Soft Forehead, Soft Being

Years ago, I had the privilege of attending a yoga session led by Swami Veda Bharati, a revered spiritual teacher, during one of his visits to London. The session took place in a humble church hall filled with warmth and quiet reverence. Most of the attendees were Indian women—London housewives dressed in soft saris, radiating a sense of grace and simplicity.

What struck me most that day wasn’t an advanced posture or an elaborate breathing technique. It was something astonishingly simple.

Swami Veda repeated, gently but insistently:

“If you want to be calm, think of a free forehead.

Do not contract your forehead in any way. Just keep it free of creases.”

That was it. He didn’t elaborate much more than that—didn’t need to. The words hung in the air, luminous with quiet power. He repeated them throughout the session, as if inviting our bodies to remember something older than thought.

And so I tried it. I softened my forehead. I let go of the habitual holding—the tension that creeps in between the eyebrows, or behind the eyes, when we try to focus, understand, or anticipate. What happened was immediate and lasting: a sense of calm began to arise effortlessly. A subtle spaciousness spread across my face, and with it, my breath deepened. My chest softened. My thoughts slowed. I’ve practised this ever since—decades now—and I still return to it, again and again. Just releasing the forehead. No forcing. No analysis. No grand meditation. Just softening the mask we so often wear.

The Somatic Power of the Forehead

In many somatic traditions, there’s a growing understanding that the body and the mind lead each other.

The forehead is closely tied to the prefrontal cortex, the seat of executive functioning, which includes planning, analysing, and focusing. When we’re in a state of effort, problem-solving, or stress, we unconsciously contract the small muscles around the forehead, the eyes, and the jaw.

By consciously releasing that area—especially the glabella (the space between the eyebrows)—we send a signal to the nervous system that says: “You’re safe. You can rest now.”And the body listens.

A Simple Practice: Free the Forehead

Try this right now, wherever you are:

·       - Sit or stand with ease. Let your shoulders rest.- Bring your attention to your forehead.- Without trying to do anything else, imagine the skin across your forehead softening.- Let the space between your eyebrows widen and smooth.- Allow the breath to respond.- Feel what changes in your face, neck, chest, or even thoughts.

Closing Reflections

Swami Veda’s teachings have lived within me for years. It reminds me that true calm doesn’t require complexity. It can begin with a single point of attention—a doorway as small as a forehead—and spread through the whole self.

In a world that often asks for more effort, more thought, more doing… this is an invitation to less. Just soften the forehead. And see what else softens with it.