Kundalini Awakening Symptoms

Symptoms of Kundalini Awakening 

Real Life Experiences & Descriptions of Kundalini Rising

Are you going through a kundalini awakening episode or experience?  Let’s find out… 

Kundalini awakening symptoms are truly a very intriguing subject.  Really there is no correct answer to the question, “What are the symptoms of Kundalini Rising?”, as thankfully, each of us is absolutely unique and thus, on a unique trajectory on the path to Kundalini Awakening.  That said, there are some common kundalini experiences that are often reported, which I would like to share with you in this article.

Although we can draw up endless lists of symptoms from third party accounts, I would like to instead make this series about kundalini symptoms that you or I have actually experienced.  In this article, I will give a recent account from one of my students about what she experienced shortly after class, and then I will add my own kundalini experiences and observations as well. 

In the comments section, I encourage you to add any kundalini awakening experiences or symptoms you have felt, so others can better understand what they might be going through.  Here is the recent email I received from my student, Aida:

Aida’s Experience of Kundalini Awakening:

I am a student of the “Gentle Kundalini Class”. I just finished taking a series of exercise specifically for the spine.
 
As I left the class I felt energized as I usually feel after each class, but this time it was a little different, I was feeling extra aware of my surrounding. Like a light turned on. My back was so straight. It lasted all day.
 
If I could go to class every morning I would go. It makes my day start right in every way. And there are times when I am not feeling like going to class and I push myself to go and do not regret it.
 
Thank you for being my teacher.
Aida D. 

For those interested, here is a link to the Spinal Warmup Kundalini Yoga Kriya we did in class that day.  Thank you Aida, for sharing your personal experiences with us.

This particular experience of kundalini is very interesting and significant.  This is because it is the common experience of advanced meditation and of kundalini yoga.  In the article, Powerful Kundalini Yoga Battles Profound Zen Meditation, I described my own such experience with kundalini awakening, but not from doing kundalini yoga, but instead from doing Silent Mind Meditation!

Aida’s experience points at the two things that all yoga and meditation boils down to.  Energy and Awareness. 

My favorite description of Kundalini Yoga is, “The Yoga of Awareness,” and as you see from her account, she felt more aware, as the energy of kundalini had risen up her spine.  In meditation, it is the same.  The demand for intense awareness, in order to comprehend the thought process via direct perception, leads to energy (kundalini) rising up and elongating the spine.  Awareness then follows.

Jiddu Krishnamurti describes this experience of kundlaini energy flowing up the spine as “The rush of water filling up and thus causing a pipe to stand erect.”

When we insist that the spine be straight during meditation, it is simply to facilitate this awakening and thus, to assist in being more aware.  I have experienced kundalini rising and puling up with such force, during meditation, that it sometimes make me feel as if I am going to be launched right off the ground or as if it’s going to pull my head off and up into the sky.

Kundalini Awakening in Meditation

Symptoms of Kundalini Awakening:

I am going to describe some of the physical symptoms my students or I have felt due to kundalini awakening.  I know there are many emotional and mental symptoms as well, and you are welcome to share those with us in the comments section below.  I am grouping the experiences into 3 categories, common, uncommon and rare, according to what I have observed.

Common Kundalini Awakening Symptoms:

  • Tingling in the body and brain region.  Also sometimes described as ants walking, tickling energy or flushes of energy.  The brain being flushed with energy is quite pleasant :-).
  • Heat or cold in the system, or running along various channels and chakra centers.
  • Fluttering or twitching of muscles.
  • Pinching or burning in various regions of the body or brain.

Uncommon Kundalini Awakening Symptoms:

  • Pressure in the Third Eye Region (Ajna Chakra).  This is pressure, tingling or other sensation in the center of the forehead.  Can go on for years (14 years and counting so far for me).  Caution: If the pressure, due to certain practices, intensifies to uncomfortable levels you feel are “immense”, you should cease that practice and consult a competent kundalini yoga teacher.
  • Sudden bursts of energy anywhere in the body.  These are almost always short lived, from a few seconds to a few minutes.
  • Spontaneous yoga asans or kundalini yoga movements.  They may come on spontaneously, or they may take over, as if on auto-pilot when one is practicing  Kundalini Yoga Kriyas or Exercises (For an example see article: Explosive Kundalini Rising in Class Today).
  • Kundalini Shakti rising up and elongating the spine.
  • Incredible feeling of love and desire for your partner (not ordinary lust, alcohol induced or otherwise :-).  Usually comes upon you spontaneously, deep in the night.  Sex feels like it’s the first such experience and the intense feelings of attraction emanate from somewhere beyond yourself.
  • Unfortunately, pain in the lower back, back of the neck and headaches.

