Visual snow and Kundalini

Gopi Krishna, Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man, 1997 (see here)

Gopi Krishna

"Gopi Krishna [1908-1984], in an interview or in one of his writings, I believe stated that he saw white snowy particles over every object he looked at (I'm paraphrasing heavily). This was, as he stated, perhaps a result of a 'Kundalini awakening'."

(nateoa [subject #257], Ezboard forum Visual snow or static – Discussion - VS and spiritual experience, June 10, 2006; additions in square brackets by Klaus Podoll)

"I had never read anything from Gopi Krishna before so I did a Google search [see here]. He describes a lot of visuals that are mentioned on this board, which he seems to see in the dark. A bit amusing that he calls this his Kundalini awakening..."

(Gyps Kindra [subject #113], Ezboard forum Visual snow or static – Discussion - VS and spiritual experience, June 10, 2006; additions in square brackets by Klaus Podoll)

"I read some of the stuff on Kundalini... strange to say the least. I usually don't follow any of the mystic/esoteric stuff, but I must say it is kind of strange to see all my symptoms lined up like that outside of a western/medical context."

(iuris [subject #192], Ezboard forum Visual snow or static – Archive 1 – Kundalini awakening, July 30, 2003)

"There was a period where I read a lot about the subject. I am far from a mystical or esoteric person, but there were certain similarities between the symptoms and something people call spontaneous Kundalini Awakening.

Normally, Kundalini awakening requires intense and long-practised yoga and meditation to achieve. It is equalled to a different state of consciousness. Its physical manifestations are sometimes similar to many symptoms seen on this board. Depersonalization/derealization, visual symptoms (including vs and floaters - increased ability to perceive entoptic phenomena), etc.

I find the link very interesting. To me, this seems to be another avenue on which the vs syndrome can emerge (next to hallucinogens, migraines, psychiatric disorders). But what is the common link to a seemingly neurological/systemic disorder?"

(iuris [subject #192], Ezboard forum Visual snow or static – Discussion – iuris, October 9, 2006)

"I follow non-religious Taoist philosophy and was thus 'prone' to Eastern philosophy and religion. I don't remember exactly how I came upon Kundalini. I fully believe it is possible that Gopi Krishna interpreted migraine aura status in religious/spiritual terms. I remember reading about a lot of cultural figures who were the subjects of much speculation in terms of whether or not they were migraine sufferers, and were consequently influenced in their work (Lewis Carroll, Picasso, Van Gogh)."

(iuris [subject #192], Ezboard forum Visual snow or static – Discussion – iuris, October 10, 2006)

"Models may help in coping. Under this perspective, I would recommend the reading of a unique book, by Gopi Krishna, which has been discussed earlier in some posts at this board. In his autobiography 'Kundalini: The Path to Higher Consciousness' he describes (according to my opinion) a lifetime history of persistent aura. To avoid misunderstandings: it is not that I recommend the book because I believe that any of the metaphysical assumptions he makes about his condition are valid or useful, but his descriptions of the condition and how he dealt with it during different stages of his life probably makes it very helpful reading for others affected by vs."

(ksomething, Ezboard forum Visual snow or static – Discussion – General symptoms + CBT, December 7, 2006)

"For the time being, the earliest well documented case of persistent aura seems to be Gopi Krishna, who had his 'Kundalini Awakening' (characterised by the onset of persistent visual disturbances and tinnitus) in 1937."

(ksomething, Ezboard forum Visual snow or static – Discussion – VS (when was first documented case?) – article, December 15, 2006)

"So basically he had persistent migraine aura and attributed it to a spiritual or religious experience… well I would certainly call this an experience, it's just not so religious for me… I need to add that I hope my last comment is not perceived by anyone to be disrespectful (far be it from the truth), but rather an attempt to find a common denominator in all of this. "

(StormeBrwneyes [subject #230], Ezboard forum Visual snow or static – Discussion – VS (when was first documented case?) – article, December, 2006)

Visual snow and Kundalini

"Visual snow is actually energy (aura). Hi, I suffer from Visual snow, and i've had it for about 5 months now, here's a lil background info, i'm 19, in DEC of 08 i had a spontaneous kundalini awaking and went through all the bad and good of that (google it if u have no clue what i'm talkin about), before that i suffed from severe Sleep paralysis (4-6 times a night) since i was 7, i have obe to other worlds and interacted somewhat with the ppl there, i'm somewhat psychic i don't like to use the word because i'm nothing like a medium but i have regular paranormal experiences, i have no control over what abilities, stuff just happens but anyways.

i kinda just woke up one day and i noticed that everything looked different, but i couldn't figure out why, i couldn't put my finger on it at the time then later that night i noticed that everything was like snow on a tv. That same night i started to see ghost or what i thought was ghost, and i felt like i was being watch. I don't mean a actual ghost in human form but i would see what looks like a puff of smoke in mid air or coming off the tv or kitchen sink and people. and i think that visual snow is really energy because this energy is all aound us and even on us and it's somewhat clear and steamy looking, u can't see directly through it all so it comes out as visual snow, it's hard to explain, like if i had a clear piece of plastic, u could see through it easliy, but if u keep adding piece of it on top more and more, even thou it's clear, seeing through it would become harder and harder..

but i made this thread because the visual snow has gotten more intense, i can see it in broad day light in the sky, looks like currents of energy flowing in the air.

let me know what u think about it thx."

