Part 11: Kundalini Rising and Yoga
This is a huge topic, the idea of Yoga and Kundalini. Essentially, the entire topic of spirituality, awakening, Self-Realization, and all that all falls under the umbrella of the topic of Yoga.
But today I want to specifically focus on offering a deeper understanding and a broader picture of the Yoga scene in the western world, and offer some tips for navigating it within the context of your Kundalini awakening transformation.
Spiritual aspirants often reach out to me via email or in sessions with a situation that goes something like this:
They were feeling like trying something new, managing anxiety, and/or getting some exercise in, and so they went to a few Yoga classes at a local studio. There, the teacher guided them through some practices of breathwork, known as pranayama, some movement and postures, known as asanas, and some form of meditation.
Some time later, maybe a few weeks, the spiritual aspirant began to feel some very strange things. Energy moving through their body, maybe specifically up the spinal column, having strange sensory experiences like seeing auras, out of body experiences, lucid dreaming, emotional upheaval, sudden deep meditative experiences, maybe even spontaneous body movements.
In short, they began to experience signs of a Kundalini process, most likely not knowing exactly what was happening.
And so they approached their Yoga teacher hoping for some answers and guidance. But the Yoga teacher couldn’t seem to help much. And the aspirant became confused, scared, and generally lost about what to do in terms of the strange phenomena they were experiencing.
So what’s really going on in a situation like this? Which, by the way, is rather common. Well that’s what I want to unpack today. Be warned, I might step on some toes, but it’s important.
Yoga in the west is a far cry from its origins in the east. What’s offered at local Yoga studios is usually done so in a haphazard way by teachers that are unaware of what they’re really offering.
With that said, most people benefit a lot from these classes. There’s great fun in moving, connecting mindfully with the body, becoming stronger and more flexible, and in joining a like-minded community. I myself am a trained Yoga teacher and have spent plenty of time in Yoga studios bouncing around on the mat.
Most people that visit Yoga studios are not in a position to really have any significant spiritual awakening shifts happen as a result of practicing Yoga in these ways. They’ll be just fine.
But a select few people are sensitive and on the brink of spiritual transformation and shifts and can have their systems pushed too quickly which can lead to Kundalini awakening as a result of things like asana and pranayama practice. And if they lack proper guidance, they can find themselves struggling and alone while trying to navigate the experience.
Yoga originated in India thousands of years ago. The word itself means Union, implying Union with God. It refers to the uniting of Shakti with Shiva. It’s about the experience of Kundalini Shakti rising from the base of the spine to the Crown and bringing about Self-Realization.
Therefore, all Yoga is really Kundalini Yoga. All Yoga is really Kundalini Yoga.
One of the most essential Yogic texts, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, is where much of the inspiration for the practice of movement and postures comes from. But this text only mentions a very limited amount of postures. It speaks of using these postures to prepare the body to sit in meditation. Most of the text is about sitting with the aim of attaining a Kundalini rising, and then entering into Samadhi in meditation.
How did the original authors of texts like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika come to know about these different postures and practices? Well, they certainly didn’t just make them up themselves through trial and error or through the logic of the intellectual mind or ego.
They simply observed the spontaneous phenomena of Kriyas as they were occurring for those already in the midst of a Kundalini process. After enough observation, they documented these different experiences and created these texts.
Remember, they were not overly focused on the postures and movement. They were not doing arm balances and handstands or obsessed with anatomy or posing perfectly like many practitioners are today. They were concerned with attaining Union with God, with the direct lived experience of Yoga, through the Kundalini process and Samadhi in meditation.
But the west has ignored those latter two points and instead focused solely on the poses and postures. Over time, people have been able to separate the practice of Yoga from the idea of Kundalini and meditative Samadhi.
The west’s obsession with the physical, with the body, and with anything exotic contributed to the practice of Yoga being propped up into a massive industry. Today we have so many people teaching Yoga and even creating their own styles of Yoga. But very few of them are actually Self-Realized, with awakened Kundalini and ability to access Samadhi in meditation.
And as a result, we now have people practicing things like postures and breathing exercises, completely disconnected from what these practices were originally intended for. And then of course, a few people do begin to experience Kundalini phenomena inadvertently and end up in tricky situations.
So why then, are most Yoga teachers unable to offer any guidance and support? Well, the main reason is that it is far beyond their scope.
Please understand this: no person can directly assist or guide you on your Kundalini awakening journey if they have not undergone the process themselves.
They may be very smart, kind, caring, open-minded, educated people. They may have studied everything about Kundalini awakening and spirituality. They may have all sorts of credentials. But if they have not experienced it themselves, they cannot directly help you with the specifics of your Kundalini process.
They may be able to support you in other ways, indirectly related to the smooth unfolding of your process. But you cannot expect them to understand or guide you on the topic of Kundalini specifically.
Most Yoga teachers at a studio have something like 200-500 hours of training. They were most likely trained by someone who had been teaching Yoga for a long time. But that doesn’t mean any of them are Self-Realized or that they know anything about what Kundalini is really all about, through direct experience.
Remember that anyone can claim to be a Yoga teacher. There are no requirements. One doesn’t even need to take a simple 200-hour training course. Even with these courses and programs, the focus is mainly on postures and movement. They’re not concerned with Kundalini awakening or even meditation, generally speaking, from what I have witnessed.
Even Kundalini Yoga, the brand of Yoga as founded by Yogi Bhajan, is to be approached with discernment by the sincere seeker or Kundalini aspirant. Their teachers as well, just take a few hundred hours of training and then they are permitted to go and teach very powerful techniques without proper understanding or direct experience.
