Meditation with Open Eyes vs. Closed Eyes: Methods and Advantages

Individuals who have practised meditation can vouch for the immense advantages it offers, particularly for psychological well being. It helps management your chaotic thought, higher often known as the monkey thoughts, and brings your consideration to the current.

Nonetheless, in case you are a newbie and have been looking about meditation, you may need seen that some meditators preserve their eyes closed whereas others preserve opened.

This doesn’t imply that one is practising the fallacious meditation methodology.

Preserving your eyes closed or opened is appropriate in meditation practices and every comes with its necessities and advantages.

On this article, we have now analyzed open eyes and closed-eyes meditation advantages and particular strategies that can allow you to determine which methodology is best for you.

Open eyes Meditation

In yoga, Trataka and Shambhavi Mudra Meditation are a few well-known strategies that advocate open eyes meditation. Whereas the eyes might not be opened absolutely, holding a smooth gaze and partially open eyes are the essential aspect within the above meditation strategies.

It should even be stunning to know that the majority Buddhist meditation strategies ask for the eyes to not be absolutely closed. You probably have regarded on the varied depiction of Buddha, you will notice that his eyes additionally stay open in most meditation positions.

Open eyes meditation is assumed to higher join you together with your environment and surroundings. It additionally encourages mindfulness. Furthermore, individuals who have practiced meditation with open eyes say that they had been in a position to focus higher and management their ideas.

Allow us to take a look at some advantages of this meditation model.

Advantages of Meditation with open eyes

• Helps you in remaining attentive and concentrated.
• Provide help to focus and focus.
• Assists you in changing into extra conscious of your surroundings.
• Lets you assume extra clearly.
• Encourages you in staying within the current second.
• Allow you in changing into extra aware of your ideas and emotions.
• Support within the discount of pressure and anxiousness.
• Can facilitate you in reaching out to your interior self.
• Generally is a nice means of private development and transformation.
• Straightforward to follow anyplace.
• You’ll be able to combine meditation together with your day by day routine as effectively.
• Can improve your creativity.

Open Eyes Meditation Methods 

For open eyes meditation, the eyes are typically saved absolutely opened or half-opened to fully consider the thing of your focus. It’s possible you’ll consider a candle flame, a picture of a deity, nostril tip, eyebrows heart or a serene image.

For instance, strolling meditation can also be a sort of open eyes meditation whereby you’re conscious of your environment and expertise the sensations of the surroundings.

Whereas there should not many open eyes meditation strategies to follow, beneath are some widespread strategies:

1. Trataka or Candle Gazing Meditation

Trataka means regular gaze. On this open-eye meditation approach, you take a look at a stationary object for prolonged durations. It helps with rising focus, cleaning the eyes, and stimulating the third eye chakra. 

By gazing at a nonetheless object, you’re proscribing eyeball motion which calms your thoughts and provides you psychological peace. This additionally improves your reminiscence and soothes your nervous system.

The commonest methodology of training trataka is with a candle flame.  

Steps to carry out

• Place a burning candle 3-4ft away in order that the flame is degree with the eyes. 
• Sit within the meditative place together with your again straight and your head aligned with the backbone.
• Place your fingers in Gyan mudra or any mudra that helps improve focus.
• Carry your gaze to the underside of the flame, which is probably the most secure, and concentrate on it with out blinking.
• Your eyes could begin to burn and water after a while, which is regular. You’ll be able to shut your eyes at this level and focus on the psychological picture of the flame.
• Open your eyes when the psychological picture has pale and repeat the method.
• Begin with an preliminary time of 5 minutes and regularly construct up until 30-45 minutes.

2. Zazen Meditation

Zazen interprets to sitting meditation. It’s the meditative part of Zen. The aim of zazen is to easily sit, that’s, to cease all judgmental pondering and let phrases, concepts, pictures, and ideas cross by with out being immersed in them.