(MAB19, Abovetopsecret.com Fragile Earth discussion forum, June 26, 2009)

"It brighten my vision, i also suffer from after images, i can look at myself in the mirror and then look at a wall and see my face in good detail, no its not the same as blood rushing to the head or at least for me, when blood rushes to your head u see those lil dots and they float around, the snow i have does not float around or have any movement, it's just there... for instance if i walked in a pitchblack room, the snow really pops out, i can't even remember how it feels to see the world without it, i have glasses and contacts since i was 14 and i see it regardless if there on or off and i can see what looks like steam or clearish stuff seaping off ppl and i only seen color one time around my head onetime when i was in the bathroom looking at the mirror, it was at least 5 inches thick stretching out from my head [i.e. corona phenomenon] and yea, i can control my nervouse i guess , idk but if i concentrate on a certain part of my body i can make a cold tingling sensation but that's just me controling the kundalini energy."

(MAB19, Abovetopsecret.com Fragile Earth discussion forum, June 29, 2009; additions in square brackets by Klaus Podoll)

"thx i have [researched into the kundalini process thoroughly], i went through most of the bad stuff the comes with it but i made it, 10 times worser than sp and at the end of the day its made me a way better person, i'm stronger in every aspect of my life now, gold has to be put through the fire to remove impurity in order to become gold."

(MAB19, Abovetopsecret.com Fragile Earth discussion forum, June 29, 2009)

"yea like i know it's energy cuz i can see it floating off ppl and objects, but everyonce and a while i see in the middle of the air, and idk if it's just alot of built up energy or a enitity."

(MAB19, Abovetopsecret.com Fragile Earth discussion forum, June 29, 2009)

"I think i know what u mean moments of clarity, like when i'm at work, i can be talking to a customer, then all of a sudden i lose every thought in my head, not like i just forget, i get like a moment of total peace of mind and i start to feel like i'm floating, i get the same feeling when i have obe... and sometimes i feel like i'm not even part of myself, like i'm seeing through my eyes but i'm just a observer not actually in control, like i'm in a movie or somthing, have you ever felt that way?"

(MAB19, Abovetopsecret.com Fragile Earth discussion forum, June 29, 2009)

"yea, i meditate now because it's the only way i can keep from getting overwelmed with the energy but i get those somtimes, do u get a cold breeze sometime or, the sensation of cool water on your face?, i also can control my vibrations with it, like i just start vibrating during meditation, or when i'm relaxed."

(MAB19, Abovetopsecret.com Fragile Earth discussion forum, June 29, 2009)

"when this whole thing happend to me, i used to have panic attacks all the time, one time i went to a friend's house, back when this first started i had energy surging through me all over it was overwelming and he started to play some music and the energy reacted crazy to it, i went outside and asked this good girl friend i had to just hold me, i felt like i wasnt real..."

(MAB19, Abovetopsecret.com Fragile Earth discussion forum, June 29, 2009)

Kundalini mailing list

"I thank everyone for their comments on the migraines and what to do. I have tried many, many things, and they still seem to be getting worse. In general, it seems like the kundalini energy is getting more intense, going back into the type of thing that occurred 11 years ago... I am going to have to see a neurologist in order to keep receiving the medication, etc. I am wondering, what on earth do I tell him or her? I am a little nervous about having my health record look weird, or being considered a weirdo. My headaches have been very, very closely tied to hormones and my cycle. I have read that hormonal shifts can wreak havoc on k-people so I always felt that my symptoms are consistent with what the standard wisdom is. However once they start they can rage ferociously for up to 2 weeks after their onset."

(patti, kundalini mailing list, June 13, 1996)

"By the way, the migraines began with my kundalini awakening 11 years ago... they first started then; only in the last 3 years have they gotten progressively more intense."

(patti, kundalini mailing list, June 14, 1996)

"Headaches are usually caused by too much energy in your head... like the smoke from the stuff burning cannot get out because you close your crown chakra when you are stressed. Focus on keeping it open… just imagine the top of your head is opening like the lotus it is, or ask your body mind to keep it open for you. Blessings..."