Rare Kundalini Awakening Symptoms:

  • Experience of divine light within.  Very intense light, usually pure white and incredibly beautiful.  I call it the Radiation of the Lord.
  • Tremendous vibratory energy (sometimes feels like it’s coming from the inner ears).  Very blissful, but can intensify to the point where it would completely overwhelm your consciousness if you let it.
  • Spontaneous bliss, intensely pleasurable.
  • This one is a bit scary.  Complete paralysis of the body.  Complete immobility and rigidity takes place.  As with the all consuming vibratory energy, it requires some courage to allow.
  • This one is exceedingly rare.  I have experienced it only once in my life, and have only ever read about it being experienced by one other – the master of awareness, G. I. Gurdjieff.  The arms and legs churn like that of a baby.  It happens naturally and cannot be simulated.  It is also intensely pleasurable and quite a remarkable experience.

There are of course a wide range of transcendental experiences, some of which you will find described in the category Spiritual Enlightenment Experiences.  Above, I have provide those that are more commonly associated with kundalini awakening, although many would argue, including Swami Vivekananda, that all enlightenment experiences have to do with kundalini entering the brain region in some capacity.

So if you have experienced some kundalini symptoms as well, please do share them with us below.  I think it will benefit others identify if what they are going through is actually symptoms of the ever mysterious kundalini awakening.

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  1. Sabzines
    Sabzines says:

    Well, where do I even begin. I met my divine counterpart earlier this year – since then it’s been a slow yet very fast process since the annular solar eclipse which occurred this month. I resonate with NYX the Greek goddess, and Sabrina the legendary princess drowned in the Severn. A lot of magic, quite literally, as I’ve awakened and stepped into my inner goddess. But there were negatives attached – as other deity’s and goddess’s or other mythological creatures have been intertwined into this – but I know I have the love and light and protection on my side – and I will forever battle against evil as it is my divine purpose but also to become in union with my twin. And that is where the true magic lies…. We’ve reincarnated that many life times together. Love and light to all – 🕉️

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  2. Fo'Luke
    Fo'Luke says:

    Hi everyone, the experience I am having is vibrating in the area governing the root chakra. It feels exactly like a phone vibrating, as I write this I am experiencing it now. My first experience with it was a few years ago when I began doing work on my spiritual journey which included lots of prayer and meditation. Initially, I thought it was my phone and paid little attention, I would feel it a lot while lying in my bed. I then noticed it would happen anywhere and the common denominator was not my phone it was me, this experience was not external to me it was happening in my body. I shared it with a few friends and someone suggested Kundalini, I read what I could find at that time which totally terrified me, so I just ignored it, eventually, it stopped or I grew numb to it not sure which, lol. Flash forward to today, it is back!! This time however I have experienced it in other areas although it is primarily in my root chakra I have also felt the vibrations in my heart area, stomach and neck. I also am experiencing pain in one area of the neck which I can’t attribute to anything, also have a strong desire to release some relationships, sleep has gone haywire, lol and I am more aware of everything around me. I am open to any feedback

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  3. AlohaItzHoku
    AlohaItzHoku says:

    I am thankful to happen upon your post. The uncommon and rare symptoms are experienced frequently for me, I thought to myself maybe something was wrong; I see now that I am elevating to higher heights in my spirituality and I welcome these experiences with arms wide open.

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  4. Aimee
    Aimee says:

    I don’t know if this is kundalini – I have felt an intense ache in my tailbone since I was a child.It usually comes at night and is so intense it makes me wish I was dead. It doesn’t happen often but its clear its going to be with me for life. There is a medical name for it which I forget but I wonder if its a blocked chakra or the kundalini trying to break free.I recently read a book about Krishnamurti and he decribes a dull ache- I wonder if its the same. If that ache is a blocked chakra or kundalini I don’t know what to do about it.I have also felt a wave of energy go through me like water but I only felt that once.

