Blinking Insight

Jason , modified 11 Years ago at 12/27/12 4:21 PM
Created 11 Years ago at 12/27/12 4:21 PM

Blinking Insight

Posts: 342 Join Date: 8/9/11 Recent Posts
Interesting story about a study of brain activity during blinking:

Why do we spend roughly 10% of our waking hours with our eyes closed -- blinking far more often than is actually necessary to keep our eyeballs lubricated? Scientists have pried open the answer to this mystery, finding that the human brain uses that tiny moment of shut-eye to power down.

The mental break can last anywhere from a split second to a few seconds before attention is fully restored, researchers from Japan's Osaka University found. During that time, scans that track the ebb and flow of blood within the brain revealed that regions associated with paying close attention momentarily go offline. And in the brief break in attention, brain regions collectively identified as the "Default Mode Network" power up.


- Possibly linked to calling up fruitions with eye movements and blinking?
- Practice suggestion: Can you see your brain state change when blinking? Are you aware of blinking frequency throughout the day?
- I'm not really sure scientists have "pried open" the mystery, but it's interesting to speculate over.
Change A, modified 11 Years ago at 12/28/12 11:30 AM
Created 11 Years ago at 12/28/12 11:30 AM

RE: Blinking Insight

Posts: 791 Join Date: 5/24/10 Recent Posts
Jason B:
- Possibly linked to calling up fruitions with eye movements and blinking?
- Practice suggestion: Can you see your brain state change when blinking? Are you aware of blinking frequency throughout the day?
- I'm not really sure scientists have "pried open" the mystery, but it's interesting to speculate over.


I blink when my brain gets overloaded. Sometimes I practice in a way so as to discern what is it that overloaded my brain in the first place (which I find is very useful). One of the practice suggestions that I read in some Vajrayana book was trying not to blink while meditating with eyes open.
eli Z, modified 11 Years ago at 1/24/13 12:25 AM
Created 11 Years ago at 1/24/13 12:25 AM

RE: Blinking Insight

Post: 1 Join Date: 1/24/13 Recent Posts
Blinking is a way for interiority to communicate. If one cares to investigate, there can be found meanings which map to certain types of blinks.

Try paying attention to the following, next time you are having a conversation with someone and really connecting:

"Blink once for yes, twice for no"

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