(Mystress Angelique Serpent, kundalini mailing list, October 22, 2001)

"I think I may have mentioned this before, but in Oliver Sack's book on migraine he speculates (but doesn't necessarily concur) that migraine may be a cousin of epilepsy. It seems to me that if you added a migraine-k category to an epilepsy-k category there would be quite a few of us on the list, indeed, that would fit in. I think about Dostoevsky's seizures and his visions, Hildegard of B., etc. My migraines way preceded K [Kundalini] but I wonder if the electrical irregularity allows a window for something new to happen, like a mutation or a strange attractor!! Holly"

(Holly N. Barrett PhD, kundalini mailing list, December 2, 1996; addition in square brackets by Klaus Podoll)

"My question to you all is if you feel the kundalini energies may have contributed to the migraine headaches she and my friends have now, and also, if there are any effective metaphysical ways out there that will put an end to their migraines and neck pain?"

(Mystikstar, kundalini mailing list, May 18, 2002)

"My very first migraine was also the first night that I was awakened to K [Kundalini] and higher states."

(Justin Meredith, kundalini mailing list, August 14, 2002; addition in square brackets by Klaus Podoll)

"Meditation occasionally precipitates a full-blown migraine for me. Often I have an aura that something isn't quite right before the headache symptoms hit. Some things that help me avoid them are: diet (avoid heavy meals and caffeine prior to meditating); candles (the flickering light sometimes triggers a migraine); focusing intensely on one spot for extended periods (although some techniques call for this, I try to keep my eyes steady without staring at one spot). But most important: if you get or already have a headache while you're meditating -- stop meditating!"

(ken, kundalini mailing list, June 28, 2003)

For more information, see the threads migraines, headaches and headaches2 from the K-List at www.kundalini-gateway.org.

Other Kundalini websites

"In a post from July 11, 2007, to the Interactive Guestbook of kundalini-teacher.com, jimmyb provided a report on his 'Symptom[s] and processes of enlightenment', including visual snow, floaters, flashing lights, blurred vision, problems focusing, disturbance of depth perception, autokinesis, depersonalization/derealization, tinnitus, dizziness, tingling and pressure in the centre of the forehead and, last but not least, headaches. 'Most of these symptoms are dying down now, I am a lot calmer than I was a few months ago however I still feel spacey (does this go away?) and my visual/perceptual problems are still there like the snow, floaters and flashes of light and I am still a little anxious and depressed.' Medical examinations yielded no pathological findings. 'I have been to the docs about these symptoms', wrote jimmyb, 'and to the opticians with my pupils with the all clear.' He added: 'I've always been a really spritual person but also very sensitive. I've always suffered from anxiety and nerves. Until 18 months ago I was a confident person quite happy with my life, I was then bullied at work I suffered depression so I left for the past few months I have also suffered with worsened anxiety, panic attacks and worst of all derealization and depersonalization. I've heard that most of these mental symptoms are related to part of my spiritual path and that I will pass though and out the other side feeling more spiritually advanced than I was before. Can anyone help me shed some light on any of these symptoms and tell me how they relate to spiritual awakening? Is there anything I can do to speed up or help the process [my transformation] like meditation or tai chi etc?'"

(ksomething, Ezboard forum visual snow or static - Discussion - vs and related symptoms interpreted as Kundalini awakening, September 14, 2007)

Lee Sanella, Kundalini: Psychosis or Transcendence, 1976 (see here)

Ezboard forum Visual snow or static

"I was told that I had a kundalini awakening. I must learn to control it. That's why I'm seeing what I'm seeing. That's why I almost crashed a computer just by waving my hand by it. Look it up. It's a gift that if not controlled, or at least if you don't take the proper steps to purify yourself, will be a nightmare. I know this sounds crazy, but look up what the symptoms of unexpected kundalini awakening is. It might surprise you. - Coz "

(coz, Ezboard forum Visual snow or static - Archive 1 – Kundalini awakening, July 29, 2003)

"There's got to be a way to stop this. One of the doctors told me I had awoken the kundalini. I didn't understand what he was talking about. He explained that because my body wasn't purified, and I hadn't prepared for it and ultimately it was spontaneous, it was causing electrical disturbances in the nervous system. I see ghosts in my house and only in my house. He explained to me that the static was actually me seeing energy. He also told me that I might develop ESP. He said I need to purge the heavy metals. In general, he said, the build-up of toxins was also in my bowels and a problem of digestion that caused a systemic syndrome. Today (not to be gross) I got a sudden extremely painful urge to go to the bathroom. Since I did, and it was a dark hardened ball, I have felt better but the static has become stronger.

