Most days, the world feels visually loud.
Screens glow, headlines flash, notifications demand attention, and our eyes jump from one thing to the next. So much is taken in so quickly. And, without noticing, our thoughts, bodies, and nervous systems begin to mirror this fast visual pace. Over time, this quickness becomes familiar, and in the midst of constant visual stimulation, we rarely pause to notice what or how we are seeing.
Mindfulness invites that pause.
When we practice mindfulness, the invitation is to slow down, even if slightly, and become more aware of what is unfolding within and around us. In that slowing, we begin to notice how quickly the mind takes in what we see to interpret, evaluate, and form habitual associations. We begin to recognize that seeing is rarely just seeing.
Seeing clearly is at the heart of the invitation in our Slowing Down by Ten Percent series, which explores how each of the senses can serve as a doorway into the present moment. The Buddha spoke often of seeing clearly—meeting experience as it is, without adding or subtracting.
Last month, we worked with sound as a doorway into this kind of slowing. If you missed the post, I invite you to read Mindfully Slowing Down Through Sound.
This month, we turn toward sight. By working directly with the simple act of looking, we see how crucial sight is to the way we experience the world. We begin to notice how powerfully sight shapes our mood, our thinking, and even our sense of urgency.
When the Visual Field Feels Crowded
For many people, sight is one of the first places we feel overstimulated.
We live with an enormous amount of visual input, and with so much competing for attention, it’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed. Rather than paying attention intentionally to what we are seeing, many of us spend much of the day “looking” without actually seeing. We may feel glazed over, on autopilot, or inundated. And the nervous system feels it, too.
When we’re under stress, anxious, or depleted, the visual field can begin to feel even louder and more crowded. The mind may try to manage the experience by scanning, controlling, or checking. Or we may collapse into visual numbness—physically present, but not fully here.
Mindfully slowing the pace of seeing supports something the nervous system naturally knows how to do: organize experience. When awareness widens, not everything feels urgent. Some things move to the background so what matters most can come forward.
This re-organizing isn’t something we can force. Rather, it emerges as we slow down.
MBCT: Sight, Story, and the Pace of the Mind
Most of the time what we see is immediately accompanied by meaning. The mind moves quickly—labeling, judging, comparing, and anticipating. In a single glance, we can move into a story about what something means, what will happen next, or what it says about us.
In Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), we practice learning to recognize the ways the mind can narrow around a thought, an image, a worry, or a familiar storyline. When awareness narrows, we have the tendency to get stuck in a very one-dimensional way of seeing. Once narrowed, we often land in rumination, compulsively dwelling on negative feelings, past mistakes, or future worries in a repetitive, unproductive cycle, and we often miss what’s actually here.
MBCT helps us gently widen our awareness. Rather than trying to stop thinking or eliminate interpretation, we begin to notice our pattern of seeing, labeling, and story. Over time, this noticing creates space, and a thought can be recognized as a thought. An image can be experienced without immediately becoming a conclusion. A moment of discomfort can be felt without it automatically escalating into a narrative about the future.
With a mindfulness practice, many people notice a shift. The nervous system steadies, and the intensity around an experience often softens. What previously felt like an unquestioned reality gradually reveals itself as two distinct parts—the moment itself and the interpretation layered on top of it. In that distinction, we can find greater flexibility and more choice in how we respond.
Practices for Working with Sight
Widening the Visual Field
One gentle way to work with sight is to widen your perspective.
If you’re indoors, allow your eyes to soften and experience the whole room. Take a slow in and out breath while noticing what you are seeing. Become aware of the edges of your visual field. Notice what is to the left and right without stopping to fixate.
If you’re outdoors, you might look toward the horizon or take in a wide view.
Widening can support the nervous system, especially when anxiety is high. When the visual field widens, you may notice less bracing, more breath, and a greater sense of space.
Narrowing with Intention
At other times, narrowing can be helpful.
When the eyes have been scanning or the environment feels crowded, choose one point within your field of vision. This could be a corner of the room, the edge of a table, or a leaf outside the window. Let your gaze rest there softly.
Rather than allowing attention to jump from one thing to the next, stay with this one place for a few breaths. Notice what shifts.
You may find the mind begins to settle as attention is no longer pulled in multiple directions. The breath may deepen. The body may feel more grounded.
This is narrowing by choice rather than by stress. In that choice, sight becomes an anchor.
Eye Contact and Friendliness
Sight is not only about objects and environments. It is also about relationships.
When was the last time you truly looked into the eyes of someone you love—your partner, your child, a close friend? Your pet?
