Experts say: your eyes can reduce your stress

This busy December month also causes a lot of stress. Between all the Christmas parties, the last deadlines must be met and the family dinner must be planned. In these hectic weeks, you don't always have time for an extensive yoga session, but you do want to relieve the stress. According to experts, there is a very easy solution for this: with special exercises for your eyes, often lasting just 30 seconds, you can find your calm again.

But how?

In stressful situations, it is often said that you should pay attention to your breathing, and while that certainly helps, your gaze can be just as powerful. According to neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, we can see our eyes as a part of the brain. How you move your eyes can determine how you feel or how you think. When you are stressed, your pupils dilate so that you can see the threats clearly. Your focus is directed at one point because you are essentially scanning for danger. You can keep telling yourself that nothing is wrong, but as long as your body doesn't feel that way, the tension will remain. With eye movements, you can activate certain nerves that help to release that tight focus. Your body gets a signal that you are safe, the feeling of fear will diminish, and you can relax again.

30-second hacks

There are various exercises you can do with your eyes to reduce the feeling of stress, and often you notice a difference after just 30 seconds.

1. Use a panoramic view
Anyone who has been on vacation has probably taken a panoramic photo at some point. Such a wide photo that shows your entire view. And that wide gaze is exactly what you want to calm yourself down. According to Huberman, it is therefore good to broaden your field of vision in moments of stress. Instead of focusing on one thing directly in front of you, you look further away so that you can also see what is to your left and right. This way of looking gives your brain a signal that your stress mechanisms can be turned off and that you can therefore relax.

2. Do eye yoga
A complete yoga session with a mat and sports outfit may take a lot of time. But with your eyes, you can also do a kind of yoga that is much easier. For example, you can focus on the tip of your nose a few times or blink quickly ten times in a row. According to holistic therapist Jenny Flora Wells, your brain knows that you are safe this way, which makes you feel less stressed.

3. Train visual signals
What you are looking at can also be very decisive for how you feel. Photos of a nice vacation can already make you feel calmer. Colors also influence your feelings. For example, green is a good color to reduce your stress, so looking into the garden can help. Another commonly used exercise where your sight is important is the 5-4-3-2-1 technique. Here, you first look for five things you can see, four that you can feel, three that you can hear, two that you can smell, and one that you can taste. This way, you come out of the stress thoughts in your head.

And the best part of all these exercises: you can do them quickly and anywhere. Just relax.

Source: The Every Girl