Part 3: Kundalini, Energetic Balance, and Staying Grounded
Before I share some of the more specific topics related to Kundalini awakening, I want to first provide you with some practices to ensure a safe process for you. This is my priority. My intention with this work is to prepare you as best as I can.
Just like the previous section, the 6 Guiding Principles, learning how to maintain energetic balance within the body is very important for a safe and smooth process. Please don’t overlook these practices and insights.
The Kundalini process is a transformative one. It will bring about change to your system in every dimension - psychologically, emotionally, physically, energetically, and of course spiritually. These changes are all for the best in the end, but the journey there can have its challenges and ups and downs.
We can look at the Kundalini process like a complete home renovation. Things get messy prior to finally being settled in their new state.
Sometimes, the energy can move very quickly, in high amounts, and this can bring some serious instability to our system. So today, I want to share some simple, straightforward, and safe practices that you can do to regain stability and to feel grounded in the midst of those intense times where things might be happening a little too fast for you.
Before I get into the tips, I just want to let you know that when working with Kundalini, our intentions are always to work with it, not to control it. So these practices are about working together with the Kundalini in tandem, not about attempting to dominate it, shut it down, or make it go away.
Kundalini generally rises from the root upwards towards the crown (but not always, we can talk more about that later). Sometimes, it happens in a quick burst, or multiple bursts, that are very intense all within a brief moment.
At other times, it happens very gradually over time, perhaps months, or even years. These more gradual awakenings are generally more stable than the more intense awakenings, but both kinds of awakenings can have their challenges and times when the energy reaches certain points within your system that may not be fully acclimated yet.
Sometimes, the Kundalini can rise into the higher chakras at a very high rate, causing us to feel all sorts of different symptoms - from anxiety, to mania, depersonalization/derealization, emptiness sickness, zen sickness, and so on.
We can feel very ungrounded and spaced out. It can sometimes feel as if we’re not in our bodies at all, and this can get pretty uncomfortable at times. We can feel as if we are stuck in emptiness, or the void, witnessing our body as if it were a character in a play.
At other times, we can feel intense pressure in our heads. We might have headaches, spasms in our facial and neck muscles, intense tingling on our scalp, tinnitus, insomnia, and a complete lack of focus.
Generally speaking, all of these symptoms are typical for one to experience to some degree as they go through the Kundalini process, so if you have or will have any of these experiences, I don’t want you to feel as if something is going wrong.
But that doesn’t mean that you are just forced to sit back and power through these difficult situations. There are things you can do which will bring relief while not interfering with your Kundalini process overall.
Prior to Kundalini rising from the Root chakra upwards, we can be very worldly and mundane in our thinking and overall state of consciousness. We can be very focused on our work, our survival, lust, addictions, and so on. This is not very balanced when considering the rest of our untapped potential.
But then, when the energy begins to rise, it can sometimes result in the polar opposite, if it becomes too focused up at the higher chakras, like the Third Eye or the Crown.
When this occurs, we can feel super spiritual, without having any real interest or connection to the physical world or even our bodies. We can dismiss or neglect our health, our relationships, and our work.
Just like being too stuck in the Root isn’t very balanced, being too stuck up in the Crown isn’t very balanced either. Ideally, being balanced and grounded means to be centered in the Heart chakra.
The Heart is the center of our system. There are three chakras above it, and three below it. It is the place where we should be aiming to rest and have our consciousness centered.
The practices I’m about to share with you won’t necessarily drain your higher chakras of all the energy completely, don’t worry. You’re not going to be losing all of the benefits from having your awakened Kundalini. These practices will simply bring balance to the energy, across your Crown, Heart, and Root.
There are many practices known to raise the energy up, to awaken the Kundalini, with Yoga and meditation and breathwork. There are many guided meditations that serve to cause the energy to rise from the Root to the higher chakras.
This knowledge is out there, easily found. But what’s not very easy to find is how to manage your situation when the energy becomes difficult to manage in the upper chakras.
What then? Well, these are the practices to consider to bring grounding and energetic stability to the system once again.
Tongue Up
Within the system of Hatha Yoga, this very simple technique is known as the Jiva Bandha, also referred to as “the loop of the Soul”. Simply place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth behind your top front teeth and let it rest there.
By doing so, this closes the energetic channel in the head and allows excess energy to drain down the neck, into the body, and finally into the Earth. Train yourself to keep your tongue up whenever you are at rest. It’s easy to do, it feels comfortable, and the effects are clear.
Depending on how energetically sensitive you are, you might literally feel the energy begin to drain down the neck immediately upon engaging the Jiva Bandha. If I had to only suggest one method of grounding excess energy, this would be it.
