The Dull Eyed Lama
What should I do with my eyes when I meditate?
In some schools of Buddhism, you meditate with your eyes open and in others you keep them closed. Same with your mouth,
just sit down and shut up. If your eyes are open, what you do with them depends on the kind of meditation you’re doing.
There's Downward Dog : Look downward and shorten your gaze when you’re doing meditations to calm and concentrate the mind.
Cat Stre-e-e-tch : Lift your eyes and expand your gaze when you’re meditating on openness and the environment around you.
Dull Eyed Lama : Close your eyes and block out everything and let your thoughts go... When a thought appears, just say "thought" and go on not thinking into nothing, but focus on breath and simple breathing. Empty yourself out. You will be in the moment.
Daydreaming became my ever-present pastime for me. When I became an adult, I developed a deep fear of the future. I always wanted to know what would happen next. I thought my anxiety could be soothed if I had all the facts, all the information. Then I developed a deep fear of being present, wanting to escape, rather than to partake. How can I manage this, without slipping into my fantasies or alternate realities? I learned that daydreaming leads to a false sense of hope for a past or a future that isn’t real. I had to work hard to develop a meditation practice because daydreaming was my default. I developed a sense of my breath to help me stay in the present moment. If we learn to trust our breath and connect with the present moment, leaving those perpetual thoughts behind, we can leave the shore of illusion behind, finding our true home within ourselves - a place where always feel safe.
Relaxation Breath -- A Guided Meditation with Lori Granger, LMFT
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In some schools of Buddhism, you meditate with your eyes open and in others you keep them closed. Same with your mouth,
just sit down and shut up. If your eyes are open, what you do with them depends on the kind of meditation you’re doing.
There's Downward Dog : Look downward and shorten your gaze when you’re doing meditations to calm and concentrate the mind.
Cat Stre-e-e-tch : Lift your eyes and expand your gaze when you’re meditating on openness and the environment around you.
Dull Eyed Lama : Close your eyes and block out everything and let your thoughts go... When a thought appears, just say "thought" and go on not thinking into nothing, but focus on breath and simple breathing. Empty yourself out. You will be in the moment.
Daydreaming became my ever-present pastime for me. When I became an adult, I developed a deep fear of the future. I always wanted to know what would happen next. I thought my anxiety could be soothed if I had all the facts, all the information. Then I developed a deep fear of being present, wanting to escape, rather than to partake. How can I manage this, without slipping into my fantasies or alternate realities? I learned that daydreaming leads to a false sense of hope for a past or a future that isn’t real. I had to work hard to develop a meditation practice because daydreaming was my default. I developed a sense of my breath to help me stay in the present moment. If we learn to trust our breath and connect with the present moment, leaving those perpetual thoughts behind, we can leave the shore of illusion behind, finding our true home within ourselves - a place where always feel safe.
Relaxation Breath -- A Guided Meditation with Lori Granger, LMFT
Click to view.