During meditation, breathwork, Tantra, de-armouring, sexual energy practices or other forms of embodied work, something unexpected can sometimes happen: the body begins to move by itself. You might notice trembling through the legs or pelvis, shaking through the whole body, the spine beginning to undulate, unfamiliar movements of the hands, or the body spontaneously moving into shapes that resemble yoga postures. Sometimes there is very little visible movement, but internally you experience heat, tingling, pulsing, waves of pleasure or a powerful sense of energy moving through you.
For someone encountering this for the first time, it can be fascinating, pleasurable, emotional, confusing or even a little frightening. There isn't necessarily one explanation for what is happening. Somatic traditions may understand spontaneous movement through muscular tension, emotional release and nervous system activation and regulation, while yogic and Tantric traditions have their own language for kriyas, Kundalini, prana and the movement of life force through the subtle body. My own work sits at the meeting point between the somatic and energetic, and I don't think we always need to choose between these perspectives.
Why Does the Body Shake?
Shaking is something the human body is naturally capable of doing. We tremble when we're cold, frightened, excited, exhausted, overwhelmed or experiencing something intensely pleasurable. Tremoring can also arise during practices such as TRE®, breathwork and somatic bodywork, including de-armouring. Within somatic work, it may be experienced as part of releasing muscular tension and patterns of holding. Sometimes emotion accompanies the movement, and sometimes it doesn't. There might be sadness, anger or a feeling of release, or simply a period of shaking followed by greater softness, openness or relaxation.
The movement can take many forms, including trembling, stretching, arching, curling, changes in breathing, sound or movement through the pelvis and spine. Sometimes it feels partly voluntary; at other times there is a distinct sense that the body is moving without conscious direction. I've explored the somatic perspective in more detail in Why Does the Body Shake? Understanding Trembling & Spontaneous Movement in Somatic Work.
Spontaneous Kriyas and Energetic Movement
Not every spontaneous movement feels like the release of muscular tension. Sometimes the experience has a distinctly energetic quality: a current travelling through the body, heat rising through the spine, pulsation around the pelvis, waves of sensation or spontaneous changes in breathing. In yogic traditions, movements that arise without conscious direction during meditation or energetic practice are often described as kriyas. These can include shaking, movements of the spine, sounds, gestures of the hands known as mudras, changes in breathing or the body moving into positions resembling asanas.
These experiences can also arise through Tantra and sacred sexuality. Sexual energy doesn't necessarily remain localised around the genitals. Through breath, movement, awareness and practices that work with the subtle body, sensation can spread through the pelvis, spine, chest and the rest of the body. What begins as sexual arousal may be experienced more broadly as pleasure, vitality, creativity, tenderness, devotion or life force. Rather than continually seeking greater intensity or directing that energy towards orgasm or discharge, Tantric practice can involve becoming increasingly sensitive to it and developing the capacity to stay present as it moves and changes.
Spontaneous movement or energetic sensation doesn't automatically mean that someone is experiencing Kundalini awakening. Yet for some people, particularly when these experiences emerge through sustained yoga, meditation or Tantric practice, Kundalini becomes a meaningful framework through which to understand them.
Understanding Kundalini
In yogic and Tantric traditions, Kundalini is understood as a latent spiritual power or Shakti associated with the base of the spine, traditionally represented as a coiled serpent. Different traditions understand the process in different ways, but Kundalini awakening broadly refers to the activation of this energy and its movement through the subtle body. Classical yogic descriptions speak of Kundalini rising through the central channel, the sushumna nadi, and interacting with the chakras as consciousness unfolds. Practices involving meditation, mantra, pranayama, mudra, bandha, yoga and Tantra have long been used to cultivate and work with this energy.
People describing Kundalini experiences report a wide range of physical, emotional, energetic and spiritual phenomena, from vibration, heat, spontaneous kriyas and changes in breathing to heightened sensitivity, profound stillness, altered perceptions of self, symbolic imagery or experiences of interconnectedness. The process doesn't need to be dramatic, and unusual physical sensations are not in themselves evidence of Kundalini awakening. Traditionally, Kundalini belongs within a much larger spiritual framework concerned with consciousness, liberation and the nature of who or what we are, rather than the pursuit of energetic highs or extraordinary experiences.
Spanda and the Subtle Movement of Life
There is another concept from the Tantric traditions that I find particularly beautiful in understanding energetic experience: Spanda. In the non-dual Śaiva traditions of Kashmir, Spanda can be translated approximately as vibration, pulsation or throb. It points towards the subtle creative movement of consciousness, the pulse through which stillness expresses itself as life and experience. It isn't simply physical shaking, nor is it another word for Kundalini.
I find this perspective interesting because it shifts the emphasis away from dramatic experiences. What begins as obvious shaking may gradually become much subtler as our sensitivity develops. We may become aware of small internal movements, pulsation, breath, sensation or an almost imperceptible movement within stillness. From this perspective, the enquiry shifts from How do I make the energy move? towards Can I become sensitive enough to notice the movement that is already here? I've explored this more deeply in Spanda and the Sacred Vibration of Being.
Developing a Conscious Relationship With Energy
We may naturally want to understand whether we're experiencing somatic release, spontaneous kriyas, Kundalini or something else, and the context in which the movement arises can be useful. If you've deliberately practised TRE® and your legs begin trembling, a somatic framework may make sense. If spontaneous kriyas arise during pranayama, meditation or Tantra, a yogic or energetic framework may resonate more strongly. But these perspectives don't necessarily have to compete. Our experience isn't neatly divided into psychological, physiological, emotional, sexual and spiritual compartments, and something powerful may involve several dimensions at once.
For me, the more interesting enquiry is our relationship with what is happening. With experience, we can become more sensitive to when to follow movement, when to soften, when to breathe, when to become still and when something is becoming too intense. The practice becomes less about chasing energetic phenomena and more about listening.
Grounding is part of this too. Sleep, food, relationships, movement, ordinary daily life and time away from spiritual practice can all help us remain connected to ourselves while working with powerful experiences. If energetic activity becomes so intense that you're unable to sleep, function normally or feel grounded in everyday reality, it isn't something you need to push through in pursuit of spiritual progress. Support from someone who understands both embodied and spiritual practice may be valuable.
There is also something important about allowing uncertainty. Not every tremor needs an energetic explanation, and not every powerful sensation needs to become evidence of Kundalini awakening. Sometimes we know what framework makes sense and sometimes we don't. For me, developing the capacity to remain curious without needing to immediately define the experience is part of mature embodied and spiritual practice.
Exploring This Work With Me
If you're curious about these experiences and would like to explore embodied and energetic practice more deeply, these themes run through several areas of my work. Through 1:1 Somatic Bodywork & De-armouring, workshops and festivals, and my Couples Immersion, I work with breath, movement, touch, energy, pleasure and embodied awareness in different ways.
Resources to Explore Further
For a deeper exploration of Kundalini and the yogic framework, Kundalini Tantra by Swami Satyananda Saraswati and Moola Bandha: The Master Key by Swami Buddhananda are useful starting points. Cyndi Dale's The Subtle Body offers a much broader survey of energetic anatomy and traditions.
Moola Bandha: The Master Key – World of Books
