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.
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.
Hi there I was doing a search on Google for Kundalini Symptoms when I came accross this website. I am curious if anyone has had this experience.
During the past few days I’ve been having fleeting ‘visions’, just mentally imagining a loud BANG going of inside my head. About the sharpness and intensity of a hand gun type of ‘bang’. It comes and goes and usually I have it during the day and more towards the evening.
I don’t actually hear anything and there is no pain, I just imagine it, but it’s very difficult not to ‘let it’ happen. Has anyone had a similar experience or the exact same thing?
It’s also worthy to note that last year I was having some strange experiences too.. for a few weeks I would have moments throughout the day when my scalp felt like it was tightenning for no apparent reason, but the sensation was not accompanied by any actual real tightening of the skin as far as I know. The sensation was real, but when I touched my head it didn’t feel odd or anything. I would also get prickles in my scalp sometimes and more rarely, I would have a sensation that the tightenning was just at the top of my head and almost felt like pressure. I’m a naturally anxious person and so it was somewhat unsettling to feel these things.
Are these also considered symptoms of kundalini rising? What does this all mean? Can I eliminated these symptoms? Can I learn to control them. Does anyone have any recommendations?
The most disturbing symptom has been the one lasting these past few days. I feel as though I am inviting this thing I simply imagine as an incredibly harsh BANG in my head.. like being wacked really hard with a big, flat, alluminum paddle… or more like a gun just exploding inside the back of my head. It’s usually in the ‘back’ of my head, but sometimes, although more rarely in the ‘middle’. I am stressed out and it seems when I get stressed it occurs with more intensity, but as to why a bang and not something else I don’t know.
Anyway, enough talking. I’d be happy to hear about some similar stories or some advice from some of you. Thanks!
Emily,
Yes Kundalini Awakening can certainly occur due to a variety of reasons… non-spiritual reasons as well.
This does sound like Kundalini Awakening.
We would recommend trying Sat Kriya and try doing things that are creative and express yourself as freely as possible.
Also do Sheetali Pranayam. This is cooling for the body.
If possible just observe the arousal with judgement and participation if possible. See what happens if you do this…
Keep us posted.
All the best,
Trupti
I have an unusual question–
I have recently been experiencing intense sexual feelings as though I am constantly on the verge of orgasm, and no physical act (intercourse, masturbation) has been able to diminish these intense feelings. These “episodes” come and go, but when I am having one I can masturbate without break for hours, having dozens of orgasms, but the feeling does not diminish.
Obviously, I am very distressed about these experiences as one can not live a normal life with such intense and overwhelming sensations rising up and lasting for days at a time. I went to a doctor to tell her about my symptoms thinking that it might be a hormonal or nerve problem, but she suspected I might be experiencing an unintentional kundalini awakening. I am skeptical about this diagnosis (though not closed to the idea) as I have no background in meditation, eastern religions, yoga, or anything of the like.
Do you think my symptoms could be a result of an accidental kundalini awakening as my doctor believes? If so, what should I do? When these “episodes” occur I find it very difficult to concentrate on anything else, which leaves me feeling incredibly anxious and depressed.
I would appreciate any advice you could give me. Thanks.
-Emily
hello
can u plz tell me how to make brahma nadi strong,,,,,,
Rangi,
I would suggest doing the Beginners Yoga class and Beginner Kundalini Yoga class (#101).
Also, since you have never done yoga, reading the Beginners Guidelines first would be helpful.
This should help.
Feel free to let us know of any issues or concerns you may have.
All the very best,
Trupti
J,
Thank you for sharing.
Best,
Trupti
I’ve experienced kundalini on and off many times, sometimes to the point where I can bring it about consciously. I believe true kundalini is something that is brought about through spiritual realization or awakening, not something induced by something in the physical sense.
My kundalini experience consist of a very blissful feeling of warm energy going up the spine and into somewhat of the brain area, it last for minutes or sometimes hours. The energy from the spine causes a sense of peace and joy inside yourself. There is sometimes also an enhanced sense of awareness, but I’ve had these burst of awareness before having the kunadlini, so I don’t know if this is a specific symptom of kundalini. There are other effects, but they are not the actual kundalini more of the transformative effects of it.
