Advanced Kundalini Yoga

[Azucena Mcquay]

Having said the above, there are techniques, of course, that allow you to stir and awaken Kundalini directly, and rise up from the state of pure potentiality in which she resides at the base of the spine. In this article I will present such a technique, but it should not be used in isolation. It is though a valuable technique to learn and employ as part of a complete Kundalini Yoga practice. Especially if your practice has matured to a certain degree, and you have developed a strong body and nervous system as a result of it.

It has been some time since I acknowledged on the website the sources of my Kundalini Yoga knowledge, so before I proceed I would like to mention that these techniques were taught to me by Ravi Singh, who was a student of Yogi Bhajan. My deepest gratitude to both of them for sharing this priceless wisdom with all of us.

This particular exercise will be part of the following 3 free e-books here on Mastery of Meditation, as it is a Kundalini Yoga exercise, a type of meditation, as well as a yoga breathing technique: Online Kundalini Yoga Exercises, Free Yoga Breathing Exercises E-book & Free Online Guided Meditation Techniques E-book.

This kundalini yoga technique is actually a form of advanced pranayama (yogic science of breath control), and to perform it successfully, requires an understanding of prana (life-force) and how it functions within your body.

Within the energetic body (aka: psychic body/astral body/pranamaya kosha), 5 distinct types of prana are at work; prana, apana, samana, udana and vyana. Of these 5 types, the 2 most important are prana and apana. Please note that by prana here (and going forward) I am referring to the subtype and not the overall life force, which is also called prana.

Prana works in the region from the neck down to the diaphragm and is an upward moving force, while apana works form the navel down and is a downward moving force. This pranayama is designed to reverse the direction of apana and move it upwards to the level of the solar plexus, while at the same time move prana down, such that they both mix in the stomach region. This mixing then creates the spark which ignites kundalini and causes her to awaken and rise up the shushumna (central psychic channel).

More specifically, those familiar with the chakra system, will note that we are moving apana into the region of the manipura chakra, which is governed by fire. This elongates the flame, so to speak, which is then stoked by the now downward moving prana. Creating the necessary heat to awaken kundalini.

thanks fr the knowledge of yoga you are spreading amoung the old and young generation. i want to know about a exercise wch done continuously or regularly and after certain period the body of a person starts having fragrance.

As described in Lalita-sahastranama, before reaching the first chakra, the kundalini has to cross through brahma grandhi, vishnu grandhi and Rudra grandhi. I have also read that when kundalini reaches brahma grandhi, a person can create bhasma out of thin air.Vishnu grandhi enables a person to multiply anything and rudra grandhi enables a person to create anything that he wishes from thin air. Kundalini is the immense power which is sleeping inside our body. Is this true? Could you share your knowledge on this?

The miracles you mention should not be taken literally. My Kundalini got aroused and reached Sahasrara when I was 27 yrs. Now Iam 56 and still not seen any miracles you mention. Because of Kundalini energy arousal in my being, my understanding of life and death, Atman/ Paramatman has become very clear and I got many divine experiences. Kundalini arousal makes a man into a divine being. But donot look out for miracles to happen. Again each persons experience is not the same when it comes spirituality.

Great to hear you have established a long-term practice and that you are reaping the benefits of that. Your feedback will be a great inspiration to many. Thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts with us.

hi Anmol, I continue to use your techniques after 12 months and continue to benifit in many ways from their regular practice. I have been focussing solely on awakening my heart chaka and developing compassion for myself and others. The added benifit for me is that the kriyas help develop stamina and coordination in my drumming! Thank you so much for your simple and immensley helpful instrucion. I continue to learn from it. Best wishes Chris

Over the years, I have been contacted by people who are going through a difficult, or even painful kundalini awakening. Usually, they are asking what they can do to relieve some of the symptoms and to slow the awakening down. So, what I want to do here, is to first of all talk a bit about the different kinds of kundalini awakening that people can experience. Then describe briefly what kundalini is, how we can recognise it, and talk a bit about some of the uncomfortable, or painful symptoms, that can be associated with an awakening that is happening too fast. And then talk about what can be done to relieve the symptoms, and to bring someone back on track.

So, the phenomenon of kundalini awakening is becoming more well-known in the world today. Many more people are going through this experience than happened in the past, and that is happening for various reasons. One of those reasons is that more people are engaging in spiritual practices than before, especially yoga. But, all forms of spiritual practice, if they are effective, will lead to the awakening of kundalini. Another reason is that people are experiencing spontaneous awakenings due to changes happening on the planet and changes that are taking place amongst the general population.

Because of this, people are experiencing a variety of different awakenings. We can think of kundalini awakenings as falling into three broad categories. One type of awakening occurs when someone has been engaging in spiritual practices and preparing their body in a certain way, leading to the awakening of kundalini. This type of awakening is usually fairly calm and smooth, resulting in a gradual evolution towards enlightenment.

Suddenly, with a roar like that of a waterfall, I felt a stream of liquid light entering my brain through the spinal cord. Entirely unprepared for such a development, I was completely taken by surprise; but regaining my self-control, keeping my mind on the point of concentration. The illumination grew brighter and brighter, the roaring louder, I experienced a rocking sensation and then felt myself slipping out of my body, entirely enveloped in a halo of light. It is impossible to describe the experience accurately. I felt the point of consciousness that was myself growing wider surrounded by waves of light. It grew wider and wider, spreading outward while the body, normally the immediate object of its perception, appeared to have receded into the distance until I became entirely unconscious of it.

So, this gives a good idea about how all-encompassing and powerful, this awakening of kundalini can be.
This rush of energy is a fairly common experience, but not everyone who goes through a kundalini awakening will experience this. For others, the initial experiences can be much more gentle and subtle, or may come in other ways.

If an awakening happens, before someone is ready, there can be various uncomfortable or painful symptoms associated with it. These can include things like heat in the body, shaking or vibrations and emotional experiences like anxiety or fear coming for no apparent reason. Headaches can be experienced if too much prana is rising into the higher centres. Also pain can be experienced in the body, if there is too much energy moving through the energy channels. Insomnia, when people cannot sleep, or find it hard to sleep, is not uncommon, and in extreme cases, people can become bed-bound and unable to walk.

So, one of the most commonly asked questions is what to do if we experience difficult, uncomfortable, or painful symptoms? There are several things that can be done, and the most important one is called self-pacing. This means that if you are engaged in spiritual practices that increase the flow of kundalini in your body, reducing these practices will help to reduce any difficult or painful symptoms that you may be experiencing. This can involve cutting down on the amount of time you spend on spiritual practices, or even cutting out some practices altogether. For example, if you are engaged in advanced breathing (pranayama) practices, you may need to stop these altogether for a while. Similarly, if you are using mudras or bandhas as part of your yoga practice, you may need to stop using them. So, practices that are quite aggressive in terms of energy (prana) should be cut out, and other practices temporarily reduced. If symptoms are severe, you can even take a complete break from spiritual practices for some time. Remember that even practices such as prayer or reading spiritual literature, can increase the flows of prana in the body and make kundalini symptoms worse. So, even these things should be stopped in severe cases.

The second thing that can be done is called grounding. These are simple physical activities that can be done every day, such as walking, especially walking in nature, swimming, working in the garden, or cleaning the house. These simple, non-athletic physical activities can be very effective at causing kundalini to calm down, and in alleviating any negative symptoms that you might be experiencing. However, certain activities may not work as well. For example, running or weight training can actually cause more prana to flow in the body than walking, and this can aggravate the situation. It depends on the individual, as some people may find running helpful, while others may find it unhelpful.

If someone is experiencing difficult kundalini symptoms, and they manage to bring them under control using these methods, it is good to spend a period of time such as a few weeks, or months, allowing the situation to remain stable, before increasing, or re-introducing any spiritual practices again.

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