Hello,
Welcome to this nervous system reset.
Today,
We're doing five minutes of eye yoga using three techniques.
You can do this sitting at your desk.
Or anywhere you have a few quiet minutes.
Let's begin.
Find a comfortable seat.
And sit up nice and tall.
Let your hands rest on your thighs.
Take a slow breath in through your nose.
And release it through your mouth.
Take two more.
Releasing breath like this.
Soften your jaw.
Relax your forehead.
And let your shoulders drop down.
Okay,
Our first technique is called palming.
It's simple,
But effective.
Start by rubbing your palms together.
Quickly back and forth.
Until you feel them getting warm.
Good,
Now gently cup your warm palms over your closed eyes.
Just let them hover softly.
Creating a little cave of warmth and darkness.
Take a moment to notice your eyes.
Most of us carry so much stress in and around our eyes.
We don't even realize it.
The muscles that move your eyes share pathways with your nervous system.
Which means.
.
.
The way you move your eyes can actually shift your body out of stress mode and into calm.
Palming is deeply nourishing for your nervous system.
The warmth activates the vagus nerve through the gentle pressure around your eye sockets.
The darkness.
Gives your visual cortex.
Which is working nonstop all day.
A moment to fully switch off.
Let your eyes relax completely into the darkness.
And whenever you're ready,
Slowly lower your hands.
And blink your eyes softly open.
Our second technique is figure eight eye tracing.
Keep your head completely still.
Only your eyes move.
Imagine a figure eight or infinity symbol floating in front of you.
About arms,
Legs away.
Filling your whole field of vision.
Now,
With your eyes,
Begin tracing that figure eight slowly.
Starting the center.
Loop up.
And to the right,
Curve down and around,
Back through the center.
To the left,
Back down again.
Keep going at your own pace.
Smooth.
Slow Continuous movement.
This motion engages all six muscles around your eyes simultaneously.
And that coordinated movement sends a powerful regulatory signal through the ocular motor nerve directly to the vagus nerve.
So.
.
.
You're literally retraining your nervous system through the pathway of your gaze.
Now,
Reverse directions.
Tracing the figure 8 the other way.
Let it be effortless,
Like you're drawing with your eyes on a big canvas.
And gently bring your gaze back to center.
Blink softly a few times.
Our third and final technique is side-to-side eye tracking.
And if you've ever heard of EMDR therapy,
This is going to feel familiar.
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing uses bilateral eye movement.
To calm the nervous system.
And help the brain process stress.
Again.
Keep your head still.
Raise one hand and hold your thumb up at eye level.
About a foot in front of your face.
Slowly move your thumb from left to right.
To right.
And follow it with your eyes only.
Nice and slow.
Love.
To write.
Tila.
To write.
You might notice.
Your breath naturally starts to slow down.
Your vagus nerve responding.
That's your body saying,
Okay.
I'm safe.
I can settle.
Keep tracking.
Smooth and easy.
Now,
Lower your hand,
Close your eyes,
And just be still for a moment.
Take a full breath in.
And a long,
Slow exhale.
Take a moment to notice.
How do your eyes feel now?
That softness.
That settling.
That's what five minutes of intentional eye yoga can do.
And the beautiful thing is you can do these techniques anywhere.
Palming for 30 seconds at your desk,
A few figure eight loops.
Before a difficult conversation.
Some side-to-side tracking.
Before bed.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
I'll see you in the next one.
Take good care.
