In 2010 performance artist Marina Abramovic created a buzz at the famed New York Museum of Modern Art by crafting an exhibit where she simply sat in silence and held the gaze of anyone who desired to fill the seat across from her. The exhibit, aptly titled “The Artist is Present,” became incredibly popular, with guests lining up around the block, waiting upwards of 5 hours for the opportunity to look deeply into (not simply at) the eyes of a stranger.
Critics may scoff, and many of us scratch our heads in bemusement at what could motivate someone to spend an entire day of their life waiting for a chance to simply sit across from another person. Are New Yorkers really that lonely? Or could it be that Ms. Abramovic perceived the spiritual and emotional needs (and deficits) of our culture; our need to be seen, to know and be known. And, clearly, of the essential instruments of that connection is the human eye.
Being seen through the eyes of a stranger … making eye contact … my life flashes before my eyes … the list of colloquialisms could go on and on.
So, what is it about the eyes? Have you ever truly meditated on the wonder of the human eye? What other part of our anatomy carries this much connection with our spirit and soul? As any lover knows, there is no vulnerability quite like gazing deep into the eyes of another, and know scorn felt more deeply than when our beloved finds “eyes for someone else.” Ancient proverbial wisdom declares the eyes, “the window to the soul.” In Christian understanding Jesus expresses eyes as the “lamp of your body, and when your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light.” (Luke 11:34)
In psychology, being held in regard by another, the process of mirroring one’s gaze, begins at infancy and when done in the context of love and safety creates the foundation of healthy attachment, the ability to know and be known. While physical touch, skin-to-skin, is also a critical element of this process, most of this attunement and connection is accomplished through the gift of sight, and more specifically our eyes.
So, if our eyes are capable of holding and depositing the strongest feelings of love and attachment, are they inversely capable of absorbing and storing the more difficult and negative emotions? Is there something actually literal in Jesus’ warning that, “when your eye is bad, your body is full of darkness?” (Luke 11:34) The answer to this might be found in a psychological resource called Brainspotting.
Modern neuroscience continues to teach us about the physiological relationship between our emotions and our body; how both positive and negative emotion is carried, processed and held in our body. One area of burgeoning interest to therapists is the physiological and neurological process of trauma in our body. Trauma therapists such as Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk specialize in reigniting the brain’s neuropathways between the right and left hemispheres, where trauma gets “stuck.”
While practicing the most popular form of trauma therapy, EMDR, Dr. David Grand began to notice a distinct connection between where clients actually looked (the position of their eye and direction of their gaze) and the different memories and experiences of trauma. Further research expands this insight; the orbital cortex, the neurons connecting our eyes, has connections that bypass our prefrontal cortex (our adult rational brain) and connect directly to our midbrain and our amygdala (the most primitive portion of our brain where we store love, sex, fear, etc.). In short, our eyes provide us direct access to the places in our brain where trauma is held. Turns out our eyes truly are a “window to the soul!”
This exciting revelation is great news for clients who wrestle with and can’t seem to find freedom from the pain of both big “T” and little “t” traumas. Brainspotting (BSP) is a therapeutic technique which uses our gaze and our eyes to connect with and unlock frozen/stuck places of trauma in our lives.
You might be a candidate for BSP if there are certain areas of life where you feel stuck; traditional talk therapy has brought insight, but hasn’t quite translated to full healing and change in behavior. While your adult rational mind can fully comprehend what you are doing and why, you continue to react and respond in old unhelpful and unhealthy ways of coping. In these areas it is likely that you are experiencing an old wound/trauma response, which is precisely the type of work for which Brainspotting works best. Unresolved grief, addiction or compulsive behavior, and “floating anxiety” are other areas I have seen many clients benefit from BSP.
While receiving some training in Brainspotting last year (2018), I couldn’t help but consider the spiritual components of this type of healing; the result being some deep meditation on the above passage in Luke and other passages that speak to the power of sight. A favorite television show of mine is Friday Night Lights, about a small town football team in Texas. On the show the mantra for these teens was, “clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.” I can’t think of a better phrase to articulate the depth of spiritual and emotional healing I continue to witness in my clients through the process of Brainspotting. Clear eyes do lead to full hearts, hearts full of light and life. This is the goal of all my work.
If you are interested in learning more about Brainspotting, I found a blog
I really like which does a great job of summarizing.* If you would like to schedule an appointment to experience Brainspotting and the freedom many clients have found, please give me a call and mention this blog.
*I do not know this author nor endorse in entirety this website!