Years ago, I was an administrator
at a home for the mentally ill. This particular home was one of my favorites
as it was family owned and operated. Most of the residents were vets who
suffered from PTSD or disorders which caused them to be extremely violent.
Mr X was one of my fav. residents
as he had been a POW in the Vietnam War. Most of his time was spent crouched
in the corner with his hands placed on top of his head. He must have spent
a great deal of time in that position as a POW.
One day Mr. X decided he was
tired of taking all the meds prescribed by the VAMC and refused his afternoon
dose of tranquilizers and anti-psychotics. Because of his violent history
the nurses were alarmed and somewhat frightened about his non-compliance
and they ran to my office to report him and solicit my help.
At the nurse's station, I
held his meds and quietly spoke to him.... "Mr. X, the nurse's have told
me you are refusing your meds. You know you need them to keep you calm."
He responded "I ain't taking any of those **** **** **** meds and you can't
make me!" I reminded Mr. X that if he did not take his meds I would send
him back to the VAMC for medication adjustment.
That really made Mr. X angry
and he threw a punch right between my eyes! Luckily, I had been trained
to watch out for this kind of aggressive behavior and took a step back
and grabbed his hand to stop the punch. Mr. X was totally surprised and
shocked that I was fast enough to stop him. To be honest, I was a bit surprised
myself but I was also amazed. I was amazed that this man who was
blind and couldn't see anything could actually come so close to hitting
the mark right between my eyes!
Holding his hand, Mr. X quickly
apologized but I was still in a state of surprise. I just had to
know how he could know exactly where I was. So, I asked him.
"Mr X how is it that you could be so spot on the mark, almost hitting me
right between the eyes? You can't see anything. How did you do that?"
Mr. X smiled and kind of chuckled and said "Ms. Akasha, I may not see with
my eyes but I can clearly see in other ways. The way the wind moves
across my face, the feeling of your body heat, your smell and the way your
voice sounds all give me the information I need to know exactly where you
are."
This taught me an important lesson that to really see something we must incorporate more than our eyes. Often our eyes will deceive us.. We tend to look at others and make snap judgments based on what we see but are we really seeing them or are we seeing what we think them to be?
So here is a Tantric exercise to better demonstrate how the eyes sometimes prevent us from really experiencing things and how by removing the gift of sight we can utilize our other senses at a deeper level.
TANTRIC EXERCISE: This requires two people. One is blindfolded the other is the leader. Find items around the house such as a leaf, bath salts, spices, food items, cloth, etc. The idea is to find something that will solicit each of the four other senses. As you give your partner one of the items, don't tell them what is just let them identify the item through the use of their other senses. One of my favorite items to play with is a bottle of childs bubbles. Blow them on their body and let them feel, hear, smell and possibly even taste them. It will be a whole new experience.
If you are in a private location, try walking them around outside allowing them to gain trust as you lead them. Eventually, let go of them and allow them to walk by themselves. This will give them a greater sense of self trust. Enjoying the swimming pool or even a ritual bath is a highly arousing experience too.
Finally, finish the exercise by touching, kissing or holding each other. Both feeling what the other has to offer, notice the folds of the skin, the smell and sounds of the body. Massage is another great thing to try as the skin is heightened and the receiver actually becomes more in-tune with their body.
Eroticism is in fact, heightened when the eyes are blocked because then you are forced to use your mind to create the sight. Pleasure has no eyes, it is a feeling. Pleasure can be given by any individual regardless of their physical appearance. This exercises has taught me to never judge a book by it's cover.
Namaste
Akasha