SPIRITUALITY

Kundalini energy, what can it bring to your life?

In this article, I will break down Kundalini energy to the basics and talk about my experience with a Kundalini bodyworker.

Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash

Wait, kundalini what?

This is an ancient concept, that originated from ancient Hindu texts and yoga manuscripts. In Sanskrit kundalini means “the coiled one”, which is why the symbol for Kundalini energy represents two snakes that wrap around the spine. Each circle they make upwards to the spine represents the awakening and balancing of a chakra.

The Kundalini energy is dormant at the base of our spine, so it’s already inside us waiting to be activated. When Kundalini energy awakens, it can bring various changes in one’s life. These changes can be physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. This awakening can lead to greater self-awareness and higher levels of consciousness.

Kundalini energy is often described as mystical energy and it can be seen as the base of your consciousness. Story tells that the awaking of this energy can either unlock your inner potential or turn destructive.

As I already told you, I kept the information very basic. If you want to dive in deeper, I recommend this online course by Elliott Saxby.

Methods to awake kundalini energy

1. Meditation
2. Yoga asana (specific chakra-aligned postures)
3. Breath work (pranayama exercises)
4. Prayer (sets your intention, this can also be in the form of a mantra)
5. Energy healing (think chakra work, hypnosis, kundalini bodywork,…)
6. Physical trauma (although not a nice way of awaking the energy, trauma to the lower back can be triggering)
7. Emotional trauma, depression and grief (e.g. losing someone close to you)
8. Near-death experience
9. Love (by opening the Anahata chakra in the heart center)
10. Childbirth (new life passes through the Muladhara chakra)

If you want to learn more about the ways of awakening Kundalini energy I can recommend you this article by Brett Larkin Yoga.

Photo by Alexandre Chambon on Unsplash

Kundalini bodywork

This type of bodywork is used to align the mind, body and heart. A visual representation: in life we often drive the car with our mind at the steering wheel, leading the way and deciding which direction we will go. Our body is in the passenger seat, uttering that it needs to go to the loo or is craving a bag of Doritos. Our heart is in the backseat, trying to involve itself in the conversation but is unable to participate because of the loud music blasting through the stereo.

It’s super important that we as humans learn to listen to our hearts again. Kundalini bodywork will help with this process. It will allow us to align the mind, body and heart.

As I was really curious about Kundalini energy (and had the luck that one of my fellow yoga students Michael started this course and wanted to do some practicing), I made an appointment to do some body de-armoring. In this stage, they transform old traumas and dormant energy stuck in the body making space for Kundalini energy to rise.

How did this first session go

For me, it was not about wanting to experience the Kundalini energy, as it can take years, and even then is not guaranteed. Instead, I was interested in shadow work, unlocking trauma’s in the body and putting in good energy. Unblocking my chakra’s a bit more sounded perfect to me.

To get started Michael did some shadow work on me, as he explained that everyone has a shadow side. It’s important to learn and embrace this side of yourself. You can look at it as if it’s a pretty black-and-white picture. Without white, the black doesn’t come out nicely and vice versa. Together they make a beautiful picture. This is the part where I chose my intention for the session, a thing that I want to go after, or a way of living or feeling I want to pursue. I chose ‘Self-acceptancy’.

We started the session with some exercises to get the body to loosen up and get comfortable with ourselves and each other. The exercises were mainly about making noise (as it can be confronting to breathe with sound the whole time). They were also used to let the energy flow in our bodies.

An example of an exercise:

Photo by adrian krajcar on Unsplash

The Haka is a ceremonial dance in Maori culture. They use various moves in this performance, including showing the white of their eyes, sticking out their tongue, slapping their hands against the body, and stomping their feet. This is exactly what we did. Although it felt quite awkward at first, some form of liberation came after it. I felt less aware of my presence, I was able to let myself go and be in the moment.

The actual bodywork

After cleaning our aura by using some burning sage, the bodywork could start. I will use steps to explain this experience further:

• You lay down on a mat with the bodyworker sitting next to you
• Some paper towels are handed, you can use them whenever you feel that you have abundant saliva in your mouth. Please do not swallow your saliva, this can make you nauseous.
• You start with a deep breath in, filling the belly. Then you breathe out as you exhale, letting the sound/letter ‘a’ vibrate from your chest. The moments you breathe out are the moments the bodyworker will put pressure on the chakra points.
• The bodyworker will perform some waves of pressure points pressing on you. Try to relax through the discomfort, when it becomes too uncomfortable you can slowly wiggle your head from side to side.
• After putting on pressure, the bodyworker will massage the area where he just put the pressure on. This way the area will fill with some good energy. When you only distract the trauma in your body and leave an open gap, trauma of any kind will find its way back.

What did I feel?

During the waves, I noticed that my hands and underarms became numb and tingly. Also, there were some spasms in my body that I could not control. Michael told me this was a sign that some traumas were removed and even maybe a start of some Kundalini energy emerged.

Before letting me head home, we drank some more tea and talked about the experience. I felt lighter, and more grounded but was told that the next days and even weeks could be extra challenging as I could be more sensitive (yep, I noticed that).

Some very interesting tips I got during our session

1. When you get upset at an event, and you don’t want to (or can’t) talk about it at that particular time and you feel the need to vent, head for the restrooms! Fold your hand over your mouth and yell in them (using dull a). The facts are that you are more likely to catch someone’s fart than that someone will hear you. This method helps you to get rid of some of the emotions and tension you might feel. You’ll feel lighter and able to talk about it later.
2. When someone tells you something you don’t want to hear or find annoying, your body will loosen up after they disappear around the corner. You will feel the need to breathe out while sighing and making a ghhh-sound. This is the body releasing tension. It can also come in handy when something is told to you that hurts. Breathe out, release tension in the body and sigh! The opposite, when something good happens or is told to you or you get a hug: tension the body and make an mmm-sound. This way the body will store this positivity.
3. Releasing tension is something that especially children master the art of. When they don’t get what they want, they dramatically go lay on the floor, yelling, crying their hearts out and kicking their legs and arms like little maniacs. Although it may set you off and make you wanna go hide yourself when you see your child doing this while shopping, they’re on to something good! This technique is perfect to let go of some tension left in the body and relaxing the core (where most of our body traumas are located). So next time your toddler does this, go lie down with them!

I hope this can bring you something, let me know in the comments if you had a Kundalini awakening, did some bodywork or if you are interested in more about the subject!

Sending love and light,

El