Williams, Kardashian, Paltrow attend CFDA Fashion Awards
Serena Williams, Kim Kardashian and Gwyneth Paltrow were among the stars walking the white carpet at the CFDA Fashion Awards in New York. (Nov. 6)
I stare into Gwyneth Paltrow’s eyes as she tells me to take deep breaths.
This, the actress says, is how she prefers to start all her meditations. I’m not someone who regularly meditates, so I follow her lead. Then, at her instruction, I close my eyes and take another breath.
“Open your eyes and observe all of the objects in your surroundings,” she says. I do. “Now, become aware of the empty space around those objects. Notice how this space holds the objects and allows everything to exist within it. Notice the space that is far away from you and the space that immediately surrounds you, the space that is holding you.”
I’m trying to follow along. I look at my computer screen, where Paltrow appears on Zoom, leading me and others in an exclusive, three-minute meditation as part of the announcement of her partnership with the meditation app Moments of Space. Starting Wednesday, users can access guided meditations like these led by the actress on the app.
I gaze at the rest of the objects on my desk. I see post-it notes, a stapler, a jar of pens − has nirvana been under my desktop monitor this whole time?
Paltrow takes slow, deliberate pauses between each of her sentences. Each pause feels like a lifetime, so quiet you can hear a pin drop.
“Now, let your awareness encompass you entirely to sense the space all around,” she says. “And as you become aware of this all-encompassing space that is everywhere, allowing everything in your external world to be, notice if you become aware of a similar sense of space within you too, the space that is allowing everything in your internal world to be the space of your own awareness. Don’t try to grasp it. Just be there with it, in that moment of space.”
Um… what? She lost me. The only space I feel is the one in my stomach, yearning for coffee. Clearly I have a long way to go before I achieve Paltrow-level serenity. The Goop CEO’s calm, unbothered demeanor has become almost as signature to her brand as wacky (and pricey) wellness products are to her company, Goop.
Regrettably, I am no Paltrow. I get antsy easily. I constantly run to-do lists through my mind. If I’m left without stimuli for several minutes, I become anxious. Overthinking is my signature.
But, according to Paltrow, as well as Moments of Space founder Kim Little, who joins her on this webinar, this is just the thing people like me need: to meditate with our eyes open. They say even a little can go a long way.
“My meditation teacher said to me when I was learning: ‘Even in a shallow dive, you get wet,’ ” Paltrow says. “And so it’s always stuck with me that it’s worth doing. It’s worth sitting down. It doesn’t have to be some monk-level, two-hour, revelatory thing. It’s just the act of sitting down and attempting it. You’re going to get benefits from it.”
More: Gwyneth Paltrow reveals ‘weirdest wellness thing’ she’s ever done: Rectal ozone therapy
Why meditate with the eyes open?
When most people think of meditation, they likely imagine people sitting calmly on mats, legs crossed and eyes closed.
Though that’s one way to do it, it’s not the only way. Murray Hidary, a meditation expert and the creator of experiential music company MindTravel, says variations of meditation that involve keeping your eyes open have been around as long as meditation itself.
Benefits of meditating with your eyes open include an increased awareness of yourself in relationship to your surroundings, Hidary says, adding that this creates a feeling of connectedness with one’s environment that’s not as easily accessed through other forms of meditation.
“You’re not just siloed off with your eyes closed in an inner world,” he says. “You are actually engaging and interacting with the world around you, and then you get to really play with how consciousness arises for you.”
It also makes meditation less daunting to newbies like me, who fret about getting too easily distracted to meditate “correctly.”
Paltrow − an Oscar-winning actress, mom and CEO − calls eyes-open meditation a “gamechanger” for her busy life, allowing her to find “oneness” amid chaos.
“Every day, I can just steal a few minutes here and there,” she says. “I can be in my desk. I can be walking down a hall. I can be on a Zoom − no offense − and I can meditate. And I find that it’s really deepened the results of what meditation does.”
How to meditate: Start an everyday mindfulness practice that leaves you feeling zen
Did I transcend like Gwyneth Paltrow?
By the end of Paltrow’s three-minute meditation sampler, I can’t say I found oneness − but I did feel calmer. My heart rate felt slower, my breath deeper. I felt relaxed and energized at the same time.
Of course, this all could just be in my head. But, hey, if a placebo effect made me feel better, then what’s wrong with that? For my first time, I’ll take it.
Paltrow says regular meditation can yield profound results. She learned to meditate 12 years ago, and it’s been her morning ritual for the past four. She says it’s helped her see life in a different way.
“This is all kind of an illusion, and we get so caught up in the atoms and molecules and the materiality,” Paltrow says. “When I’m able to let go of that in a meditation, it brings me a lot of comfort and happiness, I think, because I feel so connected to something bigger than myself and my own thoughts and my own ego.”
Eyes-open meditation may not have given me that experience yet. But who knows? If I stick with it, maybe one day it will. At least because of Paltrow, my eyes are now open to the possibility.
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Brendan Martin is a tech enthusiast with a deep understanding of the latest technological innovations. He explores the intersection of science and technology, providing readers with insights into the digital revolution. When not immersed in the world of gadgets and code, Brendan enjoys experimenting with DIY tech projects.
