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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721 replies
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  1. Anmol Mehta
    Anmol Mehta says:

    Hi Kristo,

    Yes your experiences are consistent with symptoms of kundalini awakening. Maybe you would like to keep a dream journal and further develop your ability to remember dreams, have lucid dreams and move on to exploring meditative states that take place at night.

    My awakening phase was also very pronounced in my twenties so you bring up an interesting point there, although I have not looked into this aspect specifically.

    Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

    Best,
    Anmol

    Reply
  2. kristo
    kristo says:

    Anmol,

    hello recently i have had very vivid dreams of floating in and around my home, during these dreams i am paralyzed and can’t speak while this floating sensation occurs. the only thing that i can do is think, and my inner monologue is overwhelming with emotion, it says breathe through your nose, so i do… after that i remember nothing and wake up feeling fine. A few days later i have another dream this one is very similar but this time i am floating and this intense and i mean very intense sensation shoots up my spine and last for a short time. this sensation was not painful, just weird and a totally new sensation all together. the only thing that could think of while experiencing this feeling was,” this must be what i feels like to teleport or leave my body.” After this dream i mentioned it to my mother who talked to someone else and they mentioned the kundalini. After doing some research on the subject and coming across your symptoms i had all of them except for the very last one. could this be my awakening? throughout my life i have always been the one who has helped others through very difficult situations. my whole life people that i know have always asked me for council and i have always been very good at talking to people to help them understand the deeper reality of life and not to dwell on negativity but to take it with you as a tool to use in a positive way in the future. also throughout my research i have noticed that many cases of this awakening have happened to those in their early twenties, is this also common?

    Reply
  3. ed
    ed says:

    Anmol,

    sorry for the multiple posts! please delete the last three posts and leave the first one.

    thanks for approving the post….I believe that I have made a breakthrough with the experiences that I’ve been having.

    all of this is motivating me to continue my practice.

    thanks to you my friend!

    Reply
  4. Anmol Mehta
    Anmol Mehta says:

    Hi Ed,

    I have approved your comments with the links. The spam blocker catches those and they need to be approved to be posted. Unfortunately this blog gets a lot of spam due to its size, so I have to use those tools.

    Thanks for posting the resources, I am certain many will find them valuable.

    Best,
    Anmol

    Reply
  5. ed
    ed says:

    Anmol,

    I’m trying to post some articles I’ve found but somehow it’s not posting. I’ll try to post without the links and see if that would work.

    I think I have found an explanation to what I am experiencing.

    Reply
  6. ed
    ed says:

    Anmol,

    I think I might have found an explanation to what I am experiencing.

    as Kundalini starts rising, according to the site below, Karmas start to appear and has to be dealt with by a person. I believe that once Kundalini is ready to move or is has entered swadhisthana all of the issues that is related to karma has to surface and dealt with in order to release all fears and events in a person’s life.

    However, when kundalini is ascending from mooladhara to swadhisthana, the sadhaka experiences a crucial period in which all his repressed emotions, especially those of a more primal nature, express themselves. Passions mount during this period and all kinds of infatuations ensue, making the sadhaka extremely irritable and unstable at times. He can be seen sitting quietly in contemplation one moment and hurling objects at someone the next. One day he may sleep deeply for hours together, another day he may get up at one or two in the morning to take bath and meditate. He becomes very passionate, loud and talkative, while at other times he is silent. At this stage the sadhaka often expresses a great fondness for singing.

    During this period of intense psychic and emotional upheaval, the guidance of a qualified and understanding guru is essential. Although some people may regard this emotional turmoil as the indication of a great fall, the guru will assure the aspirant that it is an essential part of spiritual life which will accelerate his evolution. If this explosion doesn’t take place, the same purging process will still occur, but very slowly, as problems arise and work themselves out life after life.

    When kundalini is residing in swadhisthana chakra, the last vestige of karma is being thrown out and all the negative samskaras express themselves and are expelled. At this time you may be angry, afraid or full of sexual fantasies and passion. You may also experience lethargy, indolence, depression and all kinds of tamasic characteristics. The tendency to procrastinate is very strong and you just want to sleep and sleep. This stage of evolution is known as purgatory, and if you read the lives of many of the great saints, you will find that most of them encountered great turmoil and temptations when they were passing through this stage.

