WHEN KUNDALINI AWAKENS – PSYCHOTHERAPY AS SUPPORT IN A SPIRITUAL PROCESS
For some people, a spiritual process begins slowly and gently. For others, it comes suddenly and very intensely.
Maybe you begin to feel strong energies in the body. A sense of openness, clarity, or love. Maybe your sleep, emotions, or senses change dramatically after meditation, yoga, breathwork, psychedelic experiences, or a life crisis.
Some describe this as a kundalini process or kundalini awakening.
For many, the process can feel meaningful and transformative. But it can also feel confusing, frightening, and difficult to understand.
Some people feel they cannot really talk to others about it.
In spiritual environments, these experiences are sometimes made into something very “elevated” or romanticized. In the ordinary mental health system, the spiritual side of the experience may be overlooked or misunderstood.
This is where psychotherapy can help.
WHAT IS A KUNDALINI PROCESS?
In yogic traditions, kundalini is described as a life energy that can awaken and create deep changes within a person.
Some experience the process as beautiful and opening. Others go through periods of anxiety, inner chaos, or a feeling of losing their grounding.
The American psychologist Bonnie Greenwell worked for many years with people going through kundalini processes. She described kundalini as a process that affects the body, psyche, emotions, and consciousness.
She also pointed out that people going through spiritual awakenings often need support and integration — not only spiritual explanations.
That perspective resonates deeply with the way I work as a psychotherapist.
HOW CAN A KUNDALINI PROCESS BE EXPERIENCED?
No two kundalini processes are exactly the same. But some people describe experiences such as:
- Energy or vibrations in the body
- Heat or movement along the spine
- Trembling or spontaneous body movements
- Strong sensitivity to light, sound, or other people
- Altered states of consciousness
- Feelings of love, clarity, or unity
- Anxiety or fear
- Sleep disturbances or intense dreams
- A sense that identity is changing
- Mystical or non-dual experiences
- Feeling unable to function the way they used to
Some people also experience old trauma, grief, or difficult emotions suddenly coming to the surface.
This can be healing — but also deeply overwhelming.
WHEN IT BECOMES TOO MUCH
Spiritual processes do not happen only “in consciousness.” They also affect the body, nervous system, and psyche.
If someone already carries stress, trauma, or emotional wounds, the process can feel more chaotic and difficult to manage.
Some people become very open and sensitive, but also ungrounded and overwhelmed.
Others try to understand everything through spirituality or philosophy, while losing contact with the body and ordinary life.
This is where psychotherapy can help create more grounding and stability.
Not by reducing everything to psychology, but by supporting the integration of what is happening.
HOW CAN THERAPY HELP?
In therapy, we may work with:
- creating more calm and stability in the nervous system
- understanding the difference between spiritual opening and overwhelm
- working with anxiety or fear
- reconnecting with the body
- integrating spiritual experiences into everyday life
- working with boundaries and relationships
- creating more grounding and stability
Many people going through kundalini processes feel alone with their experiences.
That is why it can be a great relief to speak with someone who understands both the spiritual dimension and the psychological side of the process.
A HOLISTIC APPROACH
My work is inspired by neuroaffective developmental psychology, depth psychology, and contemplative traditions.
I am also inspired by Bonnie Greenwell’s understanding that spiritual awakenings are not only about consciousness — but also about the body, emotions, and nervous system.
For me, this work is not only about spiritual experiences.
It is also about being human. About being able to live, feel, relate, and be present in life in a more whole way.
PSYCHOTHERAPY WITH ROOM FOR THE SPIRITUAL
I offer online psychotherapy through video sessions for people going through spiritual processes — including kundalini processes and other forms of spiritual awakening.
There is room here for both the psychological and the spiritual perspective.
Not as opposites, but as parts of the same human process.