Kundalini Awakening: A Gentle Guide to Chakra Activation and Spiritual Growth

by Zachary Selig and John Selby

Book Overview

Kundalini Awakening delivers a universe of easy benefits for readers seeking to find relaxation, harmony, and inner peace. Kundalini Awakening demystifies the complex science of Kundalini in a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553353306
• ISBN13: 9780553353303
• Release Date: August 1992
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Review by meditation instructor and shakti-kundalini practitioner

I teach meditation and have a background in physiology, biochemistry, biofeedback and psychology. My latest graduate degree is in integral psychology, which studies psychology within the context of the world's wisdom traditions. As such, I am well read in meditation, yoga, world religions, etc. As part of my eductation, I have also studied shakti-kundalini yoga with a well known teacher who is also an M.D./Ph.D and has been practicing most of her life. While I'm not an expert at kundalini yoga, I have read many of the important classics on this topic and probably am better qualified than the average reader to review this one. In short, I really liked this book and found it to be extremely useful. It presents kundalini awakening in a very logical, straightforward and non-esoteric way. It invites the reader to experience this energy in their own body and contains many useful exercises to accompany the readings. Best of all, it takes the most important teachings and shows how a modern person could apply them making them relevant to a modern context and people with busy lives. This book assumes that you are your own inner master and encourages you to gently explore this territory with an open mind. It starts with helping the reader develop simple breathing techniques and then encourages development of expanded practices that include awareness of the heart, the pull of gravity on the body and then eventually the energy centers of chakras. This volume is approximately 200 pages, but it contains a lot of material and develops the subject quickly. It has an encouraging tone and the progression of exercises are logical. A lot of the focus is on the heart chakra where heaven meets earth, which is appropriate and emphasized regularly throughout the book. In general, the development recommendations of the book seem to gentle, thorough and safe for the average person. Part II of the book talks in detail about awakening the seven energy centers with a variety of exercises and this included working with yantras or mandalas, sound and visualization. This text also includes excellent color plates by Zachary Zelig which can be used for some of the exercises. This is an intelligent, learn by doing approach to kundalini yoga. I highly recommend it as an introductory volume for Westerners, especially Westerners turned off by a lot of jargon on the subject. In place, the author made some assertions that weren't thoroughly supported and may not even be true, but overall the book is accurate and well-researched. In addition, the author has experience in an established lineage and is a working therapist who applies his ideas in his practice.

Kundalini For Regular People!

Great book, makes meditation almost easy and definitely a pleasure all the way along ... this author knows whereof he speaks, that's obvious. And he has made a big step forward from other kundalini books I've read - he places the heart at the center and focuses on bringing more love into the human energy system, rather than the usual "blast off through the head" kundalini books. And this is a hands-on manual, it guides you every step of the way, safely, enjoyably ... I love this book! Already in three weeks, I can breathe freer, my heart feels better, I have more energy - and another thing I notice is my patience has gotten better, I think I'm more fun to be around now that I know how to tune into my breathing and just relax more, wherever I am ... yes, good book! And the author's website... is perfect training, online audio guidance with the author's voice ... for free!I recommend this book so highly ... Peter

Great for everybody

I liked this book very much, since it offers a very balanced approach to Kundalini awakening. Many teachers plunge interested folks into this kind of mystic experience without warning them about the dangers that may come. Selby on the other hand proposes a simple, undogmatic and safe method. Though this book might be written for beginners, I really appreciated his views about the Kundalini-shakti even though I did quite some reading and meditating already. He has a very nonsectarian approach, but does not deny his Christian background. Reading his book one can sense that he knows what he is talking about and has seen - as I did myself - what happens, when people get too fanatic about this magnificient power. His aim is not to prepare the reader to leave this world in the next 36 hours by a blast of light, Kundalini as a substitute for psychodelic drug-addicts, but to built the foundations of a life of meditation that does not isolate the adept from the rest of society, but enables him to grow with the increasing flow.

clear and easy to use meditation guide

John Selby has done an excellent job describing the chakra system and how to awaken the chakras as a group through meditation exercises. This book takes a gentle, gradual approach, so that the practitioner can avoid some of the unpleasant side affects of sudden kundalini activation. I worked through the exercises as written for several months before branching into a slightly different meditation form. During those months I did experience noticeable changes in my waking perceptions, as well as in my dreams, which became lucid much more frequently. I did, however, retain some blockages in certain chakras which these meditations could not seem to budge. Thus I would recommend that for stubborn blockages one work with a teacher, because the book alone can only take you so far. Still, it is an excellent book, written in a very positive and supportive voice.

What? No reviews for this book?!

This is my favorite book which teaches a traditional approach to awakening ones chakras.It was a joy to read and I had the distinct feeling that it was a true labor of love for Mr Selby. His love and passion for the subject really shines in his writing.I also liked Zachary Zelig's wonderful paintings (mandalas for the different chakras)in the center of the book.This book combines some of the best traditional approaches to stimulating the chakras- sound (mantra), breathing (pranayama), and visualization. In addition it also suggests several different programs of practice- one which combines all techniques, one which concentrates on breathing alone, one on mantra alone, and another which you can do in 7 breaths during ones everyday life.I really like the approach he takes to working with the chakras- not concentrating on any single one but working with all of them in a balanced way to create a safe, steady, and gentle opening.Another book on the chakras I really like is Sanaya Roman's "Soul Love." It teaches a more modern approach to working with the chakras that I find to be very effective.Whenever I am asked to recommend books on the chakras, these two titles (Kundalini Awakening and Soul Love) always are at the top of my list. Kundalini Awakening is probably the better of the two books to start with because Soul Love is a bit more involved and more difficult to put into practice.For those who are looking for an introduction to the chakras and a practical way of working with them this book is the best I know of.