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.
On a weekday morning, I proceeded to get dressed to leave for the office after completing my daily meditation practice. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror fully dressed (including high heels, business suit, etc.), I suddenly felt a tingling on the arches of both feet. I stood still just feeling the sensation (by the way, I lived on a 2nd Floor). The tingling grew stronger and continued to rise, extending through every cell of my body until it reached the top of my head, where it felt as if invisible fingers were tickling the Crown Chakra until it dissipated. It lasted only seconds. Afterwards every thing looked brighter, there was an indescribable glow everywhere; I felt as if I was not touching the ground when I walked. I was feeling fine, so, I figured it would pass. However, it stayed with me all day. Work was easy that day…I could anticipate others’ moods; timing was perfect. It was an incredible day! Well, I still clearly remember two decades later! It has happened at sporadic times since then, but never with the same intensity. Little did I know at the time that the Kundalini had suddenly, effortlessly, and unexpectedly risen that morning.
Hi,
Whenever I go to sleep, before i actually sleep, I hear sound of heavy wind blowing inside my body. Earlier, it sounded like waves in the sea but now a days it is like heavy wind blowing on my face and I cannot move my body at all. When this thing stops, I sleep soundly and wake up fresh. Is this Kundalini awakening? About an year ago, I heard the wind sound first, then it sounded OM as if millions of people are singing om together at a high pitch. I realised then that the Omkar is within us and we dont have to search it outside. I meditate on myself nowadays. It gives me peace as I dont have to concentrate on a particular figure or name. I think everybody evolve spiritually throughout their birth.
Hi Anmol,
I have joined your online yoga teachers training course a few days ago. All your articles are very well explained. I was going through the symptoms of kundalini awakening and came to know that I have had all the common symptoms you have mentioned here but never knew that it was this. I was so glad to note that I have experieced this during my practice. Am very happy to have taken up this course and sure will benefit a lot. Thanks ……..
I have been engaged in Kundalini yoga through Maya Fienne’s DVDs. On the whole, the practice seems to generate lots of benefits – some of which are on your list. However, I have been getting stiffness in the back of the neck for sometime, which causes discomfort, and wonder if there are practices to help correct this. Also, occassionally I feel too much pressure in the third eye region – is there anything I can do to ease the blockage? Also, after camel breath pranayama I felt a zone of pins-and-needles across my face, but only beyond what felt like a dead-circle, radiating around my front top teeth. I had a traumatic impact when I was a child and had nerves removed from these teeth as a consequence. Maybe seeing a teacher in person maybe handy – can you recommend anyone in Sheffield, UK?
I’m practicing pranayama and meditation for the last 10 years. In these years I’ve experienced many things. But I’m going to share the experiences that amazed me. Almost 1 year ago in every day after starting mediation, becoming like aggressive I was just starting to shout like a lion or tiger was roaring. It was spontaneous and was continuing almost the whole time of meditation. After some months this symptom had gone, but from the last few months whenever I meditate, my hands shake spontaneously and head rolls in both sides automatically.
Symptoms ive had for a while are: 1. Sense of heat and cold. 2. Tingling energy feeling in muscles mostly 3. Migraines 4 palpitations … the only symptom that is new is a pinching in the bottom of my head (nape of neck area)… the more i study, the more odd things ive experienced are found to be common to the kundalini awakening
aahahhaa really… my experience is a bit different, the onewho wrote this is not sure ahhahahaha…. that is not it ahahahah,…lol ahahah, you will gain very many extra abilities, not that ahahahah
I had two amazing experiences:
1. I felt unusual clear vision when all of the sudden things became super clear to me, and I figured out the key to happiness for myself at this particular moment- to live in here and now, not in the past, as i usually do.
2. While doing one exersise my hands went from hot to cold and back again several times- it almost felt like I had flashes of energy coming and going like waves. It was interesting to actually feel the proof of that energy arizing in me.
Ive experienced something miraculous!! I was diagnosed with ptsd because of childhood sexual and physical/emotional abuse. From the age of 18 to 29, I have had an irrational sadness, anger and hate towards men, an inability to have a relationship, suicidal thoughts, etc. Any man who tried to date me was in for an unpleasant surprise. The beautiful woman they desired was unstable and hateful without reason. I wanted to change but my past hurts and defense mechanisms were controlling me. I thought my life would eventually end in suicide. When I began practicing yoga I would feel temporary relief and feel more mellow. Then one day i went to a kundalini yoga class. I did feel intense feelings of emotional pain come up during the class. When i woke up the next morning, my beliefs had changed. I felt more aware and i realized that I was alone because Id pushed everyone away and that maybe not all men are evil. Maybe I needed to be more tolerant and loving so I could get the same in return. So I called a sweet guy who Id been so mean to and we get on just fine now. I can now accept the good in people instead of painting them as evil and hiding in pain and misery. I guess the abuse had made me view men and most people this way in an effort to protect me, but i was hurting people and living in isolation. I feel like i had an “epiphany” of sorts. My mind has truly been awakened. I just hope this is real and not just a temporary improvement, but as of now I am free anger and pain, i can love again and I will continue with kundalini yoga. I highly recommend it for people with emotional trauma. We dont have to be victims forever!
