Relaxed Eyes

This lesson is designed to give relief to tension or pain in the eyes, face, head, and neck. When we have tension in our eyes, we often feel pain or tension throughout ourselves, including headaches and migraines, and this discomfort can add to the physical symptoms of anxiety we're experiencing.

This exercise was inspired by "Relaxercise," a book written by my teacher, David Zemach-Bersin. Please enjoy and let me know what you experience!

Transcript

Please lie on your back and take a moment to sense and feel your contact with the floor.

Just notice the parts of yourself that are in contact with the floor,

And the parts of yourself that are lifted away from the floor.

And now,

Close your eyes,

And in your imagination,

Pretend that you're looking at a round ball,

Which is sitting on a distant horizon line straight ahead of you.

And in your imagination,

You can choose the ball's color and size.

Imagine the ball is moving very slowly to the right and a little to the left,

Along that distant horizon line.

You close your eyes and you move the ball slowly from one side to the other,

As you follow the ball in your imagination.

You don't strain your eyes.

The ball doesn't have to go very far in either direction.

And you just move your eyes very slowly.

Let each movement be very small and very easy,

Even if you're barely moving your eyes.

Just notice your breathing as you do this,

And see if you can allow yourself to breathe freely.

And you'll notice that your eyes will probably move unevenly at some points.

The ball might seem to skip suddenly,

Or you might lose sight of the ball from time to time.

Just notice.

And do this back and forth.

Rest whenever you need to.

And then you can always resume the movement,

Just letting your eyes follow that imaginary ball on that imaginary horizon,

A little bit to the left,

Just what's easy,

And a little bit to the right.

And now,

Pay attention to your right eye only.

Imagine the ball moving slowly,

A little to the right,

And then back to the middle,

Along that distant horizon line.

And just,

Your eyes are closed,

And in your imagination,

You just let your right eye follow the ball.

And just pay attention to your right eye only.

Of course,

Both of your eyes are moving,

But you're just paying attention to your right eye,

A little to the right,

And then back to the middle.

And try not to strain your right eye by looking too far to the right.

If the movement of your right eye is uneven at some points in the movement,

Just slow down.

If you feel resistance,

You do less.

Relax your face.

Relax your neck and shoulders.

Relax your belly,

Your jaw.

And now,

Come back to the middle and take a rest.

Just notice the sensation of your face on the right side compared to the left side.

And now again,

Close your eyes,

And move your eyes to the right on that imaginary horizon,

Following that ball,

And you're paying attention only to your right eye.

And now,

The next time you come to the middle,

Imagine the ball moving slowly a little to the left,

And then back to the middle.

Just to the left,

That little bit that's easy,

And you're just paying attention with your right eye,

And then you come back to the middle and you pause.

And again,

You follow the ball with your right eye to the left,

Just what's easy.

See if you can use as little effort as possible.

And just notice if your eyes seem to lose sight of the ball,

Or does the ball skip at some points?

And if you want to make that ball move more smoothly,

You just go more slowly,

And do a little bit less.

And again,

Notice your breathing.

Is there anywhere in your face or your jaw or your neck or your chest that you're contracting unconsciously?

See if you can go slower and do less.

Okay,

And now relax and rest,

And just feel the difference between your right eye and your left eye.

Close your eyes,

And now pay attention to your left eye only.

Imagine that imaginary ball moving slowly a little to the left,

And then back to the middle,

And it's moving along that distant horizon in your imagination.

So you just close your eyes and you follow the ball,

Focusing only on your left eye,

Only on your left eye,

A little bit to the left,

And then back to the middle.

And you make this a very slight,

Comfortable movement.

See if you can relax your forehead and your jaw.

And if you notice any strain in your left eye,

Make the movement a little smaller,

Go a little more slowly,

And you'll see that the movement will begin to improve automatically.

And then the next time you come back to the middle,

Pay attention to your left eye only,

And imagine that ball moving slowly a little bit to the right,

And then back to the middle along that distant horizon.

You just have your eyes closed,

And you follow the ball,

You focus on your left eye only,

Really go slowly,

And see if you can relax your left eye as much as possible.

If you're only moving your eye the tiniest bit,

That's perfectly fine.

Just relax your eyes and take your time,

Moving your left eye a little to the right,

And then back to the middle.

And of course your right eye is moving,

But you're only paying attention to your left eye for now.

See if you could use as little muscular effort as possible.

Notice your breathing.

