How to Awaken Your Third Eye

The third eye is a popular chakra among spiritual seekers because of its associations with psychic abilities and intuition. This article will discuss the functions of the third eye chakra, how to awaken your third eye, signs of third eye chakra awakening, and also some important cautions and considerations.

What is the Third Eye?

The Sanskrit word for the third eye is Ajna. It is the sixth chakra in the system of seven main chakras that run in a line up the body from the base of the spin to the crown of the head. The third eye chakra sits between and just above the eyebrows. It is the eye of the soul, our gateway to inner knowing. When you awaken your third eye, you can connect to sacred cosmic consciousness and the wisdom of your soul.

Spiritual Third Eye – Seat of Intuition

The spiritual third eye is our Ajna chakra, which can look inwards as well as outwards. It is the energetic center that connects with the celestial layer of the aura. The celestial layer of the aura carries a strong vibration and governs our connection to universal consciousness and the web of existence. 

When the celestial layer is strong, we feel a oneness with all other beings and the illusion of separation falls away. It is this insight into the true nature of the universe that we can achieve through third eye chakra awakening. When we are consciously connected to the universe, we receive information and wisdom, which are known as intuition, downloads, psychic abilities, and telepathy.

Physical Third Eye – Pituitary Gland

The pituitary gland is a small gland at the base of the skull, underneath the brain and behind the bridge of the nose. The pituitary gland has two principal parts, the anterior pituitary gland and the posterior pituitary gland. It is the ‘master gland’ as the hormones it produces control so many processes in the body, including telling other endocrine glands such as the ovaries, adrenals and thyroid when to secrete their hormones. It senses the body’s needs and signals different organs and glands throughout the body to regulate their function and maintain homeostasis.

The pituitary gland is important in helping us form relationships with other people and experience bonding and emotional connection. The third eye chakra, to which the pituitary gland is connected, is the seat of insight and inner knowing. This intuition is rooted in the ability to connect with universal and collective consciousness, as well as the sensing and processing of subtle energies, similar to how we sense and process other’s signals and energy when we communicate with them in daily life.

What Does the Third Eye Chakra Do?

Extrasensory Perception

The third eye acts as a window into universal consciousness; a spiritual eye that senses information from the universe and processes it through the brain. This information is extrasensory perception (ESP). It is a way of receiving knowledge that is not gained through the physical plane. It includes psychic abilities such as intuition, telepathy, psychometry, clairvoyance, precognition and retrocognition.

These abilities are one reason the spiritual community has prioritized third eye chakra. Everyone wants to gain more extrasensory perception, but most don’t understand how to do it safely. Third eye chakra awakening is a process that involves working on the lower chakras first to ensure stabilization and a strong grounded foundation for the spiritual and psychic work of the Ajna chakra.

Seeing the Truth

As well as expanding awareness outward, the third eye chakra can also look inward into the depths of our inner soulscape, our true essence. It knows when we are lying to ourselves because it can always see the truth. Learning how to awaken your third eye is the very best way to connect with your higher self and communicate with your soul.

It is through this process that we can reconnect with our soul purpose—the contract that our soul designed with the universe before our incarnation here on Earth in this lifetime. There are, in fact, many reasons and purposes for our life here in this incarnation. We have a primary purpose, as well as many smaller lessons that our soul needs to learn for its progression toward enlightenment and liberation. We can relearn these purposes by communicating with our soul via our third eye chakra.

Signs of a Third Eye Chakra Awakening

Lifting the Veils of Illusion

In order to protect our limited human brain from overloading, before our incarnation, we installed several veils of illusion over our third eye chakra to shield us from the overwhelm of instantly understanding the nature of the universe. As we work on our third eye chakra awakening and spiritual development process, we slowly lift the veils that shield our third eye to gain a clearer view of the nature of existence.

This lifting of the veils can happen all at once in cases of immediate spiritual awakening, for example, when someone has a near death experience and finds themselves instantly enlightened. Cases like this are quite rare though, usually it happens over a period of time, like peeling back layers so that the truth slowly comes into focus. This is what most people experience. It will feel like you are cleaning the lens of your perception as the truth slowly becomes sharper and more in focus. You will have more understanding of universal laws and flow, puzzle pieces will click into place and you will make sense of the relationships between phenomena and experiences.

Frequent Downloads

As the veils of illusion fall away, you will experience more frequent downloads. A download is when you unexpectedly receive a piece of information from the universe through your extrasensory perception. It includes realizations about the nature of the universe, information and warnings about other people, and creative ideas that feel as if they have dropped out of nowhere into your consciousness. They are also known as sudden inspiration, psychic channeling, visions and spiritual advancements.

Head and Sinus Pain

Another clear sign of third eye chakra awakening is pain in your head and sinuses. You may have pressure headaches and the pressure spreads to your sinuses, creating pain in your face, around your eyes and behind your ears. This pain is because of your third eye chakra energy expanding, and it is only temporary. You may also have a temporary sensitivity to light. When you experience the headaches and sinus pain, you will want to be in a darkened room. Because of the head pain and light sensitivity, many people confuse these symptoms with migraines.

