The third eye chakra (Ajna) is located between the eyebrows. This chakra is associated with our archetypal identity (which is the association with, or merging into another state of being) and the colour purple. At this energy centre, we connect to light, intuition, clarity, wisdom, sensing, and perceiving. The head is where we feel like the sense of "I" is located, and at the third eye centre, we have vision and reflection and possibilities.

When this centre is off balance, there is a tendency to be unclear, unfocused, and unable to sense whats happening around you, therefore not being able to think things through rationally. It also leads to narrow-mindedness and being judgemental.

The third eye is our control centre, where we process information from life and sense our "bigger picture" ability to weather the disturbances in our personal lives. The power of our minds creates our reality. Does our conditioning hold any value? Perhaps a regular examination is necessary, like washing your car. What do you cling to in the way that you perceive the world? Can we live in a reality that is not degenerating or self-limiting? Our inner state of thought powerfully influences our physical state of well-being.

The mind is a dynamic space. It is not static or rigid, and if it becomes that way, we get stuck in these mental loops where we are unable to understand other people's points of view. Overusing the mind can also distort reality, like if you ever overthink a situation, you find yourself with no ground to stand on and feel in circles like a dog chasing its tail. We have the ability to change the way that we look at life through the power of the mind through studying and observing it. If we can practice expanding the mind as well as letting the mind be still, then we can be free from all of the mental processes controlling us. The mind is forever monkeying around without stopping, like a busy toddler. But as an observer, we can witness this activity and find stillness amidst the whirlwind and expand our conscious experience. So if we can witness what the mind is doing from an "outside" point of view, if we can be aware of thinking, then we must not Be the thinking itself. It is a tool. So simple a concept, but so very difficult to practice because we get caught up in them thoughts so dang easily.

The brow chakra also processes the senses (ears, eyes, nose and mouth) with conceptual ideas. We experience the world through our sense experience and then we process it in the brain. The mind thinks and ruminates and stews and broods. The Universal mind on the other hand is this higher mind (not part of our ego-identity), and is where we access wisdom and intuition, not through thinking but through knowing. How do we get in alignment with this part of our nature? Honest examination and reflection of the mind is key. Seeing that our motives and agenda is often selfish, seeing that we are full of pride, greed, vanity, lust, jealousy and all those traits we don't want to admit. When we see ourselves for what we really are (mere humans), then we are ripe to open up to this innate higher mind inside of pure conscious experience. If we have unrealistic expectations about life and reality and from ourselves then we lose our sense of trust in this higher mind. I feel that we are living in a world where not many people have a sense of trust for life. There is huge uncertainty, and there always has been, but maybe we are here for a reason, and we can trust that.

Reflect:

What state is your mind in right now?

Can you see where you are narrow-minded?

what is an Archetypal identity to you?