Pillow Power Nap!

We know we underestimate how stress affects our body in so many crucial ways, which is why it’s vital to claim little moments of peace whenever we can.

Many years ago I visited a beautiful spa in Killarney, Ireland (my late mother’s place of birth) called Aghadoe Heights, and during a massage treatment had a beautiful, weighty lavender eye pillow placed over my eyes. I was immediately obsessed and bought my own to take home with me. I loved using it, even though it was purple! Over the years, I even unpicked the side seam and topped up the lavender buds many a-time: but now gone!

So, I decided to make my own JOGB Meditation Lavender Eye Pillow in luxury, super chic, double-sided, grey silk velvet - my favourite fabric to use near the skin (especially the delicate eye area) - and now I’m making them available to you too, because these ‘beanie-baby’ like pillows are one of the easiest ways to slip into a catatonic, sleep-like state and grab all the benefits of a power nap: vital for modern stress-relief.

Why Weighty?

A simple eye mask just blocks out the light, but the benefit of a ‘weighted’ Eye Pillow - often used during Savasana (the vital corpse pose incorporated at the end of a yoga session) - moulds to your eye contours, blacking out light (daylight or artificial), and, more importantly, stimulates the vital Vagus Nerve, helping the body and mind to completely switch off by reducing external sensory stimulations. This reduces symptoms of stress, lowering blood pressure, relieving migraines, and calming the senses to improve your sleep.

A weighted eye pillow:

1. … helps stimulate the Vagus Nerve, placing a light, acupressure on your eyelids that triggers a reflex (called oculocardiac reflex) that lowers your heart rate and regulates your mood. It’s the combination of organic flax seeds with soothing lavender buds that provides this extra weight.

2. … is filled with tiny seeds that help it conform to the contours of your eyes, nose and face to block out the most light possible. These Silk Eye Pillows are perfect for sleep, yoga, relieve stress, meditation, help relieve migraines and headaches, puffy eyes or just to relax.

3. … deepens your relaxed state, aids meditation (I used to struggle before candles and ‘blacking out’ the eyelids with these rest essentials) and helps promote better sleep patterns, whether supporting medication or simply by repeatedly using for 10-minutes at the same time every night.

4. … by stimulating the vagus nerve, this light pressure on your eyes triggers a reflex (called oculocardiac reflex) that lowers the heart rate, regulates our mood for long-term stress management and mental health. For long-term stress management and mental health, grab a pillow, put your mind and body at rest, and enjoy a peaceful, reparative night’s sleep. Remember: Sleep is your ‘healing time’.

   
   

   JOGB weighted, therapeutic Meditation Eye Pillows…

   Filled with organic dried lavender flowers and flax seeds, our 100% silk velvet luxury eye pillows help to calm and regulate your parasympathetic nervous system, balance your mood, ease digestion, and calm your heart. The cranial nerve responds to the light acupuncture pressure of these pillows resting on your eyelids and sends a ‘relax’ message down the back of your neck to your chest, gut and heart.

   • Help promote natural sleep

   • Provide natural aromatherapy benefits

   • Soft silk velvet protects the delicate skin around the eyes

   • A soothing, relaxing ritual for enhanced wellness

HOW TO USE?

I travel with these in flights, with blankets and they smell incredible. Take the pillow gently between your hands and flip it back and forth to help stimulate the aroma from the dried flower buds. Lie back horizontally with your head comfortably supported, then, on clean dry skin (avoid moisture where possible to protect the fabric), close your eyes and place the pillow over your eyelids. Relax, breathe deeply, listen to some calming music or meditate - whatever puts you into a stress-free zone. Stay like this for a minimum of 10-minutes … they block out the light so are great day or night: pop in your bag when you visit a spa for a massage, and they’re great for anyone who suffers from tension headaches as the lavender is incredibly soothing. Enjoy!

The Vagus Nerve represents the main part of the parasympathetic nervous system, which oversees a vast array of crucial bodily functions, including control of mood, immune response, digestion, lung health, fertility organs, neck, and heart rate. It establishes one of the major connections between our brain and our gut health, warning our brain about the state of all our vital inner organs. It’s major - yet most of us aren’t aware of how vital the vagus nerve is. Indeed any vagus nerve dysfunction can result in issues such as obesity, heart disease, gut issues, depression, and chronic inflammation - yet stimulating this vital nerve system can improve anxiety, tinnitus, weight issues, addiction, Alzheimer’s, headaches and even cancer.

Source: upliftconnect.com

JOGB Meditation Eye Pillows, £39 …

• made by hand: needlework is Jo’s favourite form of meditation

• filled with organic dried lavender flowers and flaxseeds to rest therapeutically on your eyelids

• available in double-sided silk velvet, charcoal one side, silver grey the other

• shaped to ergonomically fit every face and nose shape, perfectly weighted (around 150g) to help stimulate the acupressure points for detoxification, meditation, clarity and calm, when placed across the eyes.

CREATE YOUR OWN STRESS-FREE ZONE WITH JOGB….

Above all… ENJOY!