18 Physical & Spiritual Signs You’re Third Eye is Opening

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The tell-tale symptoms of an open, active Third Eye chakra

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IN THIS ARTICLE

1 Frequent lucid or vivid dreams

2 Light-filled meditation sessions

3 Deeper intuition

4 Telepathic abilities

5 Clairvoyant abilities

6 Noticing auras

7 Noticing synchronicities

8 Astral projection

9 Ego death

10 Feelings of transformation

11 Seeking a higher life purpose

12 More empathy

13 Reduced fear of death

14 Increased creativity

15 Pressure between your eyebrows

16 Frequent headaches

17 Sensitivity to light and sound

18 Mindfulness about your diet

How Can You Identify if Your Third Eye Is Open?

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Co-authored by Mari Cartagenova and Dan Hickey

Last Updated: January 23, 2025 Fact Checked

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The Third Eye is a mystical, invisible eye on your forehead capable of perceiving things beyond ordinary sight. When this chakra opens, you’ll experience a profound spiritual awakening—but what does this feel like, exactly? Spiritual growth is different for everyone, but there are some common experiences that enlightened individuals have gone through. Read on to learn all of the possible cosmic signs that your Third Eye is already open (or starting to open). Let’s begin!

Things You Should Know

• Spiritually, your intuition may feel sharper and you may develop enhanced telepathic or clairvoyant abilities.
• You may feel an increased connection to life and the universe, resulting in a reduced fear of death or a yearning for a higher purpose in life.
• Physically, you may feel pressure between your eyebrows or frequent headaches, plus an increased sensitivity to light and sound.

Steps

1

Frequent lucid or vivid dreams

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1. 
   Dreams are one way the universe communes with enlightened spirits. As you open your Third Eye, you may receive cryptic communication about past or future events, or a message from the cosmos to help you resolve emotional conflicts you’re experiencing. These dreams will often feel like you’re awake and experiencing them in real life, and you might feel the ability to interact and dictate what happens next.

   • When you wake up, meditate or journal about your dreams before you forget what happened. This will help you decode the dream’s spiritual message and find solutions to your problems.
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2

Light-filled meditation sessions

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1. 
   You might "see" different things before and after your third eye opens. At first, there might only be a dark backdrop whenever you close your eyes. As your third eye opens, though, you may notice that this backdrop begins to shift and change—there might be new colors or even bright light filling your meditative vision.

3

Deeper intuition

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1. 
   Spiritually, intuition is the ability to know something might happen beforehand or to sense whether something is right or wrong (your “gut feeling”). As you begin to see beyond the obvious circumstances, you might start to sense red flags about a situation or feel guided toward a certain action or decision without a logical explanation.

   • Your intuitive feelings might come and go as you adjust to living with your Third Eye. In time, your intuition will grow stronger and become a reliable guide in your daily life.
   • Trust your intuition when you feel it! It may not always be 100% correct, but it always serves to place you on the right path.
   • The stronger your Third Eye, the stronger your intuition.
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4

Telepathic abilities

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1. 
   Telepathy is the ability to communicate outside of your 5 senses. Sensing others’ thoughts is one of the clearest signs your Third Eye is active. However, this doesn’t mean you’ll be able to read someone’s precise thoughts like in the movies. Instead, you’ll get a sense of what someone might be thinking about or feeling without having to ask them.

   • You may also feel someone’s thoughts when they’re nowhere near you, even without contacting them.
   • For example, you might get a random feeling that a loved one is thinking about you. Then, they might give you a call later that same day!

Quiz

wikiHow Quiz: What Chakra Do I Need to Balance?

Your spiritual energies can play a big part in how you feel day after day. Chakras are your body’s energy centers, and these spiritual wheels control your mood, energy level, and even your aches and pains. Balancing your chakras is especially important because a blocked or imbalanced chakra can throw off your whole day. So, how do you know which chakra needs healing? Take our quiz to find out!

1 of 12

What do you struggle with the most?

Feeling insecure and frustrated with life. How do I know if I’m good enough?

Being confident in my opinions. It’s so hard to speak up sometimes!

Believing in others as well as myself. Trust is so difficult!

Being creative. I feel so blocked!

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5

Clairvoyant abilities

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1. 
   Clairvoyance is the ability to predict the future through your intuition. As your intuition grows, you’ll get better at sensing future events independent of anything you feel with your 5 senses. This new ability might come on gradually or all at once, and like your intuition, may not always be completely correct. This connection to the universe will never purposefully lead you astray, though.

