Kundalini

Kundalini is the bio-spiritual combination of tejas, ojas, and prana. It is a dormant neuro-electricity potentially present at the root of the spine. When a person meditates, the energy rises from the root chakra to the crown chakra along the ascending track of tejas. Kundalini shakti awakens and moves up by the grace of the guru, through kundalini yoga, pranayama, meditation, prayer, or puja. Signs of awakening include goose bumps, spasms, or a surge of energy moving upward.

The anterior passage of kundalini is the descending path from the crown down to the heart and stomach via the vagus nerve, which accelerates cardiac activity and stimulates hydrochloric acid secretion in the stomach. The posterior passage is the ascending path governed by the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Both pathways belong to kundalini.

At the time of delivery, a baby passes from a blissful state to a physical state. When kundalini moves from the crown chakra along the spinal cord and hits the solar plexus and the celiac ganglion, the diaphragm activates, the lungs open, the first breath enters, and the child cries. At that first breath, the baby's kundalini is pushed down into the pelvic cavity.

The downward movement of kundalini separates individual consciousness (jiva) from higher consciousness, while the upward movement of kundalini helps reunite jiva with higher consciousness. The moment the child cries, the blissful state of subjective awareness ends and the physical state of objective awareness begins.