Kuṇḍalinī, the coiled power

Few words in yoga promise as much as "Kundalini awakening", and few are as misunderstood. The texts that speak of Kuṇḍalinī describe a sacred power, an advanced practice and a path to liberation, always under a teacher. This page tells you what they say, and what is known about the difficulties some people meet.

The word and the image

कुण्डलिनी (kuṇḍalinī) means "the coiled one", from kuṇḍala, a ring, a coil. She is the power (śakti) of the Goddess within the body, imagined as a serpent asleep at the base of the central channel, suṣumnā. Her mouth closes the door through which the breath should rise.

What the Haṭhapradīpikā says

The fifteenth-century Haṭhapradīpikā of Svātmārāma opens its third chapter with her:

सशैलवनधात्रीणां यथाधारोऽहिनायकः । सर्वेषां योगतन्त्राणां तथाधारो हि कुण्डली ॥

sa-śaila-vana-dhātrīṇāṃ yathādhāro 'hi-nāyakaḥ | sarveṣāṃ yoga-tantrāṇāṃ tathādhāro hi kuṇḍalī ||

As the lord of serpents supports the earth with its mountains and forests, so Kuṇḍalī is the support of all the teachings of yoga.

सुप्ता गुरुप्रसादेन यदा जागर्ति कुण्डली । तदा सर्वाणि पद्मानि भिद्यन्ते ग्रन्थयोऽपि च ॥

suptā guru-prasādena yadā jāgarti kuṇḍalī | tadā sarvāṇi padmāni bhidyante granthayo 'pi ca ||

When the sleeping Kuṇḍalī wakes by the grace of the guru, then all the lotuses and the knots are pierced.

Later in the chapter the text gives her names: kuṭilāṅgī (the crooked-bodied), kuṇḍalinī, bhujaṅgī (the she-serpent), śakti, īśvarī, kuṇḍalī, arundhatī (3.104). It adds a warning that cuts both ways: Kuṇḍalī sleeps above the bulb (kanda) "for the liberation of yogis and for the bondage of the ignorant" (3.107). And it places her between the two great channels, as between two rivers: iḍā is the Gaṅgā, piṅgalā the Yamunā, and between them sits Kuṇḍalī (3.110).

Three and a half coils, or eight

Texts do not agree on the image, and it is worth knowing:

What "awakening" means in the texts

In the Ṣaṭ-cakra-nirūpaṇa (verses 50-55), the practitioner rouses Kuṇḍalinī and leads her up through the six chakras. As she passes, each element dissolves into the next: earth into water, water into fire, fire into air, air into ether, ether into mind, up to the thousand-petalled lotus where she unites with Śiva; then she returns, recreating the elements in reverse. It is a meditation of laya, dissolution, performed with mantra, breath and visualisation.

The Haṭhapradīpikā describes the means in its third chapter: the seals and locks (mudrā, bandha), and a practice called śakti-cālana, "stirring the power", combined with forceful breathing (3.104-3.120). These are techniques the text itself says are to be learned from a guru. We do not teach them on this site.

Difficult experiences: what research says

Western and Indian clinicians have described people in distress after intensive practices, which they or others interpreted as Kuṇḍalinī. The research is limited, but three findings are solid enough to state:

• Case reports from India. Psychiatrists at NIMHANS, Bengaluru, published in 2021 a series of cases in which "Kundalini-like" experiences after yogic practices resembled or overlapped with mental illness. They stress how hard it can be to tell an advanced spiritual state from a severe psychiatric disorder, and the importance of preparation, precautions and expert guidance. This is a case series, not a trial: it shows that such situations occur, not how often.
• Meditation-related challenges. A 2017 study interviewed Western Buddhist meditators and teachers and catalogued 59 kinds of challenging experiences, cognitive, perceptual, emotional and bodily, from mild and brief to severe and lasting. Many resemble what yoga circles call Kuṇḍalinī symptoms.
• How common. A 2020 systematic review of 83 studies found adverse events in about 8% of meditation participants overall, most often anxiety and depression, sometimes in people with no previous mental health history.

"Kundalini syndrome" is not a recognised medical diagnosis. Heat, tremors, involuntary movements, waves of emotion, insomnia or a sense of unreality can belong to many medical and psychiatric conditions, which is why lasting symptoms must be assessed by a doctor, not interpreted alone.

Kundalini Yoga, a modern system

The style called Kundalini Yoga, with its kriyās, breath of fire and white clothing, was brought to the United States by Yogi Bhajan at the end of the 1960s. It draws on the idea of Kuṇḍalinī but is a modern system in its own right; we describe it on Kundalini Yoga. Older Indian lineages, such as the Nātha yogis and Śākta tantric schools, teach Kuṇḍalinī within initiation.

A safe way to approach the subject

• Study the texts: this page, the chakras from the sources, the nāḍīs and prāṇa.
• Practise what is gentle: steady sitting, natural breath, alternate nostril breathing without retention, japa.
• Leave the rest to a qualified teacher you can see regularly, and to time.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. Haṭhayogapradīpikā of Svātmārāma, Sanskrit text, chapter 3 (GRETIL) checked October 16, 2026
2. Arthur Avalon, The Serpent Power (1919): Ṣaṭ-cakra-nirūpaṇa, online edition (Wisdom Library) checked October 16, 2026
3. Śrīśa Chandra Vasu (tr.), The Siva Samhita, Sacred Books of the Hindus vol. XV (1914-1915), Internet Archive checked October 16, 2026
4. Suchandra HH et al. Kundalini-like experience as psychopathology: a case series and brief review. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 2021 DOI 10.1016/j.ctcp.2020.101285 PMID 33360561 checked October 16, 2026
5. Lindahl JR et al. The varieties of contemplative experience: a mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists. PLoS One, 2017 DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0176239 PMID 28542181 checked October 16, 2026
6. Farias M et al. Adverse events in meditation practices and meditation-based therapies: a systematic review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 2020 DOI 10.1111/acps.13225 PMID 32820538 checked October 16, 2026

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