Dear World
How important are our eyes and what would life be like for us without our eyes?
For the purposes of this blog, the following is a handout taken from the Simple Living Global Back to Basics program.
A very simple and practical thing that we all do to shut out the world every day is close our eyes.
How many of us are aware that this is actually supporting us to come back to our inner most self?
In today’s busy fast life world, we tend to fight closing our eyes and taking a much needed rest or time out to deepen the quality within us.
What if we had an understanding about the importance of closing our eyes and the benefits?
What if this simple exercise, if repeated becomes part of our Foundation and supports us to develop a quality that allows us to let go of what is going on outside of us?
In other words, the very movement is done in such an honouring way that respects our body and it is this detail that makes the difference.
What if this super simple way of closing our eyes has lasting benefits to our true health and well-being?
This can be done sitting or lying down
If sitting, ensure the back is straight
Feet flat on the floor, hip width apart
Arms resting gently at top of the legs
Use a cushion or pillow to support
Use a soft blanket to keep warm
Close your eyes
Was it fast, quick, slow or can’t remember?
Then repeat and this time be aware of how you closed them
Repeat a few times so you get the feel of how you do this
Now look ahead and gently and slowly close your eyes
Begin to be aware that the eyeball is round and not flat
Practice over and over again closing the eyes
Be aware the eyeball is a round shape, like our planet
Wrap the eyelid over the eyeball as slowly as possible
Wrap the eyelid over the eyeball like a duvet covering you
Repeat this now another 6 times
Each time, check how it feels and make sure you are not rushing, clock watching or allowing any ugly thoughts to come in and distract your mind.
If the mind wanders, then bring the focus and attention back to the task, so that the mind is with the body while you carry out this important and valuable exercise.
The key is to make sure your mind is with you and your body
Check that the head is not going backwards
Keep it straight and steady with shoulders relaxed
Keep observing and clock how you actually feel
Be honest and know there is no right and wrong
Now repeat another 6 times and say in your mind
I choose to close my eyes to re-connect to me
I choose to close my eyes gently to be with me
This can be of support to bring some meaning to this exercise.
With daily practice, you may feel that the eyeball is in fact round.
This would then lead to knowing that our world is round and not flat.
In other words, everything is inter-connected and inter-related and we are living spherical and not lineal.
This exercise is a great bedtime ritual if practiced daily.
After a while it will become part of your natural way of living.
If this is done sitting down, then the chin can be dropped slightly so it is towards the chest.
You may even notice that your breathing changes because you are now choosing to slow down in the movement of closing your eyes.
You may even become aware that you are more relaxed and this allows for a deepening quality inside you so you can reflect, contemplate and ponder on things that are going on for you in life.
You may realise that repeating this simple yet profound exercise could be a way of making more changes that are needed for true health and well-being.
This publication is ©Copyright and the Moral Rights of the Author, Bina Pattel and Simple Living Global are asserted. Other than for the purposes of and subject to the conditions prescribed under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 as amended, no part of this work may in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, microcopying, photocopying, recording or otherwise) be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without prior written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to Simple Living Global – info@simplelivingglobal.com
Comments 12
Such a simple thing, closing my eyes for me, But so very powerful.
It is a way of truly honoring myself, when I do it with presence.
This piece of writing is pure genius and could only have been written by someone who knows what they are talking about as they live the same. Therefore they are writing for their lived experience to share with others and are not just writing empty words (words that are not lived).
I have read this blog a few times now and each time I read it I find that I slow down. I really want to feel my eyes closing over my eyelids and the shape of my eyes and I have noticed myself stopping and pausing after eyes closed and eyes open. With this I feel much more connected and settled in my body, more at ease.
Thank you very much for posting this blog Simple Living Global as I know that it will support so many people.
What a profound piece of writing, bringing us back to this profound, yet simple movement.
Just reading the title of the blog brought my attention to my eyes and how warm they feel. The eyes themselves relaxed and I felt more settled in my body.
Thank you for this gift, Simple Living Global.
“Close your eyes
Was it fast, quick, slow or can’t remember?”
This simple instruction and question is a master class in true teaching.
The invitation to try something.
And then assess where you are at, without judgement.
To start simply where you are, with honesty, and go from here.
All the telling in the world could never have the same impact.
This is one of those things I forget to do, even though every time I take the time to close my eyes slowly and purposefully my energy increases, my stress decreases and I am broke back into alignment.
I am going to write this on a card and put it on my desk.
Thank you for the reminder.
