Awakening Your Sixth Chakra: The Seat of the Soul

Over the past few months we’ve been moving steadily through the first five chakras – from the issues of survival and tribal connection associated with the root, all the way to the issues of personal truth and authentic communication associated with the throat chakra.

And at last we’ve reached the most famous of the body’s seven energy centers – the Third Eye, or Brow Chakra, known in Sanskrit as Ajna. Famed in ancient traditions around the world as a source of wisdom, dreams, perception and insight regarding both the outer world and your inward world, the sixth chakra is the place of your wise inner observer and guide. The French philosopher Rene Descartes, in fact, called the third eye the seat of the soul.

The Chakra Anatomy site states:

“The energy of Ajna allows us to access our inner guidance that comes from the depths of our being. It allows us to cut through illusion and to access deeper truths – to see beyond the mind, beyond the words. The “way of the third eye” is seeing everything as it is from a point of “witness” or “observer”, or from simply being mindful – moment by moment. It means examining self-limiting ideas and developing wisdom that comes from a perspective that transcends the duality of good or bad, black or white. It means seeing and helping others to see the deeper meanings of the situations in their lives. Sixth chakra is holistic in nature. When this chakra is fully activated, both hemispheres of the brain function in synchrony. The right hemisphere’s creativity and synthetic thinking is integrated and balanced with left hemisphere’s logical and analytical thinking”.

For centuries mystics associated the sixth chakra with the pineal gland, which reaches its peak of activity in the adolescent years when a child goes through a sexual maturation. At that time, in some traditional indigenous cultures, children undergo a spiritual initiation designed to awaken and enhance the functioning of the third eye.

In many adults, however, this gland calcifies. Perhaps for this reason, many people feel as they age that their third eye is dormant or suppressed – and that their ability to tap into its intuitive wisdom is also suppressed.

If this is the case for you, you may feel out of touch with your creativity and intuition, unable to trust your perceptions and inner wisdom. You may struggle with a sense of being disconnected from both the physical and spiritual worlds and from other people at a profound, energetic level.

What can you do to awaken your sixth chakra and reconnect with your intuitive wisdom?

Harmonize your outer environment with this chakra by wearing or decorating with the colors of crystalline white and cobalt blue. Crystals such as diamond, sapphire and emerald support this chakra on a deep energetic level, as do the fragrances of frankincense, holy basil, and sandalwood.

On the body level, stimulating spices for the third eye include basil, cardamom, chili powder, curry, dill, ginger, mint, nutmeg, turmeric, and wasabi. Chocolate awakens this chakra, as do purple-red fruits such as grapes, blueberries, blackberries boysenberries, figs, raisins and plums; and vegetables such as eggplant, purple kale, and purple cabbage. Vitamins and supplements further help to nourish and stimulate the third eye.

You can help to awaken the third eye through your yoga practice:

Downward facing dog – as you hold this pose, concentrate on the third eye and/or visualize a deep-blue light.
Plough pose – this pose is known to tone all the chakras at the same time. It is also known as one of the most relaxing poses and will give you time to focus your energy on the third eye.

On the spiritual level, practices such as meditation, visualization, and chanting help to support the activity of the third eye. The Eclectic Energies site offers this practice:

Put your hands before the lower part of your breast. The middle fingers are straight and touch at the tops, pointing forward. The other fingers are bended and touch at the upper two phalanges. The thumbs point towards you and touch at the tops.
Concentrate on the Third Eye chakra slightly above the point between the eyebrows.
Chant the sound OM or AUM.

Finally, you can post affirmations in places where they will catch your eye, and repeat them to yourself through the day: