Dear Soul Arcanum:
I have been looking for an explanation to some strange spiritual experiences. I took a Reiki class and have been working with what I learned. On the third day I started to experience strange sounds coming from me vocally. These continued to become more frequent, and started to happen during my morning prayers, yoga, and now when any spiritual thing happens to me, even when I’m just reading about chakras in a book. This happens spontaneously; I don’t know it’s going to happen. The energy is so powerful. Do you have an explanation? Thank you for your insights.
– Ellen
Dear Ellen:
As strange as it may sound, what you’re experiencing is a normal, classic symptom of spiritual awakening. In fact, there is a Hindu word for these experiences: they’re called “Kriyas.”
Kriyas are spontaneous, involuntary physical movements. They are frequently jerks and twitches, but can also be vocalizations like sudden laughter or weeping, or the blurting out of words or other sounds. These spontaneous eruptions are caused by a surge of kundalini (life force) energy, and they occur most often during meditation and other spiritual practices – so this perfectly fits the pattern of experience you describe.
When we begin to awaken spiritually, new kundalini energy is released from our root chakras and begins to travel throughout our beings. In order for this greater energy to flow through, our energetic channels have to expand to accommodate it. If we are carrying any blocks or impediments to this stronger flow, this is when they will become apparent.
Blocks can arise from old emotional traumas or psychological issues we’ve been carrying around in our auras. These can be issues from this life or another life. They are probably not things that we are normally conscious of, but they may come up for us in the form of thoughts, feelings or memories and be relived as they are released. While this may be disconcerting and even painful, it’s all part of a natural healing process.
Sometimes kundalini experiences happen because we simply haven’t yet developed the capacity for greater flow. Just like a runner who is training for a marathon has to push beyond her 10k capabilities, we have to stretch ourselves to develop new capacities, and this naturally feels challenging. This process is happening on all levels, not just the physical, which explains why some manifestations of kundalini seem so strange.
Here’s a common analogy: Picture a garden hose that is coiled up with a trickle of water flowing through it. Now crank the faucet to turn the water flow up. If there are any kinks or obstructions in the hose, the pressure will build, and then suddenly when that pressure is strong enough, the kink in the hose may pop out.
We say we are experiencing “kundalini rising” as the inner pressure is building or surging through our systems. This can cause tingling sensations, hyperactivity, insomnia, fatigue, rapid mood swings, psychic and mystical experiences, euphoria, a sense of panic, etc. (As I’ve written before, there are a lot of interesting similarities between this process and what modern medicine has labeled “bi-polar disorder.” There are also correspondences to “chronic fatigue syndrome” and “fibromyalgia.”)
When energy suddenly breaks free, we may experience any of the above, but also muscle twitches, rushes or surges of energy, spontaneous movement and vocalizations – the list is extensive. Some people even find their bodies involuntarily moving into yoga postures when they’ve never practiced yoga before. Others find themselves speaking in foreign languages, singing, dancing ancient sacred dances, chanting, etc.
I went through a number of manifestations like this years ago when I was experiencing a surge in spiritual growth. Even now, whenever I shift my vibration in order to do a psychic reading, my body will involuntarily twitch as I move from one state of consciousness to another. I often experience twitches like this when sending or receiving healing energy as well.
Kriyas can begin to happen on a physical level long before we even become conscious of our spiritual awakening process. As you might imagine, that usually really freaks people out! They may go to their doctor or a psychiatrist to try to determine what is “wrong” with them, and instead of getting comfort and new understanding of what is happening, be put through a battery of physical tests to no avail, or end up with a prescription for something to “calm their nerves.” Some are even labeled psychotic or schizophrenic. Instead of getting help and healing, they end up distrusting not only this healing process, but also their own mental competency � which is a spiritual crisis indeed.
Your spontaneous vocalizations are your body releasing blocked energy. Sometimes these kriyas take the form of long drawn out notes, like the toning done in ritual work to raise energy, or like the classic “Om” of meditation. If you’ve ever heard chanting and toning like this, you know how powerful it can be. Sound has healing power; your body is healing itself intuitively with these vocalizations as it adjusts to a new spiritual vibration.
While this may be easier said than done, the best way to cope with kriyas is to trust and surrender to them. The more you resist them in fear, the more uncomfortable and painful they tend to become. When people learn to trust them, they often shift from alarming and painful to blissful, ecstatic experiences. Try to view this as a powerful, positive healing process.
Of course, if you’re spontaneously breaking into an ancient song and dance routine at work, or yelling out during your child’s school play, it may be really hard to relax and surrender! Resistance will only make things worse; instead of trying to make kriyas stop, you can gain some control over them by accepting and honoring them. The best way to do that is to devote some time every day to this energetic balancing process.
It sounds like you have already adopted a number of spiritual practices like meditation and healing work. Ask your inner being what you most need each day, and allow your intuition to guide you to the process that is best for you at that time. (You might also explore yoga, which can greatly facilitate better energy flow.) Then when you’re in your chosen spiritual practice, just allow whatever comes up to come up. If you experience kriyas, try to relax and surrender from the detached perspective of your inner observer. The more you do this, the more kriyas will occur during those times instead of at less opportune moments.
Now that you know that what you’re experiencing is normal and ultimately healing, hopefully you can relax and trust this process. This will raise your vibration and make everything easier, and lead you from these alarming eruptions to some wonderful awakening experiences.
– Soul Arcanum