Your Sense of Sight
In Steiner’s view, sight is more than the reception of light and color — it is an encounter with the soul of the world. Through the eyes, we meet form, movement, and hue, each carrying its own mood and meaning. Sight is not passive; it is an active reaching out, a participation in what we behold. Colors can nourish or deplete us, shapes can calm or agitate, and the way we see reflects the way we think. By awakening the sense of sight, we learn to perceive not just objects, but the life and intention that shines through them.
One Eying
Choose a household activity you do regularity and are very familiar with. This might be washing dishes, making the bed, or watering the plants. Obviously you are not going to try this with anything potentially harmful such as chopping vegetables or driving a car. Go about this activity with one eye shut. (Or use a patch.) After 5 to 30 minutes, switch eyes.
Close-Up Exploration
One of the most delightful ways to engage your sense of sight is by observing the small things around you that often go unnoticed. Here's how to proceed:
Select an Object: Pick up an object that intrigues you. It could be something you come across during a nature walk, a piece of fruit from your kitchen, or a small item from your home.
Examine Closely: Take a few moments to hold the object and bring it closer to your eyes. Notice its intricate details, lines, and shapes. Observe the interplay of colors and textures. Engage your sense of sight fully, exploring the object as if you are seeing it for the first time.
Absorb the Visual Richness: Immerse yourself in the visual richness of the object. Notice how the colors blend and contrast, how the lines and shapes intertwine. Allow your senses to be captivated by the intricate beauty before you.
Stay Present: Throughout the exploration, remind yourself to stay present. If your mind begins to wander or thoughts arise, gently bring your focus back to the object and the visual sensations it offers.
Use a Magnifying Glass: To further enhance your exploration, consider using a magnifying glass. It allows you to zoom in and uncover even more hidden aspects of the object. As you magnify the object, marvel at the newfound details that emerge—tiny patterns, intricate textures, or delicate imperfections.
Use your smartphone: Nowadays, everybody has a smartphone. Open your camera app, set the zoom function to maximum, and focus in on the micro world.
Vlada-Kapovich at Pexels
Contemplating an Orange
This simple mindfulness exercise from the 1960s. Hold an orange in your hand, close your eyes, and tune into your senses of touch and smell.
The method
Hold an orange in the palms of your hands and close your eyes (or use a blindfold). Turn off your sense of sight and tune into touch and smell. With your fingertips feel the orange's shape, texture, weight, and temperature. Try to detect markings and bumps.
Bring the orange to your face and gently roll it over it. Use your skin to observe the orange. Is it warm or cool? Is it rough or smooth? What emotions or memories come up?
Keeping your eyes closed peel the orange, and then hold the peel against your face. Take in its smell. Notice the differences between the rind and the pith. Reverse direction. Instead of perceiving the orange with your face, become aware of your face through the orange. Feel your skin. Explore the contours of your face.
Break the orange up into sections. Bring a section up close to your nose. Lose yourself in its scent. With the gentlest of all touches slowly stroke the section along your cheek.
Eat the orange.
I discovered this exercise in Sense Relaxation: below your mind by Bernard Gunther. This book was published in 1968 and has a groovy sixties feel to it. Gunther’s loopy style of writing and deliberate misspellings bring a feeling of lightness and sensuality to mindfulness. Something you don’t find much in the literature on the topic nowadays.
I believe Gunther‘s orange meditation, which he called Orange A-Peeling, is the original raisin meditation. By the way, my version and his are quite different in that mine is done with the eyes closed throughout the exercise. Do try this exercise with other fruits and foods. If you don’t mind a bit of mess on your face and hands, then ice cream is an enjoyable option to try. Have fun.
The method
Hold an orange in the palms of your hands and close your eyes (or use a blindfold). Turn off your sense of sight and tune into touch and smell. With your fingertips feel the orange's shape, texture, weight, and temperature. Try to detect markings and bumps.
Bring the orange to your face and gently roll it over it. Use your skin to observe the orange. Is it warm or cool? Is it rough or smooth? What emotions or memories come up?
Keeping your eyes closed peel the orange, and then hold the peel against your face. Take in its smell. Notice the differences between the rind and the pith. Reverse direction. Instead of perceiving the orange with your face, become aware of your face through the orange. Feel your skin. Explore the contours of your face.
Break the orange up into sections. Bring a section up close to your nose. Lose yourself in its scent. With the gentlest of all touches slowly stroke the section along your cheek.
Eat the orange.
I discovered this exercise in Sense Relaxation: below your mind by Bernard Gunther. This book was published in 1968 and has a groovy sixties feel to it. Gunther’s loopy style of writing and deliberate misspellings bring a feeling of lightness and sensuality to mindfulness. Something you don’t find much in the literature on the topic nowadays.
I believe Gunther‘s orange meditation, which he called Orange A-Peeling, is the original raisin meditation. By the way, my version and his are quite different in that mine is done with the eyes closed throughout the exercise. Do try this exercise with other fruits and foods. If you don’t mind a bit of mess on your face and hands, then ice cream is an enjoyable option to try. Have fun.
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I’m Dr. Rodger Douglas, DMH, a South African-born homeopath now based in Osaka, Japan. With a psychology degree from Nelson Mandela University and a diploma from the Hahnemann College of Heilkunst, I specialize in holistic care for fibromyalgia. I serve clients by phone or video across the US, Canada, the UK, and beyond, shipping remedies directly from Japan.