The Third Eye Chakra
The Third Eye Chakra: The Gateway to Spiritual Awareness
The third eye chakra or ajna is the sixth chakra in our chakra series – Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus, Heart, Throat, Third Eye and, finally, the Crown. In large part, we might say the third eye is the favored center of consciousness for westerners. Since the scientific revolution, humankind in the west began to reduce the concept of wonder, mystery, the divine, and imagination to the measurable and mathematical.
For example, what once was mysterious magic of divine wonders became the arrangement of chemical structures. Chemistry, mathematics, and the clustering of ideas are products of a western psychology.
Here, one can attribute these rationalistic virtues to the mind itself. While artistry flows through intuition, the sciences generally strive for calculation. What does this have to do with the third eye and mental health?
Balance of the Third Eye Chakra
Our mythological structures – and science is indeed a mythic realm – work like a lens over the eye of the mind. If, for example, we are primed with the narrative that all things can be solved, what then becomes of the journey?
One of the great problems we all have today is the many predicted outcomes that dictate our experiences before the journeys themselves. When our motive is resolution rather than revelation, our aim is to no longer experience the surprise of life. Wonder dies as predictable systems darken our peripheral vision. Our philosophy regarding the third eye chakra is all about these tensions.
Symptoms of Blocked Third Eye Chakra
Some symptoms of a blocked third eye chakra include:
- Growing feelings of disconnection from nature & loved ones
- Visual sensitivity to brightness
- A lack of thoughtful creativity
- Difficulty imagining the future
- Tunnel vision
- The inability to see the bigger picture
If one does not release the tension behind the eyebrows, strive for execution, and follow the unconscious mythologies of the sciences, the soulful unfolding of a meaningful life may fall under tremendous shadow. Longing, an innate and necessary messenger of the soul, may instead grow perverse. The adventuring and intimate seeker may consider longing to be a precursor to failure rather than an opening into meaning.
The third eye is all about mystery as it draws in the images and intuitive fluctuations of the unconscious. When in talk therapy we ask a client open-ended questions, we are supporting them to look with the third eye at the material unresolved. One might ask, “are we seeking to reduce another’s experience down or to open their experiences up?”
Unbalanced Third Eye Chakra
Of course, there is room for both in the balanced third eye. In fact, with chakra imbalance, one may experience an overactive third eye. Here, images and intuitions are un-grounding and often disassociating from the presenting moment. At great extremes, we call this psychosis in psychology.
Conversely, without an intuitive and receptive gaze through the mind’s eye, one may experience a rigid, obtuse, perfectionistic judgment. One might even have a tyrannical attitude toward one’s self-concept, ideas about the past, others, and more.
How to Open Third Eye Chakra
The third eye chakra is considered the sixth chakra because opening it often requires full connection to the previous five chakras. If the rest of your chakra system is strong, you can open your third eye to deepen your spiritual connection and access your sixth sense. Dietary changes are one way to help you open the third eye chakra, as several types of foods actively block it.
Third Eye Meditation
You can also try this powerful third eye chakra meditation:
Third Eye Chakra: Looking Inwards
In short, the third eye chakra is a significant center of higher consciousness. For our purposes, as we engage and develop healthy psychological and somatic relationships between the chakras, we want to generate some awareness around the condition of the third eye.
Often, we require the turning of the third eye down and in as we have been to engage with the subtle body of a psycho-sensual world below. As the camera lens, one must work on the role of the cameraman. Where do we turn our attention and, as with any eye, are we taking in the light?
If you want to become part of our groups or learn more about the mental health services at Barn Life Recovery, never hesitate to reach out. We’re here to help you love your life again. Learn more about our Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) and our Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP).