All in all, I'm in a better place now than I was four months ago. I was a mess then. I was angry at the world; in fact I still am, but it’s just not as bad. I keep posting here because if I can help just one person cope, I will feel that I have done something good with my life. It's funny that I was an atheist until a lot of this crap happened. I'm not delusional either. I told my psychiatrist I was seeing stuff, well, specifically ghosts and he told me not to worry about schizophrenia because schizophrenic delusions seem completely real to people in the grips of psychosis. The snow and the images look superimposed to me. Maybe one day, I will be able to tell everyone what to do. For now, I am trying to detox the body, by flushing the kidneys, colon, liver, and gallbladder, and the rest of the body for that matter of stones, heavy metals, toxins, and parasites. I have also started praying. Not to a Christian, or Islamic, or any specific God, but to whoever is listening. I have also started practising chi-gung. Maybe one day, the past will stop haunting me. - Coz "

(coz, Ezboard forum Visual snow or static - Archive 1 – Kundalini awakening, July 30, 2003)

"One theory offered to me by some people is that I, and many of us, are actually psychics. In fact, there is a type of psychic called sensitives that many of us possibly are. The problem being that most of us don't know how to control, or block out, the excess of information and energy that we are absorbing. Thus, we don't seem psychic; we just seem crazy and overloaded. How many of you get that tremor all over your body, and then when you actually look at your hand, or something like that, you aren't shaking at all? Try sticking your hands and feet in buckets of cold water. - Coz"

(coz, Ezboard forum Visual snow or static - Archive 1 – Kundalini awakening - yeah strange stuff happens to me too, July 30, 2003)

"I actually feel what the people call visual snow. You are dealing with psychic powers. I know most people just think of psychics as quacks, but many are not. In general, we are all psychic."

(coz, Ezboard forum Visual snow or static - Archive 1 – Kundalini awakening - I'm sorry you are in pain, November 27, 2003)

"Mine [Kundalini awakening] was drug induced... I was on hallucinogens. What's strange is that most people would assume that I have HPPD. However, I felt a pop and a squirt in my back. All of a sudden, I felt a rush into my head, and it felt like a silent mental scream. I got very confused after that. This happened to me on one other occasion, however it was 6 months after I quit using drugs and I was sleeping: I had a dream that felt real and I felt the rush up to my head, and my body shot upright. I opened my eyes, saw my apartment, and all of a sudden it melted away, and it felt like I was floating in space. It also felt like I was screaming, but I was silent. I kind of struggled, and I literally felt the energy pushing back down my spine, and then I was normal again.

I found out about Kundalini awakening after I spoke to a chemist who had a traditional kundalini awakening through chi-gung. He tried to diagnose me, but he all of a sudden said - 'You see strange things you can't explain, presences of a sort.' It was out of the blue. Then he told me that my kundalini was rising. Through some research, I also found out that spontaneous Kundalini awakening is on the rise, possible pointing towards spiritual crisis on a global scale.

It's tough to deal with, but you can't fight it. Better to accept it. - Coz"

(coz, Ezboard forum Visual snow or static - Archive 1 – Kundalini Awakening anybody???, January 29, 2004; addition in square brackets by Klaus Podoll)

HPPD online Message Board

"I recently started a post about my hppd and lucid dreamings, Obe's [Out of body experiences] and sleep paralysis...... someone posted something about kundalini awaking. Kundalini is a mystic eastern practice, a powerful genre of yoga that focuses on meditating on the 7 chakras (THIS SHIT IS NO JOKE). I've been reading about this powerful practice for years and the symptoms of awakening are strikingly compared to lsd/psychedelic related 'illnesses'. Here are just some of them:

* Sensitivity to sound, light, smell, and proximity of other people.
* Orgasm sensations in different places in the body, or total cosmic orgasms.
* Mystical/religious experiences, revelations, and/or cosmic glimpses.
* Parapsychological abilities. Light phenomena in or outside the body.
* Persistent anxiety or anxiety attacks, due to lack of understanding of what is going on.
* Insomnia, manic high spirits or deep depression. Energy loss.
* Impaired concentration and memory.
* Total isolation due to inability to communicate inner experiences out.

This is a result of practising this art and people literally end up killing themselves over it. It comes on just like a bad trip.... out of nowhere… you are meditating and BAM. Kundalini is an energy that moves up the spine and even manifests blisters in some people... heheh you think HPPD is bad, just check out the link below and read the NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS. People have gone to doctors and, because like hppd it's an unexplainable 'illness', the doctors ended up dubbing it 'kundalini psychosis' (sound familiar? LSD psychosis). If they can't explain an abnormal mental state it's a fucking psychosis. Why did these morons get a degree? To regurgitate old information as if everyone's illnesses will fit some cookie cutter mould? That really pisses me off; they have the knowledge… people need to start seriously studying hppd and what it really is! PEOPLE: what we (not all but some) have is not a typical mental illness. It's still uncharted territory, f@@k, for all I know these are heightened abilities that our minds have not yet adjusted to (that's where the anxiety dp/dr and depression come in)... yea, seeing complex geometric patterns on all surfaces may get annoying, but think about how you can use this to your creative advantage!!!! Is that not some form of photographic imagination?! You are seeing what's in your sub-conscious projected right in front of you!!! It's bizarre but f@@k!! We need to start taking advantage of it, we might as well right? Science needs to progress; I have no respect for these fucks who just follow the exact footsteps of previous doctors and scientists, who only became what they are to do the 9-5 and 'help people', yeah right. Anyway I didn't mean to rant, but, yeah, check out this kundalini link and check out some of the experiences. The visual phenomena is close; uncannily similar "

(dark_natured, HPPD online Message Board – HPPD General Support Section – kundalini awakening and hppd, January 12, 2004; additions in square brackets by Klaus Podoll)

"Contrary to common opinion, hppd is not a kundalini awakening. But it's an uncontrolled rising of the kundalini which damages the crown chakra and the area around it."