Any negative side effects, such as pain, headaches, psychosis, and others (some of which I experienced) is because the lower mind or the ego is clashing with the higher spiritual awakening. Since the primal ego and higher spiritual enlightenment do not mix. If anyone activates kundalini prematurely with a lower level of consciousness they will suffer harsh side effects. These maybe some of what people are experiencing. Which is why true kundaliani is only to be activated in as long as it coincides with a regimen of spiritual practice and willingness to surrender the ego, a lot of in which meditation helps.
I’ve read some of these accounts and I believe some of the peoples experiences are just impact of energy enhanced by some sort of physical work not true kundalini. Sometimes things can be done that bring about an enhanced energy or feeling of electricity through the body, but its not always spiritual in nature or kundalini, just normal energy working or flowing in the body.
Frank,
It’s not uncommon for these phases to occur and disappear in intervals. The best thing to do is to establish a good Meditation and Yoga practice now!
I don’t think the word Kundalini was a coincidence. I think life or infinity (as Anmol would call it) was beckoning you to do your part :-)
The following links will help you get started.
Beginners Guidelines
Beginners Meditation
Beginners Yoga
Glad to hear that you are feeling this change….
Feel free to let us know of any concerns or issues.
Wishing you all the best.
Trupti
For the last several years I have struggled to wake up and to have enough energy to barely make it threw the day , BUT , about a month ago , after being sick for close to a week , I told my Dad I was going to the Dr. the next day, as I was getting worse and hurting more , Well that evening a Friend of mine brought me some different kind of water , I drank two glasses of it that night , and one more the next morning , and to my surprise I felt as if I no longer needed to go to the Dr. . By the next day I had more energy than my medication had ever given me , ( I took adderall for ADD for several years ) within just a few days I quit taking my adderal , and now it has been close to a month , and I feel better than I have sense I was a teenager , I just turned 53 years old on April 6th , and before I started drinking this water I felt every bit of 65 or more .
But here is my reason for this post , yesterday I felt as if my entire body had become an electrical generator , I could feel energy coming up through my legs and all over and within my torso , up into my head , out my arms and hands , and all of the sudden I heard the word ” Kundalini ” , I had no idea what it was , but just about an hour ago , while at one of my neighbors house , one of then just out of no where said the word ” Kundalini ” and I jumped up and said o my god , what is that , I had just heard that word in my head yesterday , and had been wondering about it. She said she thought it was some thing Buddhist but was not completely sure , so I looked it up on the net , and here I am .
Just drinking this water has completely changed my life in less than a month. I feel a Love for every one , like I have never felt , I have never been the kind of person to touch people , but now I can not keep my hands off of people , as I feel so full of this electrical power , that I just want to touch every one in the hopes that they will feel a little of it by me touching them . I wake up at peace with my self and the world , some thining I had not done sense I was a child. I feel a overwhelming joy deep within my being , I feel a genuine happiness , from the time I wake till I go to sleep , my sleep has become full of dreams .
I truly believe God has blessed me with a new chance at life.
I had studied about cancer for the last few years , sense my Mother died of it , and had dis-covered
the fact that if a person keeps an alkaline body instead of an acidic body that sickness cant live in you . and within less than one month of drinking this alkaline water , I AM A New Man. and now I even have the energy to exercise for the first time in years. Thanks for taking your time to read this.
I have felt incredible love for the world while meditating and become fully aware of my surroundings after a meditation. At times this awareness is totally within and without all at the same time.
Hi Anmol,
I haven’t practiced Yoga at all but have had experiences like what you describe. One that seems to be happening on a regular basis is a feeling that originates in the base of my spine that seems to flow in waves, it is pleasurable but somewhat overwhelming at the same time. The longest that I have had this last for was approx 30mins to an hour in regular intervals almost in succession. The most recent occurrance happened at work but thankfully didn’t last too long. I regularly get muscle twitches as well in my legs, arms, chest, back and sometimes my face. I also on occassion take on spontaneous postures or movements that I have not learned or seen anywhere which (for me) is a little strange. I think I’ll take a look at some of the asans and see if any of them match some of the poses/postures that I’ve done. I am very interested to begin learning more about Kundalini but unfortunately there aren’t any that teach it who live close by. The nearest class is over 4 hours drive away. Any input that you have would be greatly appreciated and perhaps will shed some light as to my experiences.
