Ever wondered why we encourage the use of eye pillows in our restorative yoga sessions, apart from the fact that it helps to lessen visual distractions?
There is plenty of research out there that shows a regular restorative practice has multiple health benefits including managing stress levels. Using an eye pillow can enhance those benefits by deepening the experience of relaxation. When you place the eye pillow over your eyes, that light pressure not only shuts out the world around you, but it also stimulates what is called the Vagus Nerve. The Vagus Nerve is the longest cranial nerve in the body, originating in the brainstem and then travelling down the body, passing through the neck, chest, heart and lungs before ending in the abdomen and your digestive organs. It makes up part of our involuntary nervous system, and it's job is to keep our heart rate constant, control our digestion, and it's also the line of communication between your gut and your brain. So when you get that 'gut feeling' that's the Vagus Nerve at work. Without getting too complicated, the Vagus Nerve works like a feedback loop; when we get stressed, the Vagus Nerve tells the brain to release chemicals that then tell the body to chill out. That's our Rest and Digest response kicking in. So long story short, the eye pillow supports us in relaxing mentally, physically and emotionally.
You can also use your eye pillow when you go to bed, not only does it support relaxation, but it also triggers an experience of relaxation that you may have had during your restorative class.
