What Causes Disruptive Kundalini Energy?

In some people, simple meditation techniques, chanting mantras (power sounds), basic breathing practices, or sitting in the presence of a powerful spiritual teacher can activate kundalini prematurely. So can sexual orgasms, ecstatic religious experiences, trance dancing, and psychotropic drugs. Although these latter stimulators of kundalini generally don't result in a sustained arousal (that is, the energy becomes naturally dormant again after

the experience ends), and therefore these stimulators don't usually lead to a problem. The theory that explains the disruptive nature of premature kundalini arousal is the Tantra Yoga theory of subtle body energy. The kundalini, when awakened, moves from your coccyx where it resides at the base of your spine upwards. When it encounters barriers to its flow, it moves sideways into nerves and then muscles. This explains the characteristic movements that result from kundalini arousal. These movements are typically in the pelvis and legs, in the mid back, and in the neck and head. These are the three locations of the "safety gates," called, in Sanskrit, "granthis" (knots) that protect the system from unimpeded kundalini flow. Traditional Tantra and Hatha Yoga teach an elaborate program of practices that alter this situation. They prepare the yogin's (practitioner of Yoga) body for the powerful energies that it will need to carry. Then other practices open the "gates" while simultaneously stimulating the kundalini to flow upwards in the yogin's spine. In traditional full-curriculum Hatha Yoga and Tantra Yoga systems the activation of kundalini without such preparation is considered unsafe and unhelpful for one's spiritual journey. So when you arouse kundalini energy before your system is "mature," you will likely find it leads to difficulties.