The Kundalini is often pictured as a snake that rises around the spine and through the chakras. It is in fact energy going from your first (root) to your last (crown) chakra.
A full awakening is like enlightenment, pure bliss, a knowing of all mysteries, a great connection to all there is.
While, the awakening usually happens progressively (so our nervous system can adapt) as a result of practises that cultivates this energy (meditation, yoga, etc), some people might experience a sudden awakening they were not ready for, and this can shake their life pretty hard.
It happened to me, a few years back.
I didn't understand what it was at the time and felt pretty isolated and 'going crazy'. It's a disempowering experience that I wouldn't wish to anyone but the reality is, it happens more and more nowadays and can leave people depressed when it is not understood.
I know you must be thinking 'how can enlightenment be a bad thing?'.
Well it's not.
When you are prepared to receive it.
If you are not, it's like taking two classes of French, learning to say 'Bonjour. Je m'appelle ...' and been considered fluent enough to get a job in France, where you would have to communicate French all day long.
You might have found French interesting during your first classes and got confident about it but suddenly you realise that actually you suck at it because you can't understand a conversation with natives with only the basics and feel desperate and not good enough.
Well, that's pretty much what would happen if you suddenly found yourself propelled into spirituality when you are not prepared, except that the discomfort will be coming mainly from a physical place, leading to feelings of disconnection with reality. The nervous system wouldn't be able to handle the energy that wants to move up and that can reflects in many ways:
Your comfort life is falling apart and all that doesn't align start to fall off (this can also be associated to physical symptoms).
You consistently want to try new activities, workshops, start new therapies, you are in need for expansion.
You're more intolerant. You get annoyed by situations (crowds, drunk people, medias), allergic (cigarette, processed food) to stuff you were not before.
In my own experience, it happened after a workshop that I wasn't spiritually ready to attend yet.
During a meditation, I opened a door that was too huge for me to handle at that time. Fear is what overwhelmed me.
I never really felt fearful before, just quite indifferent to pretty much anything and anyone (...I know...) but that day, in that meditation, I experienced pure fear. You know, like a nightmare but x10 because you're actually awake? I saw despair, violence, death, destruction, end of the world, darkness, emptiness.
Up to today, I still don't really know what was the cause of this vision but I still get goosebump thinking about it.
I stood up traumatised and fearful. Disconnected from reality. For weeks after, I would see or hear sounds that were not from this reality, see shadows everywhere I was going, recalling experiences from past lives. I was afraid of the dark and of being alone, of meditating again.
And moreover, I was disconnected from the real world, unable to have normal social interactions with people I didn't know, troubles to focus at work, etc.
Physically, I started to have a lot of sensibilities to food, chemicals, people's energies....
When I picture myself at this period, I see myself as crazy.
So how, did I recover?
Well, the truth is that I'm not fully recovered.
My nervous system is still weak and if I don't do my grounding practises every day, I can disconnect quickly and my head stay in the clouds for a few days.
Although I had great support from my husband and friends, I was lacking a spiritual teacher that would have recognised and help ground me during this experience.
Time, self-care, social interactions, mental activities, nourishing food and exercise to move the energies every day is what helped me navigate that period, but it wasn't optimal, especially because I didn't have a clue of what had happened to me (I only heard of Kundalini awakening about two years later).
While my experience was quite dark, because I had a lot of inner fears and negative emotions trapped inside, it's not always the case. Some people experience a connection with the pure light and love and feel great being in that state (the only issue is then to go on through a normal way of life while being all dreamy and in love with everything).
Each one will have a different experience of it, the one thing that is certain is that it will push you to make changes in your life. To reach higher, to evolve.
I am grateful for having had this opportunity because, on my healing journey, I met a great number of teachers and individuals that inspired and supported me and I grew into a better version of myself.
But I know how challenging and excluding it can be and I hope that sharing my story will help bring more awareness on this 'new-age symptom'.
There is no way to 'avoid' spiritual awakening (and we don't want to!!), but just be aware that it is a true journey and you don't want to skip steps. :)
In astrology, my mid-heaven is in Scorpio, so I take it as 'my job' to navigate the depths and bring hidden truths to light, by sharing my experience so you don't have to feel that you are alone.
Please feel free to reach out if you think you are on this journey too, I would be happy to connect and support you.
PS: I haven't read it yet, but that book seems to be a great read on this topic.