Please note that my book, Divine Embrace, explains in detail Kundalini, Ascension and how you can work through your symptoms and more! Whether you call it chi, prana, Shakti, Kundalini or spiritual awakening – there are many variations, levels and ideas on how you will go about achieving your goals. If your goal is psychic awareness, astral projection, enlightenment, etc. you’ll find that balance is most important. When practicing any type of spiritual practices; meditation, astral projection, even yoga, etc., there is always a risk of going too fast. As with all things in life, there must be balance. If there is no balance you may be risking something you never wanted. Even if your goal is not enlightenment…even if your goal is not awakening your Kundalini…you risk your kundalini rising. It may seem cool and fascinating at first to gain psychic abilities and hope to receive such abilities and power. However, there are spiritual ethics to consider as well as your own safety and leading to a balanced progression in spiritual advancement. You never know what you are doing when your goal is “x” and you end up with the whole sha-bang instead. Your goal may be enlightenment, spiritual happiness/bliss, psychic abilities, powers, or just your general closeness with God/Universe/All that is. But I caution you that if you aren’t careful and mindful of your goals and how you go about them, you could trigger something that you may not be ready for. This is not to deter you in any way from your goals of spirituality and the like, but to warn you of the possible outcome of going too fast. However, there are some that are just meant to reach this state at a faster rate (due to past life work in this area or some other purpose in life), however, for the rest of us take heed. Note that any spiritual / religious / meditative / yogic practice can lead to awakening your Kundalini. Astral Projection/Reiki/Psychic Awareness & how ties in with Kundalini Awakenings As I tried to iterate above, when practicing any types of spiritual practices, meditation, astral projection, etc. there is always a risk of going too fast. As with all things in life, there must be balance. I do feel that all of us will reach a higher state of being as a whole someday and that we are raising our vibrations with time, practice and balanced progression. With Astral Projection I have gained much knowledge on the subject from various folks either in person, as well as from their books and websites. I have practiced some of the exercises in order to see what may happen with me. I have been teaching psychic awareness classes for some years now, and so that you know I have the experience (for this particular article in mind), I am a Reiki & Karuna Master/Teacher, Huna attuned, as well as am certified in Hypnotherapy and Past Life Regression. This combined with my many logged hours of meditations, psychic readings and healings makes for a lot of progression spiritually.
First, some basics about Astral Projection (a.k.a. OBE’s: Out of Body Experiences) – Simply put Astral projection is the act of your soul/spirit leaving your physical body and traveling through levels/planes of existence. More in depth information by Robert Peterson and his completely free book (“Out of Body Experiences: How do have them and what to expect”) entirely posted for free on his website at www.robertpeterson.org. Do note that although I have practiced the exercises for Astral Projection, which did aid in more developed psychic abilities, however have not aided me in conscious astral travel to date. I prefer to stay balanced and go at a good pace, not too fast, so I do exercises when I feel drawn to them. Dedication is the key for results, however, balance is also key for not going too fast, too soon for your soul. 1a. Signs of the start of Astral Projection:
Vibration (and sometimes described as feelings of an electrical charge)
Buzzing in the ears or entire body
Feelings of floating
Popping noise/feeling
Knowing your soul body is out of its physical body
Feelings of flying
Hearing someone whispering your name or some incoherent chant or whispering
Feeling like you are having a strong lucid dream, but may realize you are out-of-body
1b. Techniques for attempting Astral Projection (preferably AFTER a full nights sleep, so that you don’t end up falling asleep and thwarting your astral projection efforts), I’ll just name a few of the many:
Meditation
Calming the body prior to attempting astral projection
Visualizations (MANY! i.e. box in front of you, moving or swaying slowly at first and going up and down and eventually pulling your spiritual body out of its physical body, seeing yourself astral projection thereby willing it to happen, etc.)
Bringing on the vibrations by sheer will after calming the body during meditation
An inner swaying motion that takes off on its own after a while that can force your soul body out of its physical body
1c. After affects (or Signs after-the-fact) from Astral Projection Practices:
Becoming more aware psychically (knowing what is to come before it does, feeling others feelings, etc.)
Becoming more spiritual in nature
Feeling like you are making something happen or knowing it is about to happen
Feeling your third eye opening, a pressure, even headaches
Popping out of your physical body at will or even when you don’t want to , usually when in motion (like walking down a street, etc.)
Unusually vivid dreams, that may or may not be remembering astral travel
Vertigo (floating feeling, up is down and down is up) feelings even when awake
The list goes on.
2a. Techniques for attempting to become more Psychically Aware or in tune:
Meditation
Calming the body and centering
Visualizations (as with Astral Projection there are MANY)
Bringing on the psychic episodes by sheer will after calming the body during meditation or at any time
Various other exercises that will enhance Clairaudience (clear-hearing),
Clairsentient (clear-feeling), Clairvoyance (clear-seeing), etc.
Connecting with other people to practice reading them, thereby telling their past, present or future
2b. After affects (or Signs after-the-fact) from Psychic Awareness Practices:
Becoming more aware psychically (knowing what is to come before it does, feeling others feelings, etc.) even without trying
Becoming more spiritual in nature
Feeling like you are making something happen or knowing it is about to happen
Feeling your third eye opening, a pressure, even headaches
In some versions of channeling, another takes over your body to communicate for the sitter/client and relays certain messages
Contact with your higher self
Hearing a voice(s) in your head (this being known as communication with your higher self, spirit guides, angels or other spirits and called Clairaudience).
Unusually vivid dreams
And the list goes on.
3a. Techniques for Reiki:
Need to be attuned by a master prior to using Reiki energy (for 99% of people)
Meditation can enhance your healing abilities and open up your crown chakra
Calming the body and centering will aid you in proper Reiki practices
Using your intuition to place your hands where the client needs the healing the most
Visualizations (as with Astral Projection there are MANY) that seem to aid and enhancing the Reiki energy (Universal Life Force) to do it’s job
3b. After affects (or Signs after-the-fact) from Reiki Attunement & receiving or giving healings:
Becoming more aware psychically (knowing what is to come before it does, feeling others feelings, etc.)
Becoming more spiritual in nature
Feeling like you are making something happen or knowing it is about to happen
Feeling your third eye opening, a pressure, even headaches
Feelings of heat in your hands or entire body, to the point of sweating profusely
Vibrations that are either in your own body or coming from the person you are working on
Feeling the others feelings and “knowing” where the person should be healed
Feeling that one or more higher being(s) is aiding you in your healing of the client
Your psychic awareness as a whole is enhanced
Your diet becomes gradually better
Your vibration is elevated and those of lower vibrations fall away
Unusually vivid dreams
Again, the list goes on. The point here is that any spiritual practice of any kind may inadvertently, or depending on your own goals, purposely awaken your Kundalini. You must be aware of this fact. Here’s where I need to go into caution and theory talk. I do believe that we will all come to a new awareness (awakening/vibrational level/spiritual peace/oneness/huna/whatever you want to call it) and in our own balanced right time. Although I also believe this is speeding up and there are more out there than ever becoming awakened, I do feel there can be a balance and to not rush into anything that your intuition is saying to wait on. Don’t let your ego get in the way of your balance in this life and spiritual awakening. In attempting Astral Projection, the techniques for attempting them (there are many, some are mentioned above and many noted in Robert Peterson’s book as well), as well as any spiritual practice can also cause heightened psychic and spiritual awareness. The affects can be subtle or strong depending on your development and due diligence in practice. These have been noted by my own experimenting with the techniques as well as Robert Peterson and many others. I like Robert Peterson’s approach because from the very beginning he took all of his experiences and only noted the FACTS of what he experienced and then would add thoughts and theories after the facts. He is very scientifically minded and wanted to only show facts and figures, so that others would see this is entirely factual and actual experimentation on his part. Although I work more on faith, trust and a knowing, his scientific approach is the flip side that balances both of these approaches out. Many out there need the facts first in order to believe this is true and real. 4. Now, here is the interesting thing I have observed. Astral project, psychic awareness & reiki (to name a few) bare striking resemblances to the signs for Kundalini awakenings! To name the few that match Astral Projection, Psychic Awareness and Reiki signs that are, also, noted above:
Vibration
Electrical charge (usually up the spinal column, but can be over entire body for some)
Buzzing
Hearing someone whispering your name or some incoherent chant or whispering
Becoming more aware psychically (knowing what is to come before it does, feeling others feelings, etc.)
Becoming more spiritual in nature
Feeling like you are making something happen or knowing it is about to happen
Feeling your third eye opening, a pressure, even headaches
Heat varying in degrees of subtle to very hot
Spasms in your body (from tingling to all out uncontrollable Spasms)
Feeling like someone or something has taken over your body, usually during involuntary Kriya yoga movements
Messages coming to you visually, hearing a voice in your head, etc.
Unusual, vivid Dreams (usually involving a snake of some sort)
There are many others that I am still putting together in my head that correlate to other spiritual practices. However, taking all of this into consideration, take heed when attempting astral projection or any spiritual practice. Just know what you are getting into and go at the pace you are meant to go . A slow balanced pace is recommended. Don’t go too far, too fast or you could have an imbalanced Kundalini awakening that can cause (possibly) years of painful physical and/or mental issues. And my last note is that I do resonate with what is said on www.kundalini-support.com : “In spite of these complications and contradictions, I still believe higher consciousness is the destiny of all beings, and that in the future with greater understanding, scientific validation, and proper preparation, it will usher in a Golden Age.” My Experience Thus Far (Found in more detail in my book Divine Embrace) In 2000, I had an experience that at first I interpreted as a paranormal experience, which I later determined may have been an astral projection experience. To which now may have been a possible Kundalini experience . I was sleeping in bed with my infant son nearby. I was laying on my stomach. Prior to this, I had just started meditating for the first time in my life. Sometime in the middle of the night I abruptly awoke to a striking electrical vibration in my lower back that seemed to pulse upwards for a few minutes. I was perplexed, but more of observing since I was still groggy. I felt that I was also seeing the color blue with this electrical charge. It then subsided and I went back to sleep. This bears a striking resemblance to some folks experiences of astral projection and even more-so to experiences of Kundalini awakenings. However, if this was a Kundalini experience, I feel that it then became “dormant” again after spiking something in me. After this time I continued my spiritual practices gaining in momentum over time. As you can see from what I stated above, this progression, for me, was balanced with my day-to-day life and spiritual practices. I feel that some or rather most of us will have mini-Kundalini Awakening over time when we are ready and as we open up more and more ourselves to this ascension process, raising our vibrations and our spiritual awareness. Some will have dormain Kundalini until said time they become awakened or may never awaken. Who knows! Though I feel that more and more people are raising their vibrations (whether consciously or unconsciously) to match the ascension that is now happening. So for most it’s a natural process that happens over a “healthy” time frame for them, and for a small amount of people it happens faster than they were ready for. For those people that it happens faster than they were ready, and had they still had a ton of inner growth and spiritual work they needed to do, the awakening will shake that person up to the core. This could happen through (1) strong yoga practice, even aerobics awakens Kundalini, (2) dedicated meditation practice and (3) has been known to happen through traumatic experiences or Child birth. Most recently I feel that this is all happening for a reason, for those that are being brought to it more shockingly and those that aren’t in order to get everyone up to speed in the ascension process. I go into great depth about Kundalini Symptoms in my book Divine Embrace, if you’d like to dive deeper into the energetic realm of your angelic awakening. Karen Bishop of Gama Books (previously whatsuponplanetearth.com) gives EXCELLENT definitions to the ascension process and symptoms in Ascension Primer book and how it came about for her, which is another Kundalini Awakening experience. It’s one in the same. More in-depth Kundalini Information I am adding more information below regarding Kundalini, since I feel that I didn’t talk enough about this above. If your Kundalini awakens too soon, you can have horrible psychotic episodes, as well as physically painful issues that can last years!!! I am not an expert in this area, as mine is nice and balanced and happy right where it is! (I say it progresses at a nice balanced pace. There is natural balanced progression over time.) I want to give you some answers to these following questions. 1. What is Kundalini? “The Kundalini is an energy force… Concentrated Consciousness that moves when awakened through the 3 bodies… Moving as though through the physical body it releases all past and present vasannas and sanskaras, to see and go through… until they are dropped and cleared…” – www.kundalinisupport.com It is also described on www.kundalini-support.com (1 of the 2 recommended support sites) as: “ Kundalini is defined in Yogic terms as “a coiled female snake, the latent energy at the base of the spine.” When it awakes or uncoils, in the classical model, via spiritual practices or spontaneously, a subtle energy can be felt streaming upward in the body, emanating from the base of the spine and flowing into the head. Physical and spiritual sensations often accompany the surge of inner energy: spontaneous movements of the body, shaking, heat, spasms, visions, sounds like ringing, bells, drums, and many other symptoms (see the Kundalini Information section of this website for more about symptoms and other models of Kundalini awakenings).” 2. What are things that you do that may awaken your Kundalini? (some combined answers are from kundalini-support.com and kundalinisupport.com)
By prayer and sincerely seeking the truth
Through yogic techniques (Yoga)
Through Reiki (either having done or working with)
Intense devotion to God
By direct shaktipat (like one battery charging another from a higher being/master)
Repetition of Mantra
Through an intense shock to the system
Through childbirth
Spontaneously – due to past lives working in this area
By participating in any chi oriented martial arts system
Daily aerobic activities (this may be due to the chaotic breathing and body movements)
By pranayam (breathing exercises)
By drug use
From trance activities with heavy pranic overtones
Through rebirthing shock
From an article on kajama.com (that I can’t find anymore since they upgraded or I would link to it here): “Indirectly, kundalini can be awakened by devotion, by selfless service, or by intellectual inquiry. In these paths the blocks to the awakening of kundalini are slowly removed. Occasionally, individuals on these paths will experience a sudden awakening of kundalini, but generally because the blocks are slowly and gently removed kundalini-like experiences evolve slowly in these paths.”
3. What are symptoms of Kundalini?
The Blue Light
Heat up the Spine (can be extreme)
Cold feeling flooding a chakra area
Feeling the Nervous System is short-circuiting (can be extreme)
Pulsing Energy at the Base of the Spine (can be painful)
Extreme Sensitivity to Sound, Vibration Etc…
Siddhis such as complete knowledge on energy work
Picking up others emotions
Normal photographs that pick-up light phenomenon and mists etc.
Body awareness changes – feeling larger – feeling smaller
Extreme Fear (note: this one is temporary)
Dreams of Snakes and Fires
Dreams of – religious and spiritual symbology
Samadhi states of Feeling Utterly connected with ALL – yet also witnessing and not involved…
Finding the consciousness expanding to where you are not in the body..(example seeing over the trees while you are at ground level)
Mudras (hand gestures ) spontaneously happen
Asanas (body postures) spontaneously happen
Body may move with certain music – uncontrolled pulsing or swaying
Feeling as if you are in a strong earthquake
Ability to manifest what is needed – once again a siddhi but do not attach to these phenomena, let them go….
Seeing of internal lights (flashing lights in vision…. rotating light)
Seeing the world in enhanced coloration
Yawning – Laughing – Crying (usually excessively and may switch back and forth abruptly)
Muscle twitches, cramps or spasms
Energy rushes or immense electricity circulating the body
Itching, vibrating, prickling, tingling, stinging or crawling sensations
Intense heat or cold
Involuntary bodily movements (occur more often during meditation, rest or sleep): jerking, tremors, shaking; feeling an inner force pushing one into postures or moving one’s body in unusual ways. (May be misdiagnosed as epilepsy, restless legs syndrome (RLS), or PLMD.)
Alterations in eating and sleeping patterns
Episodes of extreme hyperactivity or, conversely, overwhelming fatigue (some CFS victims are experiencing Kundalini awakening)
Intensified or diminished sexual desires
Headaches, pressures within the skull
Racing heartbeat, pains in the chest
Digestive system problems
Numbness or pain in the limbs (particularly the left foot and leg)
Pains and blockages anywhere; often in the back and neck (Many cases of FMS are Kundalini-related)
Emotional outbursts; rapid mood shifts; seemingly unprovoked or excessive episodes of grief, fear, rage, depression
Spontaneous vocalizations (including laughing and weeping) — are as unintentional and uncontrollable as hiccoughs
Hearing an inner sound or sounds, classically described as a flute, drum, waterfall, birds singing, bees buzzing but which may also sound like roaring, whooshing, or thunderous noises or like ringing in the ears
Mental confusion; difficulty concentrating
Altered states of consciousness: heightened awareness; spontaneous trance states; mystical experiences (if the individual’s prior belief system is too threatened by these, they can lead to bouts of psychosis or self-grandiosity)
Heat, strange activity, and/or blissful sensations in the head, particularly in the crown area
Ecstasy, bliss and intervals of tremendous joy, love, peace and compassion
Psychic experiences: extrasensory perception; out-of-body experiences; pastlife memories; astral travel; direct awareness of auras and chakras; contact with spirit guides through inner voices, dreams or visions; healing powers.
Increased creativity: new interests in self-expression and spiritual communication through music, art, poetry, etc.
Intensified understanding and sensitivity: insight into one’s own essence; deeper understanding of spiritual truths; exquisite awareness of one’s environment (including “vibes” from others).
Feeling as if you are here and not here
An absolute absence of thought
Bliss
Enlightenment experiences: direct Knowing of a more expansive reality; transcendent awareness
Note: this is a partial list… no two people have the same manifestations…. some have one – some have another ….” (There are a lot more signs and symptoms on kundalinisupportnetwork.com and kundalinisupport.com as well as more articles and awakenings on the support sites I have listed below. 4. If my kundalini is awakened will I need to change my lifestyle? “It’s hard to have your cake and eat it too. If you awaken kundalini in order to change and enrich your life, it’s reasonable to expect you may need to change your lifestyle as a result. The recommendations of both classical literature and experience is that sleep and diet will need to be moderated otherwise severe discomfort may arise. Furthermore without moderating sexual activity and physical work it will be hard to experience much success with kundalini. The extent that these elements of your life need to change depends on the nature of the individual. While genuine mental imbalances arising from kundalini are rare, nearly every kundalini yogin will find periods when one needs to be especially sensitive to needs for sleep, quiet and diet.” – Answer from article posted on Kajama.com from SpiritWeb.org (<–which, apparently, is now closed). 5. What are things to do in case you are already there and in the throws of something you never bargained for? Here are some items that I have read that can be helpful to some or not at all depending on the person. I am not an expert on this, and since we all work differently, these may or may not be effective for you:
“If someone claims they have all the answers, run the other way.”
