Meir Schneider - Vision for Life

The greatest rest is a conscious rest, not a passive rest. William Bates, the originator of eye exercises in the modern world, understood this principle. And the Tibetan Yogis, who have mastered the art of meditation, understand this concept perhaps even better than anyone else. When you meditate, you enter a state of transcendental relaxation. As with meditation, palming helps us to quiet the mind and focus on eye relaxation. This produces a very powerful effect.

There is a great Jewish adage that says the truth is always simple. The way to the truth, however, may be complex.

To palm correctly, and to receive the benefits of this powerful exercise, you first have to engage in the correct preparation. You must have relaxed hands because this exercise takes you to a place where your hands nurture your eyes. Healthy hands can bring warmth, energy, and blood flow to the eyes, but there is no way for you to energize your eyes if your hands are angry, irritated, or numb in any way. Ensuring relaxed hands is necessary to receive benefits from this exercise.

Preparing to Palm

The most important thing when palming is that you are not stressed. I recommend massaging your temples, face, shoulders, and the top of your head in order to bring good blood flow to the eyes and become as relaxed as possible.

Loosen your shoulders. Move your shoulders together in a rotating motion, forward and then back. Then rotate each shoulder separately, forward and back. Picture that the shoulder tip is moving the shoulder. Now tap on the tip of the shoulder with your opposite hand and say out loud, “Shoulder tip.” Moving the shoulders in a rotating motion increases blood circulation; as you repeat this exercise several times, your shoulders will feel lighter.

Figure 2.10. (a) Massage the scalp and temple. (b) Massage the cheek bones. (c) Massage the scalp. (d) Massage the neck.

Figure 2.11. (a) Move your shoulders together in a rotating motion, forward and then back. (b) Intertwine your fingers, straighten your arms, and move your arms in a circular motion.

Next, lift your arm up and move your whole arm in a rotating motion, imagining that your fingertips are moving your arm. By focusing on your fingertips, your body will naturally loosen. Tap the wall with your fingertips and say, “Fingertips.” Then put your opposite hand on your shoulder and move it in a rotating motion. Repeat this series of movements with the opposite shoulder and hand.

Quite often the area between the shoulders gets contracted, and energy becomes trapped because there is not enough movement happening in that area. Consequently, there is not enough blood flow, which quite literally freezes the hands.

The next step for palming is to open and close your fingers one hundred times, visualizing that the fingertips are initiating the movement. From time to time, tap with your fingertips on the opposite forearm. Now massage your hands, front and back, by pretending you are washing them with soap and water. Then rub your two palms together, with the front of your fingers rubbing back and forth against each other in a circular motion.

Figure 2.12. (a) Rub your palms together to warm them. (b) Place the palms very gently over the eye orbits, putting no pressure on the face.

The result of this exercise is that your fingers will be warm and your hands will be loose. The warmth and relaxation of your hands will enable you now to palm in a way that is correct and beneficial. Though it is very important to be relaxed while palming, not all these shoulder exercises will be necessary each time. At the very least, rub your palms together to warm them; then intertwine your fingers, straighten your arms, and move your arms in a circular motion. Utilize your full range of motion several times in both directions, first with your hands palm to palm, and then with your palms facing outward. Depending on the time available, these relaxation exercises may last anywhere between two to eight minutes.

How to Palm

Now that you have prepared your body for palming, sit somewhere comfortable. You need to have your elbows resting on pillows or on a table top with a pillow so that your head is leaning neither forward nor backward. In other words, you are sitting comfortably in good posture. It is very important that you are not holding your arms up, that you are not straining your neck by letting your head tilt back, and, most important, that you never put any pressure on your face at all . If you put your weight on anything, it is on your elbows. Rub your palms together to warm them and place them very gently over the eye orbits. The palms never touch the eyelids, but notice how your palms feel over your eye lids, over the entire eye orbit. Can you feel the warmth? Do your hands feel nurturing as they sit ever so lightly over your eye orbits? This is important. If you are stressed or angry, your palming session will not feel good. Repeat the exercises to prepare for palming or do some kind of activity that helps you to let go of the stress or the anger you are carrying.

How Long Should You Palm?

The duration of your palming may change depending on your schedule and your state of mind. If you are busy, perhaps you might take a break in the middle of your work from time to time and sit for a few minutes to palm. You can palm for one minute just to rest the eyes, but it takes a minimum of six minutes to clear the retina from neurological waste products. Of course, it is even more wonderful if you can palm for fifteen or twenty minutes at a time!

Visualization While Palming

While you palm, there are two visualizations that will help you to receive the full benefit of this exercise. The first is that you visualize a figure eight, or an infinity sign. You can visualize a boat on the ocean moving in the figure-eight pattern, or a train in the mountains traveling a route shaped like an infinity sign. This is a fluid movement that helps your mind be able to travel from detail to detail easily and fluidly.

The second visualization is of total blackness and increasing blackness. Close your eyes and begin palming. Now visualize that the room you are in is being painted black. Visualize that your body is being painted black. Visualize that the neighborhood is being painted black. Visualize that the city is being painted black. Visualize black paint covering the entire world. Visualize that all the stars and the sun are being painted black. This is total blackness you are visualizing. Black is the color that allows the optic nerve to relax.

Breathing While Palming

Remember to inhale and exhale slowly while palming. Visualize your abdomen rising slowly and falling gently. Count to eight as you slowly breathe in, then count to eleven as you slowly breathe out. Don’t tense up; just let yourself breathe in and out.

Right now, you feel that your whole upper torso is expanding while you inhale and shrinking as you exhale. At the same time, you should feel that your head expands as you inhale and shrinks as you exhale. You visualize that your pelvis expands as you inhale and shrinks as you exhale, or that your legs expand as you breathe in and shrink as you breathe out. You visualize that your whole body expands as you breathe in and shrinks as you breathe out.