The sitting posture, hand placement, backbone alignment, partially closed eyelids, and common consciousness are all essential features of zazen follow.

You aren’t required to concentrate on any object or your breath throughout zazen meditation. You merely sit in a snug place and concentrate on the present second with out thought. 

Historically, zazen is carried out whereas dealing with a wall to keep away from distraction and restrict your thoughts to wander.

Steps to carry out

• The sitting posture in Zazen is predicated on Vairochana’s Seven Level Posture, which specifies the position and alignment of the backbone, hand, eyes and gaze, head, mouth, and sitting kind.
• The Lotus pose, Half lotus, Burmese (straightforward pose), and Seiza(Thunderbolt or hero pose) are the sitting poses that can be utilized for the follow.
• After sitting in your most popular pose, preserve your eyes partially open and produce your fingers in Dhyan Mudra. Place your left palm, over the correct, each the palms dealing with upwards. The ideas of the thumbs barely contact one another. 
• Preserve your fingers in entrance of your navel barely away out of your physique. 
• Take a deep inhalation from the nostril and exhale by rounding your lips. Comply with it up by respiratory usually by means of your nostril for everything of the meditation session.
• When your thoughts drifts, preserve returning to every breath to refocus your thoughts. 

3. Shambhavi Mudra Meditation

This meditation approach is well-known for the motion of eyes whereas holding them opened and closed at its superior stage. It’s initially carried out with eyes opened and solely when the meditator has gained some mastery over the strategy of the motion of the eyes, they will proceed to carry out this method with closed eyes.

It’s stated to stimulate the Kundalini shakti and the third eye chakra because of its point of interest being the center of the eyebrows. By means of this, you possibly can improve your self-awareness and join with the upper realm.

Practising trataka earlier than performing this meditation is a solution to practice the attention muscle groups to maintain prolonged focus.

Steps to carry out

• Sit in any comfy meditative pose, ideally Padmasana, Siddhasana/Sukhasana. 
• Preserve the top and backbone straight, undertake Gyan mudra with each fingers and place them on the thighs or knees and chill out your whole physique. 
• Your eyes will stay open for all the period of the follow.
• With out transferring the top, gently deliver your gaze in the direction of the middle of the brows. A simple solution to determine the middle is to concentrate on the V-shape juncture. Should you can find this form, which means you’re gazing in the correct route.
• If the V- formation shouldn’t be seen, the gaze shouldn’t be directed upward and inward appropriately.
• Maintain your gaze right here for so long as you possibly can. 
• Initially, will probably be tough and you could begin feeling a pressure in your eyes. Carry your eyes to the conventional place, shut your eyes to chill out them for a number of seconds, after which resume the follow. 
• When your eyes begin to really feel drained or watery, deliver your eyes to the conventional place and shut them. After a couple of minutes resume your follow. 
• Follow at the least 10-15 rounds of Shmabhavi Mudra.

4. Strolling meditation

Although this isn’t a proper meditation approach, strolling meditation is adopted actively within the Buddhist custom. It’s typically executed to facilitate motion after sitting for an extended period in meditation. It is named kinhin.

In conventional Buddhism, practitioners stroll inside a room, both slowly or briskly, in a circle. Nonetheless, it may also be executed by training mindfulness.

Strolling meditation may also be practiced in your day by day life. All you want is an area that is freed from obstacles akin to visitors, stones, pebbled pathways, roots of bushes, and so forth. Your backyard will be a perfect area.

Steps to carry out

• At first, begin strolling slowly. Let your fingers swing freely by your aspect or you possibly can preserve them behind your again in a relaxed method.
• Your gait must be pure and never pressured with a straight higher physique.
• Carry your consideration to the best way your physique strikes, particularly your legs.
• After 5 minutes, concentrate on the feeling of your ft when connecting with the bottom. In case you are in your backyard, discover how the grass feels, the scent and colours of the flowers, and contact a leaf to really feel its texture as you’re strolling.
• Should you notice that your thoughts has wandered, deliver again your focus to the sensations of your strolling. 
• As soon as you’re prepared to finish the meditation, slowly come to a cease and stand nonetheless for a number of moments.