(Valaki, HPPD online Message Board – Expanded Awareness (Non-Drug) - kundalini, March 5, 2005)

"Today was the first I've heard of this HPPD. I have had almost all of these symptoms for the last year. The last time I used drugs was about 20 years ago; I took shrooms twice back then. I searched and searched this forum to see if anyone else had a delay like this, and I can't find anything. A year ago, I had a spiritual awakening; it completely changed my belief system, and all these symptoms appeared. It never occurred to me that it could be from the drugs I used in the past, so I naturally looked to spiritual reasons, and, for the last year, I’ve attributed all this to my kundalini rising at a time when I wasn't ready for it, and my third eye opening, but being unbalanced. I've been working for a while now, on balancing these things. I believe all this happened prematurely, because I went full steam on meditation and directing light and energy to my third eye, and boom - it snapped open and I'm seeing things I don't want to see. I see it all, believe me, I see faces everywhere. Lights, colors, white auras around everything, symbols, people, sometimes people in my mind's eye, who will at times distort and turn pretty ugly, and many other things. I feel vibrations up and down my spine. Like I said, I searched, but couldn't find anything on a delay. Has anyone had a delay like this?"

(stardust, HPPD online Message Board – Expanded Awareness (Non-Drug) - kundalini, July 20, 2005)

"In my case the two [kundalini and HPPD] are not separate. I have had a kundalini awakening. As far as the HPPD visuals go, I am not sure where they fit into kundalini, but I have numerous other symptoms of kundalini - sensations of heat, tingling mostly in the hands and feet, buzzing/general weirdness in the lower back, muscle twitches, feeling ungrounded and trippy sometimes, etc. Anxiety, jitteriness, and sometimes depression have also known to coexist with kundalini. The HPPD and the kundalini both erupted at the same time, so I think that HPPD is definitely related to a kundalini awakening, or is at least energy related."

(microdot, HPPD online Message Board – HPPD General Support Section – kundalini and hppd, May 6, 2006; additions in square brackets by Klaus Podoll)

"Most people obviously do not agree with my stance on what this is. I'm not sure about the visual stuff (static, afterimages, etc.) - I don't know if this is related to kundalini or not. But all of the somatic sensations are textbook kundalini-syndrome (look kundalini up on wikipedia or look at the symptoms on another website). Often, people with kundalini syndrome, including Gopi Krishna, experience vibrant colors as well as extreme anxiety and depersonalization. As far as the hppd visual stuff is concerned, it might possibly be nerve damage, but I doubt it. I think the visuals are energy related. The blue dots that I see transposed over my visual field seem to pulsate at the same frequency that the energy in my body is pulsating. I think this is a condition we should feel thankful about, and I don't think it has anything to do with any kind of organic damage or brain damage.

By the way, I view the kundalini experience from a secular, evolutionary angle, so I don't think it should be in the spiritual forum. People should look into this. Probably some type of healer would be most beneficial to the people on here. It got rid of my head pressure and has evened out the flow.

Live your life, you are not brain damaged."

(microdot, HPPD online Message Board – HPPD General Support Section – nerve damage, June 18, 2006)

Responses from readers of this website

"Through my website you can see a video. I made this for a friend who had an inoperable brain tumor, migraines, fatigue and double vision. Through following my video her tumor disappeared over the course of 100 days. She still has doublevision though. I am positive that she is also having a mild form of Kundalini, which caused the tumor. I was searching for science that linked Kundalini with double vision and stumbled onto your site."

(C., E-Mail to Klaus Podoll, November 13, 2009)

C.'s initial post

"An intriguing site that you have made. I wanted to inquire if you all have linked up ALL the things you are documenting in concert with spiritual awakening? The energy that causes a migraine is nothing less than true nature plowing through blocked places in our energy body. I refer to the same thing in my body as Kundalini. IF I was blocked I am certain that I would be suffering the same pain and debilitation that migraine bearers have. The energy is always on a mission to clear things out of the way, to rewire things when it hits a block. If a person can experience emotional release or find ways to release old belief systems, their migraines will go away... but the vision things may remain. Yoga or toning would also work amazingly well.

Either way, those that experience these symptoms you are documenting... I hope that their condition is being given its true and wonderful context... that they are closer to truth than they ever have been and that depersonalization is an in between state of being a 'somebody' to embracing being a 'nobody'. Depersonalization happens only because our mind is still trying to interpret something incomprehensible. When one reaches bliss and divine love, depersonalization drops away.