    As long as the evolution is in the planes of mooladhara and swadhisthana, one has his own mental and emotional problems and he sees the whole world correspondingly. But as soon as he transcends these planes and goes to manipura, he will see all the bliss, noble views, perfect ideas and greater possibilities of human consciousness. Then, naturally, whatever he thinks and does will be influenced by this higher vision.

    This is why the psychic powers that come to the sadhaka after having awakened and established the kundalini in manipura are really benevolent and compassionate, whereas those which manifest in mooladhara and swadhisthana are still tinged by the dark aspect of the lower mind.

    I am not certain, but I believe that what I am going through is part of the kundalini rising process and I am at the point of working out all repressed emotions and clear all of the karma. I believe that when I am able to transcend theses emotions Kundalini will move on to the next level – to the manipura.

    as you’ve stated in the past, we have to trust the inner guru to show us the way and I believe that my inner guru lead me to the pages I posted in order to get an explanation as to what I am going through.

    It’s not all bad. I have noticed a lot of changes in myself. fear for myself is not present. I have a level of clamness that I’ve never had before and I am more inquisitive in finding answers about questions that arise in my mind.

    physically, I am in good shape. mentally, I am calm except for the emotional upheaval of my past memories that is slowly surfacing and fading.

    I believe that all of this is part of the process and it is crucial for me to continue with this process.

    I have added your chakra healing to my practice and I believe that they will help me transced all of these emotions and go on to the next level.

    Reply
  7. Andrew
    Andrew says:

    Hello Anmol!
    Thank you, i`m beginning today or tomorrow SM meditation, as well as everyday yoga poses (like eagle, crow, archer and others) and some other meditations if they are allowed during the SM Meditation Period. I`ve esperienced yesterday in the evening meditation the same status of body that was when i received an beautiful light, (as i spoked in the Opening 3rd eye topic) but i was unable to hold it for long (there was an evening, i wanted to not fall asleep and continue tomorrow) but get to this state for me was as twice as easier in comparison with first experience, thanks to your advice in one of the articles that i must keep my physical body by reminding him who is a master and it worked! Pain settled, breath changed to a very slow and progress began.

    I`ll work towards everything you`ve said, and all this experience is very very interesting for me, i`m really want to master it (i sense that i must master it and this is quite interesting for me (i`m sometimes seating almost a hour in meditation)). I will begin meditations and yoga practice today.

    All the best,
    Andrew

    Reply
  8. Anmol Mehta
    Anmol Mehta says:

    Hey Andrew,

    Thanks for sharing your experience.

    When kundalini is working through someone, you need to listen to your inner voice/body as carefully as possible. You may need rest, or a particular diet, or time in nature, or you may need to take a break and back off the process a bit.

    My advise is though is certainly to work towards a sound and balanced, yoga and meditation practice, which ensures you are building up your nervous system and energetic body, so that you will be able to handle kundalini and the extra energy as she flows. It can help make the process easier.

    Let me know you progress.

    Best,
    Anmol

    Reply
  9. Anmol Mehta
    Anmol Mehta says:

    Hi Cake,

    Thanks for sharing your unique kundalini experiences with us. It always helps others to know they some of the unusual experiences they might have, are shared by others as well. Specially since you are able to cope with the difficulties it produces as well.

    Best,
    Anmol

    Reply
  10. cake
    cake says:

    hi anmol.
    so glad to have stumbled across your page. although i have never practiced kundalini yoga before, i feel as though i have been experiencing the physical symptoms related to a surge in spiritual energy for the last eighteen months or so. it started with pressure headaches and neck pain that i treated with reiki. soon after i began seeing vivid colours whenever i closed my eyes. these colours change according to my mood and the mood of other people in close proximity. most commonly i see a bright pinky purple. i now just manage the aches and enjoy the colours and the information they provide.

    Reply
  11. ed
    ed says:

    Anmol,

    again, Ineed your guidance on something…

    while meditating these past couple of days a lot of memories are surfacing in my thoughts. memories from my childhood and younger years of events and people that were either hurtful…events where I was offended or when I offended someone. these thoughts would simply appear in my mind and disappear a few moments later.

    the worst of the memories of a relative that disappeared (went missing) over a decade ago. he wa my brother. this thought in particular brings a tremendous feeling of sadness and I find myself wishing for his return.

    my brother did yoga during his teenage years (this was over 20 years ago) and he joined an ashram called “ananda marga.”

