Push on your eyeballs to lower heart rate

My professor told me that if you push on your eyeballs, your heart rate drops.

I just tried it and it works.

I'm glad I was sitting down though, because I got dizzy and light headed. My professor said that sometimes when he used a certain instrument that pushes up against someone's eye, that person might faint if they have low blood pressure.

Why does your body do this?

He explained that your body is designed to lower the heart rate when there is pressure on the eyes because there are pressure sensors there. If there is pressure on the eyes, the theory is that your body assumes that you are under water and slows down your heart rate to conserve oxygen. However, this causes a lack of oxygen in your brain, which may cause you to faint.

So if a bad guy is chasing you and you know that bad guy has low blood pressure, you can try two things:

1. Reach behind and try to press his eyes so that he might faint.
2. Tell him that he "might be able to run faster if he presses his eyes," so that he'll try to press his own eyes himself.

This plan is flawless!