Open Vision Discussion

[sara-dalton]

Make sure that I keep my eyes open to everything around me so I can’t miss my shot at seeing the things that are most important.

[Ruth]

I, too, found this lesson more challenging than the Surround Sound. I am really resonating with the concept of shifting our focus, whether audibly or visually, from a convergent to a divergent awareness. It almost immediately shuts down my ‘monkey mind’ when I move outward into that expanded space beyond the constricted space of a narrow focus. While practicing this in the Natural World is soothing and peaceful, I can see how this skill is beneficial anywhere, anytime we need to shift our perspective and get in touch with our Innate Wisdom and True Nature, the ‘Wild’ within which we were conceived. Whenever we make that shift, we are, in a sense, rewilding ourselves. Love these lessons! Thank you!

[Lari Jo W. Edwards]

I found this to be a little rough today. I will continue to practice Surround Sound and Open Vision throughout the holidays. I have a hard time not focusing on one thing at a time. Engaging my peripheral is my new challenge

[clayton-bartczak]

The first time I practiced this activity I was led through it by my EBI Nature Based Coach. I found it helpful to slightly close my eyes to start, making it so my eyes were not focused on anything. The soft gaze made the objects in front of me in the mountains (trees, large boulders, sky, clouds, ground, and grasses) look more like puzzle pieces in a two dimensional puzzle. Instead of being distinct objects, separate from each other, they morphed into a group of shapes and patterns that melded together. Viewing my surroundings in this way helped calm my mind and feel the togetherness of the forest rather than the separateness.
I am very interested to try this activity somewhere there are less objects, like out on the plains. I’m curious to see if/how that blocky, togetherness view will be apparent in an environment that’s basically just ground and sky.

[shannon-renne]

I also found this exercise more challenging than the focused hearing. I am a “detail oriented” visual kind of person and the expansion into the periphery was difficult to hold. I was surprised how much I could see to the sides and noticed I could see further on my left side than right even keeping my head and eyes straight. That is curious. I found the straight gaze was easier when softened and blurred or my eyes would wander about examining details and relations of one thing to another. The soft gaze was meditative and I found myself going inward rather than “seeing” outwardly. I have not tried this while in conversation yet but am interested to see if I can keep my auditory attention while shifting my visual attention.

[Michelle]

The concept of awaiting and anticipation were two of my favorite points of this module and also of Surround Sound. In a world where we are often (negatively) reactionary, these practices encourage the beauty and grace of waiting, looking forward, and curiosity. It seems so healthy and natural to get back to these basics of life and embrace wonderment and awe. It is enlightening.

[Dre]

I agree with Michelle I love the anticipatory aspect of this practice. Whenever I can get into a curious state of mind life becomes so much more rich and enjoyable. This was not easy but in the challenge of staying focused on the peripheral I found that any mind chatter stopped and I was focused on the present moment. I also found that when I came out of the Open Vision practice the world around me seemed much more in focus, crisper, more defined.

[Austin]

In my experience doing the vision exercise, it was difficult to manage staying in the open vision without just completely blurring out my eyes. Although, after a while, I was able to get better at the open vision by just relaxing. I noticed that when a breeze came by and branches or grasses started dancing in the wind, that is when my eye would catch movement and would get taken out of the open vision.

[Jessica]

I enjoyed this practice too. It was interesting to really take in the periphery and what is on the edge of my vision. I liken this to soft gaze with meditation. I did find that it really helped me to be more present and aware and less focused in on one spot. I really liked using this when talking with a friend. It shifted my awareness. I listened to the directions a couple of times- and I look forward to doing this more when outside. I am reading a book by Jon Young- What the robin knows- and these practices are really helping me to tune more into the local birds and listen to the songs and calls! Yeah! Love all the connections

[Tina]

I enjoyed using this with deep breathing to ground myself vs having my eyes closed. Am happy to be incorporating all my senses into my practices

[Ricky]

This exercise again was something that I have practiced for years unwittingly while photographing wildlife. Just the act of relaxing and looking everywhere without moving has become second nature while in the wild. Knowing that most animals catch movement and vacate an area. So to succeed at capturing wildlife on camera, using this technique is a must.

[Pam]

I liked that you talked about tunnel vision. I can see this practice have many benefits! I struggled a bit to do this it took a lot of concentration. I will continue to practice it.

[Pam]

I really enjoy this. It is difficult for me because I tend to want to focus in.

[Alex Soto]

So this was fun for me, also felt kind of easy for me. I ride motorcycles so my attention is constantly wide and scanning. The exercise is similar in nature, but what I love about this one is your kind of letting your guard down, being vulnerable to allow everything to enter into your perception. And I can also see how this can be edgy for some people as well. There is an edgy part for me, its a reminder that as a child growing up my neighborhood which was pretty tough, you were always in high alert of danger, constantly scanning. The mechanism of survival, given the situation. Of course I enjoy more the nature and motorcycle based experiences.. lol

[Michael]

It’s true, that the deeper you go into these awareness states, the more you need to breathe through your past conditioning. That opens the door for developing an ever expanding practice of nature awareness, and there is no end to that.

[Michelle]

I found this experience very interesting. My brain kept wanting to focus on any movement I saw so it was difficult to stay unfocused. Once I finally got it, I felt like I was almost in a trance or meditative state. It would definitely take practice to stay in that state as my brain still wants to “see” and identify what is moving around me.

[Michael]

That’s great! When you dropped into that trance state, you shifted out of beta brain and into Alpha. That’s exactly what happens. Eventually, Alpha will become more functional. Depending on the state of your nervous system going into the exercise, make that shift may be more or less difficult. Some internal self-talk can really help when you mind won’t let go of its attention on your brain’s natural tendency to scan the environment.

[Michael]

Also, allowing your “mind’s eye” to be active during these awareness exercises is next level: noticing the how your brain will form images to interpret sounds that you cannot see, and when that happens you are, in a sense, seeing 360. You noticing what your physical eyes are seeing and what your mind’s eye is “seeing.” Bring a deeper meaning to the old saying, “there more than meets the eye.”