Peace, C."

(C., E-Mail to Klaus Podoll and Markus Dahlem, November 13, 2009)

C.'s experience

"I just went to look at it [i.e. this webpage] and it appears that you indeed have, in some fashion, linked things up there. The process of burgeoning realization is long and takes time. I realize that it just isn't time yet for everyone to fully embrace the fact that their lives are a miracle of unfolding spiritual truth. We all have to start somewhere. For migraine sufferers, they have been handed their 'sacred wound' so to speak. Someday, when someone approaches a doctor with aura and migraine 'problems' the skilled practicioner will say 'Ahh... your Kundalini or essential life energy is calling upon you to wake up, follow this method for channeling the energy and your pain will go away, replaced by clarity.' I just have a hard time with western trained doctors prescribing drugs for the same conditions out of ignorance of the topic. But I nod my head to the fact that it is a very hard thing to grasp, unless one has been through it themselves. So, for the time being, migraines will continue to be seen as a problem to eradicate instead of a beginning. I really like your site though. Sort of an in between place for people to land. A good blend of science and spirit, walking the line and even encouraging people to see the beauty of their condition. Next step... see their condition as nothing short of beautiful and another essential step in their unfolding. To remove the stigma of being a 'migraine sufferer' and elevate themselves to the status of 'migraine experiencer' who understands that great lessons for them come from this vehicle.

I do various types of healing work with people. I also have the gift of the ringing, or Nadi, going on constantly for me. What you all call tinnitus. If you are in contact with people who may be open to a different context for their 'tinnitus' or want advice on moving energy in their body to alleviate the pain of a migraine, please feel free to put them in touch with me. If you ever wish to ask questions directly of someone who has awakened Kundalini vis a vis illness or the way energy moves feel free to ask.

Thanks for your work."

(C., E-Mail to Klaus Podoll, November 13, 2009)

"I am actually writing a book about my loud and spontaneous awakening. [...] As for when it began I have [written] a chapter from the events that triggered the original onset or beginning of my being open enough to hear the sound. I do want to stress though, that Nadi or what you call tinnitus, is received with resistence when one wishes or needs to have control over what is happening to them. A persistent sound that cannot be stopped poses a threat and brings up the need to control, for those that have a need to control. When one finds themselves in a place where they no longer have this need, the ringing in the ears takes on a whole different context and begins teaching instead of ailing. [...] Out of context of the rest of my book this chapter may seem hard to follow. But what I have sent to you is exactly the thing that preceded the ringing in my ear. Even now, while writing to you it is LOUD. It always is. As for other alterations in perceptions... it is all altered to such an extent that I don't even consider it altered any longer. It would be hard to outline it all, but my book is an attempt to. One clarifying point though... I don't have migraines or any headaches. What I said before was that I can intuitively say that was I more blocked, had I little understanding of what was transpiring inside of me - I would have migraines. For me, I was simply a more cleared out vessell. This speaks in no way to piousness or righteousness, it's just literally a matter of dense trapped energy that I believe I cleared out before the energy that gives others migraines, began flowing in me. People who have migraines, just like women about the begin their periods, are experiencing high doses of energetic flow and the pain they experience is proportional to emotional blocks in the energies path."

(C., E-Mail to Klaus Podoll, November 13, 2009)

"Klaus - the ringing wasn't apparent right away. After the second of the two major events you have read about [March 2, 2008], I entered into a place that can only be described as pure ecstacy and connectedness with everything. Paradoxically during this time I also experienced the most profound bouts of fear and anxiety. The amount of love that was pouring through me was so new to me and so unexpected that at times, my mind would try to stop or slow it down-this resulted in the anxiety. The ringing in my ears was simply a part of the whole. A new thing among a million new things. I believe it began after the original first hospital visit [January 31, 2008], yet I first noted it in my Livejournal blog as of March 27, 2008. But I am sure I started experiencing it in an uninterrupted fashion beginning with the first event. One night though I remember just hearing this loud waterfall sound way off in the woods. I was laying in bed with energy flying all over the place, feeling quite wonderful in fact. But I couldn't find the source of this loud rumble. Then I realized that underneath the rumble was something I first mistook as tinnitus. But I only heard it in my right ear and I immediately realized that the sound was very familiar and had been going on in the background for at least a week. I focussed on the sound and tried to find its source or location. The closest I could describe it is that it feels like the sound of creation. It isn't a sound at all. Just as deaf people do not experience sound as an auditory phenomenon. This sound I hear is not actually heard. Deaf people feel vibration. The Nadi is a vibration, the vibration that life makes in its cycles of what we call construction and deconstruction... in other words - it is the sound of creation, which I experience as nothing less than love or God or whatever you wish to name it. The sound has never ceased since. It only seems to 'fade' a bit at those moments when I am very much thinking too hard about things, or when I am caught up in the illusion of anger or judgement. When I am in the moment, the vibration is so loud at times that it can be hard to hear people and it makes me just want to sit and meditate on it for days on end."

