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. unfortunate guy
    unfortunate guy says:

    Is there a way to stop head pressure? I can’t live it it any more, this is terrible.
    you can’t even imagine what have i tried ..if it doesn’t subside I will commit suicide
    I curse the day when I started to meditate I had wonderful life

    Reply
    • Sai
      Sai says:

      I am not sure if you are going to check back, but I will tell you what I did to deal with the intense head pressure. See, even kundalini taking over you can still be somehow comfortable and wait for her to settle down. What I did was address the head pressure directly as if it’s an entity, I would think of it as if I am facing some adversary and ask it if it was really there. Then it kinda goes away. If you pay attention to it and question its existence it loses the grip on you. Try this with any other pain you might experience. Trust me, eventually you will emerge from this feeling like superman, answers to everything will come to you, right people and situation will always be there for you. Be patient and ride this wave . I have emerged after six years of total torture victorious and feeling incredible. You can read about my experience in the newest comment section of this article. You will get through this. I went through it without knowing a single thing about kundalini rising!!!!

      Reply
  2. Arlette
    Arlette says:

    Li need help im not sure if this is exactly what i have but i would like you to clarify what i have and where to get help. You see my aura popped i remember how it felt it felt when it popped i can feel my own energy or vibe coming out of the bubble that would sheild it or protect it. I felt extremely uncomfortable about it and afraid and anxious that people would sense it. So far i find it a bothersome and i can’t control it. I got bullied alot in school because people can sense my energy and i dont know where to get help. I need someone that can help me to shield my vibe because its expanding more and more. I feel like im going crazy.

    Reply
  3. Aditya
    Aditya says:

    Hi,
    I start my meditation practice in April 2015 and after few days I feel like something is in my body. My body shaking and vibrating and sometime I saw snakes in my dreams I check on internet it’s called kundalini so I stopped completely.

    Now in June 2017 last week I saw one artical that said this all symptems is for kundalini awakening so I feel like to start again and let see if same thing happen I will stop than I promised myself.

    Today is my 7 day and everyday I am feeling different things first day the same thing happen like in 2015 vibration and after two days I feeling cold in my spine and something moving up to my top of the head ,my eyes blinking so fast,fourth day automatically om I was chanting with no effort it make me feel like somebody controlling my body and later on so many kind of aasnas ,rituals,namaskaram it’s just happend automatically that I never see in my life even but I was doing same time very perfectly and than very next day in mediation after my body vibration I lose control on my voice it’s saying so many things it’s kind of language or singing mantra and yesterday my voice making so many kind birds noises and I saw plenty blue spots while meditating.

    And this all happen in within week I am trying to get my answers if anybody know help me

    Reply
  4. Monu
    Monu says:

    I feel problem in reading…Pain starts from my eyes to head…I consulted 2-3 eye surgeons they say n’thing wrong with Ur eyes…I feel body sensization nd it feels like something is moving in my body….I starts from my lower back nd walk upto my middle of the chest …Watry eyes nd heavy head is major problem I am facing

    Reply
  5. DR. Sanjeev Kumar
    DR. Sanjeev Kumar says:

    I was a witness of my body and mind for some days. one night before sleeeping i was meditating by let go into an endless abyss. Suddenly I felt a spontaneous joy and bliss arising from nowhere.It felt like an explosion of an energy that is joy and ecstacy without any reason, hitting my navel. There I had the first feeling of my self. It rose to heart and felt like unconditional intense love. At throat it felt like an emotional pain. And now for sometime I have been seeing a bright sunlight at the end of the tunnel between the brows when I close the eye alongwith a feeling of self centre at navel or love at centreof chest.There is an accompanying sound of hum at navel and ommmm in head.A feeling of fulfillment and contententment with a feeling of reality that feels like self realisation. It disappears in activity and resurfaces in silence and peaceful environment. Nature and things look more beautiful. No one seems bad. A ffeeling of self and being at the core of existence. Dreams are seen vividly. Visions in half awake morning sleep like a sky and someone saying – it is all one. Another time heard a sound saying – u r already what u caan be. Much more to say.. excuse me

    Reply
  6. Salma Saren
    Salma Saren says:

    I experienced kundalini awakening very recently on October 2016,although I didn’t have the clear conception about kundalini,I used to practice yoga and meditation for mental and physical wellbeing.When it happened I could find that I was going through the same experience through which Swami Vivekanada Ji had gone.I felt I was blessed and I could connect myself with the world around me.The reason of our existence and it felt like I have all the answers about the mystery of the Universe during these time I used to feel that I am the most loved girl of the almighty.These feelings remained for 3months.
    After that episode I felt that I am slowly loosing that connection and now I am experiencing major depressive disorder.I feel like I am forgetting everything and I feel afraid to go out alone it feels like I will get lost.I am in a ,terrible,traumatic situation.I am on antidepressant now.I don’t feel my existence.I was looking for some yogasana for depression then I found this article about kundalini awakening.I would be greatful if I get any suggestion to go out of the terrible situation because I want to live.plz rply

    Reply
  7. Thillaiyapillai Ramanathan
    Thillaiyapillai Ramanathan says:

    I got initiated in the year 1990 through Symblified Gundalini Yoga by Vedhatgri Maharishi.On that day l felt immense pressure in my forehead (Anna),my whole body turned in to a small dot and it went to higher and higher. I extremely felt happy.After dinner I retired to bed,but I felt unbearable pressure on my forehead.Out of fear I went to the bathroom and applied soap to the forehead repeatedly to remove the pressure.That was my foolish act for which till date repenting.Tilldate I never got one such experience.That was my misfortune.I was not properly instructed.Thirdeye opening is a true phenomenon no doubt in it.

    Reply
  8. kuchel
    kuchel says:

    hi,
    I have been meditating and chanting mantras for three months, i have few question to ask on what I’m going through.

    1.when i see any object the wall, the tree, the dark surface i see flares i really dont know what it is(its like charge particles moving) but my eye sight has been very good since meditation, no pain and no itching in eyes.
    2. after meditation my neck and chest part use to get locked (kind of jamed) usually left side and when stretch using my left hand upward it makes a crackling sound and yes I feel very mild and the lock is released. but its getting milder every time it was more a week ago not its draining out but not completely.
    3. I get pricking all over my chest, this usually does not happen when i meditate, feel bliss when i go deep into meditation, but when i sit doing nothing, after having a glass of water and after having food, sometime when i move around i get this, I took ECG, chest scan all were normal, took test one month back.what make me worry little sometime there is very mild prick on my central chest part, it goes immediately, when i take deep breath in and out i feel chill and smooth though.when i stretch or twist my upper body i get crackling in my chest and i feel relaxed but why it is happening I dont know?
    4. when its too sunny out i feel warm in my chest and back, but i do not get sweating, inside i feel chill and bliss but outside i feel mild burning kind of warmness.
    5. yesterday i felt pain twice at left rib at nipple and back after deep meditation while i was doing some kitchen work, felt little scary but at the sometime i was relaxing myself and it vanished when I took a nap, today its not there.
    6. sometime when I meditate I don’t feel like i’m breathing, even sometime when I’m sitting or after having food my breath duration is very small a mild one.
    7. when i start meditation sometime I get ringing sound and also ear fluttering (this use to be more before and also i use to get even i’m not meditating now its all become mild, a very mild one)
    8.yes recently when I meditate I can feel that something is getting unblocked in my chest and back.
    9. There use to be other symptoms like palpitation, stomach upset and dizziness, its all now gone due to gods grace.
    10. yes i feel young, bliss, light weight, great in concentration and also i got six pack (hahahahaha) but all that good things I got due to meditation and chanting mantras does not make me happy, when I feel i have still not know who am i?

    Reply
  9. Lakshmi
    Lakshmi says:

    I never did meditation and I was impulsive in nature. since 4 months I feel sensations in my forehead, pleasant feeling . There was many disturbances in family , but still I was not disturbed. If I concentrate on forehead , the feeling is more. Also got lower back pain, also sometimes upper back, neck. At times Feel extremely hot on my face and place below the ribs even during winter season . I drink lot of cold water in winter( I stay in London). Not sure if this is related to the chakra opening or blockage.. any suggestion?

    Reply
  10. Ronin
    Ronin says:

    Back pain is not a sign of kundalini awakening. It just means u have a bad back. Get someone to check your posture when seated to meditate. Try asanas (postures) to help improve posture. Most likely back pain is usually caused by poor core muscles. You can use back support to help or sit on a chair in the mean time.

