From Stress to Calm: A Simple, Science-Backed Strategy
A Science-Backed Tool to Instantly Reduce Stress
In today’s fast-paced world, stress is almost unavoidable—especially for professionals and highly driven individuals who are constantly managing responsibilities, deadlines, and high expectations. What if I told you that your eyes hold the key to rapidly shifting your brain from stress to calm?
This simple yet powerful technique uses your visual system to regulate your nervous system. Best of all, it’s something you can do anytime, anywhere, to help reduce stress in just a few minutes.
How Your Eyes Influence Stress and Relaxation
Our eyes not only allow us to see, but also signal the brain to be more relaxed or stay alert. When we are stressed our pupils dilate and our visual field narrows down (tunnel vision) to focus on the most crucial detail. Like this:
Conversely, when we are relaxed our pupils constrict and our visual field broadens and looks more like this:
The Problem? Many of us spend a large portion of our day staring at screens, whether it's a phone, computer, or tablet. This sends a message to our brain that we are in alert or stress mode and adrenalin is released. This constant narrow focus signals our brain to remain in a heightened state of alertness—making stress and anxiety feel like a never-ending loop.
The good news? You can reverse this effect quickly by consciously shifting your visual field.
A Quick Way to Shift from Stress to Relaxation
Next time you feel tense, overwhelmed, or anxious, try this simple visual exercise to signal your brain to relax:
1. Expand Your Visual Field
Look straight ahead and soften your gaze.
Without moving your eyes, become aware of the space around you—your peripheral vision (see yourself in the environment that you are in, side to side and floor to ceiling).
Allow your vision to widen naturally, as if you’re looking at a large landscape or horizon.
Deliberately dilating your gaze creates a calming effect on the mind by releasing a circuit in the brainstem associated with alertness and stress.
2. Pair It with Deep Breathing
While expanding your vision, inhale deeply through your nose.
Slowly exhale through your mouth and let your shoulders drop.
Repeat this for one to two minutes, and notice how your body relaxes.
Vision, along with breathing (see Quickly Reduce Stress With A Simple Breathing Technique blog post) are two of the strongest ways to shift our brain and body to a calmer state.
3. Take It Outside (Try This for an Extra Boost)
If possible, go outdoors and look at the horizon. Viewing open spaces like the sky, ocean, or mountains naturally shifts our vision into a panoramic state, reinforcing a sense of calm.
Therapist’s Insight: Use This in Moments of High Stress
As a therapist, I encourage clients to use this vision-expanding technique in real-time stressful situations—when anxiety spikes before a meeting or when daily stress builds up.
Instead of trying to “push through” stress, pause for just a few moments and:
Soften your gaze and expand your view.
Take a slow, deep breath.
Let your body respond naturally to the shift.
This small, science-backed shift allows your brain to self-regulate, keeping stress manageable instead of overwhelming.
Final Thoughts: A Small Change with a Big Impact
We can’t eliminate stress entirely, but we can control how we respond to it. This simple vision tool helps you reset your nervous system anytime, anywhere.
If you would like to explore this further, here is a video of Dr. Andrew Huberman explaining the physiology and technique in more detail:
If you would like professional support with anxiety and/or stress symptoms or to learn more, please click below:
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Reference:
Wapner, Jessica. "Vision and breathing may be the secrets to surviving 2020." Scientific American 16 (2020).