“What do you mean, breathe from my eyeballs?”

I remember the first time a teacher told me to breathe from my eyeballs.

“My… eyeballs don’t breathe,” I thought. What does that even mean?

Over time, of course, the study of somatics helped me understand the immense power we can find by using imagery to affect how we use our bodies.

Imagining my body as a lava flow, or a rushing river, or a rooted tree can allow me to change my quality, my sensation, and my experience.

Somatics is a lot about using the power of your imagination to connect with different aspects/areas in your body and “bring in” a desired quality that would benefit that area by visualizing or somatizing. (Pretty cool, right?)

For example, if an area of the body feels stiff, it’s possible to imagine that part of your body becoming fluid,  like you’re made of honey. (Wow. Did you just feel that? So powerful.)

Try this:

Sit with your feet planted on the floor (this may mean sitting forward in your chair if your legs need more length to have your feet fully on the floor).

Feel the surface of your foot on the floor.

Imagine a tree settling down into the soil. Now imagine that the soles of your feet are starting to burrow, just like the root of a tree. Feel them tunnel downward into the earth. Feel how that shifts your spine, which can feel like it’s stretching upward towards the sky.

Pretty amazing, right? In just a few seconds, the experience of your body changed.

It’s not exactly like breathing through your eyeballs, but you can feel the difference.

Grounding your body like this isn’t  just a metaphor or idea. It’s something you can physically create. 

The next time you’re feeling “lost,” or “dissociated,” or “ungrounded,” try this short attention exercise and let me know how it feels!