Day 6 · Beginner journey
Third Eye Chakra (Ajna)
Day 6 turns inward to the Ajna, the Third Eye chakra between the eyebrows. This centre is worked with less through poses and more through Pratyahara — drawing the senses inward. Today you'll practise with the eyes closed, moving toward a quiet, meditative awareness.
The Third Eye chakra sits between the eyebrows, just above the bridge of the nose. It is worked with by turning inward — a practice called Pratyahara, the drawing in of the senses. A simple way to do this is to keep the eyes closed throughout your practice.
Follow the video and, where you can, keep the eyes gently closed, letting attention settle behind the brows. This makes even familiar movements feel meditative. The theme of Day 6 is inward focus and quiet awareness.
Today’s practice
- Settle in and soften the gaze, then close the eyes
- Follow the practice with attention drawn inward (Pratyahara)
- Rest your awareness gently behind the eyebrows
- Notice the more meditative quality of moving with eyes closed
Reflection
What do you notice when you turn your attention inward and let the outside world recede?
Video transcriptIn this session, the teacher explains the Ajna (third eye) chakra and has Anisha demonstrate Surya Namaskar with eyes closed to practice Pratyahara.
Om Namah Shivaya, welcome to Yoga & You. We're here today at 1.36.1 Yoga Studio.
So after the Vishuddha Chakra we come to the Ajna Chakra. The Ajna Chakra is located right here between the two eyebrows, a little bit above the bridge of the nose. It's a very important chakra.
To activate this chakra it's more of an inward practice — it's called Pratyahara, where you go deeper into yourself, sort of like meditation. So what I tell students to do, a simple way to practice Pratyahara, is to keep your eyes closed during the entire session. So for all the asanas, for an hour-long session, you just do it with your eyes closed. It's a beautiful, meditative experience to do that.
And today I will get Anisha to demonstrate the Surya Namaskar and ask her to do it with her eyes closed. There will be a little bit of loss of balance when you do this — it's usual in the beginning, but that is the experience of finding your balance when your eyes are closed.
Inhale, exhale, Pranamasana. Inhale up, arch back, exhale down. Inhale, right leg back, exhale left, plank position, exhale and drop. Inhale, Bhujangasana, exhale and vertically. Inhale, right leg forward, left, up, arch back, Pranamasana, and relax.
Okay, you can sit down. So as you can see, when your eyes are closed your positions and everything is a little bit awkward, but as you practice you will experience — you will be able to visualize your body and do it the right way.
The Ajna Chakra is associated with intuition, it's associated with telepathy, with understanding things much deeper. So it's a very important chakra to activate, especially for yogis who are interested in studying further and knowing more about yoga.