Eyes & Emotion
‘The eyes are the window to your soul’
There is an accepted wisdom that vision problems are only caused by the physical deterioration of the eyes, and that problems once begin, will only get worse. I thought that my ‘bad’ eyes were due to genetics, it never occurred to me that emotion could have anything to do with my deteriorating eyesight.
Why is it so hard for us to believe that our eyes are affected by mental state? When we’re sad, we shed tears. As Dr Patricia Carrington from Improve your Eyesight with EFT book says:
‘Because seeing and human consciousness are so intimately linked, it is not surprising that sadness, fear, discouragement, and other negative emotions affect your eyes’.
She goes on to explain how emotions such as anger affect our eyes, and when we’re happy and inspired their even seem to sparkle. Every one of us can really see and feel how much our eyes (and our body) react to emotion.
The popular yoga book ‘Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha’ says that mental and emotional tension are contributing factors for bad eyesight. It goes on to explain that ‘Contrary to popular belief, long periods of reading do not damage the eyes, providing the mind and eyes are relaxed’.
We now know that our eyes are an extension of the brain, and contain nerve tissue in the light sensitive layer, the retina. In the foetal development, eyes literally grow out from the fore brain. Everything that we see is our brain’s interpretation of the image on the retina. These findings demonstrate the undoubtable connection between the eyes and mind.
A series of studies suggested that eye movements both reflect and influence the workings of the brain. Leading to a mental health treatment called EMDR (Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) therapy, which involves moving your eyes a specific way while you process traumatic memories.
We’re gradually accepting that stress and emotions are important factors in our mental and physical health, but why are the eyes excluded? Perhaps because our understanding of health is based on western sciences’ reductionist approach, where we exclude everything else to test specific hypothesis. Whilst this scientific approach may be useful in experiments, life does not happen in isolation.
It’s also understandable that when we’re desperately looking for a cure or answer, to want to narrow our search and look for ‘one thing’ that caused our state of being. However, it’s important to recognise that our health is determined by combination of factors from genetic predisposition to environmental issues as well as mental, physical, and emotional states.
Recently when I was going through emotional turmoil, it affected my sleep, digestion, upper back and immune system - I got one cold after another. It also made my eyes blurry, and I ended up with conjunctivitis.
‘Vision Yoga’ is rooted in this observation; that our thoughts, emotions, and mental state directly influence our sight. Yoga’s philosophy of union teaches us that when we allow the mind and the body to naturally work together, positive transformation can take place. When we apply this to our vision, we see that change is possible.
Resources
https://www.thehistoryofenglish.com/the-eyes-are-the-windows-to-the-soul
https://lesturnerals.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/ALS_Opthamology_Study.pdf
Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha by Swami Satyandanda Saraswati
Improve your Eyesight with EFT by Carol Look
https://www.bacp.co.uk/about-therapy/types-of-therapy/eye-movement-desensitisation-andreprocessingemdr/#:~:text=EMDR%20(Eye%20Movement%20Desensitisation%20and,a%20specific%20and%20structured%20format.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/neurophilosophy/2015/jun/02/how-your-eyes-betray-your-thoughts