Use Eye Contact for Mental Touching
Develop this essential skill to reap the benefits of enhanced communication.
By Dr T J Jordan
Like physical touching, eye contact triggers the release of oxytocin, also known as the cuddle hormone. Making eye contact is a fundamental rule of engagement that speaks volumes about dominance/submission, attraction, empathy, honesty, passion, and our self-confidence. With our eyes, we can build social trust and inspire love.
This skill is so powerful that we can wordlessly co-create oxytocin release by making eye contact with our pets. We even have a name for the smiles that reach our eyes – a Duchenne smile. We speak of eyes as windows to our souls because we communicate so deeply with our eyes alone. When we combine eye contact with spoken words, the result reaches logarithmic strength.
Eye contact activates the limbic mirror system. This means that we engage in a special kind of sharing — brain synced to brain — when we share eye contact. This contributes to a corresponding sharing of emotions which increases empathy and understanding, and facilitates mutual joy. Eye contact adds to facial expressions and tones of voice to enhance the depth and meaning of our words.
When eye contact becomes gaze at around the 2 to 3 second mark, we telegraph…
