Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Energy that lies dormant at the base of the spine until it is activated, as by the practice of yoga, and channeled upward through the chakras in the process of spiritual perfection.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun yoga An energy said to lie coiled at the base of the spine, which can be released by yoga.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Sanskrit kuṇḍalinī, from feminine of kuṇḍalin-, coiled, spiral, from kuṇḍalam, ring, coil, perhaps of Dravidian origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Sanskrit कुण्डलिनी (kuṇḍalinī, "coiled").

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Examples

  • My friends asked me about what I was seeing, and insisted I was experiencing what Indian mystics call a kundalini activation.

    Twenty-three-year-olds shouldn't be writing memoirs (Ch 3) Robert David Moseley 2011

  • Sexual energy (called kundalini in Eastern terminology) is supposedly housed in the root chakra (a spiritual center located in the genital area) and can be channeled through other chakras, or spiritual centers, to the crown chakra located at the top of the head.

    CREATE YOUR OWN FUTURE Jennifer Ann Daddio 2003

  • This knowledge belongs to a branch of yoga called kundalini yoga, a specialized branch of the path of raja yoga.

    The Sivananda Companion To Meditation THE SIVANANDA YOGA VEDANTA CENTER 2003

  • Sexual energy (called kundalini in Eastern terminology) is supposedly housed in the root chakra (a spiritual center located in the genital area) and can be channeled through other chakras, or spiritual centers, to the crown chakra located at the top of the head.

    CREATE YOUR OWN FUTURE Jennifer Ann Daddio 2003

  • These exercises heighten the presence of life energy, or vitality, which the ancient masters called kundalini.

    Meditation as Medicine M.D. Dharma Singh Khalsa 2001

  • These exercises heighten the presence of life energy, or vitality, which the ancient masters called kundalini.

    Meditation as Medicine M.D. Dharma Singh Khalsa 2001

  • With Bonanza Jellybean's permission, and against my explicit orders, she's been coercing the guests into trying something called kundalini yoga.

    Even Cowgirls Get The Blues Robbins, Tom 1976

  • In tantra, as explained in the Mahanirvana Tantra, Shakti has nearly always been defined as kundalini, and Shiva, the male aspect, as chetana or consciousness.

    The Times of India 2010

  • Some people go through something called kundalini awakening, which can be feel like mental illness (link below).

    Yahoo! Answers: Latest Questions 2009

  • One of the concepts that lends us some insight about this is the concept of "kundalini" that comes from the yogic philosophy of ancient India.

    Srinivasan Pillay: Viagra vs Spirituality: Mojo Rising 2010

Comments

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  • In those days, chiropractors had a somewhat dubious reputation. People didn't come to Uncle Pete to free up their kundalini. He cracked necks, straightened spines, and made custom arch supports out of foam rubber. Still he was the closest thing to a doctor we had in the house on those Sunday afternoons.

    --Jeffrey Eugenides, 2002, Middlesex, p. 7

    August 6, 2008

  • Tell cuts his arrow from a branch of mistletoe, a plant of Aryan mythology, and he hits an apple, symbol of the third eye activated by the serpent Kundalini.

    --Umberto Eco, 1988, Foucault's Pendulum, p. 204

    October 3, 2008