Short answer -- no. Just practice with a teacher.

Long answer -- I started my yoga practice with Kundalini. I've been practicing for years and have been to hundreds of classes. I love it. I've seen people get blissed out, I've seen people release years of pent-up emotions, and I've seen people get very positive results. I've experienced all of that myself as well, but I've never ever seen a 'schizophrenic episode.' I have heard the stories, but they seem to involve people who have no guidance or who do too much too quickly. And the people whotell the stories the most are usually those who have never actually practiced Kundalini yoga themselves.

I would suggest finding a class with a good teacher, however. That way, you'll get a good introduction to the practice and also get the most benefit. Think of it like exercise. If you never swam before, would you just jump into a swimming pool? Of course not, because you'd want someone to teach you how to swim. The same goes for Kundalini yoga. It helps to have someone teach you the basics so you can build from there.

~~~ many people experience schizophrenic episodes from Kundalini ~~~

In quite a positive manner, I can see that swapping between two modes of us being us could in some ways be a characteristic of awakening.

Yesterday I had a question about a part of the Rainbow Dream Vision of Hope......

...... what do you mean by "rainbow dancing serpent wheels"?

I have always felt that refers to our chakra energy system beginning to function properly.

~~~ The various winged serpent wheels will begin to turn, to dance once again and when they do the rainbow lights will be seen ... ~~~
www.worldgathering.net/vision.html

I think our chakra system is in standby mode because we have learned not to be oursleves due to the suppression of our true nature in our present civilisation.

The shutdown and imbalance of our chakra system seemed to be refered to in early, authentic crop patterns in the UK. These crop patterns also seemed to indicate that our chakras ... our flow of energy was inhibited because of our learning to be too much left-brain dominant, instead of having ideas balanced by intuition, instinct, and spontaneous expression.

