The most obvious and unambiguous indications of Kundalini awakening are Yogic Kriyas (movements, asanas, mudras etc). However, what if you don’t experience Kriyas? Is your Kundalini awakened?

This issue needs to be addressed in two parts:

1. The subtle or more quiet signs of an awakened Kundalini
2. Mistakes on the part of the practitioner while meditating.

In the absence of Yogic Kriyas, the following are signs of an Kundalini awakening.

• Heating or cooling of palms and crown of head. Some practitioners experience a rising heat or cold along the spinal column.
• Seeing bright lights or colors during meditation, and even prophetic visions. A heightened intuition may constantly guide a practitioner with a ‘gut feeling’ or ‘instinct’ about a person or impending event.
• A sudden surge in emotions: a feeling of deep love and empathy for everyone around you. Many individuals also feel extremely joyful or even euphoric. Some compare this to a kind of ‘high’ and describe it as an experience of walking on clouds all day long. On the other hand, some practitioners experience great distress — a sudden onslaught of sadness that breaks into weeping over many hours. However, that bout of unhappiness and its release is later described as a cathartic event that unleashed many years of pent up emotions.
• A feeling of widening and deepening during meditation — an expansion of the inner self in such a manner that the physical body seems inconsequential in comparison.
• In contrast, some experience a constricting of the self to the point that the individual feels like a tiny speck.

A very large number of Guru Siyag’s Yoga practitioners have no experiences during meditation: no Kriyas, no sensations, no emotional outbursts, no subtle movement on the inside at all. How do these individuals know their Kundalini has awakened? Guru Siyag says that the most important experience for any practitioner is change. He explains, “If your life remains the same as it was before you began the Yoga, there is no upward movement, if you and your personality remain unchanged then know that your Kundalini has not awakened. Your Sadhana (spiritual practice and discipline) is lacking in some way.” Those practitioners that have no experiences during meditation, may experience great changes in their life:

• Consistent meditation and silent chanting affect the Vrittis (tendencies — please see earlier post for more information). This spells a change in food habits: a dislike and eventual abandoning of meat and alcohol (and other opiates). A development in preference for foods those are light and nutritional for the body and a dislike for harmful foods.
• A change in social life and relationships: without the practitioner trying, people with mal intentions or toxic personalities make an exit. Often times, people around us with their words or actions and in extreme cases mere presence, sap us of our positivity. As the practitioner grows in Sadhana, the inner energy repulses negativity. Individuals who promote the practitioner’s spiritual evolution make an entry or re-entry from the past in some cases.
• The practitioner’s disposition and temperament changes: the practitioner becomes more and more inward looking and becomes aware of his / her own traits and shortcomings. As this spiritual awareness grows, flashes of anger become infrequent, the practitioner is quick to apologize when at fault, empathy increases, and most importantly the seeker becomes acutely aware of his / her responsibility in breaking the chain of negativity.