Are you curious about the third eye and how you can work with ajna chakra?
In this article, you’ll learn about what ajna chakra symbolises and how you can activate and energise the third eye chakra through your yoga practice for spiritual growth and inner guidance.
What Is Ajna Chakra (The Third Eye Chakra)?
In kundalini yoga, tantra yoga, and hatha yoga philosophy, ajna chakra is known as the sixth chakra.
Ajna chakra is part of the subtle energy body, and is located in the centre of the forehead, in between the eyebrows.
What Does Ajna Chakra Represent?
Ajna chakra is associated with intuition, intellect, insight, imagination, the unconscious mind, spiritual connection, psychic abilities, and mystical communication.
The Sanskrit word ‘ajna’ is often translated to mean “command” or “perceive”.
The third eye is considered the ‘mind’s eye’, and allows us to see the Truth whilst opening up deeper levels of supernatural communication, wisdom and insight.
Ajna chakra is seen as a bridge which links different dimensions and realms of the universe, and is said to provide a direct link to Brahman—the Ultimate Truth or Higher Consciousness.
Tapping into the third eye allows practitioners to communicate through the mind with others and the universe, creating a link that allows practitioners to receive Divine messages about the past and future.
Ajna chakra is associated with supernatural vision and mystical powers such as clairvoyance, out-of-body experiences, and the ability to observe auras and chakras.
What Is Associated With Ajna Chakra (The Third Eye Chakra)?
The third eye chakra is associated with the quality of light and the colour indigo.
It’s usually symbolised by a lotus with 2 petals, a downward-facing triangle, and ‘aum’ (also known as ‘om’) in the centre.
The sense organ associated with ajna chakra is the mind, and it is often associated with the pineal gland too.
The knot of Shiva (rudra granthi) is associated with both the third eye chakra (ajna chakra) and the throat chakra (vishuddha chakra).
The deity associated with ajna chakra is Paramatmaa, the devi associated with the third eye is Mahesvari and the yogini is Hakini.
When To Work With The Third Eye Chakra
It can be really helpful to work with your third eye when you want to call upon Divine guidance or your psychic abilities.
Working with your third eye can help to open up different dimensions to provide spiritual insight and Divine messages for enhanced spiritual growth.
For example, if you’re feeling lost, are stuck on how to move forward through a challenge, or want to connect to different realms, perhaps to converse with the wisdom of your ancestors—then the third eye is the chakra to tap into during your yoga practice.
How To Practice With Ajna Chakra And Energise The Third Eye
Yoga Poses For The Third Eye
To help energise and activate the third eye you can practice these yoga poses (asana):
- chair pose (utkatasana)
- dancer pose (natarajasana)
- diamond pose (vajrasana)
- eagle pose (garudasana)
- plough pose (halasana)
- tree pose (vrikshasana)
Mantras For The Third Eye
If you want to work with the third eye using vibration and sound, the seed mantra (bija mantra) for ajna chakra are ‘aum’ (also pronounced ‘om’) and ‘ksham’.
You can recite ‘aum’ or ‘ksham’ during japamala meditation with mala beads.
Simply come to a comfortable seated meditation position and close your eyes.
Take a few deep breaths to relax and centre yourself. Repeat ‘aum’ or ‘ksham’ and focus on the third eye.
Repeat the mantra for as long as feels comfortable, or alternatively, if you’re doing japa meditation, repeat until you’ve made one full round of the mala.
If you’re looking for a guided meditation for the third eye, then check out my free Sacred Chants + Mantras playlist.
You can leave these on during your meditation practice to help focus your mind on the mantra and your third eye.
General Yoga Practices For The Third Eye
The eyebrow centre gazing pose (shambhavi mudra) and humming bee breath (bhramari pranayama) are also good for drawing energy into the third eye.
When using various techniques (whether asana, pranayama, mantras, mudras, etc) to energise the third eye, ensure to draw your conscious awareness to the third eye during your practice.
Amethyst is known as the ‘Stone of Spirituality’ and works really well with the third eye due to its qualities and purple hue.
You can incorporate amethyst into your work with the third eye by practising yoga with amethyst in the room, or making an amethyst talisman.
Simply cleanse and charge your amethyst crystal using holy water, incense and moonlight, and then keep the amethyst on you at all times during the day, and by your bedside or under your pillow at night.
When working deeply with the third eye, ensure that you practice in a safe space that has been energetically cleansed and protected.
Due to its ability to open up energetic communication and channels with other realms, it’s important to work with your third eye in a space that is physically, mentally, emotionally, energetically and spiritually safe to do so.
For example, you can cleanse your yoga space by smudging and sprinkling holy water on a regular basis to dismantle any stagnant energy.
To learn more about how to set up a good space for your home yoga practice, then check out my article here.
Final Thoughts…
The third eye is a powerful chakra to work with during your yoga practice. It can help to stimulate deeper levels of spiritual awakening, spiritual awareness, and inner wisdom.
Have you worked with your third eye to tap into the wisdom of ajna chakra yet?
If you want to learn more about the heart chakra, be sure to check out my article here.
*It’s important to note, that some of the modern-day associations with the chakras, such as their ‘colours’ were not originally derived from the ancient Sanskrit texts.
The colours associated with the chakras, amongst some other associations such as crystals, are ‘new-age’ associations that have developed during the modern yoga period.
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