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TheNLPPatternoftheMonth:
EyeScanningPatterns
FromtheNLPpointofview,eyescanningpatterns_themovementoftheeyesfromone
positiontoanother_reflectconnectionsandoverlaps(synesthesias),andalso
discontinuities,betweendifferentrepresentationalsystemfunctionsandthusbetween
differentstates,parts,personalities,neuralstructures,etc.Ifyouaskapersontomove
hisorhereyes"veryslowly"fromonebasiceyeposition(i.e.,upleft,downright,up
right,lateralleft,etc.)toanother,youwillobservethatmovementisseldomperfectly
smoothandlinear.Theeaseordifficultyapersonhasinmakingsuchamotionis
indicativeofwhichcognitiveandrepresentationalprocessesarehabituallymore
connectedorseparatedforthatperson.
Creativity,flexibilityandlearninginvolvetheabilitytothinkinnewanddifferentways.
Oneapproachtodevelopingnewabilitiesistofindhabitualwaysofthinkingandthen
changeoraddtothem.OnewaytofindandbreakhabitualwaysofthinkingusingNLPis
througheyemovementpatterns.Sinceoureyesreflectpatternsofourinternalprocesses
theymaybeusedasatoolforbothdiagnosingandchanginghabitualthoughtpatterns.
ThefollowingexercisesweredevelopedbyRobertDiltsin1986inordertoutilizeeye
scanningpatternsasameanstoexploreyourhabitualthinkingpatterns,andthento
expandandenrichthem.
"EyeSkating":ExercisesForThe"Mind'sEyes"
Exercise1:ExploringRepresentationalSystemsThroughEyePosition
Asanexercise,trythefollowingexperiment.Keepingyourheadorientedstraightinfront
ofyou,putyoureyesintoeachofthebasiceyepositionsindicatedontheeyemovement
chart.Holdeacheyepositionfor30seconds.Haveapartnerkeeptrackofthetimefor
yousoyouarenotdistracted.

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Noticethedifferencesyouexperiencebetweeneachposition.Aresomeofthemmore
comfortable,naturalorfamiliarfeelingthansomeoftheothers?Doesitfeeltoyouasif
youareactuallyholdingyoureyesforalongertimeinsomeofthepositionsthanothers?
Insomeofthepositionsyoumightfindyourselfthinkingormakingcertaintypesof
associations.Inothers,youmayjustdrawacompleteblank.Whicheyepositionsdoyou
associatemorewithcreativity?stuckness?beingadreamer?beingarealist?beinga
critic?
Exercise2:ExploringtheEffectsofEyePositiononProblemSolving
Asafurtherexperiment,takesomeproblemorideayouareworkingonandsimplyhold
youreyesinthesedifferentpositionsforafewminuteswhileyouarethinkingofit.
Noticehowiteffectsyourthoughtprocessinrelationtotheproblemoridea.Howhas
thewayinwhichyouarethinkingabouttheideaorproblemchangedasaresultofeach
eyeposition?Beespeciallyawareofhowyouareaffectedbytheunfamiliareye
positions.Doanyoftheeyepositionsbringoutcertainkindsoffeelings,soundsor
imagery?Doesmovingyoureyestoanyoftheselocationschangeanyofthequalitiesof
theimages,soundsorfeelingsyoualreadyhaveassociatedtotheproblemoridea?
Exercise3:ExploringPatternsofEyeMovementandSynesthesias
Ourphysiology,andinparticularoureyemovements,formtheunderlyingcircuitry
throughwhichourstrategiesaremanifested.Thus,ourstrategiesareonlyaseffectiveas
theneurophysiologicalcircuitrywhichsupportsthem.Muchcreativethinkingcomes
fromourabilitytolinkoursensoryrepresentationalsystemstogetherasina
synesthesia.Patternsofeyemovementsalsoreflectwhichsenseswetendtohabitually
linktogetherandhowstrongthoselinksare.
Asanotherexercise,trymovingyoureyesbetweenvariouscombinationsofthedifferent
eyepositionssay,fromuplefttodownrightandbackagain,orfromuprighttoupleft
andbackagain(ifyouuseall9positions,thereareabout45possiblecombinations).
Someofthemostcommonandsignificantpatternsareshownbelow.

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SomeBasicEyeMovements
Moveyoureyesbackandforthbetweenthetwoeyepositionsyouhavechosenabout6
times.Startbymovingyoureyesveryslowlyatfirstandthenspeedupthemovement.
Trytomoveyoureyesbetweenthetwopositionsinastraight,smoothlyline.Then
switchtoanotherpairofeyepositionsandrepeattheprocessagain.Keepchoosingnew
pairsuntilyouhavecoveredallofthebasicpairsofeyepositions.
Findapartnertoactasanobserver.Haveyourobservernoticeexactlyhowyoureyes
movebetweenthetwopositions.Youwillprobablysoonrealizethatmovementis
seldomperfectlylinear.Oftentheeyeswillmoveinlittlejerks,pausingbrieflyincertain
placesalongthepathoftrajectory.Oftentheeyeswillarcratherthanmoveinastraight
linefromonelocationtotheother.Sometimestheeyeswillmovefartherinonedirection
thantheother.
Patternsofeyemovementsareawayoflinkingvariouspartsofyourneurologytogether
bylayingdownaphysiologicaltrackorpathbetweenthevariouspartsofyourbrainthat
youusetorepresentinformationabouttheworldaroundyou.Theeaseordifficultyyou
haveinmovingyoureyestothesedifferentpositionscanhelpyoutoassesswhich
neurologicalpathwaysaremostopenandsmooth.Infact,wesometimesusethis
particularproceduretomakewhatiscalledan"eyeprint"ofanindividual.Likeafinger
print,aperson's"eyeprint"isarepresentationaboutanindividual'sunique
characteristicsbutonaneurologicalinsteadofphysicallevel.Eyeprintscanhelpyou
togetinsightintowhichpartsofaperson'sbrainarehabituallyconnectedorseparated,
andthuswhatkindsofthinkingprocessesapersonmightexcelatorhavedifficultywith.
Thisinturncanhelpassesswhatkindsofaptitudes,innerconflictsorpersonalitytraitsa
personmightbemostlikelytoexperienceandexpress.Itcanalsobeusedasawayto
defineareasthatmaybeimprovedandenhanced.
Asinthepreviousexerciseoneyeposition,takenoteofwhichpatternsofmovement
seemmostcomfortable,familiarandnatural.Dosomepatternsseemmorerelatedor
conducivetocertaintypesofthinking?Onceagainnoticewhichpatternsofmovement
seemmoreconnectedwithcreativity?stuckness?beingadreamer?beingarealist?being
acritic?
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Exercise4.CreatingandStrengtheningNewNeurologicalPathways
Takethepatternsofmovementwhichseemedthemostdifficult,awkwardor
uncomfortableand"beatapath"betweenthetoeyepositionsbymovingyoureyesback
andforthbetweenthepositions.Yourpartnercanhelpyoubyusinghisorherfingerasa
guideforyoureyes.Haveyourpartnerholdafingeraboutafoottoafootandahalfin
frontofyouandmovethefingerbackandforthbetweenthetwoeyepositionsyouwant
tolinktogethermorestrongly.Yourpartnershouldbeginbymovingthefingervery
slowlyatfirstinasmooth,even,linearpath.Asyoureyesaccommodatetothe
movement,askyourpartnertoincreasethespeedofthefingermotion,tracingthesame
path.Youmaydothiswithoutapartnerbydrawingalineonapieceofpaperanduseit
asaguidebyholdingitinfrontofyouattheproperangle.
Toassesstheimpactofcreatingthesenewlinks,onceagaintakesomeproblemoridea
youareworkingonandnoticehowusingeachnewcircuiteffectsit.Firsttakenoteof
howyouarethinkingabouttheproblemoridea.Isitprimarilyfeelings,words,sound,or
images?Whatqualitiesorsubmodalitiesseemtobeemphasizedinyourcurrent
representationoftheproblemoridea?Then,withoutconsciouslyfocusingontheideaor
problem,haveyourpartner(orthepaperguideline)leadyouthroughtheneweye
pattern.Noticehowiteffectsyourthoughtprocessinrelationtotheproblemoridea.
Howdoesthewayinwhichyouarethinkingabouttheideaorproblemchangeasaresult
ofthenewpattern?Whatchangesintermsofthequalitiesoftheimages,soundsor
feelingsyouhadinitiallyassociatedtotheproblemoridea?
Exercise5.ExploringandCreatingNewCircuitsThroughEyeMovementPatterns
Clearly,moresophisticatedthinkingpatternstendtorequiremoresophisticatedpatterns
ofeyemovements.Ifyoubegintoobservepeople,youprobablynoticethataperson's
eyescanmoveinsomefairlyinvolvedsequences.Somepatternsappeartobealmost
circularothersmaybetriangular,rectangularorsomeothertypeorcombinationof
shapes(someexamplesareshownbelow).

