Kundalini

I

The Question of Direction

When we speak about Kundalini awakening, there is often an image that appears: an energy rising upwards, moving through the body, travelling through stages, reaching higher and higher levels of consciousness. It is an image that has existed for centuries within various spiritual traditions, and for many people it provides a meaningful framework for understanding their own experiences.

But I have found myself questioning whether this image tells the whole story.

Over time, I have found myself questioning the idea that the awakening of consciousness is always a journey upwards in a straight line. The more I have experienced and reflected on this process, the less it seems to fit neatly into steps, stages, achievements, or milestones. For me, it feels less like climbing a staircase and more like moving through a spiral, where we revisit parts of ourselves in ways that allow for deeper understanding and expansion.

This is not me saying that the traditional understanding of Kundalini is wrong. I am not here to replace one framework with another. I am simply sharing what I have experienced, what I have observed, and what continues to unfold within my own journey. The idea of a Kundalini awakening being circular rather than linear offers another doorway into understanding this mysterious process.

For me, the term “Kundalini awakening” can sometimes feel limiting because it carries many associations and interpretations. Not to mention the cumulative expectations that can also arise around the process. It can become connected to very specific teachings, practices, and beliefs about what should happen when someone awakens. Because of this, I often find myself using another phrase: the expansion of consciousness.

To me, this feels broader. It allows space for different experiences and different paths. It also creates room for the many ways we may come to understand what happens when something within us begins to open.

My own relationship with this experience began in the early 2000s, when I experienced what many would describe as a Kundalini awakening. However, I was not searching for an experience like this, nor was it something I was consciously trying to achieve. It arrived in a way that challenged my existing understanding of myself, consciousness, and reality.

Looking back, I feel that one of the most difficult parts was not necessarily the experience itself, but trying to find language and context for something that did not fit neatly into what I already understood. This is one of the reasons I have come to question more traditional ideas around Kundalini awakening. My own experience did not feel like moving through a predictable series of steps towards a destination. It felt much more like an unfolding, something that continued to reveal itself in ways I could not always anticipate or explain.