At this point in continuing practice, or perhaps earlier for some, there can be a whole series of powerful energetic phenomena, sometimes called the awakening of the Kundalini. What this means is simply a profound opening of the energy centers of the body, or the chakras, and a simultaneous opening of the nadis, or the energy channels of the body. While there is a basic pattern to this, it may happen in many different ways.
Sometimes as one sits and gets more concentrated, the body will begin to burn or there will be a feeling of heat in the spine, vibrations and tingling. At times, one can actually feel energy move physically in the body as if fire, pulsations, or vibrations moved spontaneously through blocked energy channels as a way to open and free them. These energetic openings can take hours, or weeks, or months. It is all a part of the process of psychophysical opening and purification.
When the different chakras open, there will be a whole variety of unusual physical phenomena. At the throat there can be tension and coughing: I have seen people who sat and swallowed for days in a row. With the lower chakras, the initial opening can include tension and fear; there can be nausea and the release of vomiting. With the opening of the sexual chakra there can be other experiences, including visions of every kind of sexual encounter one can imagine, and tremendous waves of lust and rapture.
When the heart chakra opens, there is sweetness and love, but usually this is accompanied by a great deal of pain, because most of us have bands of tension and holding over our heart. In many retreats people, especially physicians and nurses, have come to me asking: “Please, could you call an ambulance? I am having a heart attack; I can tell, I know the symptoms. I am a physician. I understand this.” Or “It hurts here and it hurts my arm. It is my angina but it is worse now,” and so forth. And almost always what it is is the opening of the heart chakra.
I usually say to them, “What better place to die than a retreat? Don’t you think so?” We have not lost anybody yet, although some day it may happen. Still, it is important to have one’s heart opened. So I say: “Go back and sit. Either your heart will open in your body or out of your body. ”
There are many kinds of chakra experiences. The energy released can become very powerful, to the point where there is so much energy coursing through the body that one cannot sleep for a number of nights. The entire body will vibrate. There can be weeks where it is filled with fire and where vision is altered, almost as strongly as being on LSD. The eyes can burn and hurt, and many other kinds of symptoms can be involved.
Spiritual Emergency Stanislav & Christina Grof (editors)
Obstacles and Vicissitudes in Spiritual Practrice, Jack Kornfield
Sometimes as one sits and gets more concentrated, the body will begin to burn or there will be a feeling of heat in the spine, vibrations and tingling. At times, one can actually feel energy move physically in the body as if fire, pulsations, or vibrations moved spontaneously through blocked energy channels as a way to open and free them. These energetic openings can take hours, or weeks, or months. It is all a part of the process of psychophysical opening and purification.
When the different chakras open, there will be a whole variety of unusual physical phenomena. At the throat there can be tension and coughing: I have seen people who sat and swallowed for days in a row. With the lower chakras, the initial opening can include tension and fear; there can be nausea and the release of vomiting. With the opening of the sexual chakra there can be other experiences, including visions of every kind of sexual encounter one can imagine, and tremendous waves of lust and rapture.
When the heart chakra opens, there is sweetness and love, but usually this is accompanied by a great deal of pain, because most of us have bands of tension and holding over our heart. In many retreats people, especially physicians and nurses, have come to me asking: “Please, could you call an ambulance? I am having a heart attack; I can tell, I know the symptoms. I am a physician. I understand this.” Or “It hurts here and it hurts my arm. It is my angina but it is worse now,” and so forth. And almost always what it is is the opening of the heart chakra.
I usually say to them, “What better place to die than a retreat? Don’t you think so?” We have not lost anybody yet, although some day it may happen. Still, it is important to have one’s heart opened. So I say: “Go back and sit. Either your heart will open in your body or out of your body. ”
There are many kinds of chakra experiences. The energy released can become very powerful, to the point where there is so much energy coursing through the body that one cannot sleep for a number of nights. The entire body will vibrate. There can be weeks where it is filled with fire and where vision is altered, almost as strongly as being on LSD. The eyes can burn and hurt, and many other kinds of symptoms can be involved.
Spiritual Emergency Stanislav & Christina Grof (editors)
Obstacles and Vicissitudes in Spiritual Practrice, Jack Kornfield