Sometimes my eye twitches. This always shows me I need to slow down and deepen my rest.
What a brilliant communication to offer me.
Our eyes are truly amazing and can show us so much, way beyond what we ‘see’.
Thanks to Simple Living Global, closing my eyes for a moment and using it as a reset, a reconnection to myself is a tool I use almost every day.
The best part is that it works anywhere, at any time.
Personally I use it most often in meetings when I start to feel my body get rigid, and it immediately softens me again.
What I love about the experience you share here, Katherine, is that it is such a private, momentary thing, but seismic, and you can do it literally anywhere.
What a wonderful gift to have been given to be able to bring your body back from tension in the middle of a meeting, seamlessly, without anyone knowing or it being a big deal.
And in you choosing that, a shift can happen for the entire meeting and everyone in it, and beyond.
Literally a gift that keeps on giving and has a massive ripple effect on all of us.
I have been afraid to close my eyes, because I did not feel safe. I felt I had to be prepared for what was about to happen.
Now that I am practicing closing my eyes for connection, I am understanding I was afraid of closing my eyes for myself because when I do, I feel overwhelming sadness and devastation.
I have been avoiding feeling this because I felt there was no way I could do this without support.
Thank you Simple Living Global for supporting me to surrender to all the amazing support that is available to me.
It is allowing me to do this work I have known I have needed to do.
I do this also RP. I am often on the telephone at work and so I also close my eyes sometimes.
I find that closing my eyes stops me getting distracted by what is going on around me and allows me to focus more on what the person is saying.
It brings me into an inward focus and I get to take what the other person is saying seriously.
Closing my eyes also allows me to feel more connected to myself.
I will add that I do not keep my eyes closed throughout the whole conversation; it is usually at intervals. I often can feel when it is needed.
Closing my eyes gently, as detailed in this article by Simple Living Global, takes the edge off any harsh feeling in my eyes and allows my body to relax.
I find that there is less likely to be any tension or misunderstanding between me and the other person on the telephone, when I am paying close attention to my eyes in this way as I am with them and I am sure that they can feel that also.
Metro News – 19 February 2019
https://www.metro.news/students-screen-time-to-be-cut-back-to-save-eyesight/1442401/
China are to ban teachers from setting homework that requires a mobile phone app.
Zhejiang province has also issued a proposal which could –
Limit the use of electronic devices to 30% of teaching time and
Encourage issue of homework on paper
Ban students from bringing devices into classrooms without permission
Increase time for breaks
The aim is to combat China’s soaring rates of nearsightedness, partly blamed on screen usage.
80% of China’s high school students have myopia.
Do we wait for 8 out of 10 children to have eye problems before we take action?
Can other countries learn and get on the front foot?
Are we going to find solutions or are we going to dig deep and ask some serious questions –
WHY is this happening to our children?
What part are we playing as parents and guardians?
Are kids of today’s world copying what they see adults do?
Are we part of the problem as we are addicted to screen time?
What exactly is Myopia? (nearsightedness)
WHY does google tell us it is a very common condition?
WHY are we not all asking lots of questions to find out what on earth is this about?
Nearsightedness is where the light coming into the eye is not focused properly and this makes it difficult to see objects far away.
Using just some common sense and joining the dots here –
Could it be possible that our children do not want to know anything about what is going on in the distance, out there in our world?
Could it be possible that screen time gives them a virtual reality that they have become comfortable with?
Could it be possible that a vibration that the screens emanate hook us in and we seem to be addicted like a drug of some kind?
Could it be possible that the ‘norm’ in places like China now is kids on screen and with literally everyone doing it, no questions are being asked?
Could it be possible that FOCUS is a keyword here in all of this?
In other words, the light coming in is not received naturally because there is something in the way – which is artificial?
This false receiving of light is causing eye problems and no doubt the future scholars will work out why technology was favoured and why a whole nation became addicted to this modern 21st century way of living which harmed the human frame.
Could it be possible that our eyes need to support us to connect to our very own being, our essence, our body and to do this Simple Living Global are sharing this very basic practical way with CLOSING OUR EYES?
Could this simple and practical task be rolled out to all nurseries, kindergartens and schools, so our kids at least learn to take a moment of stop, pause and close their eyes to re-connect and see what happens?
Thank you, Simple Living Global, for this great blog.
It’s great because it is such a simple exercise to do which can be done anywhere and at anytime and it has such a profound effect in connecting to ourselves.
I know the benefits of this exercise as I used to do it all the time but it is something that I have neglected to carry on, but reading this blog has inspired me to start again.