How to avoid the negative impacts of Kundalini?

[John Bruzi]

Okay, so I've read about the Kundalini phenomena and there are terrible side effects associated with it (some good ones too). This is from Wikipedia:

- Involuntary jerks, tremors, shaking, itching, tingling, and crawling sensations, especially in the arms and legs
- Energy rushes or feelings of electricity circulating the body
- Intense heat (sweating) or cold, especially as energy is experienced passing through the chakras
- Spontaneous pranayama, asanas, mudras and bandhas
- Visions or sounds at times associated with a particular chakra
- Diminished or conversely extreme sexual desire sometimes leading to a state of constant or whole-body orgasm
- Emotional upheavals or surfacing of unwanted and repressed feelings or thoughts with certain repressed emotions becoming dominant in the conscious mind for short or long periods of time.
- Headache, migraine, or pressure inside the skull
- Increased blood pressure and irregular heartbeat
- Emotional numbness
- Antisocial tendencies
- Mood swings with periods of depression or mania
- Pains in different areas of the body, especially back and neck
- Sensitivity to light, sound, and touch
- Trance-like and altered states of consciousness
- Disrupted sleep pattern (this one scares the hell out of me!!!)
- Loss of appetite or overeating
- Bliss, feelings of infinite love and universal connectivity, transcendent awareness

Is there any guarantee that meditation won' turn me into a lunatic instead of a calm, peaceful man?

[Dharmic Tui]

It can and likely will rock the foundations of your pre existing beliefs and assumptions, but that conclusion is unlikely. IMO Kundalini are the result of a changing mental focus and I wouldn't put too much stock into them, just.observe.

[dimeo]

If you see any such symptoms occurring, take note and proceed with care.

What makes you ask about Kundalini?  Are you learning Kundalini yoga or the Tibetan Inner Fire (tummo) practice?  Be careful of pursuing practices that actively seek to awaken inner 'power', and reach 'higher' states of consciousness.  Play with fire with reckless abandon and you could get burned!  Perhaps such practices should be studied with a skilful and wise teacher?

Be sure to balancing your meditation with a practice of both shamatha and vipassana.  Remember teachings on the middle path of moderation!  Practice the Noble Eightfold Path.

I've also come across quite a bit of guidance that talks about the importance of a grounding and 'rooting' the energies during meditation.   Focus attention on the rise and fall of the belly while breathing.  There's quite a lot of neurons in the stomach area and the vagus nerve (which runs down into from your brain into your abdomen)  plays a role in emotional well being.  It's often said one should set the tongue on the the roof of the mouth.  It's said that it 'completes' the circuit of energy, bringing back down the 'hot' energy from the head and spine and down to rest in the belly.

[redalert]

Is there any guarantee that meditation won' turn me into a lunatic instead of a calm, peaceful man?

This depends on the type of meditation you engage in, if your practice is suppression then it could be very harmful.

Also when the old stuff comes to the surface this can be a difficult and bumpy journey and one may not feel all that calm and peaceful at times.