Closed eyes Meditation

On the whole, meditation follow is synonymous with the follow of closing the eyes. 

Closing your eyes throughout meditation offers a better sense of focus and wards off distractions. While you shut your eyes, you possibly can channel your focus inwards. 

Closed eyes meditation may also help you chill out, ease the method of visualization, make you focus in your chakras, and make you concentrate on one factor at a time.

You will need to be aware that closed-eyes meditation can usually result in sleepiness. The practitioner usually doesn’t notice that they’ve drifted off to sleep, which might defeat the aim of the meditation.

Nonetheless, it’s nonetheless the most typical methodology adopted by meditators when training their meditation.

Allow us to take a look at a few of its advantages.

Advantages of Meditation with closed eyes

• Helps in interior reflection and enhances self-awareness.
• Gives focus on objects that require creativeness and visualization.
• Will help you tune out exterior distractions.
• Preserving the eyes closed aids in rest when practiced earlier than going to mattress.
• It’s a useful gizmo to regulate your ideas and produce again the concentrate on the breath.
• Allow you in changing into extra aware of your ideas and emotions.
• Support within the discount of pressure and anxiousness.

Closed-eyed Meditation Methods 

A lot of the meditations are closed-eyes meditation strategies and beneath are a few of these strategies for follow:

1. Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness meditation has its roots in Buddhist teachings, through which you simply take note of your ideas with out making any judgments or analyses. You merely search patterns and write them down.

You’ll be able to select some extent of consideration whereas monitoring any physiological sensations, ideas, or emotions to help you in training mindfulness meditation.

That can assist you follow mindfulness meditation, you possibly can select a focus whereas observing any physiological sensations, ideas, or emotions.

Steps to carry out

• Discover a quiet area with out distractions and sit in a meditative pose. 
• Shut your eyes and take a minute to breathe in your secure rhythm to settle your thoughts.
• Start by focusing in your breath. Focus on the feeling of every inhales and exhale.
• It’s regular for ideas, sounds, feelings, and physique sensations to distract you from focusing in your breath.
• While you notice your distraction and your consideration wandering away out of your breath, gently deliver again your focus in your breath. 
• Let these distractions drift away with none judgments or evaluation. 
• Begin with 10 minutes and work your method as much as longer classes.  

2. Guided Imagery or Visualization

Guided imagery is without doubt one of the most outstanding varieties of visualization strategies utilized by practitioners. With this technique, the meditator imagines a optimistic scene that can soothe them and assist them really feel comfy with themselves. It helps you overcome any worry or do away with an disagreeable emotion sooner.

Visualization meditation entails imagining nice pictures, ideas, and symbols whereas additionally using affirmations and mantras to calm the thoughts and chill out the physique.

Steps to carry out

• Get in a snug meditative place, be it sitting or mendacity down. In case you are sitting, be sure that your again is straight but your physique is relaxed.
• Shut your eyes and take a number of moments to chill out. Get your respiratory to a secure rhythm.
• Begin by visualizing a cheerful place that you’ve got visited or need to go to, which can make you are feeling calm and at peace. 
• Interact your senses and really feel as many sensations as you possibly can.
• Think about your self strolling on this place and feeling calmer and relaxed. 
• As you inhale, take within the optimistic feeling you derive from this place. And with an exhale, expel exhaustion, pressure, and misery out of your physique.
• Keep on this mode for so long as you need to.

3. Progressive Muscle Rest

This strategy will help you in enjoyable tense muscle groups attributable to bodily or emotional stress and fear. Relaxed muscle groups will allow you to sleep higher, enhance your temper, and calm your ideas.

It could actually allow you to turn into extra aware of muscle ache, stiffness, or tightness.

