Nose Drawing

Dear Students:
Nose drawing, is another Bates Method technique that I like & is easy to do any where.  It requires acting as if a writing utensil is glued to the tip of your nose, so you can draw or trace objects with it.  It is a simple way to improve eyesight as the process softens the extra-ocular muscles where they attach to the white part of each eyeball, called the sclera.  Those with supple eyeballs can instantly look at something close up and then far away with clarity.

 

While moving your nose in space, the key ingredient that can enhance your sight is using your imagination. When you strive to feel & imagine the shape your nose is creating it teaches you how to passively sketch with your eyes instead of voluntarily moving them. Sketching is a vision habit that people who see clearly do instinctively. You can develop this effortless way of tracking with the eyes, so you can internally form a picture that results in normal vision. Nose drawing is a great way to interrupt the bad habit of staring & fixing the eyes when you are trying too hard to see something. 

While you are drawing, the oscillating motions of your head can lessen muscular tension around the base of your skull where facial & visual nerves reside.  This can effectively relax the eyes.  Letting vision come to you in a relaxed manner can help you to see better.  Watch the video with Nathan Oxenfeld for more details. 

Nose Drawing Explorations: 
{Choose one or more of the suggested explorations each time you nose draw. Gently move your head with eyes opened & then closed while drawing. If you experience any discomfort, slow down & make smaller motions.  If you feel pain, stop immediately & rest.}
1. Imagine your nose is a long paint brush & is contacting a wall in front of you.  Begin by simply painting a horizontal line with your favorite color, on the wall back & forth.  Focus on how you are painting the line onto the surface.  Make it smoother & simpler and notice if the line changes.  Let your eyes passively sketch as you attend to the line you are painting. Notice if you move your head more gracefully when you paint with your eyelids opened versus closed.
2.Now pretend your nose has a feather at the end of it and create a line in space to the left & right.  Notice if the quality of your motion is different from painting with a brush.  Then draw a vertical line & diagonal lines & become aware when you loose the image of the feather moving in space.
3.Next choose a pencil to write with onto a piece of paper in front of your face. It can be a square, a triangle, a circle, or figure eight.  Strive to sense the pencil touching the paper throughout the entire shape.  How long can you track the pencil mark? 
4.This time, write some letters of the alphabet with a crayon.  Feel how writing with a crayon changes how much pressure you use as you pretend it is contacting paper.    
5. Pretend your nose has a light ray coming out of it and trace the outline of an object such as a building.  Imagine a gold beam touching along the edges of the building.  Now see a red beam scanning the curvy parts of the trunk of a tree.  When you become more skilled trace the branches of the tree &/or fill in all the details of the building.  As a result you may become a better artist the next time you actually create with your desired medium.

When practiced on a regular basis, nose drawing can change your way of looking at the world.  May you playfully imagine your way to better eyesight! Peace!
~Donna