When I first read Swami Radha’s Kundalini Yoga for the West, a foundational text within the Ashram teachings, I became fascinated by a quote introduced in the very first pages of the book:
“From being a sleepwalker, a hypnotized or conditioned person, you gradually become a person who is aware.”
At the time, I found myself returning to this sentence repeatedly. What did it mean to be a sleepwalker? What was I meant to become aware of, and how?
Over the following weeks, through Kundalini workshops and conversations with teachers at the Ashram, the question began to unfold for me. Awareness, I slowly realized, was not only about observing my external world, but also about learning to notice the patterns moving through my inner thoughts, emotions and reactions.
This is the purpose of Kundalini Yoga: to investigate the ideas and habits I have accepted blindly and without question. The Kundalini System offers a practical guide for developing self-awareness through reflection, spiritual practice and the exploration of the cakras, each associated with specific questions, practices and symbols for developing greater self-understanding.
Benefits of Reflection and Kundalini Yoga in the Modern World
Swami Radha writes, “Whatever the lifestyle, one seems to move too fast to digest the experiences that take place during each day… The natural life rhythm simply cannot absorb the constant impact of news, television and urban living, combined with the many power struggles that are outside the domain of an individual’s control.”
This brings to mind that same image of a sleepwalker – moving through the world with little awareness of what is being experienced or felt. When life becomes full of demands and pressures, it can become easy to fall into a kind of automatic living, responding rather than reflecting.
In my own life, I notice this most when I’m stretched by work and the troubles of the world – a sense of urgency and apathy fill my days as I feel incapable of holding meaningful conversations or processing all that is happening around me.
In a world that encourages constant movement and productivity, practices of self-observation can feel out of place. Kundalini Yoga encourages self-reflection and a deliberate noticing of what is happening within my mental and emotional experience.
Rather than moving automatically through states of thought or feeling, there is an invitation to pause and register these shifts as they arise.
Psychological and neuroscientific research increasingly supports the value of reflection, suggesting that reflective practices can positively influence emotional regulation and even patterns of neural activity. Studies on mindfulness-based self-reflection, for example, have linked reflective practice to increased empathy, resilience and emotional awareness.*
I’ve experienced this in simple ways myself: how a short moment of written reflection can help ease my racing mind. A simple question, “What’s happening now?”, has the potential to bring me
into a calmer state, where I’m no longer rushing but actually observing the interactions and happenings that might have brought me discomfort or anxiety.
The Seven Cakras and Self-Awareness
Within the Kundalini System, each cakra is associated with one of the senses, which signals the importance of perception itself as a site of inquiry.
Rather than treating the senses as passive receivers of information, the Kundalini System positions them as important components in shaping emotional reactions and habitual patterns. It also offers specific practices that help refine the senses, through which we can become attuned to the immense power the senses have in influencing our moods.
Paying attention to these subtle shifts has made me more aware of how deeply sensory experience shapes my emotional and mental states.
Since first seeing the cakra plates at the Ashram, the fifth cakra – the Viśuddha –
has been the one I’ve felt most drawn to, with its blue colour and inverted triangle.
Known as the “gateway of liberation”, the fifth cakra (sometimes called referred to as the throat cakra) is associated with the sense of hearing. Since working more with questions from the Kundalini System, I’ve been noticing how much my sense of hearing affects my mood. On mornings when I immediately reach for my phone and fill my day with beeping notifications, news clips and phone calls, the rest of my day often carries a sense of mental urgency.
On mornings when I remember to open my window and get to hear the birds outside, listen to mantra music or simply sit quietly, I notice a greater sense of spaciousness and presence.
The Fifth Cakra and the Sense of Hearing
To me, the fifth cakra points toward a further refinement of awareness, where perception becomes less reactive and more attentive. It becomes a practice of discernment: learning when to respond, when to pause and when to simply listen without immediately interpreting or reacting.
Over time, this kind of listening begins to soften the sense of fragmentation that can come from constant stimulation. Reflection and awareness of sound have helped me notice subtle shifts in my inner state and return more easily to a sense of presence when I feel scattered.
“As we cultivate the senses and refine the mind, we are able to see the patterns of the intangible in our actions and speech, the interconnections of the senses and the Light.” – Swami Radhananda, Living the Practice
A Reflection Practice for the Fifth Cakra
Swami Radha offers a simple exercise connected to the sense of hearing: “Listening to a variety of music, carefully selected, preferably with earphones and in a reclining position, will tell you by your emotional responses to the music where you are.”
- Begin by choosing two different types of music.
- Sit or lie down comfortably while listening.
- Notice how each piece of music affects your mood, thoughts and body.
- Write down all of your observations.
Questions for further reflection:
- How did each piece of music affect your emotions?
- Did certain sounds create tension, calm or distraction?
- What did you notice about your inner reactions?
Through practices like these, the fifth cakra becomes less of an abstract symbol and more an invitation into conscious observation in daily life.
*Mösler, Thomas et al. “Reflective Skills, Empathy, Wellbeing, and Resilience in Cognitive-Behavior Therapy Trainees Participating in Mindfulness-Based Self-Practice/Self-Reflection.” Psychological reports vol. 126,6 (2023): 2648-2668.
By Katie Taher.
