In my last letter I talked about 3 meta-regulators of mind-body connection; 3 tools that give you control over your mental, physical, and emotional states in real time:

• The placement of the eyes | See below!
• The structure / posture of your body | See: Posture, Mood, and Emotion
• The location and quality of your breath | See: Breathing & Emotional Regulation

And today I’m following up with a deeper look at the first of three - the eyes. From time immemorial, artists, warriors, and poets have known that the eyes reflect the soul - courageous, grieving, joyful, afraid, and everything in between.

Even listing those four emotional states you could likely envision a changing of the features of the face to accommodate those feelings, and an openness, clarity, watering, or piercing perception of the eyes.

We all know, in our heart of hearts, that the eyes betray our most intimate thoughts, but we often neglect their role in the dictation of, and not merely the relaying of, thoughts and intentions. Dancers, martial artists, yogis, movement artists of all kinds are taught to control their gaze in order to control the mind.

• Eye on the ball!
• Spot your target!
• Focus!

Focus! A command that speaks specifically to one’s attention and the placement of their eyes, and yet… and yet we know it speaks to something much deeper. But alas, coaches of competitive movers don’t coach mindset prior to coaching visual cues. Why? Two reasons:

The first is because you can’t fix the mind if the eyes aren’t focused. It would be wasted energy.

The second is because visual focus dictates mental focus and clarity. They’re one and the same.

And though we’re not discussing structure in greater depth until my next letter, one ought to note the order of our Jedi tools. All movement artists can attest, one cannot have sound structure without a steady, if not fixed, gaze. And one cannot have a deep, full breath without good physical structure.

The body follows the eyes.
And the eyes must find focus if the body is to structure itself and regulate the breath.

Disciplining your attention, where it’s placed and of what quality, not only dictates movement potential, but also the clarity of your thoughts and the emotions therein. Pay attention today to those around you. You know who in your life, at work, among your friends, and random Joe at the gas station is in a good place mentally, and who is unsettled, disturbed, anxious, or neurotic. How?

The steadiness of their eyes.
Pay attention.

We spend so much time attending to our thoughts, and for those in the personal growth game - our mental health and emotions - but we don’t connect these fleeting emotional events and the millions of neurons firing asynchronously with the organs and systems that translate these states between us and the real world.

Hold your finger in front of your face. Pretty please.

Now, focus on it.
As you focus, what happens to everything else in view behind it?
They blur.

Now, with finger still in place, shift your focus to the background. What happens to your finger?
It blurs.

Now, lower your finger, and just sit for a second.

What have your eyes done in just the last few seconds? Bounced around? Oscillated between near and far focus? Or worse… you have no clue?

It should come as no surprise that the use of the eyes in such manners directs modes of attention:

A focusing of the eyes on singular objects leads to a concentrated mind and the reduction of “noise”, both internal and external, and is accompanied by alpha brain wave states.

A softening of the gaze increases awareness, enlivens the other senses, augments sensitivity and present moment connection, and is accompanied by theta brain wave states.

And when you have no clue, when you allow the eyes to bobble around without intention or awareness, they betray the undisciplined, anxious, and possibly neurotic monkey mind. This is often default conditioning that’s accompanied by beta brain waves. It'll get you through the day, but it won't get you through the day happy.

It can be a revelation to experience your own psychoemotional states playing out in the placement and quality of your gaze and that of those around you. But that isn’t the point of this letter.

The point of this letter is to remind you that the power of your eyes doesn't need to be accidental or an afterthought - their placement and usage mere byproducts of random thoughts and emotional turbulence.

No, your eyes can be a key that unlocks the first door to your greatest mind-body potential. You don’t have to spend hours a day obsessing over this, you just need a little bit of time spent attending to your attention, fixing your gaze with intention.

Spend some time looking at a fixed focal point (in conversation, for example, your might try to maintain focused and steady eye contact... harder than it sounds!), and some time softening your gaze, paying attention to the impact on your mind in the moments that follow.

With time and practice you’ll experience moments throughout the day that don’t need to be unstructured and unsettled, and you’ll focus your eyes and therefore your attention.

Imagine noticing that you’re ruminating on mental projections, extrapolations, possibilities, and options that can be overwhelming. And imagine in the moments that follow attending to your attention. Don’t try to avoid thinking, quiet your mind, or 'fix yourself'. Just steady your eyes on something fixed, and observe what follows.

Imagine noticing that you’re anxious and stressed, and in the moments that follow softening your faze with intention to feel more deeply in the body. The shoulders will relax, the breath will drop, and you’ll start to notice life happening around you. In that awareness you’ll find effortless connection and moments of peace… with practice.

The eyes betray the soul, yes, but they also cultivate the spirit.

Take control - look with intention. And…

Be Weightless,

Tom Fazio
Weightlessness | Mind Body Performance