What is Kundalini awakening? (And why it won’t look like anyone else’s)

Let’s just say it as it is. Social media is flooded right now with people posting “5 signs your Kundalini is awakened” and “if you feel THIS, then it’s happening” and so on and so forth, and I truly do not believe in any of that.

Not because I want to be difficult, but because Kundalini awakening can look so different from person to person that comparing yourself to anyone else is honestly a trap. No one has lived your life, no one has walked your path, no one has been in your shoes, and your nervous system, your history, your body, your beliefs, your trauma (yes, it matters), your sensitivity, your capacity… it all creates a completely unique blueprint - your life.

So if you came here because you want a simple checklist, I’m probably not your girl for that.

But if you want a real explanation — grounded, spiritual, human — then let’s go.

What Kundalini awakening actually is (in simple words)

In traditional yogic and tantric traditions, Kundalini is described as an inner power, often symbolised as a coiled serpent at the base of the spine, a kind of dormant potential inside you.

Encyclopaedia Britannica describes kundalini as a “cosmic energy” believed to lie within everyone, pictured as a coiled serpent at the base of the spine, and in certain yogic practices the aim is to awaken it and guide it upward along the spine.

Now, modern language makes it sound like some exotic spiritual upgrade, like you suddenly become a different species.

But the way I see it (and the way I work with people), Kundalini awakening is not about becoming special.

It’s about becoming more yourself.

On my site I describe it as a natural life-force we’re born with — not something you “earn”, not something only a chosen few get to experience.

So Kundalini awakening is basically when this life-force starts moving through you more actively, more intelligently, more loudly, and it begins to shift your inner world and your outer life.

Sometimes gently.

Sometimes like a storm.

“How do I awaken it?” (Spoiler: you don’t force it)

This part is important.

Kundalini awakening can happen through:

• a Kundalini Activation / energy transmission

• meditation or breathwork

• deep devotion, praying in church

• grief, birth, death, heartbreak, a life turning point

• and yes… sometimes completely out of blue, like when you’re hovering your house and for some reason your system is finally relaxed enough and open enough and the energy just moves

The point is: it doesn’t happen because you forced it.

You can’t really tell energy, “okay, it’s time, I want my awakening now.”

That’s not how it works.

Even in older writings and modern accounts, there’s a repeated idea that this force isn’t something you master purely by willpower, and that trying to push it can be a mistake.

We awaken when our system is ready.

And by “system” I mean your body, your mind, your energy, your emotional capacity, your life circumstances, your stability, the whole thing.

Also, if you’re someone who tried Kundalini Activation and you felt like “nothing happened”, or it didn’t work the way you expected, you’re not alone. I wrote about this properly here: “Why Kundalini Activation doesn’t work for everyone.”

It’s not always blissful. Sometimes it’s confusing as hell.

People luv the idea of awakening when it’s aesthetic.

Lights. Bliss. Angels. “I’m in my highest timeline.”

But Kundalini awakening can also be disturbing, disorienting, and even frightening, especially when someone has no context for what’s happening.

There are even clinical papers discussing how kundalini-type experiences can sometimes overlap with or resemble psychological symptoms, which is why grounding, support, and discernment matter so much.

So if you’re in a phase that feels intense or chaotic, you’re not “broken” or “doing it wrong”.

You might simply be in a process that needs support, safety, and integration.

And just to be clear (because I’m not into spiritual bypassing): if you’re struggling to function day-to-day, having scary thoughts, losing sleep for weeks, feeling out of reality — please get professional support alongside spiritual support. That’s not weakness. That’s wisdom.

A real story (because this is what I mean)

One of my students from my Kundalini Activation facilitator training — the very first one I held in 2024 — she had her Kundalini awakening about 17 years before she met me.

And for all those years she could not understand what was happening to her.

But more importantly, she didn’t even realise what power source was awakened within her, and what she could do with it.

When she came into the training, she finally connected the dots. She finally could feel it through, understand how to live with it, how to work with it, and more than that — how to use it for the good of other people, how to hold a safe field where this energy can awaken and move in others too.

And this is one of the reasons I luv this work so much, because Kundalini awakening is not just “something that happened to you”.

It becomes something you learn to live with, and then it becomes a path.

(And yes, if you’re curious about the training I teach, this is the PRISM™ Method facilitator training.)

How Kundalini awakening changes your life (the part no one prepares you for)

This is where it gets real.

Kundalini awakening doesn’t only affect your inner experiences.

It changes your relationships, your choices, what you tolerate, what you can’t tolerate anymore, what you crave, what you can’t unsee.

And once you start shifting, the people around you will feel it too.

Some people will fall away, because your old dynamic doesn’t work anymore.

And some people will come closer, because your energy becomes clearer, more honest, more magnetic, more you.

In energy work we say the very first law is resonance — you attract what matches you.

So if your Kundalini is awakened and active (and by active I don’t mean chaotic and unbearable, I mean you’re learning harmony with it), you will start attracting different things into your life.

That’s why understanding it is so important.

Not because you need a label.

But because you need a map.

Is Kundalini awakening the same as Kundalini Activation?

Not exactly.

Kundalini awakening can be spontaneous, gradual, triggered by life, devotion, practice, trauma, beauty, anything.

Kundalini Activation (the way I offer it) is a guided energetic transmission that supports your system to remember what’s already inside you — but still, it’s never about forcing, it’s about readiness, safety, and the intelligence of your own body.

Quick FAQs (for Google + for your brain)

Can Kundalini awakening happen without yoga?

Yes. Traditional texts and modern experiences both describe awakening through different pathways — devotion, breath, life events, and spontaneous openings.

Is Kundalini awakening dangerous?

It can be beautiful, and it can also be destabilising if you have no support or you try to push too hard, which is why grounding and guidance matters.

Does everyone experience the same signs?

No. And this is exactly why “5 signs” posts can be misleading. Your body, mind, and life history shape the expression.

Before you go…

If you’re sitting there thinking, “ok but how do I know if this is what’s happening to me?”, I’ve got you.

The next blog is Kundalini awakening signs and symptoms, and I’ll talk about the common patterns people report, but also how to stay grounded and not spiral into comparing yourself.

“

Do not compare, do not measure. No other way is like yours.

- C. G. Jung