You Must Close Your Eyes to Really See

You must close your eyes and look inside to wake up and see. Doing so will allow you to connect, rediscover yourself, and heal. You must start an internal journey to stoke your strengths in a world full of constant noise, uncertainty, and chaos.
You Must Close Your Eyes to Really See
Valeria Sabater

Written and verified by the psychologist Valeria Sabater.

Last update: 15 November, 2021

There are times when you need an instant, a moment of calm and inner connection to better process what surrounds you. Thus, you must close your eyes to be able to see. This is because, when you do, you sort of hit pause on the rest of the world. Thus, it’s a lot easier to take a trip through your thoughts, emotions, needs, and values. Perhaps you’re too used to focusing on what’s outside. Then again, perhaps it’s time for you to return to yourself.

You may often come across studies, books, and articles that speak of the importance of social life in order to be fulfilled.

Having solid friendships, a significant other that makes you happy, and a family that values, loves, and admires you, makes you feel valued as a member of your community. In fact, such is true for every human since the beginning of time. However, there are those who, despite having it all, still suffer from depression. So, what’s wrong, then?

What’s missing is inner harmony, being good to oneself. There’ll be no well-being if there’s no sort of umbilical cord with one’s own being. One through which self-esteem, self-confidence, good emotional management, purposes, and total acceptance of who you are and have can freely flow. You can’t expect those around to matter if that’s the case. As you can see, inner connection is very important for human health.

A person crying.

You must close your eyes to strengthen your inner connection

Goethe said that human reality is so divinely organized that each person is in balance and harmony with everything else in their own place and time. This can only be true as long as you’re psychologically well. This is because, without a well-built, well-lit, and strong interior, no one can feel attuned to what surrounds them.

Now, you may well ask yourself what “inner being” and the importance of the “inner connection” actually mean. Fields like spirituality often handle these kinds of concepts. However, from a psychological point of view, you may only be referring specifically and exclusively to the human mind.

This dimension is everything and your authentic self shapes it. It’s in that mental space that your consciousness, thoughts, memory, imagination, emotions, personality, fears, value, and needs integrate.

The mind is more than just a creation from your brain, as Hippocrates said about 2,500 years ago. All that you are is in your mind though you may forget it when you neglect what happens in it.

As Scott Barry Kaufman, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania and author of several books on human intelligence, creativity, and potential, writes, mental life doesn’t just happen inside your brain. This is because it’s also related to your body. To how you physically feel as well as how you relate to others.

If you neglect and don’t work on your inner connection, you won’t attain that absolute harmony that Goethe spoke about. As you can see, there are some keys to achieving it.

Identify feelings and emotions, the first step towards inner connection

As per neuroscientist Antonio Damasio’s words: emotions are from the body, and feelings are from the mind. Thus, when you’re making contact with your inner being, you must detect all those realities that cling to you in the present moment.

Take a moment and ask your body how it feels. Is there pressure in your stomach? Do you have a faster heartbeat? Does your back or your jaw hurt?

Emotions activate physical responses that later travel to the mind and shape feelings as soon as you name them. Maybe that stomach pain is the product of fear, anxiety, or frustration. So, try to identify these dimensions and accept them. That is, give them a presence.

A woman with the sea inside.

Does the voice of your internal dialogue help or poison you?

To promote inner connection, you must close your eyes and listen to your thoughts. Listen particularly to your internal dialogue. This is because that voice is a specialist at poisoning you and instilling fears and insecurities in you. Take good care of its speeches, affirmations, and obsessions. Turn off that dialogue as soon as you notice it, as it can be your worst enemy.

You must close your eyes and accept yourself because you deserve peace and well-being

The absolute acceptance of who you are and have mitigates a great number of discomforts. Nothing is as comforting as injecting large doses of self-esteem into that inner connection. So let compassion, forgiveness, and self-validation flow. All of these dimensions are healing and can remind you that you have the right to be well.

Creativity, the threshold to your inner connection

Boris Cyrulnik, a French neurologist, psychiatrist, and author of well-known books such as Resilience: How Your Inner Strength Can Set You Free from the Past published a new job. Its title is Escribi Soles de Noche and is yet to be translated into English. The book is about the importance of creativity for promoting an inner connection and overcoming trauma.

Nothing is as cathartic and necessary to deepen oneself and free what’s in your beings, such as literature, poetry, art, and music for this man during difficult times. Any activity that connects the mind with a task with which you allow yourself to create something has the power to lessen pain, set it free, and, in turn, reconnect with yourself to heal.

Only in this way can you manage to put back the broken pieces and transform yourself into someone more resilient, free, and prepared to be happy. This is something you should keep in mind!


This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.