Kundalini, which means the coiled one, is the invisible holy energy that yogis believe resides at the base of our spines, coiled just like a snake in the equally invisible energy center (chakra) called Muladhar, close to the coccyx.

Yogis believe that no spiritual knowledge and final liberation (nirvana) is possible without awakening this Kundalini energy.

When awakened through long years of hatha-yoga, meditation, prayers and grace, Kundalini allegedly rises along the shusumna, the non-physical energy channel that parallels the human spine, and shoots up towards the brain.

Along the way, Kundalini supposedly pierces through (according to the classical description in yogic texts) the seven chakras until it reaches the one on the top of the skull the Crown Chakra.

There are thousands of books in the market today describing each and every chakra, the colors, fragrances, sounds etc. that is revealed when the Kundalini pierces through each chakra. They are all a fascinating read, really.

The key concept to understand is that Kundalinis upward travel along the shusumna is a CLEANSING process.

Yes, it burns its way up and yogis literally feel the tremendous heat generated during this process. But that is a good burn since it supposedly incinerates many lifetimes worth of bad impressions and energy blocks that prevent us from realizing our own true nature.

Thats the theory in a nutshell.

But my limited experience with yoga has suggested that sometimes there is a very fine line between a Kundalini awakening and flat out delirium or nervous breakdown.

Ive witnessed scary cases where I couldnt tell if the person was on his way to getting liberated and illuminated, or to the nearest mental asylum.

One early author, Gopi Krishna, whose Kundalini was awakened pretty much accidentally, wrote in great length about the agonies he went through for years to control the fire that was consuming him nonstop day and night.

Thus you should be very careful before you make any attempts to awaken your Kundalini on your own. I dont think there are too many people in the world who really know the exact nature of this process and things can go wrong suddenly, sometimes without a remedy or a cure.

Thats why a well-trained bona-fide Yoga Master is always cited as a must condition for the yoga students who want to explore this esoteric topic. You should do the same and find a Master before doing anything on your own.