8 Ways to Open Your Third Eye
Awakening your third eye chakra through the pineal gland
If you want to take your soul training to the next level, then you need to get familiar with your pineal gland. There are many places where mysticism and spirituality converge and the connection between the pineal gland and your third eye chakra is one of them. The pineal gland is the anatomical counterpart of the third eye. It’s probably even the place you feel spark up when your spiritual spidey senses are tingling.
What is the pineal gland?
The pineal gland is a pea sized, pinecone shaped organ located deep inside the centre of the brain. It sits between the two hemispheres of the brain and just above the thalamus, the part of the brain that processes motor and sensory information. The last of the endocrine glands to be discovered, the pineal gland is still quite mysterious to scientists, affirming its more mystical reputation.
Why the pineal gland is called the third eye
The pineal gland is called the third eye because of its resemblance to the eyes. Just like the eyes, the pineal gland is light sensitive. It receives light information from the retinas in order to produce melatonin, which is the body’s sleep hormone. When it’s nighttime, melatonin levels peak, cueing to the body that it’s time for sleep. In this way, the pineal gland acts as our internal eye, helping regulate the body’s sleep-wake cycle, aka our circadian rhythm.
Evidence suggests the pineal gland may also be the source of DMT in the brain
Research, such as this study conducted by Scientific Reports, has been pointing toward the pineal gland as being the source of DMT in the brain, which would further explain its more spiritual function and relevance in our lives. DMT is a naturally occurring hallucinogenic found in plants and animals. If you’ve joined us at one of our Soul School yoga retreats in Peru and participated in the ayahuasca ceremony, then you’ve experienced firsthand the mind altering gifts of DMT. DMT is the active chemical in ayahuasca, responsible for stimulating psychedelic experiences. Because DMT is associated with spiritual and psychoactive experiences, it has also been referred to as the ‘spirit molecule’.
By awakening the third eye chakra through the pineal gland, we can more easily access those transformative, soul expanding experiences within ourselves.
Different cultures and religions throughout the world have all attached some sort of significance to this ethereal centre between our eyebrows and in the centre of our brain, considering it to be our sixth sense. The pineal gland has just given us an anatomical pin point for this enigmatic sense.
What does the third eye chakra do?
Your third eye, also known as your Anja chakra, is the sixth main energy chakra in the body. It’s thought to be where consciousness resides and is associated with higher knowledge and our connection to the divine. The third eye chakra is also often referred to as the ‘seat of the soul’. It symbolizes the place from which we receive and perceive the world around us, both in the earth and spiritual realms.
Why awaken your third eye?
Awakening your third eye will create a gateway to the spiritual realm and higher consciousness. The pineal gland tends to be larger in children, who are thought to be closer to Spirit, more intuitive, and more receptive to energy. However, as we get older, the pineal gland shrinks and can calcify.
When your third eye is closed, you may feel directionless, purposeless, stuck, confused, uncertain, and lonely. Opening your third eye chakra can help you transcend the physical 3D plane, providing you with better clarity and insight.
Awakening your third eye will help you:
Feel more attuned to subtle energy
Sharpen your intuition
Reach a higher state of consciousness
Deepen your spiritual connection
Have a heightened sense of awareness
Feel more connected to source
How to open your third eye
1. Meditation
Meditating will help you clear your mind and open your third eye. A simple way to do this is by concentrating on the space between your eyebrows, where the chakra is located, while imagining a bright light flooding over you. You may even ask your spirit guides or Source to provide you with more insight and awareness.
Another effective third eye meditation to try is sun gazing. Sun gazing is a practice that involves staring at the sun, preferably at sunrise or sunset when the sun isn’t as strong, to absorb the sun’s healing energy.
2. Yoga
Practicing yoga can help open your third eye. Padmasana (lotus pose) and balasana (child’s pose) are just some yoga poses you can do to open your third eye. And don’t forget to fix your drishti on your third eye when you’re practicing.
3. Breathwork
Incorporate mindful, intentional breathing into your life to center yourself and awaken your third eye. Some easy breathwork techniques you can try on your own include:
4. Visualization
Just visualizing your third eye opening can be a great way to awaken it. Visualization is a powerful tool for helping our dreams and goals become reality. To open your third eye using visualization, imagine a glowing violet light (the colour associated with the third eye) emulating from the centre of your forehead. As you focus in on this light, picture it growing brighter and expanding further out from you.
5. Diet
You can open your third eye by eating fresh, unprocessed foods that help detoxify the pineal gland. Here are some foods to incorporate in your diet to decalcify the pineal gland and open your third eye chakra:
Watercress
Apple cider vinegar
Bananas
Beets
Chlorella
6. Essential Oils
Different essential oils are associated with each of the chakras. Essential oils associated with the third eye include:
Lemon
Lavender
Frankincense
Cedarwood
Clary Sage
Try diffusing these oils or massaging them into your forehead.
7. Chanting
The vibrations created from chanting can stimulate the pineal gland, helping to open your third eye. If you don’t know what to chant, try saying ‘om,’ as this sound is associated with the third eye chakra.
8. Crystals
Crystals possess powerful energy that can help raise your vibration and open you up. Some crystals to use for third eye chakra activation are:
Amethyst
Citrine
Obsidian
Fluorite
Labradorite
Lapis Lazuli
You can place these crystals in your home, wear them, sleep with them under your pillow, or place them on your forehead while you’re meditating.