Category: Kundalini Yoga

Kundalini Experiences, Chakras, Meditation

— Interview with Lisa Erickson, Part Two—
Go to Part One of Lisa Erickson’s Interview—
Mommy Mystic- Meditation, Yoga, Integrity and Surrender

Meditation How: It sounds as if the energy in your head and neck wanted to move up and out. What a wonderful story of time and space collapsing. I can relate to that. I too have had many classic kundalini rising experiences. I would like to focus on the kundalini for a moment, before we move on. Can you track over time when the fire reached particular chakras, clearing them?

Lisa: My own experience has not been that linear overall. In formal sitting meditation I can feel the energy rising up through the chakras, and I have had specific experiences where I felt deeply immersed in one chakra or another, or periods when one or another was opening. And I can look back and see that different phases of my life tended to orient around ‘themes’ associated with each chakra— say personal power (3rd chakra) for one period, or learning to love (heart chakra) in another.

But I haven’t experienced the process overall as this linear progression, and honestly it doesn’t seem to be that way for many of my students either. And because of that I have come to think of the classical ‘story’ of the kundalini rising through one chakra at a time until it reaches the crown as an archetype or myth of the spiritual journey in general, as opposed to an absolute map of the process.

I feel that for most people, the actual process is much more circular— we are moving back and forth between the themes and energies of the various chakras all the time, and there are multiple levels to each. So it’s not really a matter of one being opened and staying open— we can experience our heart opening, but then later in life, we can experience that again, on a deeper level. And I think this is true for all the chakras.

I also think there is a difference between balancing and opening the chakras from a healing perspective and experiencing them as opening as part of our spiritual journey— this is also a matter of working with them at different levels. The levels are connected, but never-ending. And of course many seekers are not drawn to explicit kundalini/chakra work, and experience the awakening process very differently.

Many of my favorite contemporary teachers— Gangaji, Byron Katie, Eckhart Tolle, don’t reference kundalini work at all in their teachings, and I can relate to that also. So I love the chakras as archetypes of different psychological and energy themes, but I don’t really relate to that classic model of the kundalini rising one chakra at a time. I am more into a model of integration at this point, of living every aspect of our life as part of our path, and the different themes of the chakras are useful for that I think.

That’s not to say that some people don’t experience the awakening process as a linear progression through one chakra at a time— I am sure some people do! I don’t want to sound like I am dismissing the experiences of anyone, or the classic writings. But in this day and age, we have access to so many different models and paths. I think it’s clear it’s an entirely unique experience for each person. That’s part of the beauty of it really I think!

Meditation How: I really got a great deal out of that response. Thank you. That was very rich and full of insights. There are so many places to go from here. One of the reasons I actually wanted to touch on kundalini is because it shows up so rarely in modern teachings— perhaps because it could become a very fascinating and potentially distracting subject. You mention that “in this day and age, we have access to so many different models and paths”.

Several decades ago when some very strange things were happening to my body, I was hard-pressed to find any real material on what it might be. A few books in the back section of the used book store is where I finally got some answers— all to do with kundalini. The internet was just starting to emerge, and now there is so much out there.

The work of Carolyn Myss was helpful when Anatomy of the Spirit came out. Where is the best place to go for those who are more interested in this subject and wanting to understand kundalini. I use this word, but what I am referring to is the universal primal developmental force and energy that is corrective and healing in nature.

Continue with Interview with Lisa Erickson, Part Three.

Mommy Mystic- Beginning Meditation, Yoga, Starting Out

Mommy Mystic- Meditation, Yoga, Integrity and Surrender

— Interview with Lisa Erickson, Part One—

This eight part interview with Lisa Erickson (blogger Mommy Mystic) covers some wonderful territory. I begin by asking Lisa about how she got started with meditation. We go briefly into a discussion on kundalini and chakras— then the interview deepens and Lisa shares some details about her daily personal meditation practices. This brings up a great deal of material on how to bring what we learn from meditation (and other spiritual practices) into our active lives. What choices CAN we make, and how do we balance all of this?

Meditation How: What form of meditation do you find most effective?

Lisa: You know, this word ‘effective’ throws me a bit. I personally think of meditation as our natural state, and the practices we are accustomed to calling ‘meditation’ as tools for showing us that. So I don’t really think in terms of ‘effects’. But it is true that a lot of different techniques get thrown under this label ‘meditation’, and they all have different effects. If you want to manage stress, deep breathing techniques are the best.

If you want to manage pain, various energy techniques and visualizations have been shown to work. From a spiritual perspective, I think it is very personal, and we get drawn to whatever we need, based on our intent. For myself, I was drawn to chakra and kundalini work early on. I didn’t even know why at the time, it was just where I found myself. Now I understand it as a very personal proclivity of mine.

I see and experience the world as a matrix of energy lines and currents, and always did, from a very young age. So meditating on these energy centers and currents within my own being was and is a natural practice for me. But these techniques are just a starting point, a way of opening the doorway, to our natural state. It can be opened many other ways.

Meditation How: This is all good to hear. To move on to my next question… You speak of being aware of energy centers and patterns at an early age. This can be overwhelming and a little scary. Was this the case for you?

Lisa: No, as a young child, it was not scary at all. It was just the way the world was. And often it was my sanctuary— this world that was light and fluid. I accepted it at face value, although I did not talk about it much. As young children, I think most of us are very open, and in tune with intuitive layers of awareness and perception.

These close down as we get older, partly because of social and cultural pressures, and partly because of the natural development of our sense of self, particularly as we enter adolescence. And that did happen for me. After that point, when I would have spontaneous experiences and some of the ‘old’ awareness would break through, I resisted it more, and did develop a fear of it.

Meditation, Yoga, Integrity and Surrender

I thought it meant I was weird, that I wouldn’t fit in. So I pushed that side of myself away for awhile, and forgot about it. It didn’t resurface until I discovered meditation in college, or really several years after that. Then I started to remember those early experiences, and own them as part of who I was.

Meditation How: Can you tell me about your first experiences with meditation in college?

Lisa: I was initially a dance major in college, and both yoga and Qigong were offered as part of our movement studies. At one point I was having problems with neck and head aches, and I tried everything to get rid of them. The yoga and Qigong classes were the only thing that seemed to help. That really got my attention, and I started to think and wonder more about the mind-body connection.

Then during the summer, a friend took me to an Insight Yoga meditation class, and I had a dramatic experience while meditating on my third eye (the sixth chakra in the forehead). I felt like time and space collapsed, and I was floating in this field of light. I kind of went in and out of this state for a few days afterward. It was really a classic kundalini rising experience, although I didn’t know that at the time. It triggered something— it really became the starting point for my conscious spiritual search.

Continue with Interview with Lisa Erickson, Part Two.