A Guide To Opening Your Third Eye & Accessing Your Highest Intuition

If you hang around New Age circles long enough, you've likely heard talk of the third eye—the sixth chakra and an epicenter of intuition and psychic ability.

Clairvoyance may be one result of a developed third eye, but this energy center is responsible for so much more than predicting future phenomena. When we open the third eye, we become aware of the big picture. This ability to see EVERYTHING shifts our perspective, so we can see our own blind spots and understand ourselves in the context of the collective. But in order to use the third eye to see through time and space, we first have to use it to see ourselves!

In my private practice, I use the Seven Senses framework to explore the spiritual aspects of health through the lens of the seven chakras. Each chakra is associated with physical structures in the body, so every illness or ailment can be traced to a corresponding chakra for a deeper understanding of the energetic origins of the disease. In other words, the chakras help us understand why illness develops and what we can learn from it. The physical structure most closely related to the third eye chakra is the pituitary gland—the queen of the endocrine system. Headaches, hormone imbalances, nightmares, indecision, burnout, and lack of purpose are all common manifestations when there's an imbalance in the third eye.

The pituitary provides oversight for many of the glands of the endocrine system, including the adrenals, thyroid, ovaries, and testes. Just as the third eye allows us to see the entire picture, the pituitary gland provides oversight for the endocrine system. It produces stimulating hormones that trigger distant glands in the body to perform their jobs, and its responsibilities change during different phases of life. For example, when you're a new mom, the stimulation of the mammary glands is uniquely important.

The pituitary gland's ability to adjust function to meet the needs of the body at every stage of life parallels the third eye's capacity to see how one's sense of self is dynamic.

Just as the pituitary gland monitors and manages hormonal release from glands throughout the body, the third eye has the ability to regulate the flow of energy throughout the entire subtle body.

The third eye chakra provides the oversight and wisdom necessary to understand existence beyond time and space. It can see past the duality and shortsightedness of the Western mind and provide an awareness that allows us to see who we really are: spiritual beings having a human experience.

Embodying the third eye's expansive energy requires the maturity, life experience, and wisdom that we gain with age. The chakra is thought to reach peak development from ages 35 to 42. It builds upon the developmental path that begins with the root chakra, where we experience the conflict between attachment and authenticity. At around 7 years old, we move into the sacral chakra, the home of feelings and emotions. The next stop on this developmental path is the solar plexus, where we confront our judgments and limiting beliefs. Only then can we generate the courage to open the heart chakra, the key to giving and receiving love and compassion. With a healthy foundation in the lower four chakras, we can cultivate and communicate our authentic truth through the throat chakra.

The spiritual awareness that comes through the development of the sixth chakra can be overwhelming for those who have not built a healthy foundation in the lower five chakras. Once we have worked our way through those, the third eye begins to open. An inner knowing begins to rise, and we can clearly see ourselves. We see that "I am" is a moving target. We are not our fears or our emotions, our beliefs, or our judgments. An open third eye sees life as the stage it is.

To open the third eye is to see ourselves fully—to see all of the ways that we play the victim, all of the ways we project our judgments, insecurities, and assumptions onto others. Someone with an open third eye is also aware of all the roles they play in the world. Perhaps you are not the same person with your lover as you are with your mother. Perhaps your behavior in some of your relationships is a response to other people's assumptions about who you are or the things they project onto you. An open third eye sees all of this, and it leaves us no choice but to move past the illusions that define our existence.

As the third eye opens wider, the house of cards falls to pieces and you wake up to a new spiritual reality. This is what the great mystics and seers throughout history understood, and the experience is available to all of us. However, this awakening challenges our sense of identity, and hence, the process warrants caution. Here are some practices to help you ease into it.

This Kundalini kriya is a great practice for the third eye. The complete set takes about 30 minutes, and detailed instructions can be found in The Aquarian Teacher, level one textbook by Yogi Bhajan or online.

Consider yourself as you are today and write a list of sentences that begin with "I am …" Write down as many things as you can think of that feel true right now. For example, "I am a writer, I am a sister, I am a wife, I am happy, I am beautiful, I am lonely, etc."

Then imagine yourself 10 years ago, and create a similar list for yourself at that time. 

Choose another one or two time periods in your life and do the same thing. 

Notice the differences in these lists, and reflect on how your sense of self has changed.

Acting is a great tool to access a wide range of emotional experiences, and those experiences affect our behaviors and sense of self. In this exercise, use your memory to elicit emotions. Focus on a funny memory and make yourself laugh. Force the laughter until it becomes natural. Focus on a sad memory and make yourself cry. Focus on a situation that infuriates you, and scream words of anger into a pillow. Exaggerate the emotions as an actor does, but don't sit with any one of them for too long. Remind yourself that no single emotion defines you. 

The third eye is naturally active in the dream state. The more you remember your dreams, the more connected you become to the unconscious—where all of your blind spots live. Spend 10 minutes every morning writing down everything you remember about your dreams. If you cannot remember anything at all, spend the time in meditation, clearing your mind before turning on any electronic devices or auditory stimuli. Eventually, you will remember!