    Reply
    • Nate
      Nate says:

      Absolutely false information. Most back pain is not considered structural, or because muscles are weak. The back contains many of the strongest muscles in the entire body. Medical science makes billions off people like you who believe there is something structurally wrong. Plenty of fat people out there with perfectly fine backs, and athletic ones suffering. Back pain is most likely a result of suppressed emotions or could have spiritual causes. Most herniated disks do not cause back pain.

      I can post links if you need them.

      Reply
  11. Anonymous
    Anonymous says:

    I experienced a great deal of energy phenomena the first time I ever meditated (age 17, 1985, no spiritual understanding) and the intensity remained during meditation for about three years. Among other things, I felt energy moving around my body as if it was alive, and saw different colors that seemed to be associated with it. I had profound visions and dreams. But the range of experience was so wide and varied that I can’t write it all down in a brief description. I felt indescribable bliss at times, sometimes saw white light in my third eye, and ultimately felt the clear symptoms of a kundalini awakening, such as energy releasing from my first chakra and then exiting my forehead, a few convulsive episodes in my lower body, and feeling powerful enegies moving up my spine. To some degree the symptoms never left, and became part of my daily life to this day. I came to believe that the process would take decades to unfold in such a way that I benefited from it, that it was occurring on a subtle level and needed to filter down thru the ethers into the manifest world. Now 48 years old, I continue to have rather extraordinary – though different – experiences when I meditate. Except for a few months about ten years ago, I’ve never had a meditation teacher, and she was Buddhist and had no interest whatsoever in energy phenomena.

    Reply
  12. Namratha
    Namratha says:

    I had intense pain in the back of my neck & shoulders. Low energy, numbness in the head and feeling of vulnerability. I took a pain killer to drive back home after work. Plz can someone explain whats happening?

    Reply
  13. Sivan
    Sivan says:

    Hi, appreciate your writing, its really wonderful.

    Just to share my experience. I have actually experienced the Rare Kundalini Awakening Symptoms:
    Experience of divine light within, tremendous vibratory energy and spontaneous bliss, intensely pleasurable.
    And the sound of the universe Aum can right from my muladhara chakra up to crown chakra…an it was tremendously loud vibrating sound that was deafening but your body and soul felt like showered in this extremely blissful sound.

    There is no word that can accurately describe the feeling and experience, it was overwhelming…OHM.. the level

    Reply
    • Angela
      Angela says:

      I have vibrations tru out my body at 3 am I am wide awake for no reason then I see Hindi writing all over my wall n ceiling its in red n seem to be swirling ..sometimes a lotus flowers is in d writing

      Reply
  14. Vrindavana Das
    Vrindavana Das says:

    For me, my kundalini arose in 1996 as I walked meditating on the syllable aum. Suddenly there was a strong sensation of hot and cold waves going up and down my spine. For a few moments I felt as if I would go mad. Gradually I relaxed and reaching home, saw that my forehead (between the brows) has become red (in the shape of a candle flame) and there was intense pressure between my brows. The pressure has been with me ever since. The pressure subsides only for as long as I am sleeping.

    Reply
  15. Anonymous
    Anonymous says:

    I was on a week long retreat 16 years ago when the Kundalini awakened in my nervous system, causing energy flows from pelvis to heart area in successive waves, awakening me from sleep. This lasted initially for several hours, then has gradually become generally present.
    There is a sun disc of light or a swirling vortex upon awakening in the morning. Pranayama will cause a yellow disc to form in one’s vision.
    There is the sound of Om humming throughout the body, and all the cells of the body are bathed in this sweet love vibration. There are periods of thoughtless awareness during meditations. This process continues. Laterly have been reading Ramana Maharshi, which causes an up welling of Kundalini to fill the body including head. Also the excruciating pain of focussing awareness outwardly into the World illusion.

    Reply
    • John, the Meditator
      John, the Meditator says:

      I wrote this. How did it get on your website. There is much more to recount than this, When the energy broke through the heart area, it caused my heart rate to go to 150 beats perminute with so/many skipped beats, I was convinced I would die. Samatha meditative practice has since resulted in the arising of all nine Jhanas.

      Reply
  16. Adam Miller
    Adam Miller says:

    Kundalini awakening symptoms are truly a very intriguing subject. The kundalini is a powerful source energy that lies dormant within each and every person. Myree Morsi offers a beautiful blend of healing, counselling, coaching and insight.

    Reply

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