   • You may have visions of future events, or abstract, intuitive feelings about what’s going to happen next.
   • Don’t abandon your earthly reasoning skills when you plan for the future. What seems crystal clear to your own Third Eye may not be exactly what the universe has in mind.
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6

Noticing auras

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1. 
   Once your Third Eye opens, the world of auras may open itself up to you as well. Some spiritualists have noticed these colorful fields of energy appearing around people after taking a careful look at them. The next time you're spending time with friends, sitting on the train, or doing anything around other people, sneak a peek and see if any auras are showing up.

   • To get better at seeing auras, hold your hand out in front of you and spread your fingers apart. Then, unfocus your eyes—the outline of your hand/fingers should be a little blurry or fuzzy. That's the first layer of your aura (you have multiple).

7

Noticing synchronicities

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1. 
   Your Third Eye knows “coincidences” are the universe’s plans in action. A synchronicity is an occurrence of events that seem to be significantly related, but don’t have any tangible connection to each other. Most will look at these events as pure coincidences, but you may understand that the universe is lining these events up for you to follow a specific spiritual path.

   • For example, you might be contemplating a career change at the same time you walk past a “help wanted” sign on the street. This could be the cosmos telling you to stop contemplating and take action to make it happen (or maybe even to apply to that specific job).
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8

Astral projection

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1. 
   Astral projection is the ability of your consciousness to leave your body. This usually occurs in the middle of the night when the spiritual power of your Third Eye might manifest itself unpredictably. At first, it might feel terrifying to “see” yourself from outside of yourself, but don’t panic if it happens to you—you can’t get “stuck” outside your body, and nothing bad will happen to your body while you’re projecting.

   • Astral projection usually only lasts for a few minutes at a time. When you wake up in the morning, the experience may feel more like a dream than something that really happened.
   • Astral projecting is considered a sign that your intuitive abilities are sharpening and that you’re more connected to the energy of the universe.
   • Once you’re used to the sensation and feel more in control of your spiritual abilities, astral projection can feel more enjoyable or meaningful.

9

Ego death

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1. 
   Ego death is a dissolution of your identity as a separate self. This might sound negative, but it’s the ultimate connection to the universe—your old sense of self must fade away in order to access deeper spiritual awareness (of yourself and the world around you). Trust that the cosmos will guide you safely through this process. It may feel scary at first, but you’ll emerge more enlightened.

   • When your boundaries of self first fade away, you may feel lost or confused about your purpose, or depressed about human nature and the “rat race” of life. However, these feelings will give way to a deeper, more meaningful understanding of how all life is connected.
   • Some say that ego death isn’t necessary for a spiritual awakening. Your activated Third Eye may help you find deeper levels of consciousness without this drastic change.
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10

Feelings of transformation

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1. 
   Your Third Eye recognizes you’re constantly, gradually growing. Because of this, you may have a sense that you’re actively changing and evolving as a person. You’ll notice this most strongly in how you treat others—you may become more tolerant, less selfish, and more open to love and meaningful relationships than you were before.

   • You’ll realize that life is truly a journey to be cherished. This will help you let go of self-limiting beliefs that keep your personal and spiritual growth stagnant.
   • For example, you might suddenly find new fulfillment in spending quality time with friends and family rather than working or occupying yourself on your phone.

11

Seeking a higher life purpose

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1. 
   The Third Eye sees through the fog of daily life to find your true calling. The mundane, day-to-day routines you performed before may no longer feel fulfilling, and you’ll get a sense that you should be doing more with your life. You may feel the need to help others, dedicate yourself to public service, or focus inward on your spiritual enlightenment.

   • For example, your 9-5 corporate job might start to feel draining or inhibitive to your spiritual goals, regardless of your position or how much money you make.
   • To find your purpose in life, take stock of your interests and passions, study the lives of people who inspire you, and get out of your comfort zone. Let your new intuition guide you toward a higher purpose.
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12

More empathy

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1. 
   As you become enlightened, you'll grow attuned to those around you. You’ll feel more connected to nature, the earth, and other people. This new “shared” sense makes you more compassionate and tuned in to how others feel. You may feel more willing to listen to and share their experiences and to empathize with them.

   • To strengthen your empathy further, listen to what others have to say without passing judgment. Focus your attention outward and open up to others in return.

13

Reduced fear of death

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1. 
   The Third Eye helps you accept that death is an inevitable part of nature. This doesn’t mean you’ll completely overcome a fear of death, but your fear won’t have power over your life and decisions anymore. You might feel a grander sense of freedom overall and view fear as just another emotion that makes life so rich.

