Dear Soul Arcanum:
My name is Daniel, and I am a 19-year-old college student from Tennessee. I am an adventurous person, and enjoy exploring old homes, forests, etc. Sometimes when I’m in an old setting, I have a very strange sensation: my knees get weak and I almost feel as if I am blacking out. At the same time, I feel a rush of emotions that seem so concentrated, I can’t separate them. Although at first I assumed that this experience was connected to the “paranormal” in a “haunted house” sense, I have recently come to believe that it’s some form of psychic ability. Are the experiences I described legitimate psychic ability? I know that everyone is psychic to an extent, but my experiences don’t seem to be very common. Any information on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
– Daniel
Dear Daniel:
I think it would be most helpful to ponder your experiences in light of “kundalini” or life force energy. This will lead us to the most basic foundation for such experiences, because ultimately, everything in the Universe is a matter of energy.
While we could label these “psychic experiences,” I believe what you’re experiencing at such moments are actually surges in kundalini. As we awaken spiritually, we naturally develop psychic abilities, so the relationship between what you’re experiencing and psychic phenomena is sort of like the relationship between exercise and fitness: as you awaken spiritually, you naturally develop psychically, just as when you exercise regularly, you naturally develop greater fitness. All growth spurts involve a surge in kundalini, so whether we are growing physically or spiritually, the basic energy that animates us and gives us consciousness will surge to fuel that growth spurt.
Some symptoms of spiritual awakening/ kundalini rising include: emotional outbursts and strong waves of emotion, which may be positive (bliss and ecstasy, for example) or negative (fear, anger or depression). In the extreme, manic depression often arises from the highs and lows of erratic kundalini flow. This would explain those intense waves of emotions you feel.
Kundalini rising can also cause physical symptoms such as weakness, dizziness, exhaustion, numbness or tingling in the body (especially in the lower extremities), mental confusion, disorientation, visual distortion and psychic experiences. I’ve only named a few of the symptoms one might experience with kundalini awakening to demonstrate that all of what you describe falls within this range.
As kundalini rises into the area of the third eye and crown chakra, tiredness or drowsiness may develop. Physical weakness and fatigue are also natural because a big shift in vibration can be taxing on a body that is not adequately prepared for it. Some even say that a surge in kundalini uses up so much blood sugar that our blood sugar level may plummet, and most of us know how that feels! If we don’t understand what is going on, it’s natural to become worried or anxious about such sensations, which would only hinder the process of kundalini rising further and cause more discomfort.
Dizziness and disorientation in particular often precede some sort of spiritual breakthrough, for these are crown chakra experiences. As kundalini rises from the root chakra up the spine, it eventually makes its way out the crown of the head, so once it’s made it to the crown chakra, we’re on the verge of a breakthrough. If we “black out” at this point, it may be because we simply aren’t yet consciously up to speed with this level of experience.
Since you have these experiences when you’re in what we might term a “spiritual” setting or situation of one sort or another, I’m even more inclined to presume that they stem from a sudden surge in kundalini. If your body was a clear and open channel for this energy, you would probably have either an ecstatic spiritual experience or conscious psychic awareness of what is happening energetically in that situation. With the old forests, for example, you may have some sort of blissful spiritual experience, while in an old house, you may perceive the presence of a non-physical entity or awareness of residual energy that is somehow uncomfortable for you.
Suddenly feeling weak, sick, dizzy, etc., is not always a sign of kundalini surging, so you must view your experiences within the context of the setting and your own feelings at that moment to determine what is really happening. If you’re in an uplifting spiritual situation and you feel blissful or ecstatic, I’d presume you’re experiencing a surge in kundalini. If, however, you’re in a house you think could be haunted and you suddenly feel dizzy or weak, it’s probably a sign that this is not a good place for you to be.
You see, as kundalini rises, it makes us more and more sensitive on the whole. (This is why psychics are also known as sensitives.) If kundalini rising has made someone super sensitive but they don’t pay conscious attention to issues of energy, they may suddenly feel dizzy, weak or nauseous when they walk into a heavy, negative environment like a bar, or interact with someone of a nature that is not good for them. Because they’re not conscious, they wouldn’t know that this is their inner guidance system trying to tell them to get away from there.
Please note that kundalini awakening does not have to be a difficult or uncomfortable process, though we may not have full conscious control over how things will unfold for us personally. The more we work WITH and trust in this process, however, the smoother things should go.
It’s a bit like the growth process of the physical body: if we suddenly notice we’re growing because our clothes and shoes have gotten uncomfortably tight, and this freaks us out, we may resist growing more by doing something akin to foot binding. This will of course cause us far more discomfort. If, however, we trust in this as a natural process and we shed everything that has grown too small or tight for us (including limiting beliefs and perspectives), we can naturally flow into a bigger state of being.
Thus I believe the best thing you can do is to become a clearer, more conscious channel via spiritual practice. This is essentially why yoga developed in the first place; it opens up energy flow throughout the body and integrates us on all levels: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Meditation, spiritual study or other spiritual practices will also make you more conscious of what is happening to you on all levels. This will empower you to remain in a high vibration as you walk through such experiences and lend you more control over them.
I suggest you view these experiences as signs that you are ready to embrace a more conscious spiritual path in order to clear inner channels for new growth and development. The more conscious you get spiritually, the more you will both understand the true nature of such experiences and be able to facilitate a smooth spiritual journey.
– Soul Arcanum
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