Tonic Eyes Closed

variant 1

On the inhale open the eyes normally. On the exhale squeeze the eyes shut as tightly as you can. This is just like variant 1 of the tonic eyes open. You alternate between relaxing (inhale) and tensing (exhale). For good reason, the breath cycle during which you tense or relax is opposite between tonic eyes open and tonic eyes closed. In tonic open you tensed during the inhale in tonic closed you tense during the exhale.

Figure 72

variant 2

On both the inhale and exhale keep your eyes squeezed shut as tightly as possible. As with the wrinkling, many people are able to squeeze well for a few breaths but they can not hold it. As usual, 10 minutes is a good goal point.

Again in Figure 72, as in Figure 71, we can see the difference in the two models. The upper picture shows that he is unable to squeeze his eyes shut, he can only just close them. In the lower picture we see a good squeezing shut.

Taking the two figures together (Figure 71 and Figure 72) we can see that the top model was unable to fully wrinkle his forehead and he is unable to fully squeeze his eyes shut. The second figure confirms the impression of the first figure. The top model has what Reich termed "armor" in his forehead and it needs work.

Use Of A Mirror

When first doing this exercise it is best to use a hand mirror so that you can see whether you are fully wrinkling the forehead.

Figure 73

There are two common errors in these two eye exercises. One is not wrinkling the forehead. You may wrinkle for a few minutes, but then the forehead tires and you no longer get the wrinkling. The other common error is to not close the eyes tightly. The eyes are closed but they are not pressed tightly.

If you cannot do the wrinkling or if your forehead has permanent wrinkles, you can use pressure on your forehead to make the muscles sore (Figure 74). Using one hand, put your thumb and first two fingers above the nose and, while pressing hard, move your fingers apart and together. Then move up the forehead. You can get the muscle in the middle of your forehead by using your thumb.

Figure 74

The purpose of pressure, to repeat what I said in Part One of this book, is to make the muscle sore. The reason for this is straight physiology and neurology. The body responds to soreness in a muscle by not tensing it as much. For a day or two until the soreness passes, the muscle does not hold its normal level of tension. The subconscious responds to this change of body state and attempts to adjust to the change during the dream cycle. The gradual change in character follows.

Where there are permanent wrinkles in the forehead (that is, not just lines, but permanent wrinkles) then we have a condition of constant tension. When a muscle is sore, the way the body naturally operates is to let the muscle relax. It is just as if you over exercised and have sore muscles.

You will naturally favor those muscles since use of them is painful. By using pressure you make the muscle sore and it then, for a day or two, relaxes thus defeating the "armor."

Footnote 26. The term "armor" is a pictorially apt term. It paints a good mental picture. Unfortunately, as with most of Reich's terms, he so misused it over time — constantly changing the definition without changing the underlying concept — that it is now an undefinable and thus unusable term. That is why I put it in quote marks.

Where there is the inability to wrinkle the forehead or tightly shut the eyes, we have an opposite kind of tension. Here the word 'tension' is used in a broader sense. In constant wrinkles the nerve to the muscle is overactive and thus the constant wrinkling while in the case that you can not wrinkle it is because your brain is not able to locate that muscle and thus cannot control it. The pressure then for a few days allows your brain to locate that muscle and, in effect, to rewire the connection of the brain to the muscle. Both cases represent Reichian "armor," just a different manifestation (the four types of "armor" are given on page 48).

Eyes

In addition to just working on the forehead, you want to work on the eyes. There are many more exercises for the eyes than for the forehead.

You can work on the eye area at the same time you are working on the forehead. Both should be substantially cleared before you go on to other areas. You should work on this group before you finish with the breath work

Eyes Open And Close

On the inhale open your eyes as widely as possible and wrinkle the forehead. On the exhale close your eyes as tightly as possible.

This is like the previous tonic eyes open and tonic eyes closed where we were working on the forehead but here we do want the eyes to open wide as the forehead is wrinkled. Previously we were working on breaking any fusing (if present as for the model in Figure 71 on page 184) but now, with the linking either broken or being worked on, we want to see if the two actions can be combined.

Shortly we will have an exercise where only the eyes open without the forehead being employed.

Eyes In Directions

For a full breath (inhale and exhale) put your eyes (eyes only, do not move your head) as far as you can to the left, down, right, up, and continue. The center is not a direction. So for a full breath you are looking as far as you can to the left. For the next full breath you are looking down as far as you can down. Then right and then up, each for a full breath. If you find that your eyes are coming to the center that only means you have more work to do on this exercise.

When doing this exercise do not move your head, only your eyes. When looking up, the forehead should not wrinkle. This is another issue of unfusing two completely unrelated muscles. The muscles that move the eyes are unrelated to the muscle that wrinkles the forehead. This exercise involves only the eyes and not any other muscles. It is a common problem that the eyes are not separated from the forehead, that is it is common that people have difficulty looking up (as though you were trying to look through two holes in the top of your head) without also tensing the forehead muscles. Movement of the eyes is anatomically completely different from movement of the forehead or the eyebrows. If you have difficulty looking up without also tensing your forehead, it only means you have more work to do here.

This exercise is, surprisingly, one of the most important in all of the Reichian work. In emphasizing the importance of this exercise, I am not endorsing Reich's eyes to pelvis segment theory — that theory has no empirical or theoretical validity. I am basing my emphasis both on the literature of the expressive content of the eyes and forehead and on my 35 years of practice as a Reichian therapist. This is a book on practice, not theory, so I will forego until a later more technical book on Reichian therapy to explain why mastery of this exercise (and the following one on Roll the Eyes) is so important, so essential.

In Figure 75 you can see that this model, the same one who had trouble with tonic eyes open and tonic eyes closed for the forehead, is also unable to move his eyes without also moving his head. Looking at the top row of photographs, when he moves his eyes from eyes right to eyes down he lifts his head. In the bottom row of photographs note how when he does eyes left he turns his head to the left and when he does eyes up he again lifts his head. An error by the photographer was not to have the model's mouth properly open during the exercise.

Figure 75

I say again, don't rush this work. ALWAYS TOO SLOWLY. I have seen a range of people complete the forehead and eye work. Some finish in just a few weeks while others take several years and everything in between. As long as it takes for you, that is how long you should be willing to give it. It is not a race. It is not a contest. Everyone has his own speed and it is wisdom to respect your own speed, your own body and nature, and not have some arbitrary demand that you be able to finish quickly.

You may find that this eyes in directions exercise produces some fear. Don't push beyond your tolerance. If there is fear and it is too strong, simply stop the exercise for this session. There is always the next session and the next session and the next session.

If you are not sure whether you are wrinkling the forehead when you do eyes up, you can place your fingers on your forehead to see if it moves.