It has been known for years that the concept of a dichotomy between the mind and the body is…well, a crock. Therefore it comes as no real surprise they are finding connections between mental health and eye health. In a 2013 European Heart Journal Flammer et al comment upon the close relationship between the heart and the eyes. They point out how highly vascularized eyes actually are and how diseases of the vascular system have a strong effect on eyes.
Since we all pretty much know stress and other mental health problems have a direct effect on the circulatory system, it could almost go unsaid that mental health concerns affect eyes.
Apparently, it has been left to Bernard Sabel and others, publishing in the EMPA Journal, to state this explicitly. To wit: evidence is strong stress and other mental health problems not only exacerbate eye disease, they are very likely causative factors.
So what does that mean for us? Many of us already have irreversible (as of now, but stay tuned the next few years!) damage to our retinas. However, there are some in whom the damage is still slight. Perhaps there can be serious damage prevented in those folks.
I am teaching mindfulness right now in my DBT class. At the risk of repeating myself (repeating myself, repeating myself….), I want to point out yet again the benefits of a mindfulness/ meditative practice. There is objective evidence meditative practices can actually reshape the brain. [Lin/Linda: since Sue has written several pages on mindfulness and meditation, you can search for those words to read her past pages.]
The Dalai Lama has actively recruited Tibetan monks to participate in neuroimaging studies. They (they being Davidson and Lutz at the University of Wisconsin, Madison) have discovered both focused attention and Open Monitoring meditation have real impacts on the activities of the brain. This includes the amygdala, the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ center, of the brain involved in stress reactions and fear.
Not a Tibetan Buddhist monk? Not a problem. While those guys are much more accomplished than the vast majority of the rest of us, they do not have exclusive rights to focused attention or Open Monitoring meditation. People all over the world of every race and creed can and do practice.
Focused attention sounds simple but needs a lot of practice. It is ‘just’ putting your mind to one thing and one thing only. Light a candle and watch the flame. When your attention wanders, refocus. Refocus. Refocus. Do it as many times as needed. Minds naturally jump around. Don’t be discouraged.
Open Monitoring is pure awareness. There is no focus, no judgment, no attachment. Things flow in and they flow out. The ultimate goal is to stay in the monitoring state, aware of all equally.
This is obviously an advanced form of meditation. Still, even us mere mortal types can glimpse it. Have you ever walked outside into nature early on a still, summer morning? Did you sort of get immersed in the morning? To me, that approximates an Open Monitoring experience.
So, there we have it. Stress reduction? Focus. One thing in the moment. Don’t judge. Don’t covet. Practice gratitude. Pray. When it is put that way, it really is sort of basic.
Written June 22nd, 2018