The Śiva Saṁhitā presents kuṇḍalinī as a dormant “serpent power” coiled three and a half times at the mūlādhāra, the root center at the base of the spine. In this latent state it blocks the entrance to the suṣumnā nāḍī, the central channel, so that prāṇa circulates mainly through iḍā and piṅgalā, binding awareness to ordinary experience. True yoga, in this vision, begins only when prāṇa enters suṣumnā and kuṇḍalinī starts to move. Awakening is thus not described as a sudden, arbitrary event, but as the fruit of a precise yogic discipline that prepares the body, breath, and mind for this inner ascent.

The text emphasizes a coordinated use of prāṇāyāma, bandhas, and mudrās as the principal means of arousing kuṇḍalinī. Regulated breathing purifies the nāḍīs and generates the subtle pressure by which prāṇa can be directed into the central channel. Bandhas such as mūla-bandha, uḍḍīyāna-bandha, and jālandhara-bandha are applied to seal and guide this energy upward, while mudrās like mahāmudrā and mahābandha further stimulate and “strike” the subtle body so that the sleeping power uncoils. These practices are to be performed systematically and under proper guidance, since the transformations they induce are portrayed as profound and potentially overwhelming if approached carelessly.

When kuṇḍalinī is awakened, it is said to straighten, enter the suṣumnā, and rise through the series of cakras, piercing each center in turn. As it ascends, the limitations associated with these centers are dissolved, and the yogin experiences inner luminosity, subtle sound, detachment from the senses, and the quieting of ordinary mental activity. The journey culminates when kuṇḍalinī reaches the sahasrāra, the thousand-petaled lotus at the crown, where it unites with Śiva. This union is described as samādhi and mokṣa, a state in which duality falls away and the identity of individual consciousness with supreme consciousness is realized.