“Zig-Zag” Gazing
San Diego, 99/08/12
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#Face warmups (also used in Olinda’s sounds).
Massage palms.
Rub palms and apply to face (over the top of the head).
Shake out hands.
Release jaw.
Rub thumb base ˇ apply at eyebrow and forehead.
Pinch eyebrows.
Rub palms and apply across face (around the sides of the head).
Shake hands.
Pull out ears.
If standing, shake the feet.
Circle whip with the left hand, then with the right.
Breath out, scoop from the knees as you breath in, and come up over head ˇ stretch to each side 3 times.
Exhale hands to knees ˇ scoop up as you inhale ˇ fan Vˇspot and exhale. Do this 3 times.
#Opening sequence:
Look to the horizon then look just above it (the horizon point).
Let it pull you. Open eyes wide. Close them tight.
Open eyes half lidded. Gaze at the horizon point, inhale fully and exhale fully.
#Gazing to the right:
From the horizon point, continuing to face straight ahead, look with the eyes up to the zenith above you. With your gaze, describe diagonal descending circles from the zenith down. Gaze out to infinity and back with your eyes making spiral motions along a plane sloping down diagonally. Make as many circles as needed along that diagonal sloping plane to go to 180 degrees behind you, turning the head to the right to extend the gaze as far back as you can go. When you’ve reached the farthest point to the right, then start to move gradually back to the center, taking everything in with your eyes along the way.
Next, the same motion, but the circles are sloping down from a point halfway up to the zenith.
Next, the same motion, but the circles are straight out, rather than sloping.
Gaze at the horizon point, inhale fully and exhale fully.
#Gazing to the left:
This sequence on the left is a mirror image of the activity on the right with one exception. The motion of perception into infinity is not spirals but spikes. In other words, the eyes perceive a series of spikes out to infinity as the eyes sweep to the left.
Spikes from the zenith sloping down.
Spikes from a point halfway up to the zenith sloping down.
Spikes going straight out.
After the eyes have completed all three sweeps, gaze at the horizon point, inhale fully and exhale fully.
#Closing sequence:
Close your eyes.
With your perception feel a circle on the crown of your head. Feel something pulling from this circle up into infinity. With your eyes still closed, perceive the horizon point and let it pull you.
Open your eyes. Find the horizon point and let it pull you.
Disengage. Lie back and feel the silence. Close your eyes and relax into the silence.
#Sounds
Sounds ˇ. We did three different sessions, one with a kind of nnn sound, one with a buzzing sound, and one with a hissing sound. In the with the nnn sound, there were no variable tempos, just going from a low sound to a progressively higher octave.
Thumbs at ribs, little fingers at hip. ˇ low constant sound.
Sternum grasp, with the thumbs near the armpits. ˇ low sound with a short sharp tempo.
Knuckles into upper ribs ˇ vibrate then press ˇ low sound waving up to high.
Sides of the neck ˇ stroke then press ˇ quick rising sound.
Lower jaw ˇ stroke then press ˇ low sound going high then waving.
Temples ˇ rub then press ˇ low sound going high then short sharp tempo.
Forehead ˇ stroke up with left ˇ press with right ˇ press with right ˇ low sound going high then waving.
ˇ pull out the inner chatter.
Top of head ˇ massage with left ˇ point out the top. Press with right ˇ point out the top.
ˇ low sound going high.
ˇ with the nnn sound series, this ended in an aaahhh sound.
Open the ears by placing the thumbs behind the ears and the fingers on top of the head and vibrate slightly. Then drop the hands slowly, taking in sound thru the palms.
source unknown
#ALTERNATE NOTES
At various points during the workshop we did the gazing pass. It is important to sit or stand in surroundings where if one looses one’s balance one will fall on a soft surface. This gazing is deceptively powerful and so take it easy.
The strange thing I found about this pass is that although I didn’t fully understand the actual procedure that we were asked to follow, it was very effective in removing all the tiredness that I felt at the time and also it opened up my vision so that I was looking anew at what was in front of me. The world seemed fresh and new again. These are the instructions as I remember them and if anyone else has a more accurate version please post it.
Begin by shutting the eyes tight , then open them as wide as possible and finally let the eyes half close so that the vision is ‘soft’. Circle the eyes twice clockwise and twice anticlockwise. Open the mouth as wide as possible and close it again,making sure the jaw is relaxed and the tongue is on the roof of the mouth.
Look at the horizon and let your eyes rest slightly above it.
Be aware of the area above the horizon as a sweeping curve which from above the eyes droops down either side of the shoulders.
Now this curve is part of an ellipse which continues all the way to the feet. (Essentially you are facing an oval) (It is possible that the instructor also said that there were two inclined oval areas one in front of every eye).
The gazing consisted in systematically exploring the oval(s) with the eyes in a zig-zag pattern from top to bottom in the vertical plane and in depth. So one may begin at the top of the oval move to the eyes to the left side of the oval , then across to the right edge, across the centre to the extreme left edge , down to the left, across to the right and back up to the centre).
This was done a couple of times and the same process was followed investigating the oval which is parallel to the ground (depth).
I can’t be more specific, try it and see.