Ashtanga Yoga, the lineage from India founded by Pattabhi Jois, is another questionable tradition with similar patterns of simply pumping out teachers around the world that don’t necessarily have any genuine Self-Realization or experience with Kundalini.
Ashtanga Yoga has its origins in European callisthenics. It’s a blend of fitness and asana, branded to appear ultra spiritual and esoteric. But they’re not dealing with genuine Self-Realization. They’re overly obsessed with perfecting postures and not much else. Just go to any Ashtanga studio and see for yourself.
Keep in mind as well, both Yogi Bhajan and Pattabhi Jois have very questionable histories riddled with abuse allegations. There’s even a video online of Pattabhi Jois performing the most dangerous adjustments on his students, touching them in perverted and violating ways. And it’s from the Ashtanga lineage that many Yoga teachers today have been inspired, without really looking into its origins.
In my opinion, these people were just running a business. The more students they could train to be teachers of their style of Yoga, the more power and influence they claimed. Genuine Self-Realization was not something they were interested in. And many other Yoga schools have followed this same sort of business model.
That’s why there are millions of Yoga teachers, but so few with any actual direct experience of things like Kundalini awakening, Samadhi, or Self-Realization, which might I remind you, are the goals of the practice itself. Most Yoga teachers that I’ve met don’t even have a meditation practice.
At these Yoga studios, the general attitude towards the idea of Self-Realization, Samadhi, enlightenment, or even Kundalini awakening is that it’s a very far out and lofty goal, probably meant to be attained in something like a thousand lifetimes from now.
Because it’s approached in this way, many don’t even bother trying to aim for it. But it is attainable in this lifetime for those with a sincere desire and curiosity. There are many living genuinely Self-Realized people alive today. Keep this in mind.
And that’s my long-winded rant about why you shouldn’t expect your local Yoga studio teacher to help you in the midst of your Kundalini process. They most likely don’t have a clue about how to address these things.
So how can we approach the idea of practicing movement-based Yoga? Should we steer clear of it altogether? I don’t think that’s completely necessary. There are some benefits.
Instead of avoiding it altogether, it’s important to cultivate discernment. Look at your teachers and question what the limits of their scope of knowledge and experience are. And allow them to support you and guide you within their scope. But don’t expect them to help you with much beyond that.
And the same goes for those who are teaching Yoga at these studios and whatnot. Know your own scope. Know what you’re talking about, research, and practice beyond your simple training program. And be humble and ready to admit that you don’t know all the answers and have resources available to refer your students to.
Discernment is an invaluable skill to develop on the Kundalini awakening path. You will likely begin to fly by many of your teachers, mentors, and inspirational figures, very quickly. Seek out the greatest teachers you can find, whether they are in books, in person, or in the non-physical planes. Do not settle for mediocrity.
When it comes to the actual practice of Yoga and movement, remember that the origins of all of these postures comes from the innate intelligence of the human body itself. Your body knows how to move, how to breathe, in order to heal and evolve.
Just like how a dog doesn’t need to be taught downward dog pose, you too, have the same intuitive knowledge of your own body and what it needs too. You can certainly go and enjoy some classes at Yoga studios, but remember not to push too hard beyond what your body is asking. Listen to your body, truly listen. It knows what it needs more than anyone outside could ever know.
One practice you can do is to make time and space to be alone where you can move freely. Begin to just breathe and flow in a natural and intuitive way. Move at a pace that feels right for you. Let go and surrender to any spontaneous impulses. If you relax into this state, especially with awakened Kundalini, you might enter into a beautiful flow of kriyas. This is real Yoga.
When it comes to pranayama specifically, I personally advise against practicing it unless you are working one-on-one with a Self-Realized teacher or if it happens spontaneously for you without effort. These breathing exercises are very powerful and are often taught and practiced carelessly.
Ask yourself - do all 20 or 30 people in a Yoga class need the exact same type of breathwork to benefit them each individually? Of course not. Everyone has a different disposition, different state of health, different state of consciousness, and is at a different place in their life. There are no one-size fits all pranayama practices that will benefit everyone in the room at the same time. Some might feel great. And others might get really unbalanced, sometimes to the point of inducing mental illness.
This whole topic of Kundalini and Yoga has been a major theme on my own journey. A year or so after my own initial Kundalini rising, I was being called deep into my body and out of my head as the awakening was being integrated. I experienced spontaneous kriyas and movements, but not as much as some others do.
I became curious about what the Yoga scene and all the postures were really all about. I decided to dive deep into a Yoga teacher training program, to learn as much as I could.
At this point, I already understood the importance of discernment. Before the course began, I approached the teacher and asked her directly - “What is your experience with Kundalini awakening?” She admitted that she had no direct experience with it.
I accepted this honest answer. I turned within myself and asked my own Kundalini for guidance. I received the green light to go ahead with the program. Throughout the program, I knew not to expect the teacher to support me beyond her scope, and so I kept in touch with other teachers who had undergone the Kundalini process.
From childhood, I spent much of my life outside of my body, especially during certain parts of my awakening. Through the Yoga teacher training program, I found myself really learning how to be within my body, to move mindfully, to feel everything, to trust, and to surrender. This helped me to really allow my awakening to be integrated into my body.
This is just how my path unfolded. For you, it will likely be a little different and unique. What’s important is to understand what Yoga is really all about - which is of course, Self-Realization after the relative completion of the Kundalini process.
Along the way, it’s important to use discernment when seeking support from teachers and guides, and to ultimately remember that the greatest and most reliable teacher is the one within yourself. Check in with yourself, listen to your body, and allow the Kundalini Shakti, which is who you really are at your core, to guide your journey along.
Contact me with any questions about your Kundalini awakening process.
Find out more about meeting with me one-on-one here.