We read the eyes all the time and within milliseconds!
When we read each other’s faces, we first look at the eyebrows, even before the eyes. The eyes tell us a fascinating story. The eyes shield, protect, draw others in provocatively, or bulge outwards and tell others to go away. Any emotional armouring in the eyes or the surrounding musculature of the eye will cause contraction and immobilization of the eye, the eyelids, the forehead, the tear glands and even the deep muscles at the base of the occiput. Eventually, this affects the brain and its empathetic, compassionate neural response.
Trauma, shock and past pain are stored in the eyes, often causing vision problems, including nearsightedness and farsightedness. In Ayurveda, we relate this to a disorder of increased alochaka pitta (heat of the eyes), which will also cause other issues such as dryness, chronic tension, styes, conjunctivitis, burning, and light sensitivity. The suppression of tears and the avoidance of seeing reality is the root cause of an alochaka pitta disorder.
The eyes also reflect the health or disease of the body-mind, and we can explore these manifestations in several ways:
- Noticing the characteristic expression of the eyes
- The placement of the eyes in their sockets
- Observing the structure and functioning of the eyeball itself
- Examining the condition of the iris and sclera
In Ayurveda, we regularly promote cleansing of the eyes through tears. Primarily, we use cutting onions to induce tears to cleanse the eyes, which produce “reflex tears”. These scientifically named “reflex tears” are made up of 98 percent water and are different to emotional tears, which contain more chemicals allowing the tears to stay on the cheeks longer to receive help from another. Emotional crying is ultimately proven to help the body to release endorphins and oxytocin. These natural chemical messengers not only relieve emotional stress but physical pain as well.
In Ayurveda, we label tears as either Vata, Pitta or Kapha tears, helping the practitioner to remain attuned to the emotional state of another. Fascinatingly, the science also backs up the long-held Ayurvedic science around tears.
This coming Friday, learn how crying can help you relieve stress and gain esoteric insight into higher states of consciousness.
When we cry, we cry for truth, to see things just as they are…
We free the eyes of delusion, pain, suffering, mind, ego, and self.
Your eyes have the capacity to see the ultimate truth.
Join us for this incredibly fascinating peek into another reality.
Friday Meditation Retreat with Celia Roberts and Samantha Lindsay-German 9.30am-12.30pm face to face or livestream book here $128
or online post event book here $108
Image 1 Textbook of Ayurveda by Vasant Lad
Images 2 & 3 Body-Mind by Ken Dychtwald
If you would like to contact Celia to learn more about the meditation teacher training journey, please do visit our Meditation Teacher Training Page or find us on Facebook or Instagram or contact Celia directly.