Very good.

And now rest.

Please close your eyes.

And now imagine the ball moving slowly to the left a little,

And then to the right a little.

And you just follow that ball moving on that distant horizon with both eyes.

You follow the ball a little bit to the left,

And a little bit to the right,

Very slowly.

Just notice if your eyes are moving a little more smoothly now.

If there are a little less bumps.

Good.

And again,

Rest.

Notice your contact with the floor,

Behind your shoulders,

Shoulder blades,

Your lower ribs,

Your low back,

And your pelvis.

Please close your eyes again.

And this time,

Imagine that the ball and the horizon are very far away.

So follow the ball in your imagination as it begins to move slowly,

Closer and closer.

And it's gradually getting larger until it stops just a few feet away from your face.

And then you can imagine the ball going away again,

Very,

Very slowly,

Getting smaller and smaller as it returns to that distant horizon.

And you do that again.

You pause between each time.

Just notice how at some distances,

It's easy to imagine the ball clearly,

But at other distances,

The ball appears to jump or go out of focus.

So going slowly will help the ball stay in focus.

So see if you can let your eyes relax,

Breathe easily.

So more important than doing this in the right way is just to notice your comfort,

Just to let it be a very easy movement to rest whenever you notice yourself getting frustrated or losing sight of the ball.

You just rest.

And then you start again.

You just imagine that ball moving away from you towards a distant horizon,

Very slowly,

And then coming slowly towards you.

And of course,

Rest between every movement or two.

Let your breathing be free and easy.

And as you do this,

Just notice if there are any places throughout your whole self that are tensing up that you weren't aware of before.

Your belly,

Your jaw,

Your chest.

Okay,

And let that go and rest.

And as you lie here,

Just notice if there's any place that you can give yourself a little more fully to the floor.

Maybe you take a deep breath in,

And on your exhale,

You let go completely into the floor.

And now please close your eyes again.

And imagine the ball,

This time moving along that horizon to the right.

And then imagine the ball stopping at that far right side.

And then follow the ball in your imagination as it slowly comes closer and closer,

Getting larger and larger,

Getting larger and larger,

Until it softly touches the right side of your face.

And then imagine the ball slowly becoming smaller and smaller as it returns to that far right side of that distant horizon.

So don't strain your eyes,

Make the movement relaxed and easy,

And use as little effort as possible.

You can imagine the ball stopping at various points along the way,

So you can develop a clearer focus.

And then rest.

And notice when you went to rest,

Did anything release?

Did you notice that you started breathing again,

Or your jaw released?

And just see if you can continue to breathe easily and freely when we do the left side.

So close your eyes.

And now imagine the ball moving along that distant horizon to the left.

And then imagine the ball stopping on the far left side of the horizon.

And now watch the ball in your imagination as it slowly comes closer and closer,

Getting larger and larger,

Until it softly touches the left side of your face.

And then imagine the ball slowly moving away from you,

Becoming smaller and smaller as it returns to the left side of that distant horizon.

And see if you can relax your eyes,

And your face,

And your neck,

And your shoulders as much as possible.

You can imagine the ball stopping at various points along the way,

So you can develop a clearer focus.

Notice if you're breathing.

And of course you rest between each movement so that each time you do it,

It's a fresh movement.

Okay,

And now pause and rest.

Notice the quality of your breath.

Notice the parts of yourself that move as you inhale and exhale.

Your abdomen,

Your chest,

The sides of your ribcage.

And now,

One more time,

With your eyes closed,

Slowly look to the right and to the left a few times,

Alternating.

And just notice if this movement of your eyes has become a little bit smoother,

And a little bit clearer and easier.

And just notice if you can easily look further to the right and to the left without any strain.

Very nice.

And now open your eyes,

And just notice how your eyes feel.

Do they feel calmer and rested?

Notice the clarity of your vision.

And notice whether your face and neck feel more relaxed as well.

Reviews

Thanks Susan. I think this one will need many repeats overtime, another was more challenging than the other areas of the body.
What is the recommended repeat cycle? I was thinking of selecting one or two areas each day, so that each will be practised about twice a week. Your thoughts?
Feeling more after a couple more practices, but it's easy for me to nod off when lying down. 🙏

Hello beautiful 🎀🌺🎀🌺🎀Thank you so much for the wonderful practice 🌹🌺🍎my vision is colorful and clear 🌺🍎🌹amazing 🗺️have a blessed day 🕉️Namaste