Opening Your Third Eye

The third eye is located within the sixth chakra, or brow chakra, and is located in the center of the forehead, above the eyebrows. Associated with the color indigo, the brow chakra is all about our intuitive gifts. Our ability to self-realize, to develop our psychic abilities and empathic skills, is connected to this chakra. The brow chakra is also related to our ability–and our willingness–to recognize, acknowledge, and then let go of emotional baggage. On a physical level, brow chakra blockages may appear as flu-like symptoms, such as fever, swollen glands, and infections.

Is Your Third Eye Blocked?

Some people may feel like something’s not right with their chakras, particularly with the third eye. But how do you know if that’s the source of the problem? Ask yourself a few questions:

• Do you trust your own intuition?
• Do you have a reliable memory, both short and long term?
• Can you easily recall your dreams?
• Are you open to psychic experiences?
• Do you visualize your goals and ambitions clearly?

If you answered yes to most of these, you’re probably pretty well balanced when it comes to your third eye. If you found yourself saying no to most of them, you might need to unblock things and get yourself back on track.

If you feel like your third eye may be blocked, there are several methods you can use to clear it and open it up. Do keep in mind that, as in all metaphysical disciplines, what works for one person may not work for another. Try various methods, and use them as building blocks to create your own techniques, and eventually you will find the format that works best for you personally.

Meditation

There are several guided meditations you can use that focus on the third eye, but one successful method is as follows. Allow yourself to relax and sink into a meditative state, breathing slowly and evenly. Don’t try to rush this–it may take you ten minutes or even longer to get to the point where you’re truly relaxed. Once you are completely calm, focus your energies on the pineal gland, or sixth chakra, which is located right in the center of your forehead. Imagine a pinpoint of light and energy emanating out of it, gradually growing in size and strength. Focus that light and expand it outward, breaking through any blockages. Some people find it useful to chant while doing this–you can do a simple Om chant, or you may want to try a tone often associated with the third eye, Tho. Pronounce the “th” as you do in the word “the,” and allow it to draw out. Repeating this numerous times is said to help open the third eye chakra.

Shirodhara

In Ayurvedic medicine, there is a practice called shirodhara, which is the use of warm oil being drizzled on the forehead to stimulate the opening and unblocking of the third eye. Sound crazy? Maybe, but lots of people swear by it. Typically–although this will depend on your practitioner–the oil is placed in a bowl with a small spout over the forehead as you lie on a table. It gradually runs out, over the forehead and into the scalp, sometimes for as long as twenty minutes. During this period, your body and mind become relaxed, and you may even fall asleep, once you get used to the idea of oil being drizzled on you. Ayurvedic practitioners will select an oil for you based upon a number of factors, including which dosha type your body falls into.

If you don’t have the resources to visit an Ayurvedic healing center, you can do this yourself at home, in an abbreviated version. Anoint the forehead area with an essential oil blend (sandalwood, thyme and violets are often associated with the third eye), and focus on quiet breathing exercises and meditation.

Daily Focus

Let’s face it, we all get busy and it’s not hard to find ourselves off kilter in some way, shape or form. However, if you take a few minutes each day to take care of your spiritual self, you’ll find it’s a lot easier to keep yourself balanced. Here are some things you can try on a daily basis to keep your third eye open and aware:

• Keep a dream journal. This will help stimulate memory, as well as help you get in touch with the messages your dreams might be sending.
• Practice daily meditations. Just like with our physical selves, our spiritual selves need exercise to stay healthy. Pick up one of the many chakra meditation CDs out there, and give yourself a good fifteen or twenty minutes each morning working through your chakras for balance.
• Trust your intuition. Consciously allow yourself to open up to new ideas–even if you have no idea where those ideas came from. Write things down so you can look for patterns in your thoughts and visions.
• Achieve deliberate clarity, by training yourself to be aware of everything around you. Sense changes in the sunlight and shadows, notice a shift in the wind, be aware of who has walked into a room and who has walked out. Take mental notes of everything–this will help you later on, when you try to decipher what messages are "real" messages, and what's just your imagination or wishful thinking.