Mental Health Balance: Part 3

This is the third part of a 3-part series. You can read the first part here, and the second part here.

The Third Eye Effect

There’s a phenomenon that’s pretty common in our world that I like to call time travelling. Have you ever replayed an event over and over in your mind, wishing you had responded differently? Time travelling. Have you ever thought of a future conversation you would have with someone who angered you and how you would respond to them? Time travelling. Have you ever worried about how you would pay your bills at the end of the month? Time travelling. Have you ever looked back and wish you could do things differently? Time travelling.

This month, in our last part of The Mental Health Balance series, we’re going to examine the relationship between your third eye and your mental health. We’ll dive deeper into this chakra, examine how it can impact your mental health and how you can easily bring yourself to a state of mind that’s clear, focused and calm.

When depression or anxiety hits, it’s often because we are time travelling. We focus on moments from our past that we can’t change or events from the future that haven’t happened yet. This is a culmination of the flow of energy being blocked and we start to live in a state where we are not connected to our energy body, to our higher self. Because the energy is blocked, not flowing properly, it becomes harder to see, to become aware, to breathe, and the problem becomes larger, the block becomes bigger and the flow of energy slows right down. It’s a perpetual circle, a spiral down and it’s often not until you hit rock bottom that you are jarred into making changes.

There’s one thing to note before continuing: this journey that you’re on, towards living a life aligned, connected and with balanced energy flow is your journey and all that you’ve gone through in this life has helped you to get to this moment right here. Everyone is on their own journey, every journey is perfect and although it can seem impossible not to compare yourself to others, your journey isn’t about others, it’s about you.

So here we are, knowing that we must do something to start getting that energy to flow again.

Enter the third eye.

The third eye chakra is associated to our pineal gland. The pineal gland is a small cone-shaped endocrine (dealing with hormones) gland that sits deep in the middle of your brain. Its role was the last to be discovered and even now, this gland’s full role and function is still being researched. It has a long history with the third eye.

When you activate your third eye and allow energy to flow in a balanced manner, you experience clarity, focus, decisiveness, empathy and, of course, intuition. You no longer worry about events and situations you cannot change, you focus on allowing, on doing, on living a life aligned with your full and highest potential.

Imagine being on a boat in the middle of a storm. You want to get to shore, and you’re trying to paddle against the wind, the raging storm wreaking havoc on the boat. You are frustrated, you work harder, you worry about whether you’re going to make it, you are getting increasingly frustrated that you’re not going to get to where you want to go, when you want to get there.

Now imagine being on that same boat, in the middle of the same storm. But this time, instead of trying to work against the storm to get to your destination, you allow yourself to work with the storm. You set a sail to go with the wind and allow yourself to change directions. You get to a different shore and find a new world of opportunities.

When you activate your third eye, you harness the power within you to see things differently. Instead of seeing events and problems as obstacles and distractions, you understand that they are simply events that you need to navigate, and you stay calm and in control as you allow the wind to take sail.

First, a word of caution. The last two articles dealt with all of your chakras, and not only the third eye. There’s a reason for this! The first three chakras (root, sacral and solar) deal with the physical realm and are more important than so many of us think! When you activate the third eye without ensuring that you are focusing on all the chakras, you can cause imbalances simply by allowing energy to flood to one area instead of allowing energy to flow everywhere in a balanced manner.

When you are activating the third eye, simply bring awareness to the other chakras will help you ensure that the energy can flow properly throughout.

To activate your third eye, it’s time to meditate!

It’s very important to note that I am not your typical meditator. I will never tell you to sit and breath and quiet your mind, unless that is something you wish to do. Instead, I’ll tell you to breathe, to become mindful, to stay focused in the present time, to bring awareness to the thoughts in your mind. Meditation isn’t about quieting the mind, it’s about becoming focused and clear.

I enjoy meditating while doing mundane things that I already do every day. Take the shower, for example! Since it’s such a routine thing to do, I don’t have to think about doing it. Instead, I can spend my mind focusing on the water hitting and rolling down. I can focus on my breathing, feeling it slow down, feeling each breath spread from my lungs to extremities. I also do this while brushing my teeth, focusing on my breath, slowing it down, observing the thoughts that come through and releasing them.

Spend time every day to focus on your breathing, to focus on your thoughts (yes, focus on them – don’t simply wish them away, but observe what comes up without judgement). Sometimes, you can also visualize light coming through your third eye and encompassing you. Other times, you can visualize each of your chakras allowing energy to flow. Not a visualizer? That’s ok! Simply feel it, no need to “see” it (although, as you start focusing on the third eye, you might start being able to feel!)

Even 30 seconds at a time is beneficial, don’t negate those small little times when you simply take a deep breath and focus.

As you deepen your connection, as you deepen your practice, you can start focusing on the third eye specifically. As you practice daily (or weekly, or monthly), you’ll start to notice small changes in your life. Things that use to bother you don’t trigger you as much. Situations that frustrated you are seen in more clarity. Obstacles that were in your way now have a clear path and solution.

There’s no better time than right now to start focusing on your energy body and the mental health balance. There is no one else responsible for your inner journey, for your higher development, for your inner peace. Take it one breath at a time, and the balance you’ll find will amaze you.
*This article was originally published for Connecting the Sound magazine in 2020.