(C., E-Mail to Klaus Podoll, November 14, 2009)

[Did the intenity of the persistent ringing, that first occurred after the first attack (January 31, 2008), show a significant increase in intensity following the second attack (March 2, 2008)?] "Yes, yes this seems to be accurate. The first month after the hospital visit was a very full time and things were very up in the air. After the second K experience or crisis moment, everything came to a very strong conclusion and has been the same ever since."

(C., E-Mail to Klaus Podoll, November 15, 2009)

"I recall similar but very limited bouts of ringing after breathwork sessions. Perhaps you have heard of Stanislov Grof's holotropic breathwork? It is sort of something like that but different. It was called Intrinsic Breathwork and was a very intense emotionally cathartic sort of practice that I did for some years in the mid 90's. After some of the breaths or during ones, people hear ringing in their ears. But it quickly fades as they sort of come back down to reality. I hadn't thought of that until you asked, but I recall that now. In this work you get a lot of energy moving very rapidly and the body is flooded with lots of it."

(C., E-Mail to Klaus Podoll, November 15, 2009)

"My questions... what is that intrigues you about tinnitus enough to ask these questions? Have you ever tracked the decibel range of the Nadi and compared it to the sounds of things in nature that are above the range of normal hearing? My guess is that they are the same. This same frequency of vibration is what is giving people migraines, it's all connected. It's why migraine sufferers also see aura's (which are real) and run smack into profound states of identity crisis at times. Somehow these people have something about them that leaves them more prone to be affected to being awakened to true nature. But it begins as a migraine, and without the right context... may remain treated as nothing but a debilitating migraine. I think of them as tuning forks that are actually resonating, while the majority of the population is so 'dense' that they don't ring at all ...yet.

Peace,
C."

(C., E-Mail to Klaus Podoll, November 14, 2009)

"I fully realize that though I have no doubts what this event has meant for me, that there are real physical affects and cascading events going on all the time as a result of this. I mean, no matter what I wish to call it, my heart still did crash. I have an energetic understanding of why. But the sciency explanation should be interesting, because of course, there is a scientifically traceable thing that occurred."

(C., E-Mail to Klaus Podoll, November 16, 2009)

Sciency explanation

In the mid 1990s, C. had recurring "bouts of ringing after breathwork sessions" (MAS criterion B.3). On January 31 and March 2, 2008, respectively, he experienced 2 major attacks ("big K crises") presenting with recurring symptoms including cranial pain ("The top of my head suddenly felt as if someone had removed the entire top of the dome in a nice clean line and from the tips of my toes up above the top of my head was a rushing energy", "This area, the crown chakra, has been the most active and intensely felt chakra of all for me ever since the K started. Powerfuls flows pouring out of the top of my head was what started it all the day I went to the hospital"), vestibular sensations ("I was grabbing the sides of the couch cushions to try to have something to hold onto because I was fighting the uncomfortable sensation of flying down a hill and having no brakes", "I felt a bit shaky a lot of the time"), visual symptoms ("The room started fading to black on me"), decreased level of consciousness ("then began to lose consciousness"), "moments of confusion", depersonalization ("I was looking at my arm and it felt all swimmy and not solid in any way. I realized suddenly that my entire body felt like it was going to explode, scatter into a million pieces and be reduced to nothing", "I was way out of my body"), bilateral paraesthesias ("I had numbness down different places on my body", "all sorts of numbness all over my body"), a need to rest ("I just didn't feel good and needed to lay down"). The first major attack was accompanied by intense anxiety symptoms ("as if on the verge of a panic attack") including tachycardia ("heart was thudding like wild"), the fear of having a heart attack ("I became certain that I must be having a heart attack") or some "undiagnosed stroke or heart problem", culminating in "the certainty that I was going to die", and in the further course "many night were spent with loud thundering and rapid heartbeats pounding away... Usually the rapid heartbeat was most likely a function of the intense fear I was experiencing" (episodic paroxysmal anxiety). Following the first major attack, a diagnostic check-up "in the Emergency Department for maybe 10 hours" failed to identify any pathological medical findings: "They ran every test, gave me an MRI, CatScan and always had me on monitors. They never found a single thing wrong and instead commented upon how healthy I was." In the absence of being offered a medical explanation, he was provided with a non-medical explanation which proved to have a surprisingly well-fitting explanatory power: "After my first hospital visit, I ran into this woman through my LiveJournal blog. She told me that what I had experienced could have been a 'Kundalini Crisis'. I was like 'yeah, whatever.' But I did look at a site she recommended and in it there was a list of things to do if things got rough with the K symptoms." In retrospect, and taking into account the further course, with a history of 2 major attacks featuring - in addition to tinnitus (see below) - vertigo (vestibular sensations), visual symptoms (simultaneously in both temporal and nasal fields of both eyes?), decreased level of consciousness and (simultaneously?) bilateral paraesthesias, a diagnosis of basilar type migraine may be considered as a medical explanation. On March 3, 2008, he had attacks (MAS criterion B.4) of facial metamorphopsia ("When I would look at my friends I could see other faces on theirs. Their faces were morphing and shifting and swimming all over the place"), reminiscent of the visual illusions experienced during a single hallucinogen intoxication ("It reminded me exactly of what happened the one and only time in my life that I had partaken of hallucinogenic mushrooms. I was about 24 years old and watching faces shift in the mirror is pretty much standard fare during a mushroom trip").

Following the first major attack on January 31, 2008, C. noted "the gift of the ringing, or Nadi, going on constantly for me. What you all call tinnitus." This ringing - which was "similar" to the "bouts of ringing after breathwork sessions" in the mid 1990s except for its persistence (MAS criterion B.8) - wasn't apparent right away. "It took me about a month to recognize it was even there, but I am sure I started experiencing it in an uninterrupted fashion beginning with the first event." (MAS criterion B.8) About a week later, he had a transient attack of very intense tinnitus (MAS criterion B.4): "One night though I remember just hearing this loud waterfall sound way off in the woods. I was laying in bed with energy flying all over the place, feeling quite wonderful in fact. But I couldn't find the source of this loud rumble. Then I realized that underneath the rumble was something I first mistook as tinnitus. But I only heard it in my right ear and I immediately realized that the sound was very familiar and had been going on in the background for at least a week. I focussed on the sound and tried to find it's source or location." Following the second major attack on March 2, 2008, he experienced a significant increase of intensity of the persistent tinnitus (MAS criterion B.5). Furthermore, there was a history of recurring cranial pain described as "pushing sensations", "almost as if my skull was experiencing growing pains in specific spots, usually at the third eye area or the crown chakra" (MAS criterion B.2). "I also experienced transient pain, as if someone is inserting something sharp at the top of my crown chakra." (MAS criterion B.2)

The history summarized above fulfills the diagnostic criteria of ("definite", MAS score 7) persistent aura without infarction according to the current diagnostic criteria of the 2nd edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders from 2004. With a history of a single hallucinogenic mushroom intake at the age of 24, a differential diagnosis of HPPD must be considered but can be excluded on the grounds that the symptoms are due to a medical condition, i.e. persistent aura without infarction, which is an exclusion criterion for the diagnosis of HPPD according to DSM-IV (see here). In this context, it may be emphasized that transient attacks of facial metamorphopsia have also been recorded as migraine aura symptom in the literature (cf. Podoll and Robinson, 2008). Though describing various types of migrainous cenesthetic pains sensations including sensations of movement ("pushing sensations") and circumscript or limited pain sensations (cf. Podoll and Robinson, 2009), C. stressed the conspicious absence of headache problems: "One clarifying point though... I don't have migraines or any headaches", which doesn't exclude, however, a diagnosis of persistent aura without infarction (see here). Similarly, in Peatfield et al.'s (2009) retrospective case series of 15 subjects with persistent aura without infarction, headache "was never a significant problem".

To C., who was left without medical explanation following his encounter with the medical system ("They never found a single thing wrong and instead commented upon how healthy I was"), the concept of Kundalini Awakening had provided a service the value of which cannot be overestimated. It represented a frame of reference that he could use to make sense of and thus cope with his experiences and that encouraged him to explore its creative and spiritual potentials. "If I had not had this, I am positive that I would have gone off the deep end, spent some time in a treatment facility and spent years on psychotropic mood disorder medications."

C.'s response

"Wow, that sure is 'sciency' and I mean that in the most friendly way. It was enjoyable to read it and I appreciate how committed you are to your work. I have to say that I am surprised that a physician such as yourself has room for science AND spirituality and that you are comfortable enough with not throwing out the import of a spiritual balance in the perspective. In America, I do not think there are many here who are open minded enough to do so. I was sure your explanation would denigrate any spiritual context and just say 'it's all chemicals and neurons, take a pill'... because that is so much what things are like here. [...]

I also would love to ask a few other questions in a bit."

(C., E-Mail to Klaus Podoll, November 16, 2009)

References

International Headache Society. The International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd edition. Cephalalgia 2004; 24 (suppl. 1): 1-160.
Krishna G. Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man. Shambhala, 1997.
Sanella L. The Kundalini Experience Kundalini: Psychosis or Transcendence. H.S. Dakin Company, San Francisco 1976.
Peatfield R, Weatherall M, Mehta A, Waldman A. The prognosis of persistent migrainous aura. Cephalalgia 2009; 29 (Suppl. 1): 129.
Podoll K, Robinson D. Migraine Art - The Migraine Experience from Within. North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California 2009.

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