We are rising now to the Brow centre, Ajna, the 6th chakra in our exploration. All about having a clear purpose in life, ajna rests in the space between the eyebrows.
Visualise here a deep, rich indigo, imagine it flowing across your forehead, soothing the brow and settling the thoughts. Although this chakra is connected with the mind and the intellect, knowledge and understanding, it’s also about that which we cannot readily understand or know. It’s that feeling you sometimes get where you “just know” but you don’t know why. In yoga philosophy this where you are tapping into the universal energy, you are not a separate individual who is alone. It’s a centre for intuition.
Ajna focus is often done before meditation practices, it keeps you in balance and therefore safe, as meditation can sometimes bring up things that are not that easy to be with. Sit somewhere comfortable and let your awareness settle at the space between the eyebrows, now follow the path of your breath from your nostrils, up through the nose and into the space between and just a little behind the eyebrows. Keep focusing on this path as you inhale. You might find this space becomes more expansive and hopefully you will be feeling peaceful and calm. From this point, either continue with your meditation practice or come out when you are ready.
Focus on this centre brings us clarity and peace of mind. We are able to make rational decisions, have a clear awareness of our purpose in life and we listen to our intuition. You should also find that your balance, and your memory improve as you bring this chakra into balance. Headaches, migraines, eye or ear problems and insomnia are physical issues that flag up work on Ajna needs to be done, along with confusion, poor memory, narrow mindedness or cynicism.
Yoga postures that work your balance are a great start. Include Trees, Dancer, Eagle and Moon sequence. As your physical balance improves you should find your mental stability and balance also follow suit. Cobra is a classic choice for strengthening ajna, particularly when you take your gaze to look at the space between the eyebrows. The triangles are great too. They will raise energy from the lower centres up to the brow centre, and help to stimulate your creativity.
Candle gazing (Tratak) is a wonderful way of balancing this centre too. Just think how relaxing it is looking into the flames of a fire, or the soft soothing glow of candle light, this is the same principle. Remove glasses and contact lenses, sit comfortably and light a candle (make sure there is no fire hazard!). Focus on the flame, without blinking if possible for long as you can, until your eyes feel tired (they may water a little bit as you get used to this, always keep it comfortable), then close your eyes and see the image of the flame now on your eyelids. Focus there until the image disappears. Keep repeating the process until you’ve had enough or you feel you want to just sink into stillness with the eyes closed. A perfect practice for these darker nights.
Enjoy. Let me know how you are getting on with your chakra focus, as we complete our journey through the chakras in my next post. Ix
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