I’ve had eye pillows on my mind for ages, most likely prompted by the myriad of patients coming in who have tired eyes and headaches after a day of screentime in non-stop Zoom meetings. I love eye pillows! At the heart and soul of it, they are like little weighted blankets for your eyes. Eyes do so much work for us on a day-to-day basis, and I for one, think it’s time to give them some love in return.
These weighted eye pillows put gentle pressure on our eyes, stimulating our parasympathetic nervous system (turning on our ‘rest and digest’ mode), which slows our heart rate, lowers blood pressure and sends signals to our body and digestive system to relax and recover. They also block out light, relax the facial muscles, and help to quiet the mind. Sounds pretty dreamy, right?
Besides promoting general relaxation and wellbeing, eye pillows are commonly used for tired eyes, headaches, migraines, insomnia, stress and anxiety. You can use them anytime you are at rest or before bedtime. This includes bringing your eye pillow to use during acupuncture treatments and to Yoga Nidra for an enhanced experience.
At Mend, we just got these gorgeous hand-dyed indigo linen eye pillows filled with lavender and rice. Needless to say, they are divine. I know that lavender isn’t for everyone, so if you are adverse to the smell, I recommend finding one that is unscented. Eye pillows can be heated in the microwave for eye fatigue, headaches and overall comfort. They can also be put in the freezer, the cooling effect is said to be helpful for puffiness and dark circles around the eyes.
