This exercise that tells you how to access your peripheral vision is brilliant for quietening internal chatter and reducing stress quickly
Find a point straight in front of you and focus on it.
Now gradually become aware of what’s around it…and let your vision spread out in front of you to the corners of the room, as your eyes continue to look at that point and you become more and more aware of the periphery of your vision.
If you stretch out a hand to one side of you, you might find the point on the edge of your vision where you only see that hand when you waggle the fingers.
Let your awareness also spread behind you…and let your senses of hearing, touch, smell and spatial awareness spread out to the periphery as well and notice what changes occur in your physical state
Normally we use what is known as ‘foveal’ vision, where we concentrate on one point in front of us and notice all the details about that one point, e.g. watching TV, looking at a computer screen
Peripheral vision takes in the whole panorama of what’s happening in front of us and around us. It uses different light receptors in the retina and different neural pathways in the brain.
As you experienced your peripheral vision, you might have noticed certain physiological changes – perhaps a shift in your breathing from higher to lower in the chest, a relaxation of face and jaw muscles and maybe later your hands became warm. Your internal dialogue will almost certainly have become quieter than usual or even stopped altogether.
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