How does it feel when Kundalini is awakened?

• You will get divine visions, divine smell, or divine taste.
• You will feel divine touch and hear divine sounds.
• You will hear mantras and divine stotras.
• There will be throbbing at the Muladhara.
• Hairs will stand up (goosebumps).
• Breathing can be stopped without effort.
• You will feel a current of energy going up the spinal cord.
• You will chant Omkara involuntarily.
• The mind becomes empty.
• You will feel vibrations, jerks, and shocks in different parts of the body.
• You will feel that your body is not there anymore.
• You will be able to understand mystical and philosophical concepts.
• You will have tremendous energy throughout.
• You will be able to do Kevala Kumbhaka easily.
• You will be able to do Uddiyana, Jalandhara, Mulabandha, and Shambhavi Mudra easily. 

Any or many of the above signs together would indicate that your Kundalini has awakened.

• What is the profound mystery behind the throbbing at the Muladhara?
  The Muladhara, located at the base of the spine, is the resting place of the dormant Kundalini energy. The throbbing is the crucial first sign that this massive, coiled primal force is stirring from its slumber. It indicates that the downward-flowing energy (Apana) has been reversed and is colliding with the upward-flowing energy (Prana), creating a powerful internal friction that awakens the latent spiritual fire.
• Why do practitioners experience unpredictable vibrations, jerks, and shocks in different parts of the body?
  These physical movements, often called kriyas in yogic traditions, happen because the awakened Kundalini energy encounters blocks, traumas, or impurities in the subtle energy channels (nadis). As the intense, high-voltage current of energy forces its way up the spinal cord to clear these blockages, the physical nervous system reacts with involuntary spasms and vibrations until the pathways are completely purified and widened.
• What is the hidden significance of breathing stopping effortlessly, known as Kevala Kumbhaka?
  In ordinary states of consciousness, breathing is intimately tied to the constant fluctuations of the mind. When Kundalini awakens, the mind becomes entirely empty and perfectly still. As the mental waves subside, the biological need for rapid respiration drops dramatically, leading to Kevala Kumbhaka. It signifies that the life force (prana) has entered the central spinal channel (Sushumna), suspending the normal earthly duality of inhalation and exhalation.
• How is it possible to perceive divine visions, smells, tastes, and sounds without any external physical source?
  These are not physical sensations but manifestations of the subtle senses awakening. As the energy moves up the spine and activates higher chakras, the practitioner gains access to the astral and causal dimensions of reality. The divine sounds (nada) and scents are the pure vibrational frequencies of these higher planes, perceived directly by the consciousness rather than through the physical sensory organs.
• Why does a person suddenly feel that their physical body is no longer there?
  This phenomenon occurs because the center of consciousness shifts from the dense physical body to the subtle energy body. As Kundalini rises toward the crown, the practitioner transcends body-consciousness and ego-identification. The mind becomes absorbed in the infinite, leading to a state of formlessness where the dense boundaries of the physical vessel dissolve into a feeling of universal space and expansion.
• What makes the spontaneous and effortless performance of advanced mudras and bandhas so remarkable?
  Normally, practices like Uddiyana, Jalandhara, Mulabandha, and Shambhavi Mudra require years of rigorous physical discipline and conscious, willful effort. When Kundalini awakens, the supreme intelligence of the energy itself takes over. It spontaneously orchestrates these energetic locks to direct the flow of prana upward, demonstrating the hidden principle that true yoga is an organic, internal unfolding driven by divine energy, rather than an enforced physical action.

• What is the deeper, overlooked purpose of chanting Omkara involuntarily?
  Omkara is considered the primordial sound of the universe, the source of all creation. When it is chanted involuntarily, it is not the egoic mind choosing to speak, but the awakened cosmic energy resonating directly through the vocal cords. This spontaneous chanting helps to purify the throat chakra (Vishuddha) and attunes the individual's cellular frequency to the vibration of the absolute, bridging the gap between the physical body and the divine.
• How does the mind becoming completely empty relate to the greatness of this awakening?
  An empty mind in this context is not a void of ignorance or unconsciousness, but a state of supreme clarity known as thoughtless awareness or Samadhi. The rising Kundalini fire consumes the mental modifications, worldly desires, and anxieties that usually clutter human consciousness. In this profound, pristine silence, the illusion of separation ends, allowing the practitioner to perceive reality perfectly, without the distortion of personal ego or past conditioning.
• Why does an awakened state suddenly allow one to understand complex mystical and philosophical concepts?
  Ordinary understanding relies heavily on the intellect, which is limited by linear logic and sensory data. Kundalini awakening activates dormant higher brain centers and the Ajna chakra (the third eye), granting direct intuitive perception (Prajna). Mystical and philosophical truths are no longer just abstract theories to be debated; they are experienced directly as living realities, bypassing the need for slow intellectual reasoning.
• What is the true source and hidden function of the tremendous energy felt throughout the body?
  This is not biological energy derived from food, water, or sleep, but Shakti, the primal cosmic power that creates and sustains the entire universe. Once awakened, it floods the human nervous system to radically transform the individual on a cellular and energetic level. Its ultimate purpose is spiritual evolution, burning away lifetimes of karmic impurities and upgrading the physical vessel so it can safely sustain higher states of enlightened consciousness forever.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi