Ajna (3rd Eye) Chakra

Do you find that you have a particular chakra that you feel most aligned with?

For me, it's the ajna chakra. The 3rd eye chakra represents intuition, clarity, and vision. It's where we begin to work with the subconscious mind and all of it's mysteries.

My personality type (INFJ) means that I gain a lot of my insight from intuition, and that I envision things in terms of mental images of what could be, often instead of just at face-value. It can lead to some frustration for me, as often my vision of how things could be doesn't align with how things actually are...for example, you can imagine how frustrated I get when my home renovations aren't coming to fruition as fast as I'd like, given that I can "see" what they'd look like when completed! But it does mean that I have some great ideas!

I love this quote from Henry David Thoreau. You could look at a woodlot and see the beautiful ecosystem for what it is, wildflowers and insects and animals...or you could see bare land for a new subdivision. Personally I'm more in tune with the woodlot (I might see a subdivision and imagine what was there before!) but you get the idea.

There is a similar quote, "We see things not as they are, but as we are" (by Anais Nin) that sums this up nicely. Our subconscious, our conditioning, our culture, our environment, and even our trauma, all play a role in what goes on deep inside the mind.

We might find ourselves always look at the negative side of things. Signs of imbalance in the ajna chakra include lack of clarity, over-intellectualization, overwhelm, and anxiety about the future. The good news is that the brain is malleable, we can rewire our thought patterns to see things differently!

Forward folds are great to connect with the ajna chakra, as we invert ourselves and send energy to the 3rd eye...such as seated forward fold (paschimottanasana), one-legged seated forward fold/head-to-knee pose (janu sirsasana), and wide-legged seated forward fold (upavistha konasana), standing forward fold (uttanasana), and wide-legged standing forward fold (Prasarita Padottanasana I). Positions where your forehead and 3rd eye can rest on the mat are also great, such as child's pose (balasana), puppy pose (uttana shishosasana), and dolphin pose (catur svanasana) with the head supported by a yoga block.

What do you see, when you look around? Does it seem pretty close to how things are in reality? (What is reality anyway?) Is there a particular chakra you feel most in-tune with? Let me know in the comments!

You can find a yoga nidra (guided meditation) on the ajna chakra here: