I have read that some people whilst performing an asana’s, they have their eyes closed. What are everyones feelings upon this matter?
Also what is the reason for doing this, is it that the mind turns inward without outside distractions, when the eyes are closed. Or should you have your eyes open, as to develop concentration/focus. So to face our problems & fears with our eyes open. As to embrace these problems and defeat them.
multiple reasons for keeping eyes closed and of course some people would say keep them open as well. For me I like to keep them closed.
for one we are stimulated with sensory overload of the five senses in our daily lives. by keeping them closed we cutt off some of the stimulation. Our brains have less to process visually.
there is a word for it, some schools of thought say that keeping the eyes closed builds up a subtle body chemical, kind of like prana, that when the eyes open gets released.
by keeping them closed there can be less distractions outwardly so you can go deeper inwardly, you can feel the movement on the inside instead of worrying about the surface apearance of the asana
Hello Doctor,
You’re firing off the questions fast and furious.
I don’t have feelings on the matter as that would only be relevant to my own home practice. It is an understanding of purpose, intent, and the level of the student, in conjunction with the nature of the human body which dictate eyes open/closed, not one’s flavor of the moment - though some do operate based on their own inner “fad”.
Layers of truth my friend, layers of truth.
For beginning students the eyes are open during active poses (we are talking about asana, right?). When the student is doing a passive pose the eyes are closed. Why? In this way the asana practice supports a balanced nervous system. Your teacher surely knows that the nervous system has a parasympathetic and sympathetic mode. And that these modes are tied in to our beginnings as human beings anthropologically speaking.
The student who keeps their eyes open in passive poses (like Savasana) and closes their eyes during active poses (like Sirsasana) disrupts an unacclimated nervous system (beginning student).
For the intermediate or advanced student it is, on occasion, mandated to close the eyes during an active pose. That purpose is to allow the student to feel more. However I do not advocate an active practice fully with the eyes closed - an exception, for purpose, at times, with some students, in some poses…absolutely - but the student should be told why so that they may do the feeling. Otherwise it is just a whim or something cute to “do”.
Advanced students have cultivated the ability to focus with their eyes open (though it is not done in savasana or pranayama anyway). And it would only be true for some that confronting this or that in the practice with their eyes open would lead to embracing and defeating their “problems”, as you put it.
I practice both ways. Sometimes I practice in the dark. Sometimes I find great peace removing the sense of sight and learning only to feel my body or the wind, other times I find great peace in viewing the world around me. Sometimes I am in a state of calm so great that I can do balance postures with my eyes closed, and others I could not close my eyes while trying to stand up straight. haha. I know that a lot of zen meditation teaches to keep your eyes open so that you can learn to see without seeing, and I think of this often during practice as well. I think its a preference, and all the lessons you mentioned can be learned through both, with proper guidance and awareness.
On a side note, I have known some people with emotional/self-control disorders (read: debilitating disconnections from the self) who could relax in savasana but would panic if they closed their eyes. When I researched it I found it was actually common for those in similar situations, and with practice (usually along with their therapy in the research I found) many of them learned how to overcome it.
Practice yoga with eyes closed is to get more feeling of meditation and emotion. But for me if i practice yoga in a club with other people, it’s hard to concentrate, every time i try to closed my eyes when practice in a club but i can’t find good connection just feel some exercise. Practice at your home is better to get concentrate and mind body connection with eyes closed.
I sometimes close my eyes to lessen distractions and also feel the feelings of my body. A lot of the time I’ll have my eyes open to fix on a point or my thumb to help my balance. Also my eyes will be open but not really paying attention to what is being seen.
I like to practice with my eyes closed because for me it is more difficult to balance. It forces me to focus on using all my muscles to balance. I am more aware of the muscles I use to balance with my eyes closed. When they are open for some reason I don’t have to think about it.
I have to keep my eyes open to see what my yogis usually do, except in meditation. But in my own private practice I try to keep them closed as far as possible, turns me inwards. We live so much outward in the West so it is precious moments when we have the opportunity to turn inwards to the Divine Self within.
Hello, I think eyes open is more difficult to achieve to some extent perhaps?, looking past the scene with no distraction, is difficult, however, it is a good exercise to practice with the eyes open tt helps to prepare you to look past the scenes you will encounter with your eyes closed.
I hope this doesn’t appear confusing but eyes open meditation allows a greater understanding of the eye/brain focus, the control of watery eyes through over focus…the motion of blinking and trying not to. the removal of colours from the scene and hopefully, the removal of the scene altogether, holding it steady.allowing the third eye to open, and looking past each scene that might unfold without any distraction…??
I’m wanting to develop skill with less distraction while gaining meditational benefit with eyes closed. I like it a lot. I use the edges of my mat to touch for reference or flash a look at the instructor when needed. What do blind yogas think about all this?
If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.
GR
I primarily keep my eyes closed because it feels good as if I am inside watching and becoming so meditative during the movement. When I do have my eyes open, I focus on concentration from any distractions; to be oblivious of them…
While InnerAthlete’s statement is very precise and correct, after the initial practice, there should be no deliberate attempt to either keep the eyes open or closed. The beauty is in letting it happen. (Have you seen musicians performing with eyes open, suddenly going into a delicate trance with their eyes closing?)
