I spy with my third eye, something beginning with ‘I’. I’ll give you one guess. You got it? Yep. That’s right. Intuition. One little word with a hell of a lot of meaning. Yet a meaning that is so difficult to describe. One that we don’t always understand. It’s intangible. It’s a feeling, but one that you feel through the figurative vision of your third eye. A paradox – for sure.

It’s when you just know… you know?

Seeing Is Not Always Believing

Before I get started on my rambles about the third eye, I’d like you to understand something. Although it’s a mystical concept found in spiritual traditions, we all possess a third eye. You don’t need to be a Buddhist, a yogi, or remotely spiritual to possess a third eye. And you can call it whatever you want: gut feeling, insight, intuition, awareness… It doesn’t really matter. The point is, that seeing is not always believing. Sometimes, feeling is believing. Sometimes you just know, even though you don’t really know why.

The third eye is about trust in yourself. It refers to the often neglected reality that you can have perception beyond ordinary sight. I find intuition important, as it’s a way to practice living by the value that we know ourselves best. No-one knows us better.

Although it’s not physically visible to the outside world, the third eye is usually depicted as being located between the eyebrows. If you do feel in tune and connected with your third eye or your intuition you’ll probably understand its location without explanation. If not, I’ll try my best too not bore you with the science…

I Spy Science

The third eye is not only a spiritual concept. There’s also some science behind it. The third eye, in scientific terms, is known as the pineal gland. So it is, in fact, a physical part of our genetic make-up. As well as being responsible for regulating our sleep-wake cycles, the pineal gland is light-sensitive and responds to changes in light levels.

Have you ever felt like you need to close your eyes to really focus your attention on something? Or to try and remember, feel into, visualise, or re-live an experience? I believe that by doing so, we are in some way connecting to our third eye. We close our eyes without thinking about it… it just kind of happens.

When you close your eyes, you of course decrease the amount of light that enters, which stimulates the production of melatonin and helps activate the pineal gland. This isn’t particularly spiritual. However, it is a way to focus attention inwards. So in a round about way, in the moments you close your eyes to help visualise something, you are connecting with your third eye intuitively. You see – we all have intuition, we might just label it differently.

The Third Eye & Life Between the Lines

When it comes down to it, a lot if life’s experiences occur between the lines. By this I’m referring to unspoken truths. Body language, facial expressions, and the energy that we radiate. These subtle cues can often reveal more about a person’s true feelings and thoughts than their spoken words. I believe that whether it’s a conscious choice or not, we detect these small energetic cues, which in turn feed our intuition.

This presents 2 challenges. The first challenge is to not overthink the behaviours of other people. The second challenge is trusting ourselves when we do believe someone’s behaviour is out of the ordinary, and this is negatively effecting us. Either way, we have to learn to trust ourselves and the messages we pick up along the way.

In the Blink of a Third Eye

When I was going through the roughest part of my marriage about a year before my divorce, something in my tummy kept bugging me. Not a pain, and not an ache either. Just a feeling of discomfort right in the pit of my stomach. Over the following months I started having asthma attacks out of the blue. To the outside world, nothing was seemingly wrong. However, to me, everything was. My stomach was twisted, yet I had no idea why. And to be honest – I didn’t pay enough attention to what my body was trying to tell me.

Throughout the following year, my asthma attacks continued spontaneously. I continued to push it all down and hope it would pass. Of course it never did. My poor body… I kept her quiet. Ignored her messages to me. Eventually everything began to unravel, and everything I suspected turned out to be true. Unfortunately, it was too little too late. Before I knew it, the carpet was being pulled out from under my feet. In my twisted-tummy state of denial and vulnerability, I was talked into doing some things I really didn’t want to do. My whole life as I knew it came apart from the seams. I was cheated in every single sense of the word by the person I thought would always have my back.

And just like that, in the missed blink of a third eye – it was all over. If only I’d listened to my gut.

Tune in & Listen Closely

Don’t go getting all sad on my behalf about my story! It’s not a sob story. It’s an amazing story with the ability to inspire! Yes – I learnt the hard way… but I learnt. And that’s the most important thing. Now I do trust my intuition. And do you know what? Sometimes she’s off, but I tune in, and I listen anyway. I’d rather walk from a potentially toxic situation than hang around to wait and find out just how toxic it might be. Because once I’ve walked, I’ll never know – and that’s just fine by me.

By now you might be wondering how you can tap into your intuition and learn to trust it more? Here are some simple tips that I hope you’ll take on board if you’re trying to tune in  to your own third eye.

• Practice mindfulness: Take time to quiet your mind and listen to your inner voice. Meditation, journaling, or simply taking a walk in nature can help you tune into your intuition.

• Pay attention to your body: Our bodies often give us clues about what feels right or wrong. Notice any physical sensations or emotions that arise when you’re faced with a decision.

• Trust yourself: Believe that you have the wisdom and strength to make the right choices for yourself. Even if it’s not what others expect or approve of, trust that your intuition knows what’s best for you. There might not be a universal right and wrong, but trust that you know what’s best for you.

So there you have it. A bit about me, myself, and the third eye…