Many people find sustained eye contact uncomfortable. We simply aren’t used to it. And yet even brief moments of genuine seeing can shift our experience. A warm glance at the grocery store, a smile exchanged on a walk, or a moment of being fully met by another person can create connection and perhaps infuse the moment with a bit of joy.
There is a practice here as well: bringing friendliness to what we see.
This does not mean forcing positivity or pretending everything is fine. It means meeting what is in front of us—a face, a moment, a landscape—with openness and kindness. The nervous system often recognizes friendliness as a cue of safety. And when there is even a small sense of safety, presence becomes more available.
Reducing Visual Input
There are times when the most supportive way to work with sight is to reduce it.
In a world in which we are constantly looking at phones, scanning social media posts and headlines, and bombarded with images, reducing screen time and visual input—even by just ten percent—can help the nervous system settle and create more room for awareness and choice.
This is why many meditation practices invite the eyes to close, lower, or soften. When visual stimulation decreases, attention can more easily turn toward breath, body sensations, and the felt sense of the present moment.
If you feel overwhelmed, closing your eyes for a few breaths may be the kindest and wisest thing to do.
And, of course, people have many different relationships to vision, including visual impairment or blindness. Mindfulness is not limited to one sense door. The invitation is always to come into contact with experience as it is, through the pathways available.
Seeing an Object “Just as It Is”
Look around the room you’re in and choose one object that calls to you. This could be a mug, a pen, a plant, a photograph, a piece of clothing, or a stone on the windowsill.
Then simply look.
Notice color, shape, pattern, light, shadow, and texture without touching. Notice the details that you usually skim past.
Then notice what else arises.
Often, the mind quickly wants to name what it sees and move on. Or, a story appears—where the object came from, who gave it to you, what it represents, what you like or don’t like about it. Sometimes a memory arrives unexpectedly. Sometimes a familiar object becomes new again because you are truly seeing it.
You might also notice feeling tone, which could be pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Sometimes it’s subtle, and sometimes it’s immediate. You may find yourself smiling. Or you may feel a tightening. Or you may feel very little at al. That, too, is worth noticing.
This is a way of practicing moving Ten Percent Slower and seeing clearly with the eyes. When we stop rushing and pause long enough, we become more able to receive what is already here.
Mindfully Slowing Down With Sight
When we slow down with sight—whether through widening, gently anchoring on one object, making real eye contact, or closing the eyes to reduce stimulation—something opens—and we might find ourselves seeing clearly.
In this space, thoughts can be known as thoughts rather than facts. Emotions can be felt without being immediately acted on. The mind can tell its stories, and we can learn, gradually, that they are just stories.
While we cannot always change what we see, we can change how we see.
And when we do, even slightly, the pace softens, awareness widens, and we find ourselves more here — steady, responsive, and present with this moment as it is.
Wishing you all a beautiful experience in slowing down.
With love,
Karen
Stay Connected
If you haven’t already, I invite you to sign up for the free, monthly newsletter, Grow Your Inner Wisdom—in the midst of it all… , which offers an anchor to help each of us deepen and strengthen our mindfulness and meditation practices. In each newsletter, you’ll receive a little note from me discussing a different theme each month, a link to my most current blog post, and practice to help you feel into and connect with the theme of the month. Please join us, and sign up for the newsletter on my website.
Monthly MBCT & Mindfulness Meditation Group
You’re warmly invited to join our monthly MBCT & Mindfulness Meditation Group, meeting online on the second Tuesday of every month from 6:30–7:45 pm EST (Zoom).
Each session includes a short dharma talk, a guided meditation, and time for reflection on a mindfulness theme relevant to everyday life. Together, we practice settling into the breath and body, gently returning attention to the present moment.
This group is open to those who have completed the 8-Week MBCT Course, as well as anyone interested in deepening their mindfulness practice. It can be especially supportive for those navigating stress, worry, or low mood, and for anyone seeking ongoing practice and community. More info is available on the Mindfulness Meditations Sessions page on the website.
About Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an evidence-based approach that supports people navigating stress, anxiety, low mood, and depression by helping them develop a different relationship with thoughts, emotions, and body sensations. Rather than trying to fix or eliminate difficulty, MBCT offers practical tools for meeting experience with greater awareness, steadiness, and choice.
To learn more about MBCT and upcoming offerings, visit the MBCT Course page on this website. If you have questions or would like to explore whether MBCT might be a good fit for you, you’re also welcome to contact me directly at karen@drkarenwalant.com.