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SomePossiblePatternsofEyeMovements
Asanexperiment,trytracingsomeofthesebasickindsofshapeswithyoureyes.Makea
circle,asquare,atriangleorsomeothershape.Makesureyourepeatthepatternafew
timestogetasenseforhowiteffectsyou.Howeasyorcomfortableisittomoveyour
eyesinthatpattern?
Nowtrychangingsomeaspectoftheeyemovementpattern.Ifyoutracedthecirclein
onedirection,reverseit.Ifthebaseofthetrianglewasonthebottom,turnitupside
down.Whateffectdoesthathaveonyouoryourstateofconsciousness?
Aswiththepreviouseyeexercises,takesomeproblemorideayouareworkingonand
noticehowusinganewpatternofcircuitryeffectsit.Onceagain,notethecognitive
structureofhowyouinitiallythinkabouttheproblemoridea.Whataspectsofimagery,
soundand/orfeelingseemtobeemphasizedinyourstartingrepresentationofthe
problemoridea?Again,gothroughtheneweyepatternwithoutconsciouslyfocusingon
theideaorproblem,andnoticehowiteffectsyourthoughtprocessinrelationtothe
problemoridea.Howdoesthewayinwhichyouarethinkingabouttheideaorproblem
changeasaresultofthenewpattern?Whatchangesintermsofthequalitiesofthe
images,soundsorfeelingsyouhadinitiallyassociatedtotheproblemoridea?
InNLP,thesetypesofeyemovementcombinationsareusedinamoreprecisewayto
developnewthinkingstrategiessuchasintheNewBehaviorGeneratorstrategy.
Sometimeshabitualsynesthesiapatternscancauseproblemsaswell,andmayneedtobe
interrupted.TheFailureIntoFeedbackstrategy,infact,explicitlyaddressesthe
relationshipbetweeneyepositionandsynesthesiapatterns.Theprocess,whichinvolves
breakingandreestablishingsynesthesiapatternsthroughtheuseofeyemovements,is
describedindetailinChangingBeliefSystemswithNLP(1990,pp.2553).
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TheprocessofEMDR(EyeMovementDesensitizationResponse),developedby
FrancineShapiro,drawsfromthistypeofuseofeyemovements.

References
ChangingBeliefSystemswithNLP,Dilts,R.,1990.
ToolsforDreamers,Dilts,R.B.,Epstein,T.andDilts,R.W.,1991.
AlsoseetheArticleoftheMonthortheArchivesifyouareinterestedincheckingout
NLPinmoredepth.
ForinformationonRobertDiltsproductsandservices,pleaseseeUpcomingSeminars
orRobertsProductPageorreturntoHomePage.Ifyouhaveproblemsorcomments
concerningourWWWservice,pleasesendemailtothefollowingaddress:
michaelp@bowsprit.com.
Thispage,andallcontents,areCopyright1998byRobertDilts.,SantaCruz,CA.

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