When people become more in alignment with what they truly think and feel about life on Earth today, the chakra system will start to function properly. That's my feeling, and I seemed to be closely involved with some of the craft making the original, authentic crop patterns in the fields of southern England ....

~~~~~~ So, isn't it likely we could fluctuate to some extent, occasionally, between two sets of mind and personality. Between who dysfunctional society has trained us to be, and who we more naturally are?

Schizophrenia is the lack of a filter between what images and sounds that are in your head and the ones that are outside... It is not actually a disease... I am Native American.... All Traditional Natives are considered Pseudo-Schizophrenic, Because they are able to see and talk to spirits and recognize the spirits in all things... Remember that...

The problem is the lack of control over the filter...

Many budding psychics go through a very similar experience as their minds awaken...

If Kundalini is done correctly there is no negative physical or mental damage...

Traditionally one is supposed to start with hatha and move gradually towards raja or kundalini by various routes. but eh, human life is not neatly arranged in such a purely academic sense and i encourage anyone to experiment to good effect. there is of course a lot of bullshit talked about "YOGA" - sometimes just from an egotistical, point-scoring angle. Simply put yoga is yoga, you are either doing it right or doing it wrong, it is not like anything else, for example if you feel bad it may be it's working, while if you feel good it's probably not working for YOU.

yes, sexual contact with yogas can awaken kundalini and can be dangerous for mental and emotional health. but you should have known that before you even started.

Namaste!

All advanced practises should be done with gentleness, in a relaxed condition and under the strong supervision of a very experienced teacher. I work in an therapy centre for people with addictions and related disorders (such as schizophrenia et al). In my practise I use any techniques from the Kundalini Yoga (Yogi Bhajan). For example, I teach the Kirtan Kriya and the Breath of Fire, 2 techniques with a strong kundalini stimulating effect. But there are only positive results - - no negative side-effects. And any participants have a schizophrenia (ICD 10) diagnosis. They reported from positive feelings: more konzentration, more energy, positive flow, centering, focus etc. I have keep records about my work and published it in any writings.

Greetings,
Dr. Holger

P.S. Don't think I tell you quake stories. I am a health professional and hold a MD and PhD in Alternative Medicines.

It seems to me that you might find my experience with
Vipassana yoga and my PTSD to have a lesson with
regard to "getting prepared" and working your way into things.

The most powerful thing that I have found to help with my PTSD is a
Buddhist meditation technique called Vipassana. But you really need
your "Thresh hold Point" stabilized before attempting it. I tried to go
to their ten day retreat before doing so. I could not take it. To learn
this type of yoga takes at least ten straight days of meditating, at
their retreat, under their guidance.

After some discussion with advisers and friends, I decided that
it was a question of my "stability". So I went back to work on
my "foundation". Changes in diet and nutritional supplements
along with educating myself about common toxic chemical
exposures (so I could avoid them). Then I also did some therapy
with "Eye Movement Desensitizing Reprocessing" techniques,
called EMDR, for short.

I was then able to return and complete the "sit", as they call it.

Vipassana
www.dhamma.org/

The nutritional supplements for schizophrenic illnesses are rather
complex, because of misinformation. Be very careful about your
medications, if you are on any. Stopping medications, "Cold Turkey"
can be very very dangerous. You mist have help from a licensed
doctor and slowly ... very slowly, reduce your medication dosage, over
time. Do not attempt to stop taking any such medications with out such
help and support.

One example are the oils
such as flax seed or hemp for the Omega's. Plastic bottles tend
to leach phthalates and other chemicals into the oil. There are
reports of plastic leaching such chemicals into cheese, of which
is solid and kept cold.The phthalates were at first thought to be
lindane, when the CDC detected it in people. Lindane is a
watered down nerve gas that was used for body lice.
Since I can not always buy or afford organic food, I use the
Environmental Working Groups shopping guide. They tested 50
common (not organic) fruits and veggies and listed them from
the most toxic to the least. You can down load it for free at
www.ewg.org

Blessings,

TR

Hi Stephanie,

Practicing kundalini yoga and chakra meditation can cause both kriyas, which are powerful jolts of kundalini energy that can cause something akin to a very short seizure, but it doesn't normally last more than a second, and usually only during meditation. After years of practice, people who consistently practice meditation using the techniques in kundalini yoga and others, may go into super conscious states called samadhi. Especially when a practitioner first enters samadhi, they may appear to go into trance or coma like states and may not have very much awareness of the physical, but this is, again, considered a good thing ;)

To reitarate some of the above posters, it is not recommended to practice kundalini yoga without some instruction from a teacher. My teacher always used to say that if you are really interested in spirituality, yoga and/or meditation, that you should find a teacher who is enlightened, powerful, and funny. If they're not funny, than they're not enlightened. To tell if a teacher is enlightened, you should see a subtle, diffuse gold light around them when they meditate, or sometimes just when they're around. If you go see a teacher and you feel that you can't understand what they're talking about, and the people their are dissociated and confused, and you feel uncomfortable, that is not the right place for you, and you definitely should not force yourself to keep going.

Unfortunately I am not aware of any teachers on the east coast at this time, but seek and you shall find :)

It is quite improbable that you have any yoga in the area. even in India yoga is rare. Yoga already means that there is an illuminated saint at the core. Now illuminated saints do not pop out around every block, Kolkata or Tel Aviv or Mexico city. If even in India saints are in fact rare, in America they simply might not exist at all. What you have done is what the devil told you to do: turn yoga into business and degrade it to sport and belly dancing. That is not the intent. The masters are hidden, some of them are not but even those are hidden, if you know what I mean. Yoga is no Hollywood.

I doubt that in whole America there is a single yoga studio. I know that you never had astrologers, apart from Navajo and Hopi, so you probably do not have yoga. It is not in your culture. I never heard that there is anybody meditating in America apart from perhaps scattered shamans, and even that is questionable. Meditation is rare and pertains to Buddhas and avatars. sitting and trying to attain to concentration (dharana) is not meditation. If gurus have one student that achieved to meditation, it is a blessing. It does not happen in Europe. It happens in India. I have never heard of someone meditating in Europe. There are people sitting on their mats, but that is of course nothing. What they experienced is partial rising of negativities like muddy water stirred. There are technical terms for this. A good result is to feel like Jesus Christ on the cross. But such traumatic virtual deaths are quite unnecessary. There is much exaggeration. Where do you find a mild air current in an ideal cave? Om sakshi aham.