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  5. Aimee
    Aimee says:

    I do not know if this is related to kundalini – ever since I was a child I would get a very intense ache in my tailbone. It usually happens at night and is so awful it makes me want to die. It doesn’t happen often thank goodness but its clear its going to be with me all my life. I know there is a medical term for it,the name I forget but I wonder if it is a blocked chakra or the kundalini trying to break free. If it is a chakra or kundalini I don’t know what to do about it. I recently read a book about Krishnamurti and he decribes a dull ache – I wonder if it is the same. I have also felt a wave of energy going through the body like water but that happened only once.

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  6. Allle
    Allle says:

    I started noticing popping sounds in my brain for 2 years now comes and goes, but recently I’ve felt more open to fully surrendering. Another thing I feel is icy hot hands when I touch certain things,
    as if I put some icy/hot muscle cream in my hands. It’s been overwhelming because I feel that when I do connect fully, I feel my soul, and my heart starts beating super fast it feels like I’m having a panic attack, don’t like saying the word panic attack, but it’s very strong energy running through me. It’s almost like there’s a fountain of energy going through me from the crown to the lower spine of my body. I also have met people that are going through similar experiences and recently met someone who breathes at the same time as me, and says the same things as me at the same time! I randomly bump into that person in different places, it’s synchronicity. I live in a big city, that’s why I believe we are in sync. I’ve even thought that we are one soul split into two. I’ve accepted that the universe can also bring someone in your life that is fully in sync with you and it’s very very powerful. I would never imagine that I would experience any of this, but that’s what it’s been like so far since I surrendered. oh! and I see the number 33 everywhere, felt like I had to share this information since I’m having lower pain for no reason. Now I see it’s part of the process.

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  7. Michael
    Michael says:

    A stiff spine, on and off. when it’s not stiff, i often feel the tingling and flowing of energy in various parts of the body. and then again, there are times where i don’t feel the flow and the spine is stiff. it feels a bit like my body wants to surpress it with the stiff spine. does anyone had similar experiences and managed to do something about it?

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  8. Gary
    Gary says:

    Hello,
    Start by saying this is literally the first time I have ever commented on anything, anywhere… don’t SM either(3 posts maybe in last year or 2). So, not sure why I ended up wanting to post here but was inspired to and last 6 months I haven’t gone against my inspired actions so…

    I was sitting out in my back yard as I do often by my self with a fire (5 kids and wife sleeping) and contemplating… as I often do. I am an INFJ personality as well. I was thinking back through my life as to look forward as I just went through 2 years of the most brutal depression that was just a bit relieved by the serotonin problem, was literally in bed for almost a year and finally out moving around but not for very long. When all of a sudden it was like my thoughts were taken over and much like near-death experience survivors describe… I rapidly went through my life backwards all the way and was shown, with the feeling of why I had gone through all that I did throughout my life. Literally got all the answers I’ve asked for my whole life in that moment… as well as was whisked forward and shown why so many people are having trouble moving forward and stuck which was interesting to see these world events now.

