Basic Eye Movement Suggestions For Auditory Bilateral Stimulation

The following suggestions for adding eye movements to auditory bilateral stimulation borrow extensively from the psychotherapeutic healing modality known as Brainspotting, developed and perfected by David Grand, PhD.

There's a lot of information about eye movements on the next few pages. It's best to read them in sequence. None of these techniques are required when listening to this music. And as always, it is necessary to read, understand and agree to the disclaimer on this page.

The Basic Bilateral Eye Movement Technique

Before reading this section, we strongly recommend that you read and understood the general listening guidelines for bilateral stimulation music. Otherwise it may be challenging to situate the following pages of information within a larger general understanding of the possible purposes and uses of this kind of music.

How Eye Movement Helps Bilateral Stimulation

You may not have ever thought about it, but your eyes are almost always in motion, even if only a little. If you just sit quietly for a few moments you'll notice that your eyes tend to move around every few seconds, often for no apparent reason.

This is happening because your eye movements are influenced by your thoughts and feelings. Watch somebody who is recalling an event or concentrating on something that is important to them: you will often see their eyes move in characteristic ways depending on what they are thinking, feeling, remembering, etc.

What is truly fascinating is that the reverse is also true: where your eyes are looking directly influences what you think and how you feel. This understanding can lead to potentially extraordinary levels of healing and growth, which is why we want to give you extensive suggestions for using eye movements while listening to bilateral music.

Basic Suggestion for Using Eye Movements with Bilateral Stimulation

Here is a basic eye technique for you to use when listening to any sort of auditory bilateral stimulation (always with headphones or ear buds):

1. Make yourself physically comfortable, adjust the music volume to a soft level and spend a few moments gently bringing your attention toward a state of internal self-awareness while the music begins to play.

2. Now, gently and e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y s-l-o-w-l-y begin to move your eyes from side to side several times (back and forth from left to right) while keeping your head still. (Since your eyes may have difficulty moving smoothly it will help to hold a finger or pen in front of you and move it from side to side while tracking it with your eyes.)

3. Slowly continue this process until your eyes come to a location where you experience what can best be described as a "felt sense of personal significance". This is a phrase used to describe the occurrence of any relatively more intense or noticeable thought, image, memory, physical sensation, or other gathering of attention within your being. (One clear indicator that you have found such a location is if your eyes begin to blink rapidly.) Hold your gaze here.

If the above seems a little confusing, just choose a place to look (for any or no reason at all) and then hold your gaze on or near this spot while listening to your source of bilateral stimulation music.

4. Now simply allow your mind to wander where it will. This seems to be all it takes to begin developing a more expansive range of possible neural pathways to facilitate your brain's natural movement toward optimal functioning.

(If you need to, go back to the General Guidelines page for ways to use this simple eye movement technique to enhance your basic bilateral stimulation practice.)

Advanced Eye Movement Exercises

Once you are comfortable with these eye movements you can add some useful eye movement variations. If you like you can go directly to the page where you can listen to IMAGO in its entirety Or if you prefer you can check out the other music available from Alternating Sounds, LLC.