Open eyes

Since the beginning of my practice, I've instinctively closed my eyes while doing qigong. I find it easier to be aware of my body; the external world goes away and I get to focus on my insides.

Lately I've been reconsidering this though... in his book on qigong healing, Ken Cohen recommends practicing with eyes open...Mantak Chia says the eyes are powerful tool for concentrating qi... and both make it clear that you are not supposed to focus on anything in particular; rather, take everything in through your peripheral vision at once. I think this point is key; focusing on an object stimulates the mind in different ways... (try it!)... and peripheral vision seems much more compatible with the kind of comprehensive, body-inclusive awareness that qigong requires.

Opening my eyes during practice is having interesting results... during Embracing Tree, for example, including my hands and fingertips in my field of vision has helped me maintain clear, stronger, more cohesive presents with them. If I'm careful to not lose touch of the rest of my body while this is happening, the result can be very exciting... strong heat buildup in my hands, fingers and throughout my arms... and also better alignment of my neck/head.

This last point is interesting to me... the fact that using my eyes would increase energy flow through my neck and awareness of the meridians through my head. I'm now exploring "opening" my eyes without opening my eyelids at all... simply bringing awareness to my eyeballs themselves (while they are closed.) The resulting shifts throughout my neck area have been very encouraging! My head feels lighter, naturally floating upwards... the base of my skull comfortably rises... my neck feels more open, like energy is flowing more freely...

So... open eyes... and open eyes! I plan to keep playing with both.