How To Open Your Third-Eye Chakra

Though chakras have been recognized for hundreds of centuries, it's likely that many of you have come across chakras in a yoga class or meditation practice. In fact, many yoga teachers dedicate classes to addressing the chakras and how to keep the energy centers in your body open at all times, per Yoga International. 

"The chakra system originated in India between 1500 and 500 BC in the oldest text called the Vedas," Fern Olivia, a reiki healer and yoga instructor, told Well + Good. "They each correspond to specific organs as well as physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual states of being and influence all areas of your life," Olivia noted. "Within these chakras is 'prana,' or the ultimate pure healing energy, that's all around us and within us, to keep us healthy, happy and vibrant."

There are a total of seven chakras in the human body, but the one we're going to focus on is the "third-eye chakra," which is located in the middle of the forehead, according to Holistic Harmony. Depending on which chakras are imbalanced or closed, you'll need to implement new practices or routines to maintain a healthy physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual being. Here's how to open your third-eye chakra.

Located between the eyebrows, the third-eye chakra is perhaps one of the most important chakras in that it bridges the gap between yourself and the physical world. According to Well + Good, the third-eye chakra is responsible for your intuition and helping you to see a clearer picture of all situations in your life. It is also responsible for the functioning and health of your "pituitary gland, eyes, head, and lower part of the brain." The third-eye chakra, or Anja chakra as it is sometimes called, is also powerful because it is essentially the control center for all of the other chakras, meaning that if you align and open the third-eye chakra, you will potentially be aligning and opening the other chakras as well, per Conscious Items.

When your third-eye chakra is blocked, you'll have trouble accessing your intuition, trusting your inner voice, and learning new skills, per Well + Good. Opening the third-eye chakra can be accomplished by stimulating your imagination by meditating, writing in a dream journal, creating a vision board, and following that inner voice or intuition in your head, according to Conscious Items. You can also place crystals like lapis lazuli, amethyst, and fluorite between your eyebrows to stimulate the third-eye chakra.