Add meat to your regular diet. Could help in grounding…
Stop meditation practices altogether. Once your kundalini is awakened this only seems to aggravate the kundalini rising more and cause more pain than need-be.
Ground yourself, by being with Nature and trees as often as you can.
And contrary to above, others say meditating helped them. So try what works for you and ask your higher self what is best. Let go of attachments to anything, go with the flow and know you are on the right path.
Some say spreading their joy, love and compassion for others has eased the Kundalini pain.
From www.kundalini-support.com – “Perhaps this is why the Hindu Masters strongly advised following strict moral precepts when on the spiritual path. Perhaps more emphasis on trying to live a live of Love, and working on being a compassionate, decent person is the most important component in making a person spiritually, mentally, and morally sound. In spite of these complications and contradictions, I still believe higher consciousness is the destiny of all beings, and that in the future with greater understanding, scientific validation, and proper preparation, it will usher in a Golden Age.”Kundalini-support.com – “For anyone having Kundalini complications, see the Kundalini Survival Guide, be cautious in what you try to correct your condition, try to live a life of Love, and do not lose hope in yourself or in the blessings your awakening will one day bring forth. Take hope and inspiration in the writings of Gopi Krishna who emerged from a nightmarish Kundalini disaster into an awakening that blessed him with bliss filled days and nights to the end of his life.”
Highly suggested support & informational sites regarding Kundalini:
www.kundalinisupportnetwork.com
www.kundalini-support.com
www.kundalinisupport.com
http://www.elcollie.com/st/st.html
http://www.crystalinks.com/kundalini.html
Here is some of the info from this above Crystallinks.com link: “…Spiritual literature also describes instances where Kundalini is said to be initiated. Initiation of kundalini activity is usually considered to take place by a practice called shaktipat. This is a form of ‘laying on of hands’ where physical contact to the body or the forehead of the subject by the guru, or initiator, is supposed to cause an experience of Kundalini that later may persist or grow with continuing practice, or fade away if practice is stopped. Scotton (1996) mentions that kundalini-symptomatology is associated with such practices as shaktipat. He also gives a case-example of such a practice from an American meditation retreat.
According to much contemporary spiritual literature, and the field of Transpersonal Psychology, it is not considered wise to engage in any of these practices without the guidance of a credible teacher or without thorough psychological preparation and education in yoga. Any form of intense contemplative or spiritual practice without the support of a cultural context, or without the support of thorough psychological preparation, is usually considered to be unfortunate, and in some cases even dangerous. Traditional teachers of kundalini meditation also warn neophytes of the potential dangers of experimenting with kundalini Yoga techniques. These warnings should not be underestimated. A growing body of clinical and psychological literature notes the growing occurrence of meditation-related problems in Western contemplative life. Among these we find the Kundalini Syndrome (which is presented more closely later in this article) and different forms of “wind illness” described in the Tibetan tradition.
Kundalini Syndrome
Theorists within the schools of Humanistic psychology, Transpersonal psychology and Near-Death Studies describe a complex pattern of motor functions, sensory, affective and cognitive-hermeneutic symptoms called the Kundalini Syndrome. This psychosomatic arousal and excitation is believed to occur in connection with prolonged and intensive spiritual or contemplative practice (such as meditation or yoga) or as a result of intense life experience or a near encounter with death (such as a near-death experience)…”
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Please take heed these warnings, as you never know what will come about practicing the simplest of spiritual practices. Any questions, feel free to contact me or go to the above websites for more experienced folks in Kundalini awakenings.
Taking this warning into consideration, we will all evolve as we are meant to in the time we are meant to. If you are guided to meditate, pray, etc., then do so. As with all things though, do any spiritual practices in moderation and balance is key. Anything you do in life (even food in-take for example) is all things in moderation. This keeps you balanced. And just listen and follow your intuition!
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me or contact me vie my online Contact form!
Don’t forget to purchase my book, Divine Embrace, where I discuss at length our Kundalini Process, the Energy Body and our Awakening during these Ascension times.
Maggie's Bliss
Sedona, Casa Grande, AZ