I've been on a spiritual journey since about 2020. I'm not sure where I am on it now, and I've stopped trying to put labels on it. I'm just going with the flow and don't have a set destination.
I've done a lot of shadow work, but recently I've focused on somatic work. Even though I've accepted and released many things on a mental level, I've noticed how much I've been holding in my body. In meditation, I've been opening up to bring up what's stuck, and a lot of grief has come out. I also had a somatic massage over the weekend.
In my last two meditations, I've barely reached a meditative state. Spontaneous movements start almost immediately. The first time, I had a lot of arm jiggling, my shoulders moving up and down, and a vibrating, quickening feeling in my mouth, with my head tipped slightly back. Today, I sat down to meditate without intending any of this, and it started straight away again, but much more intensely. It felt like it moved from my perineum up through my throat and into my head. My hands and arms became extremely tense, and my head was thrown back. At one point it felt like gagging, like when you're trying to be sick.
I'm still getting a lot of shaking and twitchy movement now.
Can someone help me understand this? I think it might be energy moving through me and clearing things, or maybe it's using up the open space that's been created. I'm loving it. It doesn't feel scary. It feels very right and freeing.

Hi everyone. First of all, I apologize for my poor English, it's not my first language.

So I have a few questions, and I'd really appreciate hearing your thoughts or experiences.

How can I tell the difference between a spontaneous release of stored trauma related energy, from the body, and a Kundalini awakening?

In 2024 I experienced what felt like a spontaneous release of negative energy stored in my body.

The experience was triggered by a painful family situation (my maternal grandmother had died a couple of hours earlier that same day and I also had a disturbing conversation with my father, who basically confessed to me he never liked me as a person). Both events caused me a lot of emotional distress: I could not stop shaking and felt like if I was drunk (I was completely sober). I also felt a lot of shame, for not being genuinely loved by my own father.

After an hour or so of feeling like this, suddenly I felt negative energy starting to move upward (from the base of my spine) and eventually leaving my body through the top of my head.

A minute later or so, I felt another kind of energy, positive and luminous. It entered through the top of my head, moved downward along the line of my spine, and settled in my heart area, bringing me a sense of peace. Then I fell asleep.

I'm wondering whether these kinds of spontaneous energy releases can sometimes happen before a Kundalini awakening, like an early sign of something that might unfold later.

If they aren't necessarily an early sign, is there still some kind of connection between the two experiences?

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has any thoughts or insights to share. I feel a bit lost and confused about this.

Thanks in advance.