The Third Eye: Myth, Fact, or Something We've Yet to Fully Understand?

I remember my first soundbath — not one I was holding, but one I was receiving.

At the start, we were taught a simple breathing technique. We were asked to focus on drawing the breath slowly up the spine, with full attention. As I breathed and followed the guidance, I felt something stir inside me — a soft pressure building, almost like a charge rising.

Then, with my eyes closed, something strange happened.

I began to see flashes of blue light.

Now, this wasn’t my imagination running wild. I have aphantasia — which means I can’t visualise images in my mind. When I close my eyes, it’s just blackness. No colours, no shapes. All I have is a constant inner voice that never stops talking. So seeing these flashes wasn’t "visualising." It was happening — real and surprising.

Since then, these blue flashes have become a regular companion — but only when I’m playing the gong, focusing on my breath, and dropping into stillness. It's as if certain conditions need to come together for it to happen.

My Partner’s Third Eye Fascination

My partner often talks about the third eye.He loves the idea of activating it — opening higher awareness, connecting to the spirit realm, using blue lotus tincturesand essential oils to support the journey.

Listening to him, I found myself wondering:Is there really something to this idea?Or is the third eye just a poetic symbol, misunderstood over time?

What Science Tells Us About the Third Eye

The third eye is usually linked to the pineal gland — a small gland deep inside the brain that produces melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep and our body clock.

But it’s not an ordinary gland:

• It contains tiny crystals (calcium carbonate) that may respond to mechanical pressure or even small electrical charges.

• It has cells similar to those in the retina — suggesting that millions of years ago, it could sense light more directly.

• It sits near spaces filled with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) — a clear liquid that cushions and nourishes the brain and spine, and carries charged particles (ions).

  
  

Can We "Charge" the Pineal Gland?

When we practise focused breathwork — especially when combined with spinal movement and inner attention — we can create a natural upward movement of cerebrospinal fluid.

Because CSF carries ions, this movement might produce a very subtle electrical flow.

Some believe that this natural "charge" can stimulate the pineal gland — not to unlock psychic powers, but to influence how we experience consciousness:

• Shifting brainwave states (for example, moving from busy beta waves into calmer alpha or dream-like theta)

• Enhancing internal awareness

• Triggering light phenomena like the blue flashes many report, including myself

This suggests that breath, sound, focus, and movement can change our internal state in ways that feel extraordinary — but are still rooted in real body processes.

Why Blue Lights?

The blue flashes could be explained by:

• Brainwave shifts making the visual centres more active internally

• Blood flow and pressure changes stimulating the occipital lobe (the part of the brain that processes vision)

• Phosphenes — bursts of light triggered by electrical activity inside the brain

• Possibly even tiny piezoelectric effects from the crystals inside the pineal gland, responding to subtle internal charges

Blue and violet are colours often associated with calm, altered states — and seem to naturally appear when the brain drops into deep inner stillness.

Have We Lost Something Along the Way?

All of this leaves me with a bigger question — something I keep coming back to:

Have we lost something along the way?

As modern life races forward, maybe we’ve become numb to the more subtle layers of our own bodies.Maybe we’ve forgotten how to truly sense, feel, smell, touch, and connect — not just with the physical world around us, but with the natural energies and rhythms that move within us.

Maybe ancient cultures spoke of the third eye not because it was magical, but because they were still listening to something we no longer hear so easily.

Today, science is beginning to catch up.It’s slowly uncovering how breath, sound, cerebrospinal fluid, and subtle electrical currents can shift the way we experience the world from the inside out.

And people are sharing their stories — no longer dismissing their experiences, but speaking openly about what they feel, see, and sense.

Coming Back to Wholeness

Maybe the third eye was never a "thing" to be opened like a door.

Maybe it’s a natural part of being human — a way of sensing the world from within, something that hums quietly in the background, waiting for us to reconnect.

Not through force.

Not through endless searching.

But through breath, stillness, sound, and presence.

Maybe it’s not about awakening something new —Maybe it’s about remembering what we already are.

When I breathe, play my gong, and settle into silence, the blue light returns.Not imagined.

Not mystical. Just a simple, powerful reminder:

The body knows.

The body remembers.

The body is already whole.