by Last Updated on October 2, 2025 by Avia
Kundalini awakening is one of the most profound experiences within the yogic traditions in India, and, naturally, one of the ones that is either misunderstood or simply unknown outside of the community.
It’s not a metaphorical concept, but rather a framework that seeks to awaken the potential within your human system. The process itself is often represented by a coiled serpent that sits at the base of your spine, and when awakened, many experience a profound psychological, physiological, and energetic change.
Table of Contents
What is Kundalini?
Kundalini is the dormant spiritual energy that sits at the base of the spine. When awakened, it’s said that the energy travels upwards through your central energy channel, known as the sushumna nadi, and works to activate and purify each of your chakras along the way until it reaches the sahasrara, or the crown of your head. You can think of it as a serpent rising through your body, activating every part of your consciousness along the way. Some people even feel physical symptoms, like heat that rises or changes in their breathing.
In short, it’s a deeply spiritual, powerful experience.
How is Kundalini Supposed to Work?
Kundalini works within the yogic understanding of the human body. If you’re unfamiliar with yoga spiritual practices, the body is said to contain seven primary chakras, each of which correlates to different states of your consciousness. The heat chakra, for example, is said to be associated with love or compassion, while the eye chakra relates to intuition. Kundalini awakening is said to activate and balance each of those chakras, which, as you can start to tell already, is meant to lead to an expanded sense of awareness.
Is Kundalini Awakening Right for Me?
If you are already a deeply spiritual person who has found inner peace and a sense of mind-body connection through meditation, yoga, and breathwork, a kundalini awakening is simply the next step in the process towards enlightenment. If you want to see truly how far your inner transformation can go, then working towards a kundalini awakening is right for you. If you don’t feel that connection or drive towards that self-transformation, at least through a yogic lens, then it’s not. Simple as that.
How To Experience a Kundalini Awakening
Kundalini awakenings take time, dedication, and preparation. While you absolutely can experience such an awakening on your own, it’s almost always better to be guided through the experience (at least your first time) so that you are more equipped with the tools and approaches necessary to reach that level of awakening.
Guided kundalini awakenings usually only occur after you have established enlightenment protocols within your own life. This usually comes from an all-encompassing approach to mindfulness, where what you eat, how you move, your routines, and how you express yourself are adapted towards a more mindful approach.
Once you have established that basis and are very familiar with yoga, breathwork, and meditation practices, you can then focus your attention on the stages of kundalini awakening.
1. Activation
In this stage, the dormant energy in the base of your spine begins to stir. It’s usually activated through pranayama, mantra, or meditation. Sometimes, however, it can even be accidentally activated, for instance by those who have just had a near-death experience. You’ll know it’s been activated by the unusual physical sensations that occur, like tingling or vibrations. Some even experience heat building up at the base of their spine.
2. Ascent
Once the energy builds up, it then starts to release through the chakras. During this stage, you may experience vivid dreams or heightened emotional sensitivity. If you have pain in your past or unresolved issues, these concerns may arise during this period and block you by putting those traumas front and center. This is okay; it simply means you now need to address those pains before continuing on further, usually at a later date.
3. Cleansing
During a kundalini awakening, your energy will dissolve blockages in your chakras and energy pathways. This can lead to mood swings, catharsis, or even physical discomfort. Trust in your guru or guide to ground you through the experience, allowing you to trust in the process as you get closer to your kundalini awakening.
4. Expansion
After all those blocks in your energy chakras are dissolved, your energy itself becomes more stable, as it’s now able to flow properly through your body. Practitioners often report feeling absolute bliss during this stage. You may find your creativity becomes unlocked, or you can now reflect with greater clarity than ever before.
5. Integration
This is another key stage of the kundalini transformation, and is best managed through guru guidance. While the expansion is certainly the emotional and physical peak of the kundalini awakening, the integration stage is where you work to embody that awakened energy into your body and learn how to express creatively and compassionately.
What’s the Science Behind Kundalini?
While kundalini experiences are a mindful, spiritual practice, there is evidence of profound physical changes to the body while one is in the awakened state. A 2015 study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) found that kundalini awakenings activate the left prefrontal cortex, providing evidence of the perceived altered state of consciousness.
Similarly, areas of the brain associated with joy and happiness were also activated. While studies of the kundalini experience are rare, this is just one example of how the profound experience practitioners have during a kundalini awakening can be scientifically observed.
Begin Your Kundalini Journey
The kundalini journey begins with mindfulness. If you have yet to begin your journey into meditation, breathwork, yoga, and even nature or sound bathing, now is the time to begin. You must first learn how to connect with that energy within you, and then you can be guided through to activate that energy and achieve the kundalini awakening. The best place to begin, then, is to find a guru, shaman, or guide to walk you through the steps from mindfulness to awakening to, eventually, enlightenment.
Want more? Me too! That’s why I’ve also got this for you on Whats-Your-Sign:
