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Meditation Technique to Clean and Heal the Eyes

posted by Megan, selected from Yoga+ Magazine Nov 1, 2009 9:13 am
Meditation Technique to Clean and Heal the Eyes
4 comments

By Natalya Podgorny, Yoga+

If you’ve ever been transfixed by a candle flame and felt your mind clear, you may have been tapping into a yogic focusing practice called trataka. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika defines trataka as “looking intently with an unwavering gaze at a small point until tears are shed.” This simple technique has a purifying, invigorating effect on the mind and improves concentration, paving the way for a deeper meditation practice. Because it is one of the shat kriyas, or six cleansing actions, trataka also cleans and heals the eyes.

Though many objects can be used to focus your gaze during trataka, the most common is the flame of a candle. Assume a comfortable meditative posture with your head, neck, and trunk aligned. Set a candle two feet in front of you, with the flame positioned at eye level. Make sure the room is dark and draft-free.

STEADY YOUR GAZE

Begin with your eyes closed, surveying the body and watching the breath until it becomes calm, regular, and even. Then open your eyes and rest your gaze on the middle part of the flame, right above the tip of the wick. Keep your eyelids slightly more open than usual, and maintain your gaze without blinking or blurring your vision for as long as possible. Observe any thoughts that arise, watching them come and go without becoming engaged.

Close your eyes only when they begin to strain and water, and you can no longer sustain the gaze. (You can cup your palms and place them gently over the eyes to ease the strain, but do not rub the eyes; because the tears you have shed are carrying away impurities, wipe them gently with a tissue.) Then find the afterimage of the flame in your mind’s eye, resting your awareness at the ajna chakra, or eyebrow center. If the image moves up and down or side to side, stabilize it by bringing it back to the center, and continue to fix your gaze until the impression disappears. To delve deeper into the mind, you can follow this practice with meditation.

HEALTHY GLOW

According to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Trataka eradicates all eye diseases, fatigue, and sloth, and closes the doorway creating these problems. In addition to improving concentration and memory, trataka cleanses both the eyes and the cerebral cortex, balances the nervous system, and relieves depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Another yogic text, the Gheranda Samhita, states that the practice cultivates clairvoyance and inner vision.

Because sight, mental discrimination, and the fire at the manipura chakra are intricately interwoven, trataka also nourishes the subtle flame at the navel center, promoting vitality and inner health. In its more advanced form, as the Himalayan master Swami Rama said, “The practice of trataka eventually merges into surya sadhana, meditation on the solar energy.”

STARING AT THE SUN

Under the guidance of a teacher, you can learn how to use a variety of auspicious objects or symbols as the focus of your gaze during trataka, such as a yantra (a symbolic geometric representation of aspects of Divinity), the symbol Om, the form of a deity, lightning, the moon, your own shadow, or the glowing orange orb of the rising or setting sun. So steady your gaze, and follow the light all the way to your inner self.

Natalya Podgorny is the editor of Yoga + Joyful Living

Yoga+ is an award-winning, independent magazine that contemplates the deeper dimensions of spiritual life--exploring the power of yoga practice and philosophy to not only transform our bodies and minds, but inspire meaningful engagement in our society, environment, and the global community.

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4 comments

4 comments

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4 comments add your comment
Shawn W.

Thank you for the great ideas! Something I have also found helpful was pranayama (breathwork). By practicing alternate nostril breathing you will open nadis or energy channels allowing recovery (and more importantly future illness). Do forget that most meat and some sugars cause “sludge” to form in the energy system, causing mucous and “sludge” to form. By rarely eating diets high in meats you will support a clean vital body and constitution.


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Lilly Denial

Hi Megan,
I'm a complete fitness freak and practise yoga for its best and everlasting results.While surfing net I came across this site.The procedure of performing meditation mentioned here is very well demonstrated.I'm very much confident that if people are gone practise it with full confidence and faith will get best results of it and attain relieve from various mental and physical problems.
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Abigail H.

I'd suggest being careful about that idea of staring into the sun. Check with your opthamologist or optometrist about how long and at what brightness you can safely stare.

Randolph D.

William Horatio Bates exercise: Cover your closed eyes with the palms of your hands. Your eyes should be relaxed and there should be no tension in either hand or in the muscles of your face. You should not rub your eyes with your palms. Just allow your palms to lightly touch your eyelids. As you do this - visualize a sea of blackness.

Bates says that to the extent that you do not see blackness while palming, you are suffering from mental stress and consequent strain. 'When you palm perfectly,' he wrote, 'you will see a field so black that it is impossible to remember, imagine, or see anything blacker. When you are able to do this your
sight will be normal.

One of Bates' patients suffered from astigmatism and incipient cataract. He was seventy years old and affected a complete cure after palming continuously for twenty hours. Aldous Huxley recommends mental palming when the normal method is impossible. Simply close your eyes and imagine that you
have covered them with your palms. It is not as effective as actually using your hands, of course, but extremely beneficial nonetheless...

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