Opening The Mind To Stillness

This is a simple yet effective practice from "Guided Meditations for Busy People." It shows how softening the eyes, so that we have a more relaxed focus, helps to calm the mind. Please do check out my other meditations on Insight Timer.

Reviews

I found this practice very beneficial. The focus on peripheral vision engaged the parasympathetic nervous system and was relaxing.

Wonderful, as always. Love how perfectly the ending lets you just continue to sit. Thank you 🙏🏼

Great pace and allowed me to super focus while also falling into a deep, meditative state.

Amazing how this made me feel relaxed and sleepy-so grateful I found this

Wonderful demonstration of the connection of awareness and stress.

Totally calmed my anxious, work focused brain. Thank you.

Absolute eye opener! Wonderful. I would recommend this to everyone!!

This was an excellent way to start my morning this morning! Thank you so much!

Great meditation! Very enlightening. Thank you. 😊🙏🧡

A very interesting practice using peripheral vision to engage the parasympathetic nervous system rather than just the breath. 😊 Thank you 🙏

This voice puts me at ease, and is a great meditation all together. Thank you.

Amazing 🙏 Thank you.

So interesting and enlightening. I didn't know that connecting in to my peripheral vision would be so calming. Thankyou Bodhipaksa.

A pretty mind blowing little session 👌

This meditation calms my mind very quickly. The approach is different and engaging

Fascinating exercise!

Wow... that was phenomenal! Thank you!

Thanktou. Amazing release of tension.

Interesting and unusual practice. Thanks!

This was so effective at helping me relax, thank you. It did, however, raise a question for me: how does this focus differ from the single-pointed focus (such as on the breath) that we are taught to cultivate? Is it because the light focus on the breath is supposed to be "open"? Or is it the subject of the focus? Focusing on one point is supposed to calm the mind, but this exercise suggests the opposite and I would love to understand why. Any insight greatly appreciated! Thank you for your explanation below - it is so interesting to learn the role of the different traditions. This is definitely an aspect I want to explore. Thanks!