Thank you for your time.
Hi, about 5 months ago i started to get tingling sensations and extreme pressure in what i now i understand is the area of the crown chakra. I had never felt anything like it in my life, when it occured it altered everyone of my senses, mainly vision and hearing were extremely sensitive to light and sound, and what seemed my perception of reality ( i felt detached and not always present in my body or the world even though i could still control it) which made me extremely paranoid and nervous that i was going insane as many others have listed. It also wore me out quite abit feeling fatigued sometimes and after afew days of the sensation being there constantly i felt alot of pressure in my ears which lasted after the feeling in my crown subsided
When i first began to feel this sensation i had no idea about what the chakras or kundalini were nor had i ever meditated, even though this was spontaneous i have always had alot of interest in ideas of reality, the spirit, death and birth so on……complimenting this to why i could have experienced it was that i began feeling these sensations after i quit smoking pot. It was about 2 weeks after i quit, after smoking everyday for about a year and not as frequent (maybe a few times a week) afew years before. When it first started i thought i was turning schizo, i went through ridiculously long and deep mental speculations about what was happening to me, it felt like i was living in my head, I did not tell anyone for about a week but as it continued i had to tell someone. I told my girlfriend and she said that it must just be withdrawals, even though i thought it was much too intense to be that it still calmed me down. Exercise seemed to help alot as well. The sensations then stopped after a week and what i can only describe as my conscious mind began to believe it was withdrawals but then i asked a much older friend who had quit pot after smoking for some years and if he had experienced anything similiar, his answer was no but he was someone who practiced Qigong and he pointed to the exact spot on my head and asked me if “it felt like air was getting in there?” and i said i guess and he told me that my third eye was opening. I was so amazed by what he said as i knew nothing about it but understood it was some sort of spiritual phenomona. After reading all i could about it i was excited but also confused why he said the third eye and not the crown?
This reading also helped me in trying to control it, it seemed if i totally focused on it, it would be much worse and throw me into fear – like stewing in negative energy but if i was positive i could reach states where i felt very blissful and it felt easy to understand life. After a few weeks i noticed that my perceptions of the world were becoming alot more positive, not long ago i was extremely cynical, untrusting and pessimistic about the world, and felt the urge to focus and cleanse my life – be a better happier and kinder person
Sorry to rabble on about my story but it has been a very iintense journey.
In the weeks i also started to feel some pressure in my forhead, sometimes centred but sometimes between my eyebrows or both. It has been 5 or 6 months to count, i have felt the sensations on and off but they have started to change more, the pressure has recently moved primarily to my forhead, sometimes very intense but there is also sometimes generalised pressure and pricks of sensation on my crown but also in other areas of my brain no longer like a circle of dense sensation focused on the one area – also headaches sometimes. I also started to have very lucid and vivid dreams sometimes related to the past but also related to things i have never comprehended before. I should note that while all this has been happening i have been travelling europe for about 3 months – currently in Napoli and while in amsterdam could not resist the urge, somewhat of an experiment to understand whether it was totally related to pot. It was post this that the sensations began to change which made me very paranoid about whether the energy was moving down my chakras in a cleansing process or whether it was stress from not smoking pot that caused the pressure (when the sensations changed i questioned my sanity again which made me super stressed to the point where i thought my increased sense sensitivity where hallucinations).
When i have the power to talk myself out of the fear the pressure subsides abit but this could also be because i am not focusing on the chakra. I also still feel the pressure in my ears but less fatigue but have now also had sensations in my fingertips and hands and on one occassion resisted a strong urge to gyrate my arms, only for short periods of times.
I have thought i should start meditating but am unsure how to go about it as i am still travelling for about 2 or 3 months and have read it should not be taken up leisurely and optimaly taught in person by a trained yogi.
