Kundalini: Danger, High Voltage - Kundalini Awakening

By El Collie

Danger, High Voltage

We are treading sacred waters here. To plunge in recklessly is to risk self-annihilation.

A Kundalini release can be triggered by meditation, yoga, prayer, bodywork, psychedelic drugs, a life crisis (such as extreme physical or emotional trauma, a near-death experience or the death of a loved one), childbirth, menopause, certain ascetic or sexual practices, and so forth. Kundalini can also awaken spontaneously from no apparent cause. This out-of-the-blue Kundalini arousal occurred in my own case in 1991. Since then, I have communicated with hundreds of people whose Kundalini rose involuntarily, initiating a long transformative process.

For many in this situation, once Kundalini has risen, its activity in the system is constant and palpable. Unusual energy sensations are frequently or continuously experienced. These are often felt as tingling, vibrating, buzzing, prickling, stinging, itching, burning or crawling sensations. A host of other physical, psychological, psychic and spiritual changes may precede or arrive in the wake of the classic torrent of energy rushing through the spine and out through the top of the head in an explosion of light/ecstasy.

The ongoing Kundalini process differs from occasional pranic-energy releases or mystical experiences, after which the Kundalini settles back into dormancy, but these isolated experiences can be precursors to a future full-blown Kundalini process. When we are in the midst of this profound transformation of our body/minds, unless we are being guided by wise and experienced teachers, it is better to trust the innate intelligence of Kundalini than to attempt to control or push the energies along. I have heard story after story of disastrous results when individuals with awakened Kundalini tried to force the process in any way. Havoc has also plagued those who submitted to intervention from others who were unqualified to work with Kundalini.

Practices and techniques often recommended to rouse Kundalini can be outright dangerous when the Kundalini is already up and roaring. I am speaking of methods like pranayama (yogic breath-control exercises), holotropic breathwork, and most formal methods of meditation. Excruciating headaches, infernal heat, seizures, extreme anxiety and psychosis have been the price paid by many who learned the hard way to respect Kundalini's natural course. All of these afflictions can also occur during an intense Kundalini episode when there has been no interference, but the system can rebalance itself more quickly when it is not being stressed by over-stimulating practices.

Once Kundalini is awake and active in the system, especially when it has awakened spontaneously and the individual does not recognize what is happening, the tendency to fight against it is strong. This can be mentally and physically harmful. A man who was weary of months of debilitating fatigue (common at certain stages of the Kundalini process) decided to give himself a boost with amphetamines. This was a serious mistake; he catapulted himself into a ten-week bout of psychosis.

Another individual had panic attacks trying to resist the seemingly alien force of Kundalini as it twisted her ribcage and torso into bizarre positions. When she learned that such unusual postures are caused by Kundalini's purposeful inner adjustments to allow the energy to flow freely, she relaxed and allowed the energy to take over. Not only was her fear diminished, she told me that her overall health improved from that point on.

Quite a number of people with risen Kundalini (myself included) have experienced a worsening of symptoms as a direct result of energy manipulations performed by healers. I suffered an immediate increase in pain and no discernible improvement in my Kundalini symptoms after treatments from three different bodyworkers, and then decided to stay away from them altogether. This is not to say that anyone whose Kundalini has risen must avoid healers, bodyworkers or spiritual advisors! I also know of people whose Kundalini difficulties were greatly relieved by such practitioners. The important thing is to be very discerning. Healers, therapists and teachers who are familiar with Kundalini and who are respectful and sensitive both to the client and to the energies can help immensely.

When the Kundalini awakens, tremendous power is unleashed. The resulting expansion of consciousness affects every element of our being, from our biological functions to our personal relationships to our concept of reality to our influence in the world. We are irrevocably changed in ways we could not have imagined and in ways we may never fully comprehend.

For some of us, the risen Kundalini gives us our first or most unmistakable contact with the Spirit. Before my Kundalini rose, I thought the resurgence of Goddess religions were mostly a feminist backlash against millennia of a masculinized God. Now I understand it all quite differently. Kundalini is Shakti, the Great Mother Goddess, the living energy that daily makes her vibrant presence known in my body and my psyche. She is as fierce and powerful as she is mysterious and enticing.

Whether or not anyone else shares my deified view, Kundalini is not a blind force of nature because there are no blind forces of nature (with the possible exception of the human mind!). Approaching Kundalini with arrogance, impatience or greed is asking for trouble. Usually, mercifully, such attitudes assure that one's own Kundalini will not stir at all. If Kundalini is to be invoked, it must be with care and better still, with reverence and humility. We are treading sacred waters here. To plunge in recklessly is to risk self-annihilation.

El Collie is the late editor of the newsletter, Shared Transformation, see http://www.elcollie.com