Sacred Dance Day Sadhana ( Day 26 )

Many are her name. The Inner Woman, the Serpent Power, Kundalini Shakti. Present in many esoteric traditions, Kundalini refers to an energy that is coiled at the base of the spine. It’s been there since birth, and in most of us, it lies dormant. In a way, it is like a cable with a plug point that might not have found its energy socket. Today, many look for this socket through practices such as kundalini yoga, hatha yoga, and tantra.

The concept of Kundalini is present in the Upanishads, Sanskrit texts with essential philosophical concepts and ideas of Hinduism. Some of these concepts are also shared with Buddhism. No wonder it is such a present word in tantra: traditionally, tantra comes from the esoteric arms of Hinduism and Buddhism. But the same energy exists in different traditions, with different names. In Kabbalah, for example, it is called Shekhinah.

This mystical energy is described as a coiled snake with heads at both ends; a snake that when awakened can act either creatively, or destructively.

The snake comparison is by no means by chance: the poison of a snake can take one’s life, but if prepared correctly, it can save one from great illness.

What kind of energy is Kundalini?

Kundalini is the ultimate life force. Creative power, divine feminine energy. Put simply, it is our “inner fire”. So simple, and yet so abstract. Once activated, this energy is felt like liquid fire: electric, timeless, paralyzing.

When we activate this energy, it flows within us resembling the wavy shape of a serpent: curving from the base of the spine, into the gut, then into the heart, and into the head.

As the energy flows through this “pipe”, it goes through all of our chakras giving each of them a “boost” as the energy activates them (both kundalini and chakras live in the subtle body), all the way to our head, the crown chakra. It also passes through our nadis (energy “pipes” in our bodies that allow the energy to flow).

The result is an expanded state of consciousness.