7 Categories of Phenomena Experienced in the Kundalini Process

1. Pranic Activity or Kriyas:
These are intense involuntary body movements, shaking, vibrations, jerking, and the sensation of electricity, tingling, or rushes of energy flooding the body.

2. Yogic Phenomena:
Body involuntary performs yogic postures (asanas) or hand movements (mudras) that the subject has never before seen, and the psyche may produce symbolic images, or the sound of chanting, Sanscrit words, tones or a variety of specific sounds such as bees buzzing, or kettle drums beating. Some people spontaneously create and enter into a ritual.

3. Physiological Problems:
Activation of latent illness or pseudo illness, apparent heart problems, gastrointestinal disorders, nervous energy and hyper-activity, eating disorders, dramatic rushes of heat and cold, pains occurring in back, head, stomach, or big toes. These and other difficulties are atypical and usually prove difficult to diagnose and treat because they are not consistent with known illness and they come and go spontaneously.

4. Psychological and Emotional Upheavals:
Intensification of unresolved psychological issues, fear of death or insanity, mood swings, overwhelming waves of anxiety, anger, guilt or depression which may feel unrelated to any personal issues, waves of compassion, unconditional love, and heightened sensitivity to the moods of others.

5. Extrasensory Experiences:
Visual input (i.e. lights, symbols, images of entities, the reviewing of other lives, visions); auditory input (i.e. hearing a voice, music or phrase); or olfactory input (i.e. smelling sandlewood, perfume or incense).

6. Parapsychological Experiences:
Psychic awareness, unusual synchronicities, healing abilities, seeing or feeling auras, channeling, electrical sensitivity and psychokinesis are the most commonly reported occult phenomena. Sometimes there is dramatically awakened creativity.

7. Samadhi or Satori Experiences:
The absorption of consciousness into mystical states of unity, peace, light or energy, sometimes with a clear perception of existential truths; or a profound sense of I am that or This pure and open consciousness with no identity is what I truly am. There may be less intense levels of trance-like states which bring peace, joy, waves of bliss. These may occur during meditation, or after meditation, or spontaneously at other times.

Please note: Any of these phenomena can occur independent of a kundalini awakening for various reasons. Particularly if there are intense physiological issues a medical evaluation should be made to rule out illness or neurological disorder. But if a person has had a dramatic initiating event of energy arising, and this is followed over time with experiences from several of these categories it is probably a kundalini process.

Derived from Energies of Transformation: A Guide to the Kundalini Process.

© Bonnie Greenwell Ph.D. 1997

back to top