Five Essential Practices to do before attempting to Awaken Kundalini

Yogic traditions as well as some Buddhist schools have long emphasized the importance of practices that lead to a harmonious mind and body prior to attempting to awaken latent kundalini energy. Of course, Kundalini can awaken anytime she wants, whether we are prepared or not, but I have noticed that it is becoming more common practice to try and attempt to awaken Kundalini through yogic practices associated with intense pranayama, tantric practices, and prolonged fasting rituals. If you’re feeling called to explore this path, it’s important to approach it with care, patience, and the right practices. In the West, our culture is impatient and looking for quick results. This can lead to Kundalini being awakened in unprepared bodies/minds. Imbalanced lifestyles, suppressed emotions, and unresolved trauma may cause the journey of Kundalini awakening to be more challenging than it needs to be. Either way, you are not going to be able to bypass the inner work. You will need to face all parts of yourself either before or after awakening Kundalini. I want to share some essential tips that will support you in awakening your Kundalini energy with more grace and less turmoil.

Understanding Kundalini Awakening

Before diving into specific practices, it’s helpful to understand what Kundalini awakening really means. Kundalini is life force energy that lies dormant in the body until it is awakened as kundalini-shakti, the divine all-pervading intelligence. When awakened, this energy rises through your body's energy centers (chakras), clearing conditioned patterns, blockages, and emotions. This may be accompanied by physical sensations, emotional releases, and spontaneous movements called kriyas. It may be quite blissful, or it may be significantly challenging. Usually, it is a bit of both. This awakening is not a race or a goal to be forced. It’s a natural unfolding that requires respect for your body, mind, and spirit. The key is to stay grounded and gentle with yourself throughout the process.

Tips for Preparing Your Body and Mind for Kundalini Awakening

Your body and mind are the vessels through which Kundalini energy flows. Preparing them through purification and fortification techniques is helpful for a smooth awakening. Here are some foundational steps you can take:

1. Contemplate the Yamas and Niyamas

   The yamas and niyamas are the first two limbs of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Although these are often termed as the ethical guidelines or self-discipline of yoga, I have come to know them simply as who we discover that we already are as we walk this path. I love the wisdom in the book The Yogic Dharma: The Supreme Yamas and Niyamas by one of my teachers.

2. Practice preparatory breathing techniques: Alternate nostril breathing (Nadi Shodhana pranayama) is the first exercise to do to prepare for a more harmonious kundalini awakening. This breath technique prepares the subtle energy body for kundalini awakening by balancing and purifying the subtle energy channels on either side of the spine (ida and pingala) and the right and left hemispheres of the brain. When these two opposing energies (pingala and ida, solar and lunar, male and female, sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems) are in equilibrium, kundalini energy is encouraged to travel up the central canal (sushumna nadi) of the spinal column to the crown rather than taking a more circuitous and often tumultuous route through pingala or ida.

3. Work with a spiritual mentor, trusted yoga therapist or psychotherapist: The guidance of someone who can help you to see the shadow and hidden parts of you and help you to reveal any deep wounds is indispensable for having a more grace-filled awakening. Those who have worked with a psychotherapist or other healing techniques to go deeply into their conditioned patterns and who have come out the other side with self-acceptance, self-love and positivity will have a much easier time of it should kundalini awaken.

4. See nature as a portal to the Self: There is abundant life force energy already all around you as You. The life force (prana) in nature is fundamentally the same essence as the dormant kundalini energy which is "inside" the body. In actuality, there is not an inside and an outside of you. There is only You manifesting in a myriad of forms. Seek a favorite nature spot and connect with the divine mother shakti as she lives, breathes and moves through the trees, the flowers and the birds. It is all quite natural and you are of the same essence.

5. Live a sattvic lifestyle: A sattvic lifestyle means living an intentional and balanced lifestyle free from extremes and adopting a daily routine suitable to the cultivation of loving awareness.

   • Maintain a simple whole foods diet: Eating fresh, whole foods in moderation supports your physical health and energy levels. Avoid processed foods, caffeine, alcohol and other recreational drugs. Consider having an Ayurvedic consultation to learn how to eat for your specific constitution (dosha) and to rectify any imbalances.

   • Hydration: Drink plenty of clean water daily. The cerebrospinal fluid (the physical correlate of the movement of Kundalini shakti energy) is 99% water. It is the living water in your body that carries the nutrients to and the waste away from the spinal cord and the brain.

   • Create a daily meditation routine: Even 20 minutes a day of just being meditation or focusing on the breath as well as journaling will be calming and centering and will also facilitate shadow work by bringing forth some habitual patterns and behaviors that need to be seen to heal.

   • Regular exercise and yogic postures for body awareness: Work with yogic postures (asanas) that open the spine and hips such as child's pose, cobra pose, and cat-cow. This will allow blood, energy and awareness to flow through these areas in the body. Maintain a regular exercise schedule. A healthy vessel will likely help make awakening smoother.

   • Community: Whenever possible, live in the company of truth. Surround yourself with awake, compassionate beings, e.g., human, plant and animal. Give of yourself through self-less service spreading love and uplifting others.

     
     

Bottom Line:

If you long to know and live as the Truth, if you live a balanced lifestyle, if you are moving towards more love for yourself and others, if you have faced your major shadows and suppressed emotions, you are already on the path to awakening and liberation. It will all unfold naturally from here.