Meditation with Eyes Open vs Eyes Closed: Which is Better? If you think that can you meditate with your eyes open you are at right place in this article you will get clear everything about can you meditate with your eyes open. Meditation is an old practice that people have adopted everywhere. It has the ability to calm the mind, improve concentration, and also promote overall well-being. However, when it comes to meditation, one question keeps arising: Is it better to meditate with the eyes open or closed? There are benefits associated with both ways, and what suits one might not suit the other. In this article, we’ll distinguish between meditating with open and closed eyes in order to help you determine which one might best suit you.
What Is Meditation?
Before we proceed, let us first know what meditation is. Meditation is a practice where the mind concentrates and removes distractions to achieve a peaceful state of relaxation and mental clarity. can you meditate with your eyes open ? Yes or Not? Meditation is done by people for several reasons, including stress relief, increased concentration, or connecting with the inner self. There are different types of meditations, and whether to open or close the eyes during meditation is a personal decision.
Advantages of Mediation with Eyes Closed
Many associate meditation as a practice with their eyes closed. This has been considered one of the traditional approaches to conducting meditation, and this carries a host of benefits that assist people in achieving the aimed goals.
1. Depth Focus
You cut off one of the main sources of external stimuli when you shut your eyes. This helps the brain relax and go deeper into meditation. It is easier to focus on breathing, thoughts, or the mantra when there are no visual distractions.
Close your eyes, one of the meditations that helps to go inside. In doing so, it gets the body and mind closer to themselves for reflection and depth in relaxation.
2. Relaxation
With closed eyes, you can disconnect from the outside world, making it easier to feel calm and peaceful. It helps you step away from the daily stresses of life and immerse yourself in a space of tranquility. This is particularly helpful if you’re feeling overwhelmed or anxious, as it allows you to retreat into a calmer mental space.
3. Improves Visualization
There are specific meditations that one should be done with the eyes closed. Such meditations include guided visualization or scene creation. can you meditate with your eyes open So Closing your outer environment to what is going on around you lets you focus intensively on the creation of those images in your mind. This may be particularly useful as a way of attaining a good outcome for something or simply relaxing.
4. Better for Beginners
The ease of meditation with closed eyes, particularly to a beginner, is the factor it reduces all distractions. Your mind wanders easily when you just start meditating. Closing the eyes eliminates a lot of external factors that might pull you out of your meditative state.
Benefits of Meditation with Eyes Open
Although most people close their eyes, some prefer to meditate with the eyes wide open. This technique also works if done properly.
1. Mindfulness
It makes it easy to be attentive to your environment, which helps meditate with eyes open instead of blocking out the outer world and being unable to deal with it while in a meditation. This technique can be applied for mindfulness meditation. It aims to become fully conscious and aware in the present without any judgment.
This way, you keep your eyes open and train your brain to stay focused, even if there’s a lot going on in the environment that can divert one’s attention. This, therefore, means you might remain centered or mindful in life.
2. Helps one be awake:
This way of closing the eyes gets meditators too relaxed sometimes, to the point where they fall asleep while meditating. If you also experienced this scenario, then a good solution could be meditating with your eyes open. Meditating with eyes open helps people stay alert in the process yet still benefit from meditation.
This might be handy, especially when meditating in the morning or day, where keeping one energized and awake right after a session is quite hard to maintain.
3. Suitable for Active Meditation
Some forms of meditation, such as walking meditation or yoga, require the eyes to be open. You’re moving your body and focusing on the connection between movement and breath. You’re keeping your eyes open to remain aware of your surroundings and the alignment of your body while being in a meditative state.
By infusing meditation in everyday life, one can achieve mindfulness while walking, eating, or even working.
Which is better?
We have now compared the advantages of both techniques, and you must be wondering whether meditating with open eyes is better than that of closed. The answer lies in the choice of individual and what he is expecting from meditation.
1. For Deep Relaxation: Close Your Eyes
If one is looking to meditate and retreat from everything in his surroundings, closing his eyes would probably be the best alternative. When you close your eyes, you’re taken inwardly to contemplate your thoughts, feelings, or breathing. This manner is primarily suited to people requiring a decrease in stress or inner peace.
2. For Mindfulness and Awareness: Open Your Eyes
If you would like to open your eyes to know better your surroundings and the present, then keeping them open is an excellent idea. This technique is great for those who want to incorporate meditation in daily life and are aware of various scenarios in life. It also comes in handy if you tend to fall asleep too easily with closed eyes during meditation.
3. For Beginners: Keep Your Eyes Closed
The benefit of starting from closed eyes will make it a little easier on the first timers, as that reduces distraction and adjusts your focus onto breathing or repetition of a word or phrase. After getting into a comfortable level, you might open your eyes and try it again.
Are You Able To Switch Between Both?
Absolutely! People find that they prefer different methods depending on the situation. You can meditate with your eyes closed when you’re looking for deep relaxation or self-reflection and switch to open-eye meditation when you’re practicing mindfulness in a more active setting.
For example, you might spend your morning home practice with eyes closed but walk around during your lunch break with eyes open. Neither is wrong and both have their place.
How to Meditate with Eyes Open
If you want to try out open-eye meditation, here are some tips:
Soft Gaze: Do not stare at something. Relax your eyes and focus on one point without straining.
Be Present: Concentrate on the present moment. If you are meditating, pay attention to what you see, hear, and feel without getting lost in thoughts.
Breathe Deeply: Even with your eyes open, keep your attention on your breath. This will anchor you in the moment.
Use nature: If you are outdoors, it can be really natural to focus your open-eye meditation. Take the time to focus on a tree, the sky, or a flower while taking deep breaths.
Whether you prefer to meditate with closed or open eyes doesn’t matter in the least-it’s all because of your individual preference for what works better with one over the other, so long as what you do finds you living most calmly, focus your mind properly, and become full of mindfulness every day.
Meditation, however you choose to do it, is a very powerful tool for improving your mental and emotional well-being. So, whether your eyes are open or closed, keep meditating!