An observation that I have made again and again is that when someone is emotional – feeling lost, alone, sad, overly joyful, or angry – they often do not stay connected – to themselves and the world.
One way how I notice this is that their eyes are avoiding to look at the people around them. It can be that the eyes are locked in a particular way and looking down to the left, or up into the far right corner.
Many people avoid eye contact when they are touched by something. Or they stare into nothing and space out.
There is something going on between our emotions and our vision. Reestablishing this connection can be very powerful.
An emotion actually relates you to the outside world and provides you with valuable information as to how to move in a specific situation. It indicates a yes or no, or a closer or farther away.
Not daring to have your eyes open when you are emotional, makes it harder to act in a way that is fitting to the situation and your experience.
Of course, this not daring to see is not a one way street. It’s also connected to not daring to be fully seen.
If you’d like to learn to be more present when experiencing an emotion or noticing a mood, feel invited to try this short practice:
Embodied Practice:
Move to your mood to reconnect
- Choose a song that you like and that fits your mood
- Start the movement in your body from the belly
- Let the movement expand into the rest of the body
– all the way to the feet, hands and the head - Move to the music as you like, giving space to any sensation that emerges
- After the song, feel how your body is now
- And with whatever you feel, bring your attention to the space around you
Feel the air in the room
pay attention to the sounds
Expand your perception to the corners of the room - Gently open your eyes and stay with your inner experience while taking in the world
- If you want, walk for a bit in the room taking in the world –
Connected from the inside out, and open eyes