and I was given a major push, but I still had to do the work. I had to actualize my life. I had to develop the new characteristics, learn the new skill sets, and make the life changes.

With that said the human experience returns. It’s not like I could just spend the rest of my life in a state of bliss and wonder. I wouldn’t get anything done… We’re having a human experience, meaning we must experience human emotions, thoughts, and struggles.

Although some very advanced people can sustain this state of samadhi induced by a Kundalini Awakening, and perform supernatural abilities, let’s rule that off the table for virtually anyone who isn’t on the cusp of enlightenment.

Even after you have a Kundalini Awakening, whether it’s gradual or abrupt, you will need to do some more humaning. You will have battles and struggles. You will feel like you’re spiritually regressing sometimes. It’s natural. However, the changes in consciousness that the Kundalini Awakening induces are here to stay – as you embrace your new life as a spiritually awakened, self-realized soul having a human experience.

The importance of grounding

As Kundalini is a very powerful energy, it’s important to make a consistent practice of grounding yourself if you’re seeking to tap into it, or perhaps already tapping into it. Due to the strength of a Kundalini activation, it can throw your life on its head.

You may feel lost, ungrounded, disillusioned, and begin to question reality in a way you never have. Without properly grounding yourself, you may have long-lasting experiences akin to psychosis or self-disassociation.

A Kundalini Awakening is great and all, but you need to bring yourself back to reality too. To work through the process and integrate the new understandings and insights, you need to make an act of constantly grounding yourself.

I suggest spending a lot of time in nature and around the natural world. Being in the natural elements is very grounding while being in the hustle and bustle of a chaotic society can add fuel to the fire.

Not a good thing.

Spending more time doing things like meditation and yoga can be helpful. Don’t worry, these practices are not going to arouse more Kundalini if your Kundalini is already activated. In this case, they will stabilize the experience and help you make sense of it.

With that said, creative pursuits are also good. It’s nice to have an outlet. Do some writing. Start a blog or write a book if you have a lot of wisdom to share. Paint away your experiences on a canvas. Dance, and participate in ceremonies. Travel.

This experience will show you just how beautiful this experience of life can be, and it has opened all the doorways for you. Now it’s your turn to walk through them and live a beautiful life – awake, aware, and thriving. Just the way you are supposed to.