    So, got my Purpose if you will that night as to be someone who is the example of Personal Responsibility… not so much social. I then started getting some intense things going on…
    -Hearing Music at first every time I went in the bathroom for months, then it went to a dialogue I couldn’t make out the conversation though… then finally to a mostly monologue and still couldn’t make it out. I have been trying to record it and nothing ever there.
    -Since then… I have been right on any and everything that I knew enough… intuition has always been good but it was gone for 2-4 years towards the end totally gone.
    -Was, and still am, seeing things in everything and every day and gets very intense every night. 90% are demon looking figures, a ghost looking but have seen like dragons was a theme for a bit, angels.. on and on. At first, I had no idea what was going on so I thought i maybe had tipped the bucket and ran my brain crazy so it gave up on my tired of analyzing and wondering why everyone was making life so hard… One day the word Kundalini popped in my head so my wife put a video on about it, she was well into looking up schizophrenia by this point and there was no doubt that’s what it was.
    -As a former athlete, I was the opposite of that now at 41, overweight about 30lbs and half the stairs I was huffing and puffing. I had lots of aches and pains from baseball that I have been dealing with and going to chiropractor 3 days a week… Well… after about 2-3 weeks, I was in the best shape physically than maybe even when I played, weight gone, back pain that was every day… gone… and pick a limb cause all hurt… gone. I don’t go to chiropractor anymore and only time I hurt like my back started in a new place, my heal and leg… so I went to my spot and just sat in quiet and had an interesting experience but the pain was gone once I was done.
    -Sleep about-4-5 days A WEEK… ya not hours a night… I calculate it by days a week now and sometimes it will be a whole day and sometimes a few hours.
    -I have always been able to draw, however, I was drawing actually in one of the first nights after, well attempting to cause I was seeing all kinds of the coolest scenes to draw, this one made by just scratching a Sharpie over an image and a scene showed up for me.. freaked me out when it kept happening cause still didn’t know at this point but when I went to draw again it looked like a toddler drew it and for some reason still to this day I can’t draw any more for the time being… ALTHOUGH, I have always been into writing as well and as a younger lad, I always struggled writing to completion lyrics and maybe completed 10 before this but now… I wrote about 20 to completion within 30 days and my 2 best ones, in my opinion, were finished within 2 hours on the same day. Still have material I trying to put together so there’s probably another 20-30 in there.. trying to keep up with what’s pouring out of me. Oh yeah… and the songs I wrote started to become premonitions of sorts form pretty close to the fact that I wrote about my father and the next day speaking with my brother-in-law about what was going on and that my writing was manifesting… my father text that he was thinking about us after not speaking to him for 2 years.

    There is probably more that I can’t think of at the moment but this is probably long enough. You mentioned that it might help someone with their symptoms and I know it was pretty damn intense in the beginning so why I ultimately posted… well that’s another thing, used to be wildly organized, focused and composed and now I’m the opposite it seems to one degree or another. Just thought of another very significant happening but I’ll leave it here.

    Thanks… hope it helps someone!

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  9. Hope51
    Hope51 says:

    My symptoms are as follows .. since 3 years ..
    Insomnia, hyperactivity
    . Dizziness, faintness, blacking out
    . Muscle twitches, cramping, aching or spasms
    . Prickling, tingling, itching or vibrating sensations
    . Numbness in the limbs
    . Pain in the solar plexus; sensation of being “punched in the stomach”
    Pain in the spine or back
    Feeling or hearing cracking, tearing, popping in vertebrae, joints and tendons (or in the brain).
    . Headaches, intense pressure in the head
    . Constriction around the throat; swallowing difficulties or convulsive
    Pressure in the chest; breathing problems
    Heart palpitations, rapid pulse .
    Shooting pains throughout the body.
    Fluctuations in appetite (from none to voracious hunger); craving certain foods.
    . Tremendous surges of “electricity” and/or vibrating energy in the system

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  10. Ram
    Ram says:

    Hi, I believe I experienced a rare Kundalini awakening last night (03 Jan,2019). I was deep in the sleep and i had a dream of chatting with someone that i do not know and I was requesting him to help my son who is unwell. I felt the person was watching me directly into my eyes and he was wearing a blue shirt had a turban, he was of a moderate height, he was searching for something as I was asking him to help my son continuously. At one instance he lifted me only through his sight and I continued requesting him to help my son, by that time i was awake and i felt as if i received a 1000 volt shock and it persisted, i was not able to move, Felt as if some one is pulling a thick rubber sticker from my body and at the same time a gush of white electricity flowing in my body.The experience was frightening and it continued for 15-20 mins. I could feel my body was warm though the surrounding were very cold. I felt i’m in trans and i tried getting up to see if it is for real and I put my hand on my son to check if he is ok and I continued to keep the hand on him while I was still able to feel the energy in-flow. Though i was feeling the energy I slowly tried sleeping and in few mins I slept. In the morning I felt energetic and i was feeling fresh. I was able to feel the energy even while awake and I could feel the energy inflow even while doing my daily activities. I tried standing near the place I sleep and could feel the vibrations and my family also told me about the vibrations they felt standing in that place. I’m not sure if this is rare Kundalini awakening. Please advise what should i do and will it continue. To be frank I really enjoyed the experience.