I’m not sure whether I’m experiencing Kundalini Awakening or not. It’s never caused me the slightest bit of fear except once when I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like a bolt of lightning went through me, and then all my muscles started tremoring and would not stop. But basically I’ve experienced constant warmth and tingling, especially in my feet and hands. I will have surges of energy. Sometimes it almost feels like an orgasm, and it happens to my brain as well. Feels so good. I will sometimes feel like I have been wrapped in a blanket of pure love. I wake up during the night and feeling deep love and connection with the world and certain people. I hear voices in my head, who I talk to. It’s never scared me. I always figured I was talking to various parts of myself or possibly God since I’m a Christian. I get pressure all the time in the middle of my forehead. I used to have trouble meditating but now I get all sorts of visions and images, and I can interact with my subconscious and ask it what they mean. I brought on all of this by accident. I didn’t even know what Kundalini awareness was until today, and now I’m afraid I’m going to cause myself Kundalini syndrome since I don’t know what I’m doing, but I wouldn’t stop it for anything. The only thing I sometimes don’t like is the tingling in my limbs, but I discovered on my own that walking barefoot outdoors helps, exercising helps, and I can usually channel my energy inwardly if I imagine it doing so. I’ve also been extremely teary-eyed lately which is very unlike myself. It’s like anything can bring me to tears. And I go through constant bouts of fatigue and then extreme energy and a need to constantly be doing.
Hi, my name is Luke and I believe I had one of the rare experiences, it started while I was with some friends smoking marijuana and we were talking about astral projection, I had recently started practicing mindful breathing and had been doing mindful meditation for the past 3 or 4 months beforehand, the first symptom I had was an intense eurphoria, it then escalated into and intense vibration throughout my body like I was a god damn live wire, my fingers were contorting in a wave like manner, I was scared at first but had an overwhelming thought to just calm as it’s meant to happen, I then lost control of my tounge and felt like I was not breathing even though I was, slowly it resided and I was overcome with emotion and started crying, this then happened again the next morning but not as intensely, I now sometimes expirience stomach tremors in public and especially when smoking weed.
Hi, I had an unexpected kundalini awakening one day. It was during a psychedelic experience combined with loud music, the band “Tool” and intense third eye meditation. I had no idea what Kundalini was. I was desperate to break through. At the time i didnt even know what that meant but i knew that I could somehow do it. After a forceful meditation session, i noticed i had this what i would describe as…
a softball sized dense ball of energy crawling up my spine. I had the sensation like i wanted to raise it up and vomit it out it was so tangible. It continued to crawl up my spine all the wya to my third eye region where it became stuck. Suddenly I saw a bright flash of white light in my thrid eye region and then I began to experience ego death. I literally fealt I was being deleted from reality. Like it was going to be zap! and all i ever was and knew would simply vanish forever. I fought it with all my might to not fade away and i succeded. Though, now i look back and really wish i would have just let go. Anyways, after that experience i began going through my kundalini transition and have had a myraid of symptoms.
I pre-maturly raised my kundalini and suffered the concequences. It was managable but it could have been much smoother if i had done it more gradually and knew what i was doing. It was just too much energy for what my body could handle and had a lot of uncomfortable symptoms. This is not to scare anyone because as annoying as it was i always knew it was for the best because i would also get very beautifyl and diivne moments where i would experience true divinity in a profound and tangible way that i knew was rare. Visitation by angels, pure unbounded extacy, contact with spirit guides, contact with Extra terrestials who were benevolent, psychic intuition, seeing, auras, intense feelings of oneness with all, periods where i was completly free of ego, all awesome stuff that was lifechangin. Conversley, i would get really bad blockages in my head for a few years that made me feel really mentally sluggish, very much so, it was difficult. Intense fatigue, i mean intense, i am just now getting over this and it lasted about 3 years to varrying degrees. I have been so completly out of rhythm and routine that i have learned to be comfortable being out of sorts and just follow my moment to moment intuition. I feel i am ascending and heading towards true enlightenment, in fact i know i am. Its wonderful. I am just comming to a place where i can begin to give back and share my experience and use it for my life purpose. Namaste, that is my in a nutshell experience. Thank youto the Anol, I am taking your yoga cert class now and loving it, i cant wait to teach.
Sir,
I am practising kriya yoga from last 12 yrs. I have gone through the symptoms written above regarding the awakening of the Kundalini. I have experience them all and some of them still experiencing. My problem from last few months is that middle finger of my right hand has a high burning sensation and some times I feel that my fore and upper arm which some time has a typical sensation perhaps because of the finger, may not be lost. This has made me go slow in my meditaion session. I will be very thankful if you can guide me in this respect. THANKS
OM DUTT SINGHAL
i’ll have to correct myself when i said marijuana indica could help grounding and I would say because the strains of marijuana that people are growing nowadays even if it’s indica, is still high in THC, and from my opinion is what people with kundalini awakening need to avoid. THC is psychoactive, works too much in the brain area. CBD on the other hand is the opposite of THC.
http://scienceofwholeness.com/what-is-it-like-to-have-kundalini-problems/
Although there is CBD in marijuana. CBD is the opposite of THC. CBD is anti anxiety, anti psychotic. Finding a marijuana strain high in CBD and low in THC is rare in my area, and I’m sure almost any area.
http://www.projectcbd.org
Also the indica from the marijuana may not be a good choice for grounding chi, since THC really increases the head area, increasing brain activity, and this is definitely not what an awakened kundalini person would want.
http://theyogalunchbox.co.nz/2011/05/09/suggestions-on-what-to-do-if-youve-had-a-kundalini-awakening/