The Power of Gaze

 

The Power of Gaze

Paraphrased quote from F.M. Alexander, who created the powerful movement awareness protocol that transformed his life and the life of untold numbers of others through a painstaking process of self observation to reveal how the improper “use of the self” can cause debilitating blockage and dysfunction. 

“Everyone could do what I did, if only they would do what I did”

The above quote could be applied to any accomplishment (innate abilities aside) The point being that innumerable small steps and efforts are necessary to successfully undertake a difficult journey.  I will leave it to your imagination to find examples meaningful to you.

Becoming “aware” is a broad palette of many templates.  Narrowing and broadening ones visual focus is one such template.  Consider the role of vision or “gaze” as it initiates and defines movement.  Later, I will give a functional definition of gaze and its role in awareness and movement, but first I want to relate this topic to the opening quote.  I am seeking to answer the question as to whether one can become more aware of movement through exercises that challenge the use of gaze to initiate movement, especially as occurs in the practice of taiji.  And then, of course, whether the use of gaze is beneficial or even essential to maintaining the body in “central equilibrium” during movement.

What is this awareness that I speak of?  Any of the following are aspects of an understanding of awareness; kinesthesis, proprioception, contemplative practices, somatics, or consciousness itself are all involved with the subject of awareness.  What changes might take place with long term practice of gaze related exercises in initiating and controlling movement.  It is difficult to measure awareness as the observing subject is also the object of observation. 

Paraphrased quote by F.M. Alexander: “Our Faulty Sense of Perception results in our feeling that a dysfunctional posture is normal” 

 

Gaze is the stimulation of the visual cortex in the brain.  But, to be understood and functional we need to add intention and attention to expand on the context.  Attention is an observation in the present, while intention is an expectation for the future.  Intent can also be synonymous with “meaning” or “purpose”. 

Ones visual focus is controlled by the retina which is shaped by the contraction of eye muscles.  As vision is focused more closely during reading or use of a computer the muscles contract and when looking out into the distance the muscles relax.  Hence one reason for the relaxing feeling of being out in nature and looking into the distance.  What comes first; the focus of the vision or the level of contraction of the muscle around the eye?

The application of gaze to taiji has endless implications.  If I wait until I elucidate all of them, this post will never get posted.  Instead I offer just one of the many I have tried and continue to experiment with.

Standing in Wuji with a song gaze into the distance I begin by first refocusing my gaze to the left (or right) just a bit until there is a refocus on the object in my vision.  Then staying song I allow my waist to turn until I am again song around this new central equilibrium.  Then turn my gaze a bit more to the left and wait for waist turn to bring me into equilibrium.  Staying in a song horse stance and sinking instead of turning the hips results in coming to a maximum amount of waist turn to the left.  Then gazing left I allow my shoulders (mid-line of torso) to turn until again in equilibrium.  When maximum shoulder/torso turn is reached, I allow my head to turn continuing until I have reached the absolute maximum rotation to the left.  After a brief hold I release the gaze without any control so that the head, torso and waist turns without effort back to the original wuji position.  If done without any muscular control the torso will swing past the original wuji position, back and forth pendulum like, until settling in the wuji position.  Then I repeat the process to the right. Several repetitions to the left and right will complete this practice.

 (thinking anatomically the waist turn is a rotation of the lumbar spine, the torso turn is the thoracic spine and the head turn is the cervical spine.  This rotation at the spine is a gathering of spiral energy which is led by the gaze and then released by the gaze.)

The above process can be applied during form practice, but takes a good deal of practice to stay true to the intent.  A better starting point is to apply this gaze practice to a qigong form such as Shi Ba Shi.  I have been doing it while doing my favorite qigong sequence which my first teacher called “Longevity”, but my not be known by many in the Yang Family Tai Chi circle.  Perhaps a single form practice of cloud hands, first stationary and then with footwork would work well.  I will try it and add my results to this post at a later time.

The object of the above is not to become aware of using “gaze” extensively during taiji performance, but only to observe the impact that gaze has on the internal energy aspects of taijichuan.  (“Movement begins with intent (internal gaze) which moves the Qi through stillness within movement; the Qi directs the movement towards to desired goal through a gathering of energy followed by a release to the end point.” This is a very rough draft of how this takes place in taiji.  Feel free to restate it more accurately and/or eloquently and let me know.)

While too much focus on gaze during taiji practice  would be a distraction, too little attention to gaze will deprive the practitioner of the full value of internal energy.  This is what makes the taiji journey a lifetime endeavor rather than a short term goal.