My major worries as to why it may not be kundalini is that i have not felt that burst of energy through the spine or any spontaneous visions definitive of an awakening (I can imagine those ideas like seeing a serpent rising or white light pulsating through the body but not spontaneous) – maybe because my channels are blocked? and the other is that i have read alot of contradictory information from different sources – mainly about the sensations possibly indicating a severe blockage and a possible illness to come but also indicating an awakening.
One the thing is for sure – i am seeing the world in new ways someitimes frightening beyond belief and sometimes beautiful.
Could anyone shed some light, i really appreciate this blog and have learned alot from all of your insightful comments!
peace
hi
i have been getting snake dreams from my childhood as well as they do appear in our compound or come inside our house. When i joined college i had crawling sensation, visions, as if someone is holding me, some force trying to take away my soul rather queer experiences. Once my parents started looking for alliances snakes increased their visits & one day it came inside my home & lay in a coiled shape. In midst of all these i got thyroid.Now it is 2yrs tat i had been married but we had irrecoverable losses in these 2 yrs. One is my mother-in-law & 2 miscarriages. We had gone to many temples & even the snake temple so that next pregnancy goes well. But still i have snake dreams & snakes come at my hometown. If kundalini awakening is a blessing why do i got to face such situations? i know japa, i used to meditate, i pray on a regular basis. i have often seen snakes in my dream in a friendly manner. What they expect from me is a mystery to me. Please advise.
Namaste Sir,I have been practising mantra japa for a couple of years. But a few months ago, I have felt a tingling sensation between my eyebrows for some time while doing the japa. Again, lat week when I was doing it, i felt intense burning sensation between my eyebrows, as if someone was burning that spot with a cigarette. I immediately stopped meditation and applied some sandalwood paste. Then while i resumed meditation, i felt some warmth in that spot once again which persisted even a few minutes after the japa. Ever since, i kept feeling an intense tingling sensation between my eyebrows every now and then, even while I am not meditating. Is this kundalini awakening??? Do I need to consult a guru about this ???
Starting about 8 years ago, I’ve had an increasing, morphing case of what I call “the jolts”. Now, they come on when I am deeply touched by something, meditating/doing yoga/deep breathing, thinking about/talking about God, deeply present. The closest description is like a sneeze – sometimes I can feel it building instants before it happens… other times, it just blind-sides me. It’s as if my first chakra has a POWERFUL sneeze – exploding my abdomen and forcing energy up through the rest of my body. The effect is similar to TV emergency room shows where they put the paddles on the chest and yell “clear”. It simply shoots this powerful bolt of energy up my body for an instant – and then collapses. More recently, it’s occasionally been accompanied by panting and an intense rush of sadness. Often I feel a tingling in my throat/jaw/mouth area – sometimes, as if it’s going up one nostril and down the other.
So many questions:
Why me? what is there about me that births/attracts this?
How to lessen the harshness – the raw edges/power of the energy?
What does this indicate? what’s next?
I continue to view it as an example of divine communication – others view it as an indication of my “unhealedness”/blockage/resistance – and then, there’s always the JUST PLAIN WEIRD!
Any insights would be appreciated. It really sucks when it happens in a job interview (when the interviewer says something particularly heart-felt and I connect!)
grace & blessings,
Kate
hello jeremy
ur welcome revert for any further query;;
Hello Naman,
Thanks for the very insightful reply! this has been something which has been on my mind for a while I now have a clearer understanding for directing my spiritual path.
Thank you!
hello jeremy;
listen that sexual abstinence is a requirement to have full kundalini awakening and to make it to raise upto crown chakra because it only transforms that sexual energy and if we keep on exploiting the energy by sexual means than it will take much time to have full awakening and spiritual advancement….
Hi Anmol,
Your website has been very valuable to my spiritual progression and I thank you for having it available.As I practice more kundalini techniques I find that my sexual energy greatly increases,so im wondering if maybe sexual abstinence actually allows for greater kundalini awakening?
Thank you & have a great day!
I have since learned that both the chanting and the kundaline are portals for Satan to come in.There are many of these and can be found out about at the SDA church..