Chakras and Kundalini Explained — Awakening Energy the Safe and Traditional Way

Quick answer: Chakras are energy centres described in Tantra and Hatha Yoga along the spine, from the base to the crown. Kundalini is the dormant potential energy, pictured as a coiled serpent at the base of the spine, that is said to rise through the central channel (Sushumna) when practice, purification and grace come together. These are subtle-body concepts, not physical organs. Where do the ideas of chakras and Kundalini come from? They come from the Tantric and Hatha Yoga traditions, in texts such as the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Shiva Samhita and the Kundalini Upanishad. The seven-chakra picture most people know today was shaped by the Sat-Chakra-Nirupana, a 16th-century Tantric text by Purnananda, which Sir John Woodroffe translated as The Serpent Power in 1919. Older texts...