Kundalini Symptoms – what happens when we raise the kundalini

Kundalini symptoms are a natural by-product when people awaken the kundalini in their body and mind. The word ‘kundalini’ comes from the Hindu tradition and is used to describe a form of mysterious energy that lies dormant in all of us at the foot of our spine. When awakened this energy rises up the spine, purifies all chakras along the way until it reaches the head where it unites with its ‘divine spouse’ and the person reaches enlightenment. Kundalini energy has been described as hot, tingling and brilliant white energy.

Kundalini experiences from all over the world

The concept of energy from our abdomen rising up to the head is not limited to Hinduism but has been known in many spiritual traditions all over the world. In Tibetan Buddhism it is called ‘tummo’ (literally ‘fierce woman’), in parts of Taoism it is referred to as ‘neikung’ and in the Christian tradition people have used expressions like ‘the holy spirit went into him’ or simply as ‘grace’.

The gifts of kundalini

All kundalini experiences have in common that people feel more or less overwhelmed by some powerful energy rushing through their system and rewarding them with amazing spiritual visions, supernatural bliss or gifts like clairvoyance or the ability to heal others with the power of the mind. People may also get amazing insights to questions that are important to humankind, they may be able to create true works of art or help others in a profound way. At the pinnacle of these experiences people may feel that they are uniting with God or becoming enlightened.

The challenges of the kundalini awakening

Unfortunately, these wonderful gifts of kundalini awakening are rarely achieved through one amazing and powerful breakthrough but are the result of many years of working patiently through the challenges that are the inevitable by-product of even the most benign kundalini rising. These symptoms of kundalini may range from inexplicable physical pain, to extreme emotional disturbances, up to a complete psychotic break-down of one’s functioning ego-personality. What makes matters worse, these painful experiences are usually exacerbated by a lot of mental confusion because the person who is going through them often cannot understand what is happening to them.

Traditionally, it is taught that kundalini rising (or whatever people want to call it according to their cultural background) can only be achieved through years of dedicated spiritual practice. However, since the publication of Gopi Krishna’s book ‘Kundalini’ many people have come forward to report so-called spontaneous kundalini awakenings, which were independent of intensive spiritual practice. During these spontaneous kundalini experiences often the negative and confusing kundalini symptoms were much more pronounced than the rewarding aspects.

Why can kundalini rising be so painful?

Kundalini is essentially energy and it works like an amplifier in our mental, spiritual, emotional and physical system. Basically, it amplifies all our experiences – and this can be a blessing or a curse depending on what is going on in our mind. If our life is well-ordered, full of love, spirituality and meaningful work then kundalini will make us even more loving, spiritual and even more successful in our work.

Unfortunately, this ‘perfect’ scenario is rarely in place when kundalini strikes. Everybody has challenges on various levels of their life and these challenges will be amplified together with the positive aspects of the kundalini awakening. As a result, we may find ourselves with an array of weird symptoms, challenging emotions and confusing perceptions. When kundalini effects our physcial body we may experiences the so-called kundalini kriyas – involuntary body movements which can be disconcerting, embarrassing or even painful.

What’s worse, everybody has an unconscious mind and kundalini is like a massive force that tears down the barriers to our unconsciousness. As a result, painful memories may come up – and even worse – our carefully suppressed antisocial drives may also come to the surface, for example, megalomaniac thoughts, racist or sexist thoughts, inappropriate sexual urges and violent impulses. For someone who is unprepared, this onslaught of our unconscious nature can be too much to bear. It may wreak havoc with their relationships and it may make them feel as if they live in some sort of hell.

It is therefore important to be well prepared for a kundalini awakening. How to do this is described in Buddhist kundalini

Tara Springett is a fully qualified and licensed psychotherapist and Buddhist teacher who has specialised in working with people who have trouble with kundalini symptoms. Find information about sessions with Tara here: kundalini healing

Tara’s book The Five-Minute Miracle offers excellent guidance to gently alleviate troublesome kundalini awakening symptoms. The book is written for a general audience struggling with psychological symptoms. However, it is equally effective for kundalini symptoms.

Find here more information about 

Kundalini awakening symptoms

Chakras explained

Kundalini Awakening

Kundalini Syndrome

Books by Tara Springett

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