What is Kundalini?

Kundalini, comes from Sanskrit word कुण्डलिनी kunda literally means “the coiled one” and symbolically points to our innate potential primordial power of infinite consciousness that ready to be unleashed. We all have this untapped energy source, Shakti power,  that lays dormant at the base of the spine (muladhara chakra) like a coiled snake. Once the serpent has been awakened, it uncoils itself and moves up through central channel (sushumna nadi) and energizes each chakra. This energy will continue rising until it reaches the crown chakra. A Kundalini awakening is often associated with the spiritual growth, psychic powers, and enlightenment. Kundalini energy transforms, purifies, and revitalize physical and subtle body. This Shakti power, your power, opens experiences of boundless love, compassion, wisdom, and grace.

Why Awaken Kundalini? 

Adi Shankara wrote in Saundarya Lahari सौन्दर्यलहरी (The waves of Beauty) about supreme power of Kundalini. In this 8th century collection of hymns, he states that all knowledge, all wisdom, all inspiration, and all creativity — musical, poetic, literary, artistic, and Divine — come through the power of Kundalini.
All elements are 

Oh Goddess mine,
You live in seclusion with your consort,
In the lotus with thousand petals,
Reached after breaking through the micro ways,
Of the power of earth in Mooladhara,
Of the power of water of Manipoora,
Of the power of fire of Swadhisthana,
Of the fire of air in the heart,
And of the power of ether in between the eyelids

Awakening of Kundalini is one of the main goals of all forms of yoga.

If you want to awaken kundalini in order to enjoy communion between Shiva and Shakti, two great forces within you, and if you want to enter Samadhi and experience the absolute. 

By means of kundalini awakening, you are compensating with the laws of nature and speeding up the pace of your physical, mental and spiritual evolution. Once the great shakti 

awakens, man is no longer a gross physical body operating with a lower mind and low voltage prana. Instead, every cell of his body is charged with the high voltage prana of kundalini. And when total awakening occurs, man becomes a junior god, an embodiment of divinity. 

in the cosmos, and if you want to understand the truth behind the appearance, and if the purpose of your pilgrimage is very great, then there is nothing that can come to you as an obstacle.

Accurate knowledge about the unfolding of this process can provide enormous comfort. It allows people to relax and receive the extraordinary gifts and benefits Kundalini provides. Challenges remain, but fear doesn’t have to be one of them.
Without a full and deep understanding of Kundalini, the ego mind, our ordinary consciousness, is prone to reacting with fear and anger.

Without prior cleansing of the nadi system, raising the serpent

power (kundalim-shakti) along the axial pathway is not only impossible

but also very dangerous to attempt, for instead of entering the central

channel (sushumna-nadi) it is likely to force itself into the ida- or the

pingala-nadi, on either side of the central channel, causing immense

havoc in the body and mind

We’re so used to being identified with the little self, the ego mind, that we’ve become completely alienated from our own sublime Self. Kundalini rectifies this, clearing the dis-ease that comes from being split off from our true and highest nature. Right understanding is essential for skillfully proceeding on the path of Kundalini sadhana, the ancient a path of disciplined adherence to practices empowered by Kundalini. And cultivating that right understanding is part of its tradition.