    I have been reading a lot about Kundalini and some of what I’ve read has stated that a person that is not ready for Kundalini may go into psychosis.

    before he disappeared, my brother showed symptoms of psychosis (according to his wife) and paranoia where he would tell his wife that someone is after him.

    I don’t really know much of the details of what transpired but it seems to me that he suffered a mental breakdown and simply left his family.

    I found myself focused on him on the last few sessions of my practice and I don’t know why or what it would do for him.

    I don’t know if he is still with us in this world or had passed on but all I feel is the desire for his return.

    his disappearance was part of my deppression during my Aikido years but I find that my mind has been focusing more on it than before.

    I don’t know what to make of it. I don’t feel sadness or fear for myself, it’s simply a feeling of emptiness and helplessness about his situation (if he is still alive).

    at any rate, my practive has been placing a great deal of emotions to the surface that I’ve never focused on before, or I had simply burried in the past. I don’t feel the same symptoms of depression as I did in the past, just this awareness of emotions that surface and fades during a practice session.

    by the way, the buzzing has stopped but I did get a high pitch ringing that is again different from tinitus since the ringing is inside my head and in an of my ears. it was accompanied by nausea and dizziness that lasted for a couple of hours after my afternoon meditation. the only different thing I did during the session was add the Aum mantra using third eye activation.

    Reply
  12. Anmol Mehta
    Anmol Mehta says:

    Hi Ed,

    I am very familiar with the very pleasant energy buzzing in the ears, yes it does feel very very good :-D. Glad you are establishing a solid, daily practice.

    Best,
    Anmol

    Reply
  13. rainbow
    rainbow says:

    Hello,
    I just found your site while searching for information today after a very intense and somewhat frightening experience last night. I’m hoping you can give me some advice on what I may have experienced. I’m a bit embarrassed to tell this, but I want information so badly that I will share.

    I was having sex and experienced something I’ve never felt before. It felt like a HUGE and very powerful surge of energy rushing up my spine, so strong that it felt like my head would blow off and I lost all control of my body. It felt like I might die. It was scary for both of us. It was the most intense feeling of energy I have ever experienced. We didn’t know what to make of it.

    I have practiced some Hatha yoga, but not consistently. I do not meditate very often either. I have read a bit about Kundalini in the past, so I started thinking that what I have read sounded similar to my experience. I have heard of people having this rush of energy, and that it can be dangerous if you’re not prepared.

    Have you ever heard of such an experience happening through sex? Do you think it was Kundalini, or something else?

    Thank you!

    Reply
  14. Andrew
    Andrew says:

    Hello Anmol!

    I`ve read the symphtoms of kundalini awakening and i`m speaking honestly – i`ve almost all rare symphtoms and all uncommon! common ones was as i realised long ago, when i was 14 or 15! But one last and extremely rare symptom is absent. Every other i`m feel almost constantly!
    Pressure in the Third Eye Region (Ajna Chakra).
    Sudden bursts of energy anywhere in the body.
    Spontaneous yoga asans or kundalini yoga movements.
    Unfortunately, pain in the lower back, back of the neck and headaches.

    All of those happening to me every time!

    Experience of divine light within. This is appear especially when i`m meditating! That is incredible feeling!
    Spontaneous bliss, intensely pleasurable.
    This one is a bit scary. Complete paralysis of the body.

    I`m feeling almost everything of it! Can you advise me something? I mean can you advice me what i need to do?

    All the best
    Andrew.

    Reply
  15. ed
    ed says:

    Anmol,

    I’d like to share what I experience yesterday…

    first was a buzzing sound in my left ear. it was a very low buzzing sound (vibration) that I was hearing all day from the time I meditated at 2 am in the morning until I went to bed at night. it was distinctly different from tinitus which is a high pitch ringing…the sound was more like buzzing of beez and is a very low vibration.

    second was when I meditated in the afternoon…an intense heat started at the very bottom of my lower back and started rising close to my navel area. the skin of my back felt very hot even after I stopped meditating (since someone rang the doorbell).

    they startling experiences but felt very good to say the least.

