Much has been said about the third eye and not all of them are good or positive. Even as some sing paeans to the benefits of opening the third eye, others urge us to take a guarded approach.
Does it mean that we should not mess with it at all? Do the benefits outweigh the dangers?
This article explores the meaning of chakras and Ajna chakra in particular. Here you will find all about the opening of the third eye – the meaning, the implication, benefits, dangers, and more.
You can also read about how to open your third eye or find out whether it is already open and the signs that it is open.
As there are some clear dangers associated with the opening of the third eye, this article takes you through steps to mitigate the risks. Here you can learn techniques to ensure that the opening of the third eye is beneficial rather than harmful.
Explaining the concept of chakras
Let us begin at the beginning and understand the notion of chakras and the third eye.
If you are familiar with yoga, meditation, or Reiki, you may have heard about chakras or energy vortexes in your body. Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning wheel or disk. There are seven major chakras located along the spine, each centered about a major organ or bundle of nerves.
From the root of the spine to the crown of the head, the seven chakras are
- Muladhara Chakra or Root Chakra
- Svadhisthana Chakra or Sacral Chakra
- Manipura Chakra or Solar Plexus Chakra
- Anahata Chakra or Heart Chakra
- Vishuddha Chakra or Throat Chakra
- Ajna Chakra or Third Eye Chakra
- Sahastrara Chakra or Crown Chakra
Chakras or swirling energy centers need to be kept open, unblocked and balanced, for the smooth flow of energy within your body. This is vital for our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.
Let us learn more about the third eye chakra.
Ajna chakra, Third eye, and Pineal gland
Located in the center of the forehead, between the eyes, Ajna chakra is also referred to as the Third eye. This chakra is linked to intuition, imagination, and gut instinct. The third eye is considered to be a person’s center of higher consciousness, wisdom, and conscience.
The third eye controls our thought process and the ability for self-reflection, and spiritual contemplation. It also helps in giving clarity to our beliefs and reality based on what we see and experience in our lives. Being the highest placed chakra in the physical body, the third eye also offers a visionary perspective.
The third eye is often associated with clairvoyance or extrasensory powers. The word “sixth sense” meaning insight or intuition is derived from it being the sixth chakra. Known as the subconscious or the inner eye, the third eye is the most perceptive part of the human body.
The third eye guides and regulates our processes of perception such as higher wisdom, self-awareness, clarity of thought, judgment, imagination, visualization, and creative dreaming. It helps us to understand and make sense of our potential and recognize the hidden patterns in our lives.
The third eye helps us to view the world with wider perspectives and interconnectedness, going beyond the narrow framework of black and white outlooks or “me against the world” attitude.
The third eye chakra is believed to possess feminine energy. Indigo is the color linked to it and its symbol is an inverted triangle and a lotus flower.
Relating the abstract concept of the third eye to our knowledge of the human body, its location coincides with the position of the pineal gland. Ancient philosophers had often equated the pineal gland as the seat of our soul.
Benefits of opening your third eye
The opening of the third eye implies the awakening of the subconscious mind. We get access to a part of ourselves that we never knew existed, found it difficult to access, or seemed inaccessible. Sharper intuitive abilities, higher level of perception, and awareness beyond the physical world accompany the third eye-opening.
Realization of life beyond our physical self. Intuition or extrasensory powers reveal that our lives are not restricted by our bodies, minds, and emotions. There is a whole level of awareness beyond this. You go through an out-of-the-body experience. This means that you are aware of these transcendental experiences at the same time being witness to the same.
Being aware of our consciousness makes us equanimous and at peace with our experiences. This helps us to overcome the limitations and weaknesses of our physical self, embrace the higher realm, and eliminate setbacks and suffering.
Attainment of a level of higher consciousness. This is achieved when you have established a direct connection with the Universe or the Supreme Power. Diverse religious beliefs attribute diverse names for this higher power – such as Christ, Buddha, or any of the myriad deities. As your intuitive skills get better, you will have direct access to the Universe.
Though we are aware that the Universe is always there to guide and help us through our lives, most of us fail to understand how to access it. By gaining that connection, you get to ask for help and guidance to overcome the hurdles we may come across in our lives.
Divination is the process of revealing the future or discovering secrets by supernatural means. The Universe may respond to your request for help by offering comfort and support through energy transference.
Awareness of the presence of the field of energy. Opening of the third eye raises our extrasensory powers and this helps us in perceiving the existence of invisible fields of energy around us. This is not visible or obvious to any of our sensory organs. The field of energy referred to here is the one created by the vibrations emitted by our emotions, thoughts, feelings, and intentions.
