Hey all- it's been a few weeks but I am back from travels and excited to write you all another piece of the puzzle. 

This week we will dive into a unique chakra and energy center. This chakra has less to do with the physical self, albeit its many connections to the physiological body. Per usual, we will dive into the anatomy and some physical pathways. Then, we will dive into the energetic anatomical connections within the Self. 

To start out, I will be honest in saying there are no true trigger muscles connected to the sixth chakra. One could hypothesis that it is connected to the muscles of the Jaw and Forehead, due to its location near the eyes and the nerve connections to the eyes and face.  

The most important part however is its associations with the pituitary gland. Thia gland is considered a master gland, governing over many of the glands below it. It also has ties with the Hypothalamus, which in western medicine and Chinese medicine is seeing as having a pivotal role in endocrine glands and their functions. 

The pituitary gland has massively close associations and ties with the hypothalamus, which governs the pituitary's firing of hormones. The Pituitary also helps to monitor cortisol release in the body, bringing it closer to it relation with the adrenal glands. 

It also has innervations with the carotid nerve plexus.

Many call this the third eye chakra, or the third eye in general. It also is used in mediation and yoga as a place to focus one's attention. 

The sixth chakra is also known as the Ajna chakra, or the third eye chakra. It is known as the seed of the soul. It is the center of intuition, clairvoyance, spiritual guidance, and visualization. The mantra of the sixth chakra is "Aum" or "Om", which is the sacred sound of the Universe. It is also known as the sound of the beginning, the middle, and the end. 

The Ajna chakra is all about Detachment. This does not mean to stop caring. However, it means to stop personalizing the results of situations, events, and relationships. It means to be able to take one's Self out of the situation and see the big picture. It also means to become non-attached to the results of our actions. That there is a bigger picture at play. 

The sixth chakra is also the seed of visualization. Being able to see one's success and the path of the future by connecting to spiritual guidance is the essence of this chakra at play. Cloudiness of choice and goals, misguidance, uncertainty, and losing trust in one's self are all signs of a sixth chakra imbalance. 

To help strengthen this chakra:

 

- Meditation. There are many many many meditations on youtube and apps for phones to connect to this area. You may also find yoga teachers and meditation teachers that have trained in chakra work and energy work to help uncover this area of the mind and body. 

-Visualization work- Working on visualization can not only help mentally but also physically. There are studies that have shown visualizating your future and what you want to have happen fires similar brain areas as the actual physical act of taking those action. Many high performing CEOs as well as Athletes use this practice to help create mind body connections. 

 

 

Happy Chakra Strengthening and looking forward to writing the final installment for you all!

 

- Peak Body Integration