The difference between ‘one closing the eyes’ and ‘eyes getting closed’ is significant. One can close the eyes and yet continue to think of the outside. Mind is a stubborn animal, and cannot be herded inwards just by closing the eyes. While, on the other hand, when you are absorbed in something or in perfect equilibium of an asana, visual sensing becomes redundant; thus, the eyes close!
Clearly the tool “dristi” is employed to help us clear the mind of distractions… and clearly we would not concern ourselves with what we “prefer”… has anyone any evidence that it makes you stronger to practice active asana with eyes closed? Is there any physical benefit to this?
The main function of closing one’s eyes in yoga is to help assist pratyahara, sensory withdrawal. Developing pratyahara is absolutely essential as far as turning the energy of the mind and senses inwards towards their original nature is concerned, it is a pre-requisite for the last three limbs of Raja Yoga - concentration, meditation, and samadhi.
I understand the concept of pratyahara, and appreciate this is why we employ dristi… .eyes open without analysis. Just as you control the breath (pranayama) and move the body with determination (asana) so is it our job to control the eyes… dristi.
So isn’t closing the eyes tantamount to treating the student like a child, unable to control his/her reactive mind? Why not practice with eyes open, but employing dristi?
linda,
Stillness is not determined by whether one’s eyes are open or closed, but one’s own inner state of being. For one who has come to such a state of being, it may be effortless to remain in a meditative consciousness from moment to moment. Even in the midst of a great storm, the Witness remains untouched - the fire cannot burn it and the water cannot wet it.
But for one who has yet to come to the space - now all of these various different techniques and devices are needed. It is not just with something like closing the eyes to minimalize sensory input - but all of the asanas, pranayam, kriyas, mudras, bandhas, the thousand and one mantras, yantras, these are all just different methods to help trigger a certain inner atmosphere.
Dristi can be practiced with eyes open, there are many methods which use this such as external tratak or shambavi mudra. But whether eyes open or closed, it does not matter. What is essential is a certain one-pointed attention in the present, a constantly flowing stream of awareness from moment to moment. Otherwise, all of these processes simply become mechanical, and one can continue repeating them like a robot, but it is not going to be of any help as far as the expansion of consciousness is concerned.
Excellent question. For me, it depends on the pose, my strength that day, and how much or little I’m in need of meditative yoga. Keeping my eyes closed helps me stay more in the moment and appreciate my movement, breath, and tranquility. Opened eyes are for my more stressed days, when I need to stay alert, extra focused and on top of my every action.
I find myself closing my eyes a lot but definitely not through out my entire practice. I just tend to do what comes naturally or feels right to me.
Perhaps it helps us to use some of the other senses when we may be over reliant on the eyes , The eyes can often be too hard , as can the ears leading to tension . Certainly helps to promote pratyahara . But as suhas and nellie said not to be to this or that about it sounds helpful for me , maybe be clear why you are closing eyes or keeping eyes open
Hello!
The eyes close/open has been a discussion for many years, if not since the inception of yoga to the west. The ‘idea’ of being present, for it is rarely actualized by most practitioners, has been linked to ‘eyes open’. This concept or belief , of course, begs the question of ‘is there no presence with eyes closed?’
Indeed being Present or not has actually very little to do with whether the eyes of a student are open or closed. Being Present as equivalent to Being Presence is an actualization of the Self.
The question emerges as to how a student of yogasana attains such knowledge?
In many cases, the mean has been mistaken for the ‘ends’. Teachers, without too much experience in various states of consciousness from very subtle to more gross’ appear to believe that the performance of yogasana with eyes open will lead to student to the state of Being Presence , Awareness Itself.
Yet, in truth for most students, once acquainted with alignment principles, and stability of body and mind throughout movement, will need to experience ‘eyes closed’ in order to access deeper states of consciousness. Scientifically, it is a fact that alpha and theta rhythms in brain processes are more easily accessed through eyes closed of the subject.
Nonetheless, here is where the end is mistaken by the ‘means’.
It is the end that a student will live in an awake state while in action, nonetheless, in order to get to such state (means), the student, once stable in the yoga movements itself (knowledge of the basic postures), will need time to experience eyes closed practice.
The practice does not need to be completely eyes closed, but encouraging a medial to advanced partitioner to close his/her eyes allows such student to know him/her self at a deeper level, at a subtle level of being. Within this state a deeper state of silence can be accessed entering through the more focused attentions on internal sensation, respiration, and emotional energy coming in and out of the body. It is the aim of the yogi to know his/her self as an entity with and beyond the body phenomena, and to know Itself as ever lasting experience , as fundamental energy of consciousness and existence itself ‘while occupying a body’.
Eyes closes or even half way open can allow more experienced students to enter this subtle state of knowledge and subsequently ‘play around’ with opening and closing seeing if such awareness can be sustained, but also ‘trusting’ the knowledge of the student to know when going deeper is an essential pathway for such student and as to how she/he can more easily attain such transcendence.
With love and appreciation to all!
AnaLiz