Smile Behind The Eyes

How Our Eyes Shape Our Posture:

The act of looking shapes how we carry ourselves through the world.

The Visual-Postural Feedback Loop

Neuroscience research shows that visual attention automatically activates motor planning areas of the brain. When we focus on something, our brain prepares our neck muscles to orient toward it—even if we don't actually move.

During brief visual tasks, this is harmless. But during hours of screen work or sustained reading, this preparation becomes chronic holding. Your neck muscles remain contracted, neither moving nor releasing.

Sustained visual focus triggers the pulling back and down of the head, interfering with natural coordination.

The Hidden Connection

Visual habits—particularly the tendency to stare fixedly or strain to see—are intimately connected with the pulling back of the head that interferes with natural coordination. We often unconsciously tighten our whole system in the act of looking, demonstrating that "seeing" is not just a visual phenomenon but involves our entire pattern of use.

But why does something as simple as reading or looking at a screen so often trigger whole-body tension? The answer lies in the intricate architecture of the eye orbits and a butterfly-shaped bone at the centre of the skull called the sphenoid.

The Eye Orbits: More Than Meets the Eye

Each eye orbit is formed by seven bones converging to create a complex structure housing:

• Six muscles per eye that control movement with millisecond precision

• The optic nerve carries over a million nerve fibres to your brain

• Multiple other nerves control eye movement and sensation

• Blood vessels, fascia, and connective tissue

What's remarkable: approximately 25-30% of your brain's sensory and motor areas are dedicated to the eyes, despite them making up less than 1% of the body mass. This means what happens around the eyes profoundly affects the entire nervous system and posture.

The Sphenoid: The Skull's Keystone

The sphenoid bone sits at the very centre of the skull base, shaped like a butterfly with outstretched wings. It's the only bone that connects (directly or indirectly) with every other bone in your skull.

Here's why it matters for the posture:

The sphenoid forms a significant part of the eye orbit walls. When we strain to see, the six muscles controlling each eye—which attach to the sphenoid—create persistent pulling forces on this central bone.

The sphenoid connects to the occiput (back of your skull) at the cranial base. This relationship directly affects how the head balances on the spine—the foundation of what Alexander Technique practitioners refer to as "primary control."

When the sphenoid is compressed or held in tension from eye strain, the entire head-neck relationship is affected. The head cannot balance freely, the neck must compensate, and the whole body adjusts in ways that create unnecessary effort and discomfort.

The Cost of Visual Strain

When the eyes are chronically tense and the sphenoid is compressed, several things happen:

• The balance system gets confused – conflicting signals from your eyes, inner ear, and body create unnecessary bracing

• The breathing becomes restricted – tension in the cranial base affects our neck and, through it, our whole torso

• Fascial tension spreads – connective tissue transmits the holding pattern from our orbits through our skull, down our spine, affecting our entire body.

• Our nervous system stays on alert – chronic eye strain keeps it in a low-level stress state.

Practical Ways to Release Eye and Orbital Tension

1. Smile Behind The Eyes - Soften the Gaze

Think space behind the eyes. Let the gaze be soft and peripheral.

Think of your eyes resting back into their bony orbits, supported rather than reaching forward.

2. Blink Naturally

We reduce blinking when concentrating, which can create tension and dryness. Invite effortless, natural blinking—like a gentle wave—to release accumulated orbital tension and give your eye muscles micro-moments of rest.

3. Widen Your Visual Field

Periodically, without moving your eyes, become aware of what's in your peripheral vision—to the sides, above, below. Let the whole visual field be present.

This activates different neural pathways and gives your overused central focusing muscles a rest.

4. Release Your Jaw

Your jaw has fascial connections to both the sphenoid and the eye orbits. Let your jaw hang freely—not dropped forcefully, but released from being held. As your jaw releases, you may notice your eyes also softening.

5. Practice Palming

Rub your palms together to generate warmth, then gently cup them over your closed eyes without pressing on the eyeballs. Let the heels of your palms rest on your cheekbones.

Breathe easily and let the darkness and warmth invite your eyes to release back into their sockets. Stay for 1-3 minutes. Many people experience profound relief in their entire head and neck area after palming.

6. Integrate Eye Awareness with Head-Neck Release

In Alexander's work, we think "head forward and up, back lengthening and widening." Refine this by including your eyes:

As you think of your head releasing forward and up, also think of your eyes resting back and wide in their orbits. Your visual field expands.

This prevents the typical pattern of visually fixing and then pulling your head back to stabilise that fixed gaze.

A Simple Daily Practice

Take 2-3 minutes, several times throughout your day:

1. Pause what you're doing

2. Smile - Soften your gaze and widen your peripheral vision

3. Blink naturally a few times

4. Let your jaw release

5. Think of your eyes resting back into their orbits

6. Notice if your head feels lighter, your neck freer, your breathing easier

The Ripple Effect

When you release tension in your eye, the effects ripple outward:

• Your head balances more freely on your spine

• Your neck muscles release unnecessary gripping

• Your breathing deepens

• Your whole spine can lengthen from its very top

• Your nervous system receives clearer signals about balance and position

A New Way of Seeing

Primary control—the dynamic relationship between head, neck, and back—actually begins with how we use our eyes. When our eyes are soft, when our orbital muscles aren't chronically gripping, when our sphenoid can float freely, then our head can balance lightly, our neck can be free, and our whole body can organise with ease.

This is not about perfect technique. It's about bringing awareness to a dimension of our use that usually operates beneath consciousness. It's about recognising that seeing is not separate from our whole coordination.

The next time you sit down to work, read, or look at a screen, ask yourself:

• Am I straining to see?

• Are my eyes gripping?

• Is my gaze narrow and fixed, or soft and peripheral?

• Can I let my eyes rest back into their bony homes?

Release the eyes, and the head can find its poise. Release the head, and the whole self can lengthen into ease.