- originally posted 5/28/03 -

(Katy, you might need to re-register as we've had problems on the site. Apologies! )

Hello,

My first post here, and my first contact with this type of forum.
I have been doing meditation of some type or other for about 30 yrs. I'm 59 yrs. old. I now do Centering prayer, and my most recent "strange" experience (last week)occurred as follows:

I spent a whole day crying for no apparent reason. I think it was release of "old" emotional pain. Later in the evening after the crying subsided, I started to experience intense burning, tingling, and prickly feelings mostly in my midrif area, a little up into the chest area and in my arms. This went on for about 2 hours. I have had strange experiences in the past and that is another story. I have been told that last weeks experince may have been a hormonal imbalance, an allergy and other things. I believe it was kundalini energy. I could feel "rushes" of heat energy, etc. I prayed the whole time, "Jesus, Jesus..., and prayed to the angels and Saints to intercede for me. It was a bit frightening, but I was pretty sure that I wasn't going crazy, and I also did not allow myself to be afraid. It was very uncomfortable, but I just went with it until it finally stopped. When my body began to return to normal, my hands got extremely hot.

The next day I called my massage therapist of 7 yrs., and told her about it and she agreed with me that the crying was a cleansing, and that the heat sensations, etc. was energy moving. and she had experienced this before also. She also does Reiki, Healing touch, Feldenkreis, and more.

I guess I want to know if I should see my holistic doctor of 20 yrs. and/or talk with someone knowledgable about this sort of thing. Several people in the past have said that I should have a spiritual director.

A few more things about me: Back in 1979 I think I experienced a 3rd eye opening. It was spontaneous... I wasn't seeking it.. My whole body, esp. my head felt full of light... I cried and cried for joy because my body couldn't contain all the energy, peace, and joy. I have never had anything quite like that since!!!.... but have had other experiences.. both pleasant, and some not so pleasant.

Any thoughts or advice will be greatly appreciated

P.S. I also have the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.. actually 2 or 3 "baptisms"

Blessings,
hspKaty

- originally posted 5/29/03 -

Hi Katy. Welcome to the forum.

The symptoms you describe are among those listed for kundalini phenomena, but it's hard to say if this signals a full blown awakening or just an arousal. Even though this might all feel "wierd," it doesn't sound like it's too disruptive for you. If the symptoms become too uncomfortable, it's often helpful to back off on centering prayer a bit. Beginning C.P. with scripture reading and doing a little movement afterwards can also help to ground the energy.

You haven't mentioned how long you've been doing C.P. and if you've been practicising spiritual disciplines all along. That might help us to understand more about what's going on. And, yes, by all means, find a spiritual director you can talk to about what's going on. If there are none in your area, check out the link on this web site and see if the online/phone option sounds workable for you.

Keep us posted.

Phil

- originally posted 5/29/03 -

Phil,

Thank you for the welcome, and for your reply.

I have been practicing Centering Prayer for about five years, off and on, mostly on. I usually do it for at least 15 minutes in the mornings. I actually think that I would benefit from doing more rather than less.

I also have been practicing hatha yoga for about 30 yrs. off and on, (again, mostly "on") It helps to get the kinks out of my body, helps me to feel relaxed, and just feels good! I also do a lot of deep breathing.. called the yoga "complete breath", and lately have been doing more abdominal breathing.

Another strange thing that happened to me about three years ago was spontaneous and loud groans while I was meditating, or when relaxed and drifting off to sleep. Someone told me this was called "open throating". I would like to know more. I assume this was some type of a release; it felt like it, tho it was a little scary... my husband to be was almost afraid to marry me (just kidding) I have only been married for three years.

I will look into spiritual direction at this web site. Thank you.

hspKaty

Oh, and "HSP" means "highly sensitive person", a new term (personality trait) coined by Dr.Elaine Aron who wrote a book by the same name. This might throw light on my situation and possibly others here can identify with it.

- originally posted 5/30/03 -

Katy, some of those breathing practices could also account for the energy phenemena you're experiencing. They sound awfully similar to pranayama, which is often a trigger for kundalini activity. Just a thought.

Glad to hear you're checking out spiritual direction. Sounds like it's time to process with someone.

Hi Katy,

I read your post with interest. You could have indeed experienced a K arousal and clearing. However, I would warn against "encouraging"
any of these energetic movements, speaking as someone who had an imbalanced K rising and has reviewed and reviewed again what led to it and the subsequent discomfort.

re releasing emotions in terms of calling it a clearing. In my experience, this can be pretty dangerous territory when one is dealing with any K energies. A swaimi from India who regards himself as a K expert told me that crying for hours on end really disturbs the brain and one's energy and should be avoided at all costs. I'd heard in many healing circles that a good cry is a great release, but hours, off and on, as you describe, can be really hard on someone with a closed energy system, not to mention someone with the K acting up.

So I'd caution you going forward to try and circumvent long crying jags. The swaimi had advised me to try and keep a good cry down to about 15 minutes and then try and recover, perhaps release through some physical activity instead to keep my energy balanced. So in the future, if I were you, I wouldn't stay in prayer as you did again as you cried and experienced the energy rush.

Re the tingles, basically around the solar plexus. This is indeed, in energy terms, regarded as the seat of the emotions. You could have released a large energy blockage and then healing energy poured in. However, once again, going forward, I would warn you to protect your solar plexus, because huge emotional releases can also aggrevate whatever rips or tears already exist in that chakra. It is also the entrance to the lower astral emotional planes, ie grief, abuse, etc. Ways to protect are to steady your breathing, rubbing your stomach and even apply massage oils, such as almond oil or something else soothing to calm it down and balance it. What you don't want are any negative energies to come in.

The big message here is if you are going into a K rising and process is to keep your energy on all levels (physical, emotional and spiritual) calm and balanced as amuch as possible. So if you experience a release on one level, another energy level can take over and provide that balance. It sounds like this did happen, you had a big emotional release and good spiritual energy came into help you along.

Please keep us informed if you've found this any help and particularly if you start experiencing any severe K symptoms. Best to you in your walk, Linda