In the shadowed valleys between vertebrae, something ancient stirs. A power so profound, so transformative, that mystics have whispered about it for millennia. They call it Kundalini—the coiled serpent of divine energy that rests at the base of your spine, waiting to rise.
The First Tremors of Awakening
Let me tell you something about awakening that the glossy yoga magazines won’t: it’s not always pretty. When the serpent begins to uncoil—when that dormant evolutionary force decides it’s time to rise—the earth beneath your feet may well begin to tremble.
The initial symptoms can be as subtle as a persistent tingling at the base of your spine, or as dramatic as spontaneous body movements that yogis call ‘kriyas’—involuntary jerking, shaking, or even animalistic poses your body assumes without conscious direction. Your spine might feel like a lightning rod in a storm of cosmic electricity.
It has happened in ashrams from Rishikesh to Big Sur—that moment when a practitioner’s eyes go wide, when their breath catches, when they realize something vast and unspeakable has begun to move through them. Something both themselves and infinitely greater than themselves.
The Ascent Through Chakras
As Kundalini rises, it navigates the subtle energy highway of your central channel, or Sushumna Nadi. Imagine a serpent of light climbing the ladder of your chakras—each energy center a new realm of consciousness to be integrated.
At the Muladhara (root chakra), you may feel grounded yet simultaneously shaken to your core. Survival fears surface. Old traumas bubble up from the depths. The serpent is clearing debris from its path.
Moving to Svadhisthana (sacral chakra), creative and sexual energies might intensify. Dreams become vivid, sensual. The boundaries between pleasure and spiritual experience blur in ways that our puritanical culture has never prepared us for.
When Kundalini reaches Manipura (solar plexus), power struggles emerge—both internal and external. Who are you beyond your ego? What false structures of self must burn in this transformative fire?
The Heart and Beyond
The ascent to Anahata (heart chakra) often brings profound emotional release. I’ve witnessed stoic meditation veterans break into uncontrollable sobbing as decades of armoring around the heart dissolves. Compassion floods in—sometimes overwhelmingly so.
At Vishuddha (throat chakra), your truth demands expression. You may find yourself speaking with new authority, or finally breaking silences you’ve maintained for a lifetime. Some experience a complete vocal transformation.
When Kundalini reaches Ajna (third eye), the ordinary boundaries of perception begin to dissolve. Synchronicities multiply. The veil between worlds thins. You might perceive energies, entities, or dimensions that consensus reality insists don’t exist.
And then, if your system is prepared, comes the crown. Sahasrara. The thousand-petaled lotus at the top of your head unfolds, and consciousness expands beyond the confines of individual identity. This is samadhi. This is what the ancient texts attempt to describe when language itself begins to fail.
The Dark Night and the Integration
Here’s what they won’t tell you in the weekend workshop: Kundalini awakening often includes a “dark night of the soul.” As the serpent rises, it illuminates every shadow in your psyche. Nothing remains hidden. Nothing escapes transformation.
You might experience periods of disorientation, hypersensitivity, or even symptoms that mimic mental illness. The medical establishment, with its mechanistic view of human consciousness, often has no framework for what you’re experiencing. Friends and family may worry. You yourself may wonder if you’ve gone too far down the rabbit hole.
The Authentic Life After Awakening
Once Kundalini has risen, there is no going back to unconscious living. The path forward is one of integration—bringing the light of your awakened consciousness into every aspect of your life. Relationships transform or dissolve. Career paths may radically alter. Your very purpose for being here is clarified.
The most beautiful part? You begin to recognize the divine serpent energy in others—those who are awakened, those in the midst of awakening, and those in whom Kundalini still sleeps, dreaming of the day it will rise.
We are witnessing a mass Kundalini awakening on this planet right now. In yoga studios and meditation halls, yes—but also in protest movements, in artistic revivals, in the sudden ecological awareness sweeping through the collective consciousness. The serpent rises not just in individuals, but in humanity itself. And that, my friends, is both terrifying and exactly what this moment in history demands.
