How to Awaken the Kundalini

Reviewed by Jason Zuk

Last Updated: April 19, 2024

Kundalini is a primal energy, which is awakened through meditative and yogic practices. It can be regarded as the source-mother of energies and its awakening unleashes a power which can be transformative. Its awakening opens a gateway to deep meditative states or to powerfully disruptive states. Unlocking the kundalini allows access to the central channel and is best accomplished under the guidance of a guru who is well versed in the process, but you can attempt the journey on your own.

The power unleashed in this process is unimaginable and is not easy to control. Be sure you are ready! Otherwise, enlist a guru to guide your journey and watch over you.
Make sure to read the warnings at the end of the article before proceeding.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Preparation through breathing

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The initial goal is to find the air-bags before trying to find the gateway.
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Adopt a soft abdominal breathing. This is the easiest way to look for the hidden gateway.
- When you inhale, the airbag around your lungs pushes into the airbag around your abdominal and pelvic organs. There is gas inside the tube and loops of the intestines.
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Between the two airbags and a little behind the lower bag membrane named the peritoneum are the kidneys.
This will massage the kidneys. Keep your eyes closed.
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Put the adrenal glands on the kidneys... like riders on a horse.
- Chant "Num Mum Yum Pa'Hum".
- As you inhale let the two bags make contact.
- As you exhale and chant, feel for the vibration of the right adrenal, the right kidney, the left kidney, and the left adrenal.
  - The adrenals are the key organs of the front petals of Manipura chakra. The name, "city of jewels", refers to the great power of cortisol which gives five thousand regulatory genes access to the inner body and the world around us. Come into the body and come into the present moment.
Remove any discomfort and resist the need to sit rigid.
You should consciously feel your lungs respond to the thumbs.
Instead, tuck your chin just a little and find jalandhara bandha, a gentle throat position which will help guide you to a slow exhalation.
Inhale, touch the two bags, and rest the chin, tongue, palate, sinuses on top of the stack along with the third bag—the bag of the brain and spinal cord.
Imagine building wings with each exhalation and imagine that the wing lift the top of your lungs and keep going.
For this, the third bag should be known to be the dural bag of the brain and spinal cord
Swami Satyananda, Yoga and Tantra Teacher

Kundalini awakening takes you from the physical to the spiritual realm. It's not just activating energy — it transforms your consciousness, fundamentally changing your psyche and body. When kundalini rises through the chakras, it purifies and opens each one. But the process can get bumpy. You need preparation, knowledge, and a compassionate mentor. Waking up kundalini starts you on a journey to an expanded state of awareness. Your individual self merges into universal oneness, knowing bliss and peace beyond ordinary experience. It's the shift from gross to subtle, material to eternal. The work is challenging but profoundly alters how you perceive the world.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Accessing the central channel

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Close your eyes and chant "Vum Vum Vum Vum." This will access the front petal of Muladhara which "Bestows mobility and the ability to make others as sweet and pure as water."
- Your anchor, the coccyx, will feel mobile, floating along in the shallows, barely touching the sand.
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Chant "Shum Shum Shum Shum." You should find the vibration in the entire bone of the sacrum.
- Feel the craniosacral wave start rising up the spine and rocking the occiput.
- Feel the third bag, the craniosacral bag, full of fluid, surging upwards and settling back down.
This will allow you to point the little jet at whatever you want.
These are the muscles that control the nozzle and stream of air as you exhale.
The nozzle of the belly-bag-balloon points backwards and the little jet blows the dust off the stone column of the front of the spine.
Blow the jet of the abdominal balloon backwards from the hollow of the front of the upper sacrum, along the convexity of the lower lumbar spine.
Search all the way to the inside of the belly button and back down.
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Push in and send a full exhale cloud in after it if you think you've found a hidden latch. When in doubt, with your eyes closed, look up!
- If you see a wall, push through it.
- If you see a main road, drive on it.
- Look up!
Yum Rum Lum." These are the sounds of the six lotus petals of Svadhisthana chakra. From the right ovary to the appendix to the right kidney; the left kidney, left descending colon and left ovary.
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Descend your awareness down the spine. Imagine the sound of a silent "H."
- When you exhale, let your lower abdominal move back quickly. Imagine flipping a pancake.
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Exhale forward, up, and loop it back around with the jet blowing from in front of the abdominal wall, through the wall and all the way back to the front of the spinal column.
- If you feel an itch, exhale again right at it, millimeter-by-millimeter, drilling towards the goal.

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Tips

Practice soft-belly breathing lying down or sitting up while keeping your eyes closed.

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The best time of day is just before dawn and the best position is facing east, waiting for the dawn.

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Warnings

The power of Kundalini is not to be toyed with and can easily get out of control. Proceed with utmost caution.

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The Kundalini is an energy source regarded by many cultures and religions to be dangerous for an unprepared and lone individual.
- Some scholars cite this process as the reason why Adam and Eve were exiled from Eden in the book of Genesis: the third eye.
- Others call it the source of Satan's demonic power.
- Still others say it is a divine power representing the feminine Mother Earth's power.
- Regardless of the specifics cited by serious investigators and in literature, the warning is the same: All warn of the dangers of awakening Kundalini and tapping this energy and the attendant knowledge. Without preparation and guidance coupled with the strongest of wills, Kundalini will corrupt and consume you.
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