Cautions and Considerations

The most vital thing to take into consideration if you want to open your third eye is don’t neglect the other chakras. The lower chakras in the system are there to provide a stable foundation for opening the higher chakras. It should be a journey and ongoing practice, not a quick-fix shortcut to psychic abilities. You need to go through the steps in order to be stable enough to hold the awareness of the third eye.

 If you haven’t done the groundwork, you can destabilize your Ajna chakra, which at best is counter productive, and in extreme cases you can push yourself into psychosis and hallucination or even god-complex delusions. Be careful, don’t rush the process and do the groundwork first!

Ways to Awaken Your Third Eye

Heal and Open the Preceding Chakras

Only once you have done sufficient work on the lower chakras, especially the Muladhara (root) chakra, should you begin your work on your third eye chakra awakening. You will find that when you heal the Muladhara chakra and are grounded and rooted through the first chakra, it will be much easier to awaken your third eye and you will decrease the risk of third eye chakra destabilization.

 The Muladhara chakra is our link to the Earth and our physical bodies. You must ensure you are grounded in your Muladhara (root) chakra so that you remain anchored in your body and don’t leave yourself open to psychic attack or invasion.

The Manipura (solar plexus) chakra gives us a strong sense of identity and prevents us from being pushed into god-complex delusions. When we are anchored in our own sense of self-identification and personal power, we know exactly who we are and we do not risk delusions of grandeur.

The Svadhisthana (sacral) chakra is our seat of pleasure and creativity. It is also where our emotions arise from. This chakra needs to be strong so that we can process and make sense of the information we receive through third eye chakra awakening.

The Anahata (heart) chakra is the seat of the soul and of love, compassion, and empathy. When this chakra is healthy and open, we stay in unity consciousness, and third eye destabilization symptoms such as superiority and separation from others become less of a risk. We move into our extrasensory perception and universal consciousness from a place of deep love and compassion for ourselves and others. This allows much more stability and soul connection because we are tapping into our true nature.

Herbs

Herbs that can help open the third eye are consciousness shifting herbs such as mugwort, damiana, Egyptian blue lotus, kava kava, myrrh, frankincense, dragon’s blood, blue vervain, lavender and passionflower. You can brew them as an infusion to drink before you do any work to awaken your third eye chakra. In the case of the tree reasons such as myrrh, dragon’s blood, and frankincense, you can burn them as an incense and breathe the sacred smoke. These plants can shift and expand your consciousness so that it is easier to bring your awareness into your third eye.

Meditation

Meditation, including laser-focused awareness of the third eye chakra, is a crucial component of third eye chakra awakening. Where focus goes, energy flows. When you focus all your awareness on the third eye chakra, you flood the area with energy, activating it. Bring all of your attention to your Ajna chakra point and imagine a wand of light entering through the chakra, illuminating a path all the way through your brain and out the back of your head. You can also visualize an indigo-coloured two-petaled lotus flower on your third eye point, spinning with your breath and glowing brighter as you energize and activate the chakra.

Mantra Chanting

Each chakra has its own Bija mantra, a one-syllable sacred sound which activates the energetic frequency of the chakra. The mantra for Ajna is Sham. Chant this mantra while you meditate. You can chant along with this recording if you would like some guidance.

Journeying

Once you feel you have practiced the above activities enough, you can try journeying to connect with universal consciousness, the spirit realm, and your higher self. Being able to journey effectively and communicate with the universe, other beings (plants, animals, ancestors and guides), and your own soul is one of the ultimate goals of third eye chakra awakening. It is how you will receive most of your psychic information and guidance. Traditional Shamanic journeying uses drumming which has been shown to alter brainwaves and open consciousness. If you are brand new to journeying, try this practice that begins with detailed instructions for journeying.

Practice and Record-Keeping

If you are serious about learning how to awaken your third eye, you must develop a committed practice. Begin with clearing the lower chakras and add in the other practices when you feel you’re ready to move onto the next stage. It is vital that you journal your experiences and results so that you have a detailed record of your progress.

Journalling is especially important after your journeys. You will meet with beings and spirits, receive advice and downloads during these experiences and you will forget them once you return to normal consciousness so you should write it all down as soon as you come back from the journey. It is also a good idea to record your dreams as that is another channel for downloads and psychic guidance.

Above all, do not rush the process. Enjoy every step because they are all equally important. Go at your own pace and keep records of everything. It will surprise you when you look back through your records and you see patterns and things that came true! It is such an affirming feeling to know that the work you are doing is paying off.

I hope that learning how to awaken your third eye helps you on your journey of transformation and development. Remember, information is only useful if you put it into practice, so please do try out some of the techniques shared here. If you have any questions about chakras or awakening your intuition, please post them in the Sacred Circle forum, where we would love to connect with you and get to know about your own spiritual path. We hope to see you there.