This vibrational field of energy exists for every living being – be it humans, animals, or plants. However, most of us live our lives without being aware of it. Being able to perceive and access this field offers us a tremendous advantage over it. Besides being aware that every living being in this Universe is interconnected through vibrational energy, we can use this knowledge to raise our energy levels as well as that of others.
Revelation of happiness, peace, and love within ourselves and not outside. Most of us are on a quest to find these elusive states of mind all our lives. With the opening of the third eye and the heightening of intuitive abilities, we find these tricky emotions within our grasp. In fact, we understand that these exist within ourselves and cannot be found outside.
The third eye awakening reveals the source of these emotions within us and that there is an infinite supply of it, waiting for us to access and utilize it. This discovery can get us out of their constant pursuit, wishing for more and suffering as a consequence.
Is it dangerous to open the third eye?
Many people talk about the dangers of opening the third eye. The anxiety and fear that are present in our minds can play tricks on us and make us believe that the third eye awakening would lead to bad experiences and negative consequences.
The third eye awakening does bring with it added risks and side effects. Improper management of the process and failure to deal with the newly-acquired extrasensory powers can lead to dangerous outcomes.
Some of the adverse effects of third eye awakening if improperly managed are:
- Nightmares and scary dreams
- Uncanny intuitions
- A feeling of invincibility and lack of fear
- Out-of-body experience
- Hyperactive third eye
- High sensitivity to light and colors
- Fear and disorientation
- Erratic behavior
When you start experiencing such uncharacteristic experiences, you may even start looking for ways to reverse the event and wishing for the good old days when you were “normal”. You need to remind yourself that you are now seeing things that were hidden from you earlier but they always existed.
With your third eye open, you are becoming more aware and attuned to the world around you. You are neither changing the past, present, or the future nor interfering in the lives of others by reading their mind.
Instead of yielding to the negative emotions, trust yourself and surrender to the deep oceans of love, happiness, and peace within yourself. The more you trust and surrender, the easier and more powerfully you will connect to your subconscious, thus gaining access to the path of awakening.
What does it mean to open your third eye?
As the hub of intuition, the third eye is the piece that connects the conscious mind with the subconscious – the part of the mind that knows only about your body, emotions, and experiences with the part that knows everything, including things that we are not fully aware of or beyond our cognizance.
Your third eye opens when you raise your vibrational frequency by any means and reach a level of higher consciousness. Many techniques for increasing your energy levels such as visualization, meditation, yoga, and reiki would help you with the third eye-opening.
When your third eye is open, you can see beyond the physical reality. Your intuitive abilities tend to improve, dreams with messages are more frequent, and you feel more in tune with what is happening around you.
Third eye opening may be an overwhelming experience for most people as it demolishes the existing beliefs and perceptions. As these walls come down and the ultimate truth is revealed, you would reach a stage of pure joy and contentment.
For beginners, physical eyes need to be closed for the opening of the third eye. With practice and time, you will learn to awaken your third eye with them open or without the need to close them.
Signs your third eye is opening
Third eye awakening is achieved through the process of surrender. By letting go of our hold on our conscious mind that stores a limited and controlled version of our lives, the path to the higher consciousness opens up.
Whether the third eye-opening happened on its own or you put in the effort to make it happen, its signs are the same. You need to look out for these signs to know that it is open so that you can make the most of it.
- Growing pressure between the eyebrows
- Unexplainable headaches
- Ability to foretell future events
- Sensitivity to light
- Gradual and slow transformation in your basic nature
- Vivid and lucid dreams
- Display of new psychic powers such as clairvoyance and telepathy
- Clarity of thought
- Increased sense of awareness of the environment
- Ability to see past the obvious
- Stronger sense of self
The experience of third eye opening can be confusing, disorienting, and even scary if you don’t know how to deal with the newly gained power. Meditation and other similar soothing techniques can help you understand this new skill and how best to use it.
How to know that your third eye is open?
It is a misconception that you need to work on it to get the third eye open. Often it is already open. You may even be aware of some of the signs such as heightened intuitive skill but choose to ignore because of the fear and ambiguity associated with it. You write off the happenings to coincidences or hunches.
To know whether your third eye is open, you need to turn inwards and pay close attention to what is happening to yourself. Are you sensing an unexplainable increase or improvement in your gut feeling or ability to read the mind of others?
If you come across certain things that you find difficult to explain or attribute a reason, most probably your third eye is open.
A point to remember here is that the third eye-opening is an involuntary phenomenon most of the time, though you can take some steps to aid in its happening. This means, whether you want it or not, your third eye will open and remain open.
Side effects of third eye awakening
Call them side effects or signs, you will notice certain changes in yourself when your third eye is open. In addition to the most obvious of the signs, sharper intuitive and perceptive skills, there are more not-so-obvious ones to look out for.
A feeling of pressure in the location. As if someone is applying force on the third eye by pressing it with a finger. You would feel this even at times when you are not engaged in a spiritual activity. It just indicates that your spiritual side is active.
Seeing things in mind before they happen. As if dreaming about such happenings when they are yet to happen.
An increase in clarity of vision and brightness of colors. With your third eye open, everything you see in the physical world is sharper, clearer, and more colorful. There is a valid reason for this. An open third eye allows more light in, making everything more visible than earlier. Though this sensation can be scary and overwhelming in the beginning.
A transformation at the basic level. Though you find it hard to explain it, you can sense a change in your fundamental nature. Oftentimes, the third eye opens as a result of some life-changing events that you already experienced or about to experience. The third eye-opening is commonly accompanied by a tremendous growth phase in life.
Persistent headaches. The headache may be felt in the temple region or as a band around the head. This sensation is attributed to the overworking of the mind to process all that is happening to you and around you.
What are the implications of a blocked and out of balance third eye?
Imbalance or blockage of any of the seven chakras can result in myriad issues in the body, mind, emotions, and soul. The third eye is no different.
Some of the most obvious physical symptoms of a blocked and imbalanced third eye are headache, feeling of extra pressure in the area, dizziness, problems with hearing and sinus, tiredness of eyes, and blurred vision.
The mental functions of a person may also get impaired as a result of this. The outward signs include confusion, disorientation, trouble in focusing, clouding of consciousness, disturbed sleep, dissociation from reality, and even nightmares.
The emotional impacts of a blocked or out of balance third eye are stress, anxiety, worry, overanalyzing, insecurity, self-doubt, narrow-mindedness, feeling muddled up, and seeking assurance and permission from others.
The spiritual implications of an out-of-sync third eye are a lack of self-belief in the path chosen or purpose of one’s life, inability to activate the intuitive abilities, helplessness in seeking higher guidance and wisdom as too entrenched in the materialistic world, and unable to focus on reality and live in the moment as you are too embedded in the dream world.
How to restore the balance of the third eye?
As the imbalance of the third eye has physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual implications, the healing or repair can be done through any of these pathways.
The physical movement of the body in specific ways such as yoga asanas can help in bringing back balance. Yoga asanas like shoulder stand, fish pose, and child’s pose are found to be immensely helpful. Through these movements, you can get the energy flowing in the area, thus remove the blockage and restore the balance.
For the uninitiated, there are videos available on the internet describing yoga poses for this specific purpose. Besides, you may adopt ways to release the tension accumulated in the region, including the head, face, neck, and shoulder.
Cognitive and emotional exercises are also found to help alleviate the blockage and bring back balance. Visualizing a divine light entering and exiting the third eye can act as a cleanser of negative energy or obstruction in the area.
Meditation is one of the most powerful techniques to realign the third eye, be it meditating by self, guided meditation, or sound meditation. Sound mediation is a technique of meditating while slowly vocalizing “Aum”.
Practicing a non-judgmental and unprejudiced approach towards life is considered beneficial to the third eye. Its links to perception, thought process, and mental functioning are undeniable. An open-minded approach can bring in new experiences, a learning process, and feelings of thrill and excitement in everyday lives. Personal growth and interconnectedness can drive away negativity, boredom, and complacence.
Repeating third eye chakra affirmations are found to be beneficial. Affirmations on mental functioning and spiritual well-being such as perception, wisdom, trust, peace of mind, and interconnectedness can be made part of your daily routine.
Physical exercise and a healthy diet are as effective in restoring the balance of the third eye as aromatherapy, crystals, and journaling. As indigo is the color associated with the third eye, emphasis should be on blue and purple, whether choosing fruits and vegetables or precious stones.
Final thoughts
The opening of the third eye is experienced in diverse ways – enlightenment, awakening, awareness, ecstasy, revelation, realization, explosion, or implosion. On a more basic level, it helps you to look inward and outward with a new perspective and learn and comprehend the deeper truth that you were never aware existed.
It can disrupt your life or can be downright scary and dangerous. To the extent that you start wishing for your earlier simple life.
Techniques like meditation can help you calm down and deal with it with equanimity. You can use this power to realize your dreams and achieve your potential.
This will help you find answers to many of the existential questions. It helps you realize your position and part in the overall structure of the Universe and your interconnectedness with everything else. This is the only way you can see and connect with your inner self.
Irrespective of how you choose to use the powers of the third eye, always count it as a blessing and a privilege that needs to be embraced and celebrated rather than feared or ashamed of.
Related: