 When discussing the concept of chakras, prana, and energy pathways, there's one major thing we have to cover. The coiled snake itself. The divine feminine Shakti force, or as it's best known in the West, the Kundalini serpent. In yogic philosophy, the Kundalini is a manifestation of the cosmic divine feminine known as Shakti, and is often said to be located in or around the root chakra, solar plexus, or at the base of the spine. When cultivated with care, an open heart and disciplined tantric practice, a Kundalini awakening can bring tremendous spiritual power and liberation. It's safe to say that anyone who has delved into yoga or Hindu philosophy at any point has probably come across this idea. The history behind this vital force, though, is not as well known. The phrase Kundalini was originally associated with deities in the Shaktiism sect of Hinduism before the 9th century when it was adopted into the Hatha Yoga system, where it was likened to an energy force that could be awakened with postures and meditation. The word itself is mentioned in the Upanishads and is an adjective that meant circular or annular. But it isn't until the 12th century, Raja Tarangini text, that it's likened to a snake being coiled. In the Mahabharata epic, there is a naga, old school serpent deities, called Kunda, whose name is thought to have meant bowl or container, which probably had a linking effect too. Later on, after being taken in by the Hatha Yogis of the 16th century, Kundalini started to become used as a technical word to describe practices, rather than being an energy or God force itself. Our modern visualization of it as a snake, though, can be attributed to the Indian spiritual teacher Eknaath Iswaran, who translated the word as coiled power, saying that it was a force of energy coiled at the base of the spines like a serpent. Awakening the Kundalini force is said to open the chakras as it climbs the spine towards the crown, giving us great insight, knowledge and psychic power as it moves through our body, and like the chakras themselves, everything from meditation and breath work to yoga can serve to guide it into an awakening. Each chakra is said to contain special characteristics, and with proper training, moving the Kundalini through each chakra can help express or open those aspects of yourself, revealing the inner worlds of the divine forces and consciousness of the soul and spirit. Noting, though, that many Hindu texts caution against waking it up too early or without a guide who can help you through it, as an awakening too soon can cause an imbalanced energy field and disrupt the flow and have some weird side effects, too. Hindu tradition often tells us that in order to integrate the spiritual energy that the Kundalini brings properly, a period of careful purification and strengthening of the body and nervous system is required beforehand. While a guide can be helpful, the mental health need to be prepared by doing things like breath work and meditation, exercise and eating healthy and visualization to ensure a healthy awakening. But above all, like the markabha, the whole thing must be approached with an open and full heart. Many gurus and practitioners who have successfully awakened the Kundalini energy have described the feeling as a distinct electrical or heat current running along the spine or a cool breeze being felt along the tips of the fingers, almost as if you're floating. The Divine Life Society have said that during an awakening, super sensual visions appear before the mental eye of the aspirant. New worlds with indescribable wonders and charms unfold themselves before the yogi. Planes after planes reveal their existence and grandeur to the practitioner and the yogi gets divine knowledge, power and bliss in increasing degrees when Kundalini passes through chakra after chakra, making them to bloom in all their glory. In our world today, many people are starting to awaken this energy within them naturally as our planetary frequency is increasing. But many do so too soon. Funnily enough, mental problems associated with the practice of Kundalini work have become so common that there's even a Kundalini syndrome diagnosis in psychology. People like Turner and Barnhaus outlined a bunch of psychological difficulties appearing in people engaged in the practice in 1995. Later on, research in fields like transpersonal psychology found patterns of sensory, motor, mental and effective symptoms associated with people going through a Kundalini awakening and coined the term Kundalini syndrome. Now, we're not saying it's dangerous or anything like that. The Kundalini energy is a part of you and entirely natural. So like the chakras, there's no need to be afraid of it. Many of the psychologists diagnosing mental issues or episodes associated with Kundalini work are simply not familiar with the eastern systems and don't understand what's going on. So they call it a syndrome and misdiagnose it. Like plant medicine, a Kundalini awakening can purge much of the stagnant and negative energy within the nadis and meridians, resulting in a sometimes violent purge. But this should be seen more as a flushing out of the old to make room for the new, more than a syndrome or issue. It's even believed in new age groups that all living things have a Kundalini, as it's a form of dormant spiritual energy that connects us to the universal cosmic flow. Following Drunvala's account, even the Earth has her own Kundalini. Drunvala tells us that every 13,000 years a sacred and secret event takes place that changes everything. Mother Earth's Kundalini energy emerges from its resting place in the planet's core and moves like a snake across the surface of our world to wherever the next spiritual center will be. Once it was at the home in ancient Lemuria and then it moved to Atlantis, then to Chilean mountains of India and Tibet. And with every relocation it changed our understanding of what spirituality means to us as a species, including a masculine or feminine dominance in our overall understanding. Recently, with much difficulty, the world serpent moved from Tibet to the Andes mountains of Chile and Peru. Some people even believe it to be residing along with the sacred chakra of the Earth inside Lake Titicaca. One thing can be certain though, whenever the Kundalini moves, a huge paradigm shift often follows which could be the secret reason or code behind many of the events going on in the world today.