    I have been dilligent in performing my practice daily (even when I’m at work, I am able to meditate at work since I have my own office) and every time I meditate I would always get muscle twitches at random places on my body (legs, arms, all around the body)…the only place that isn’t random is a twitch on my eyebrows (mostly on the left and middle of the eyebrows) since it always occurs every time I meditate.

    Reply
  16. CONFUSED
    CONFUSED says:

    Hi, Anmol. I have been practicing KY daily for only 2 weeks but have practiced Bikram yoga for several years before. I had several BY classes when I cried during class (usually during Camel pose) and it felt wonderful. Since then, there has been a constant sensation in my heart chakra of overwhelming emotions, like i want to cry but can’t. Yesterday, after a brief practice of Bellow breathing in the morning, I went to a slimming salon as a “gift” from a friend and they used a vibrating massager on me. It was very uncomfortable and I couldn’t finish the treatment because I felt my heart was going to explode and I had a hard time breathing. I felt very panicky (which is not usual for me) Could the intense vibrations of the massager along with the bellows breathing exercise released the kundalini? I know I’m not prepared to deal with this as I still feel very anxious and jittery. What meditations/pranayama should i practice to help me adjust to these scary and overwhelming sensations. I’m quite scared that I might be one of those examples who went nuts because of KY. thanks

    Reply
  17. ed
    ed says:

    Anmol,

    I found this article (actually part of a book by El Collie) regarding kundalini. it’s a fascinating read. it seems that author had undergone quite a spiritual awakening. I don’t know if anyone else had posted this but here’s part of the article.:

    Kryias and Mudras Part II
    by El Collie
    What causes these kriyas? Most of the literature I’ve found says that when the prana — lifeforce — is increased in the body, it’s crudely analogous to water pressure being increased in a hose. If the pressure is radically increased and the hose is narrow, the force of the water will make the hose whip around furiously. In order for high vibration energy to flow smoothly through our systems, we need to be enlarged and unobstructed. This expansion and clearing takes place on many levels: physically, mentally, psychologically, emotionally. The activated Kundalini produces kriyas when it comes up against inner blockage. This blockage may be in the form of stored physical or emotional trauma, limiting beliefs and attitudes, or psychic debris from collective toxins, past lives, astral dimensions, and other arcane sources. The externally evident kriyas, visible as uncontrolled movements of the body, signify a great inner healing process. It’s unnecessary for us to be consciously aware of the exact nature of our blockages. As the shakti engages these blockages, it works to dissolve them. While this dissolution is occurring, lots of previously frozen, unconscious material becomes available to us. This may arise as thoughts, physical sensations, or emotions. At this stage, we often feel physically sick and emotionally unstable. Without warning or apparent provocation, we plunge into fits of rage or chasms of grief or despair. These erratic and overwhelming feelings are simply ancient energies which were locked within us. As the shakti empties us of these trapped energies, we temporarily relive them. This also happens on the physical level. Old injuries and illnesses are temporarily reexperienced. Although it can be painful and difficult to tolerate these physical and emotional states, they are not harmful. To the contrary, they are signs of deep, forgotten, festering wounds which are at last being opened, drained, and healed. Some of the texts refer to inner blockages as “resistance.” Unfortunately, this word has been misinterpreted to mean that kriyas occur if one has a resentful or resistant attitude toward the transformational process. Some “experts” insist that those who maintain a positive attitude toward their Kundalini awakening have very few and mild kriyas. From my own case, I know this is untrue. Even though my personal experiences have been intense and often painful, since I became aware that I was having a Kundalini awakening, I have accepted this process as a great gift. I can’t imagine how I could have been more surrendered to it than I have been. I’ve trusted Kundalini more than I ever trusted anything in my life. When my kriyas began, they were initially painless tremors and twitches. Then they developed into agonizing spasms. This again changed and for awhile, every kriya was preceded by a sensation that felt like an electrical shock. Then the shocks came less often, though I could usually feel a telltale tension in my body — similar to the way it feels before a sneeze — when a kriya was coming. By the time the kriyas had been going for a year, something wonderful happened. They began to be enjoyable! In and of themselves, the spontaneous jerking movements caused neither pleasure nor pain. But they would be immediately followed by waves of sensual energy surging through my body. These were my first continuous sensations of physical bliss since my Kundalini awakening began. For me, the kriyas seem to intensify when Kundalini is amplifying the energy in my body.

    Reply

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