Progressive muscle rest is greatest executed earlier than going to mattress as a result of it fully relaxes your physique.

Steps to carry out

• Lie down in your mattress together with your eyes closed on a snug but agency floor.
• Take a number of moments to chill out and get your respiratory to a secure rhythm.
• Tense and chill out an space of muscle groups that aren’t affected. Carry out a physique scan from head to toes to see which areas want extra focus.
• As you fastidiously inhale, contract the primary group of muscle groups you encounter. Stress must be held for round 5 seconds. Be sure your muscle groups aren’t tense sufficient to induce ache.
• On exhale, chill out these muscle groups and launch the ache or pressure held by these muscle groups. Visualize the muscle groups being tense and tight after which being launched.
• Give a spot of 5-10 seconds and proceed with the subsequent group of muscle groups. 
• Carry out this until you’ve got gone by means of your whole physique.

4. Mantra Meditation

The aim of mantra meditation is to attach with one’s unconscious thoughts after which, by way of it, with better cosmic power. In yoga, it’s regarded to be the simplest methodology for connecting with God or the better divine power.

To realize this harmonic connection between the interior soul and the upper cosmic spirit, sound power is required. It permits us to quickly disconnect from the surface world and rise above the petty difficulties that maintain us again.

A mantra must be easy to memorize and recite. The mantra you select can also be influenced by your temper, ideas, and feelings. It ought to allow you to to beat any unfavourable emotion or temper you’re experiencing.

Steps to carry out

• Sit in a meditative place with a straight again and head aligned together with your backbone.
• Shut your eyes and focus in your breath to stabilize your thoughts.
• Slowly and steadily repeat your mantra, specializing in the sound as a lot as doable. Repeat it in sync together with your breath’s pure rhythm.
• As you start to chant your mantra, preserve a secure and even respiratory by means of your nostrils. You’ll be able to both chant the mantra out loud or silently.
• Return to the mantra as ideas come, understanding that it is a regular a part of the method. Merely acknowledge them, allow them to go, and proceed your chant. 
• It is best to follow any such meditation day by day for five to twenty minutes, and even longer in case you want.

Open eyes vs. Shut eyes: Which Meditation You Ought to Comply with?

The reply to this query shouldn’t be particular. Every one has its advantages and all of it is determined by one’s desire. Whereas some meditators could discover closing their eyes extra enjoyable, others could really feel holding their eyes opened extra visually stimulating for the thoughts.

Nonetheless, you must check out each strategies to see which fits your higher.

Usually, in case you are a newbie, it is suggested that you just begin with a closed eyes meditation. And if you would like your meditation to be accessible anyplace, open eyes meditation is the one to decide on.

Beneath are some pointers that may allow you to examine them:

• While you’re feeling pressured and need to decrease the pressures in your consciousness, you must meditate together with your eyes closed. In case you are calm and concentrated, meditating together with your eyes open is more practical.
• For profound interior reinterpretation, akin to finding out and punctiliously re-experiencing the remnants of prior interior trauma, closed eyelids are preferable. Open eyes are more practical at transferring recent alternatives into our day by day life.
• Inexperienced persons who’re nonetheless rising used to the follow ought to shut their eyes. People who’ve been meditating for a very long time and are comfy with the way it works usually tend to open their eyes.
• While you’re drained, it’s not simpler to shut your eyes and you may danger falling asleep throughout meditation. If you wish to keep awake whenever you’re drained, you could have to preserve your eyes open.
• While you’re bodily secure, closing your eyes is less complicated. While you’re not feeling effectively, preserve your eyes open.
• Should you’re psychologically wholesome and secure closed eyes are extra possible, whereas open eyes are extra inspired when there’s a historical past of trauma that makes closed eyes really feel susceptible.
• In case you are sitting nonetheless, it’s simpler to shut your eyes. When conducting meditation in movement, it’s important to maintain your eyes open.