Mysticism: A study in the nature and development of man's spiritual consciousness by Evelyn Underhill. Holy shit, wow! It's old and unfortunately most people just don't write like this anymore. It's deep, romantic, mystical, intriguing, and flat out sucks you into another level of reality. This book so amazingly delineates the stages of spiritual awakening, no matter what your spiritual or religious inclinations, that it just blows you away. I bought it for $4 at a used book store and it is by far the best and most influential book I've ever read.
I recently got recommended by Bonnie to read Chakra Healing Therapy by Glen Park. I would say it is a great book to get an understanding of how the chakras are working on different levels of our being (physical, psychological, psychic and spiritual). I will recite Bonnie from the cover of the book "the most clear and in-depth exposition of the chakra system I have read". It also includes some self chakra-healing exercises. I will review them later on :). I think she also could be an interesting therapist to see. She mixes Alexander Technique and Chakra healing. She lives in West Sussex, so for you Londoners it´s not that far to go. https://glenpark.uk/
One of the most helpful books I read is "Kundalini Rising: Exploring the Energy of Awakening." This is a collection of essays by a rich mix of people who have both experienced and studied/researched Kundalini awakenings. It covers a large variety of topics, and I remember actually being both elated and weeping as I read others' descriptions of things I was experiencing and learned that these are widely recognized phenomena, and that I wasn't going crazy!! This is an excellent book especially if your KA is fairly recent and you want to learn and understand more about what you're experiencing.
The people I highly recommend looking into are Dr. Bonnie Greenwell and Dr. Lawrence Edwards. Both have spent significant and noteworthy careers researching, writing about and counseling thousands of people experiencing a KA, in addition to having had their own personal experiences. There are also many interviews with people who have had Kundalini experiences on a fantastic series called "Buddha at the Gas Pump." The videos are available on the same-titled YouTube channel, podcast versions are also available and more info is on their website, batgap.com.
One final suggestion for now: if you are experiencing psychological issues, you may be well served finding and working with a transpersonal psychologist. I've been doing so for over a year and this has been incalculably helpful in all aspects of my awakening.
The Artists Way and The Art of Perseverance by Julia Cameron
These are great books for developing creativity through making space for your 'inner artist'. Julia talks candidly about her own struggles with alcoholism and living the creative lifestyle and it is easy to relate to her as a companion on the creative path. The books are structured in a number of weekly chapters with exercises in self enquiry and a focus for that week. She also advocates writing 'Morning pages' which are 3 pages of stream of conciousness writing to be written each morning, going for a weekly walk and a weekly 'artist's date' which is a visit to somewhere arty. I have found these books extremely helpful for developing self-expression through writing and art.
Carolyn Spring https://www.carolynspring.com/ has been hugely influential for me. She's a trauma survivor and trainer, not a kundalini teacher, but her story of overcoming adversity is groundshakingly powerful, and writting about the healing process full of wisdom and grounded advice. Highly reccomend her writings for anyone on a healing path.
Mysticism: A study in the nature and development of man's spiritual consciousness by Evelyn Underhill. Holy shit, wow! It's old and unfortunately most people just don't write like this anymore. It's deep, romantic, mystical, intriguing, and flat out sucks you into another level of reality. This book so amazingly delineates the stages of spiritual awakening, no matter what your spiritual or religious inclinations, that it just blows you away. I bought it for $4 at a used book store and it is by far the best and most influential book I've ever read.
I recently got recommended by Bonnie to read Chakra Healing Therapy by Glen Park. I would say it is a great book to get an understanding of how the chakras are working on different levels of our being (physical, psychological, psychic and spiritual). I will recite Bonnie from the cover of the book "the most clear and in-depth exposition of the chakra system I have read". It also includes some self chakra-healing exercises. I will review them later on :). I think she also could be an interesting therapist to see. She mixes Alexander Technique and Chakra healing. She lives in West Sussex, so for you Londoners it´s not that far to go. https://glenpark.uk/
One of the most helpful books I read is "Kundalini Rising: Exploring the Energy of Awakening." This is a collection of essays by a rich mix of people who have both experienced and studied/researched Kundalini awakenings. It covers a large variety of topics, and I remember actually being both elated and weeping as I read others' descriptions of things I was experiencing and learned that these are widely recognized phenomena, and that I wasn't going crazy!! This is an excellent book especially if your KA is fairly recent and you want to learn and understand more about what you're experiencing.
The people I highly recommend looking into are Dr. Bonnie Greenwell and Dr. Lawrence Edwards. Both have spent significant and noteworthy careers researching, writing about and counseling thousands of people experiencing a KA, in addition to having had their own personal experiences. There are also many interviews with people who have had Kundalini experiences on a fantastic series called "Buddha at the Gas Pump." The videos are available on the same-titled YouTube channel, podcast versions are also available and more info is on their website, batgap.com.
One final suggestion for now: if you are experiencing psychological issues, you may be well served finding and working with a transpersonal psychologist. I've been doing so for over a year and this has been incalculably helpful in all aspects of my awakening.
The Artists Way and The Art of Perseverance by Julia Cameron
These are great books for developing creativity through making space for your 'inner artist'. Julia talks candidly about her own struggles with alcoholism and living the creative lifestyle and it is easy to relate to her as a companion on the creative path. The books are structured in a number of weekly chapters with exercises in self enquiry and a focus for that week. She also advocates writing 'Morning pages' which are 3 pages of stream of conciousness writing to be written each morning, going for a weekly walk and a weekly 'artist's date' which is a visit to somewhere arty. I have found these books extremely helpful for developing self-expression through writing and art.
https://juliacameronlive.com/
Carolyn Spring https://www.carolynspring.com/ has been hugely influential for me. She's a trauma survivor and trainer, not a kundalini teacher, but her story of overcoming adversity is groundshakingly powerful, and writting about the healing process full of wisdom and grounded advice. Highly reccomend her writings for anyone on a healing path.