   • For example, letting go of a fear of death makes it easier to grieve lost loved ones, or to feel more secure in your relationships.
   • As you cultivate a more meaningful life, your fear of death will likely continue to diminish as you age.
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14

Increased creativity

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1. 
   Your creativity is a connection to the spiritual forces of the cosmos. At times, you might feel overwhelmed by the mountain of ideas bombarding you. These could be artistic ideas like inspiration for music or poetry, or out-of-the-box solutions to your earthly problems. Your creativity is a gift from the universe, and when it flows through you, you’ll have no problem finding constructive, positive uses for it.

   • Let go of societal beliefs about what’s “normal” and allow yourself to be different. Follow the ideas presented by your Third Eye without self-judgment and stay curious!
   • The more you increase your creativity, the easier it becomes to connect with the underlying consciousness of the universe.

15

Pressure between your eyebrows

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1. 
   An active Third Eye may cause new sensations in your forehead. You might feel a tingling feeling, a spreading warmth, or like someone is lightly touching you. The sensation can come and go out of nowhere, whether you’re having spiritual feelings at the moment or not.

   • At times, the sensation might feel like you’re being pulled into a meditative state of mind. Your mind may clear, and you might feel more attuned to your surroundings.
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16

Frequent headaches

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1. 
   Headaches are a result of the increased cosmic activity in your forehead. The new sensations you might feel may be stronger than you’re used to, leading to dull aches and pains. This won’t last forever, though. As you grow accustomed to your newly open Third Eye, the overload of cosmic energy will even out and your aches will become less frequent.

   • When your Third Eye aches, spend time outdoors doing something that energizes you like hiking, exercising, or meditating.

17

Sensitivity to light and sound

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1. 
   Light is the element of the Third Eye chakra. You might see colors more brightly and vividly, or hear incredibly soft sounds you wouldn’t have noticed before. You may also see lights and geometric patterns or shapes when your eyes are closed. This awareness will come on gradually, and you’ll be amazed at the details you never noticed before.

   • You may also get the urge to feel more sunshine on your skin. Just make sure to protect yourself from sunburn!
   • This extra awareness of light and color allows you to “see” things beyond your physical perception.
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18

Mindfulness about your diet

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1. 
   Food nourishes your body and spirit, so you may crave a natural diet. Some foods or habits you used to enjoy may not seem appealing anymore. For example, you might subconsciously turn away from processed snacks or fast food meals for healthier, more natural options. You may also feel inspired to quit smoking or cut back on alcohol, too.

   • Many spiritual gurus eat diets full of raw fruits and vegetables, healthy oils, herbs, and lots of water. This nourishes the body, which in turn nourishes the soul.
   • Physically, a healthy, substance-free diet can clear your mind and increase your natural energy levels.

How Can You Identify if Your Third Eye Is Open?

Expert Q&A

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• Question

  What is the best way to start developing your psychic abilities?

  

  Mari Cartagenova
  Spiritual Teacher & Medium

  Mari Cartagenova is a Spiritual Teacher & Medium based in Westford, Massachusetts. Mari has been seeing and speaking to Spirits since she was a child, and she loves to share her psychic gifts and abilities to help others. She specializes in mediumship, intuitive psychic guidance, past life or soul reading, and animal communication. Mari is the 2019 Award-Winning Best American Psychic and a Certified Advanced Spirit Worker.

  

  Mari Cartagenova

  Spiritual Teacher & Medium

  Expert Answer

  Take an introductory psychic development class or join a development circle to start working on and practicing your skills. Everyone has these intuitive abilities, it just takes practice and training to sharpen them.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

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• Question

  How can you tell the difference between real psychic insights and things you might just be imagining?

  

  Mari Cartagenova
  Spiritual Teacher & Medium

  Mari Cartagenova is a Spiritual Teacher & Medium based in Westford, Massachusetts. Mari has been seeing and speaking to Spirits since she was a child, and she loves to share her psychic gifts and abilities to help others. She specializes in mediumship, intuitive psychic guidance, past life or soul reading, and animal communication. Mari is the 2019 Award-Winning Best American Psychic and a Certified Advanced Spirit Worker.

  

  Mari Cartagenova

  Spiritual Teacher & Medium

  Expert Answer

  Once you have some basic training, you need to learn to trust the information you receive. Of course you won't always be 100% right, but you have to trust your abilities in order to continue developing them. Getting positive feedback from readings will help validate that you're on the right track.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

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• Your pineal gland, located deep in the center of your brain, is sometimes called the “third eye” because of its ability to sense light (via your circadian rhythm) and produce melatonin. However, scientists still aren’t totally sure of its function, and some spiritual practices believe it serves as a connection between the physical and spiritual worlds.
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