Gyan Mudra
This classic mudra is formed by joining the tip of the thumb and the index finger while extending the last three fingers outwards. Forming this mudra and placing one’s palms down onto the knees or thighs is an effective grounding technique that can be practiced almost anywhere.
Feet on the Ground
When you make conscious contact with your feet and the ground, the energy in your system can be balanced out very quickly. As often as you can, consciously feel the soles of your feet with each step that you take. Imagine breathing with your feet.
Bring your awareness out of your head and into your feet as much as possible. Walk barefoot on the Earth, with your feet in the grass, the dirt, or the sand. Once you get over the idea of getting your feet dirty, this practice feels incredible on an energetic level and on a basic physical level.
The soles of our feet are so sensitive and feeling the different temperatures and textures of the earth can really bring you out of your head, into the body, and into the moment. This is why the hippies walk barefoot. They know. If you sit in a chair, especially during meditation, always keep your feet on the floor.
As often as possible, make contact with the ground in order to stay balanced. If sitting cross-legged is most comfortable, lose the chair and just sit on the floor! It’s really not much different than the importance of having a grounding wire in an electric circuit.
Be in Nature
The trees are shining examples of what it means to be balanced energetically. Their roots reach deep into Earth while their branches reach high up into the sky. They aren’t just examples though, they’re also very conscious beings that are willing and able to assist you in grounding yourself.
You can hug a tree while asking it, in your heart or out loud, to help balance out the energy in your system. You can also sit with your spine against a tree trunk and enter into meditation with the intention of grounding.
In either case, the trees know what to do and they will begin working to ground you very quickly. You can also receive the same sort of assistance from the trees just by walking mindfully in the forest.
Move
Often, being ungrounded has to do with having excess energy in the head, resulting in a lack of awareness or attention given to the body. By engaging in physical activity, we’re able to bring awareness down into the body and to find balance.
During any physical activity, it’s important to bring full attention to any sensations and sensory perceptions that might be experienced.
When walking, eating, using the bathroom, being physically intimate, playing sports, or any other form of physical activity, transform it into a meditation. Bring full awareness to the body and the direct experience of each moment.
Spend Time with Animals
During a time when I was going through intense energetic shifts involving Kundalini awakening, chakra activations, and the like, I was very ungrounded and barely in the world or my body at all. While I was laying in my bed, my dog entered my room and immediately jumped up and onto my chest.
This was interesting because she was never allowed on my bed at all and had never jumped on me like this before. It was only on this one particular occasion that she felt that she needed to. I held her for a while and felt much more balanced and grounded than before.
Animals are totally grounded and fully in their bodies. They’re also energetically sensitive in ways that we often aren’t. Just being in contact with them can sometimes be enough to ground us. If you have pets, spending time with them while holding or petting them is a great method to find energetic balance.
Grounding Foods
Our diet can play a very significant role in the energetic balance of our body. By eating certain foods, we can experience immediate grounding effects. Some grounding foods are root vegetables that are grown in the earth like carrots, potatoes, beets, and turnips.
Dark leafy greens like spinach, Swiss chard, and kale are great also. Lentils, avocados, garlic, leeks, and onions can be very effective as well.
For some, eating just a small amount of meat can make a huge difference when it comes to grounding, too.
Be mindful of sudden shifts in diet, such as fasting, and take the appropriate measures to ensure to maintain energetic balance or to at least prepare yourself for any instability that may arise.
Visualization
In meditation, simply visualize liquid light, either golden or white, moving down from your head, through your neck, into your torso, down through your legs and your feet, and into the Earth. Repeating this a few times will directly influence the energy in your system, guiding it into a state of balance.
Speak to the Energy
The Kundalini is infinite intelligence. It is God within you. It can hear you and it can and will respond to you. So simply speak to it. Ask it to guide you, to show you what it needs you to do, to be gentle with you. You can communicate with it. You must. This is about working with the Kundalini together. It is a relationship. Communication is key.
So those are the techniques that I have for you today, to help you to find energetic balance during times of instability.
Remember that instability is normal and typical. There may come times when none of these practices are very effective and you’re simply required to surrender and to trust in the Kundalini’s wisdom.
At other times, you’ll need to have discipline to engage in these practices out of self-love to support your transformation.
For more information on the topic of maintaining energetic balance, you can check out my free ebook/audiobook called The No-Nonsense Grounding Guide. Scroll down to the very bottom of this page and enter your email to access it.
Contact me with any questions about your Kundalini awakening process.
Find out more about meeting with me one-on-one here.