This is a meditation where we're going to explore visual orienting and using our eyes to help settle the nervous system.
We'll start from a comfortable seated position,
Keeping our eyes open to begin with.
Take a few moments to find yourself in your seat,
Noticing points of contact with your body,
The chair underneath you,
Maybe the sensation of your feet on the ground.
Take a five second scan to see what your internal state is like.
Any thoughts,
Sensations,
Or feelings that might be with you in this moment.
And we'll begin this practice with some visual orienting,
Softening your gaze and starting to take in the room around you.
Slowly moving your head from side to side,
Noticing what's on either side of you,
What's above you,
What's below you.
You can scan for colors in your space,
Noticing everything you can that's a shade of green or whatever color you choose.
And now using your eyes,
We're going to trace the lines of your space.
Use your eyes to trace the outlines of shapes and objects you see around you.
You can trace the lines of the furniture in your space,
The corners of your room,
The line where the ceiling meets the wall.
Just using your eyes to trace shapes.
Once you've found yourself well-oriented into your space,
You can set a soft gaze to a point ahead of you.
Begin to widen your field of view without moving your head.
See how much of your peripheral space you can take in at once.
How wide can you make your gaze?
How big can you make your field of view?
Notice how much light and color you can allow into your awareness.
And now if it feels okay for you,
Close your eyes.
Imagine that you can relax your eyelids and all the small muscles and ligaments around your eyes,
Softening your eyebrows,
Softening your forehead,
Softening your cheekbones,
Softening your sinuses,
And really let your eyes rest.
For the next few minutes,
Your eyes have no information to take in and no work to do.
Let your eyes settle and be supported.
Stay here for as long as you need.
