are you penalized for doing that?

not from borrowing. You are if you take the money from your account.

which you can only do if you meet certain criteria

I did that.. and it worked out great..

I've borrowed before, when I need extra cash back when I bought my house 8 years ago

yeah you pay it back with interest towards yourself..

there are no penalties that way.

given how the market is right now, this is probably a good time to borrow. You can use the money and put it back when it might make more.