One of my favorite yoga classes at the moment is candlelight yin on Monday evenings.
It’s warm, nourishing and relaxing.
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A few weeks ago the instructor started using a new camping lamp to illuminate her book and readings for the class. It was bright. I immediately became worried that it might spark a migraine since I’m sensitive to bare light bulbs. She kindly adjusted the brightness and I said I’d let her know how I felt after class.
We moved through our asanas with grace. After savasana, we shared gratitude for one another and she turned her attention to me and asked if the light affected me during class.
I had completely forgotten about the lamp!
I told her, “Honestly, my eyes were closed most of the time. So, the light was just fine. I didn’t even know it was on.”
I’ve been thinking about this and wondering what others do during yoga class.
I gravitate to slow movement classes like yin, gentle, therapeutic and slow flow, so I don’t check on my positioning as often as in a vinyasa or power class. My eyes tend to draw shut so I can fully focus on my breathing and guided imagery as I bend and stretch.
I find doing yoga with my eyes closed lets me sink more deeply into myself for the hour, balancing my mind and my body more fully. I’ve heard that when you disengage one of your senses, such as vision by closing your eyes, your other senses heighten. I love to play with my inner knowing during yoga and it’s definitely much stronger when I’m not taking in visual information from the external world.
Should your eyes be open or closed during yoga?
That’s up to you! When I first started attending classes, my eyes were open and focused on learning the correct postures by watching every move the instructor made. Now that I can listen for the names of the poses and instinctively know what to do, you’ll most likely find me with eyes closed, getting lost in my own little world.
Until next time,
Choose healthy!
Angela
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Note: This post was last updated on December 28, 2022.