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  11. Deepika
    Deepika says:

    I Have something a kind of soul(Energy) moving between my chest , right a fingers distance from Heart ,Whenever I am emotional, Is this my Soul, I have twichings all over my body , Is my Kundalini Awakened ?I am worried most of the time and not able to concentrate in anything .This is happening more after when I met a Guy in Person …. What could be the reason .?

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  12. Andrew Baskin
    Andrew Baskin says:

    I have been practicing kundalini meditation for an hour a day for 135 days and counting. My body and mind and emotions and soul are transforming at a rate and in ways I never knew were possible. During my current practice I am working with the elemental metaphors of earth, water and fire in turn and together. Soon I’ll move onto the air element. My breath is slow and deep, it fills first my perineum, then expands the hips outwards in all directions and finally raises the lower rib cage. The slow outbreath lowers the ribcage, deflates the abdomen and tucks the perineum ever so slightly upwards. I drag the earth up my legs on my inbreath to ground me. The earth element occupies the space from the pubic bone to the perineum. I can sense the damp coolness of the earth as it rises from deep down. I can smell the musk of the earth and taste her fertile grittiness. The earth will lovingly accept all that you give her with pure dispassion, she will always hold you. You can rely on her always. While working on the water element, from the pubic bone to the navel, my hips are lapping the waves as they rock back and forth. I am swirling the energy around my dantian, lubricating my joints and coating and penetrating the fascia of my thighs and buttocks. The energy is not limited to inside but is cartoonishly larger than life. I can project the spiral of movement to a 4 foot radius around my body, playing with the macrocosmic orbit. I mix in love, joy, laughter, confidence, sensuality, pride, orgasmic aliveness, circulating these emotions through my field of energy. Next I conjure the fire element. My torso becomes a hollow sleeve and the sun is shining from between my solar plexus and navel. Rising energy comes from envisioning these elemental metaphors and especially while mixing them together. A shaking earth turns the water frothy and bubbly, the effervescence rises to the head and out the crown on the outbreath. Breathe in the oceans of the world through the crown, crashing and splashing down in the dantian. Fire and water create steam which rises with ash and sparks. It cools while rising and drips down the outside of the body as liquid calm on the outbreath. My skeletal system shakes as fire and magma are drawn up through my legs. There is a fissure along my perineum which opens on my inbreath and magma pours forth, scalding and boiling the water in my dantian. The steam rises. I can always summon the earth element to ground me if I feel manic or if I feel like I am floating away. Later I smooth it all out with more slow deep tissue massage. With this massage I am working sparkling laughing energy in to tight and previously dormant muscles, propping them open. Tight muscles in my pelvis, sacrum, buttocks, perineum, thighs, lower back have in turn been very sore as they are opened. Sometimes I develop achy flu like symptoms from the detox effect of loosening these big muscles. Often there is intense pleasure when the energy finds new avenues within my musculoskeletal system and organs. Deep daily massage pre and post practice is essential to work the bioelectric energy to all parts of the body. Sometimes I cry with intense grief as ancient trauma that may span several lifetimes is release. I have cried a river of tears throughout these days. I have made my practice and my spiritual self development my number one priority which feels healthy. We only have this moment and life is so precious. I am developing a steady energy, a calmness, compassion. My sexual appetite is amplified but not volatile, when I interact with a sexy being, I can now spread and distribute my strong desires throughout my body and put that energy towards my higher purpose. What a blessing! Being able to circulate sexual desire, at least for a man (I can’t speak for women), allows you to retain vital energy, and make real LOVE, the way it was meant to be. I am beginning to feel sensitive to the energy of others and can palpate my own energy. When I see the oceans waves crashing on the shore, or the radiant sun shining through the trees, or any other beautiful sight, I can take my awe and wonder and circulate it through various orbits in my body. I can taste the salty waves in my thighs, feel the warm sparkly sun in my wiggling toes. There is a new movement inside me involving the balancing of masculine and feminine. I have always been a devotee of the Divine Feminine , and it is through the Feminine energy of kundalini that masculine is nurtured. Lately I have been challenged in the real world to face difficult situations with integrity, honesty, assertiveness, courage, ambition. The awakening intelligence automatically forces change…..

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