Swirly Eye Method Shifting of Reality (Step by Step guide)

Swirly eye method shifting is done at bedtime. You lie down, count to 100 with affirmations, then slowly circle or sway your eyes behind closed lids while you picture your desired reality (DR), until you drift off. Shifters say you wake up there.

Many shifters see it as a twist on the Raven method, which uses the same count to 100, with the eye movement added on top. If you’ve tried other reality shifting techniques and your mind keeps wandering, giving your eyes something to do can help.

The swirl is meant to be slow and soft. It should never hurt, and if your eyes, forehead or head start to ache, that’s your cue to stop. If you’re new to all this, it’s also worth reading whether shifting methods are safe for you before you start.

A Beginner’s Guide to the Swirly Eye Method of Reality Shifting

Like most shifting methods, this one runs on three things: relaxing deeply, holding your attention on one thing, and telling yourself where you’re going. When psychologist Eli Somer and colleagues looked at reality shifting in a 2021 paper, that’s how they described the methods shifters share online: relaxation, concentrated attention and autosuggestion (affirmations you say to yourself). They also note that some shifters feel strongly present in their DR, and some believe the world they visit is real.

Why the eyes help is less clear, and what follows is only our guess. As you fall asleep, your eyes start making slow movements by themselves, and sleep researchers have studied them as a marker of sleepiness. A lazy swirl copies something your body already does on the edge of sleep, which may be why the method feels so drowsy. Nobody has tested that, but it’s a good reason to keep the swirl small and slow.

You don’t need to be a strong visualizer. If pictures don’t come easily, lean on the other senses instead: the sound of your DR, how the air smells, what you’re wearing.

○ How to Prepare for the Method

Do this in bed, at the time you’d normally go to sleep. The method ends in sleep, so there’s no point starting it in the middle of the afternoon.

Clear your head first. Put your phone away, finish whatever’s nagging at you, and take a short walk or a few minutes of slow breathing or meditation. A calm mind does most of the work here.

Pick a night when you can sleep properly afterwards. Teens aged 13 to 17 need 8 to 10 hours of sleep a day, according to the CDC. If you wear contact lenses, take them out before you lie down. This method ends in sleep, and the CDC advises against sleeping in lenses unless your eye care provider says it’s fine. If you try once and nothing happens, go to sleep. Don’t stay up for hours trying again.

It also helps to know exactly where you’re going before you lie down. Write your DR out in a script so the details are ready when you need them.

○ Step by Step Guide to Swirly Eye Method Shifting

Read the steps through once before you start, so you’re not checking your phone halfway.

1. Lie down somewhere comfortable, in your bed or on a sofa, in a quiet room. Get warm and settled so nothing pulls your attention back.
2. Close your eyes and count slowly to 100. Between numbers, repeat an affirmation in your head. Keep it simple and positive, such as “I am shifting to my desired reality” or “I am in my DR now”. The second kind, stated as if it’s already true, follows the Law of Assumption, and many shifters find it works better. “I’m enjoying my DR so much, thank you, Cosmos!” works too, or write your own.
3. When you reach 100 and your body feels heavy and far away, bring your attention to your eyes. Keeping your eyelids closed, slowly move your eyes in a circle or from side to side. Think of a lazy swirl, not a workout.
4. Keep swirling and start picturing your DR. Build it one sense at a time: what you can see, hear and smell, and how the air feels on your skin. Stay with it until the place feels real around you.
5. Keep it gentle the whole time. If your eyes or forehead start to ache or feel tight, or the swirling makes you dizzy or queasy, stop moving your eyes, rest them, and carry on with the visualizing alone. Mild eye discomfort usually goes away with rest. Don’t push through it. Pain isn’t a sign the method is working, and plenty of shifting methods use no eye movement at all.
6. Now step into your DR self. How do you talk there, what are you doing, who’s with you, what are you thinking? Go back to your affirmations whenever your mind wanders.
7. Let yourself fall asleep while you’re there. Shifters say that when you open your eyes, you’ll wake up in your DR. If you wake up in your own bed instead, don’t be discouraged. Many shifters say it took them a lot of tries. Write down anything you noticed and try again another night.

○ When to Stop and Get Help

Tired eyes are one thing. A few other things that can come up with this method shouldn’t be waited out.

Eye pain that is severe, won’t go away, or comes with worse vision needs a doctor straight away, MedlinePlus says. Headaches have their own warning signs. The NHS says a headache with vision or eye problems needs urgent advice, and one that starts suddenly and is extremely painful, or comes with loss of vision, needs 999 or A&E (your local emergency number outside the UK).

Some versions of this method promise you’ll “see a light”. Seeing soft colors and patterns behind your eyelids in a dark room is ordinary. Sudden flashes of light, a shower of new floaters (dots or lines), or a dark shadow moving across your vision are a different matter, especially when your eyes are open. The NHS lists these as signs of a detached retina that need urgent help.

Other versions tell you to rub your closed eyes until shapes appear. Leave that part out. The American Academy of Ophthalmology advises against rubbing your eyes, because it can scratch them, and years of rubbing can weaken the clear front of the eye.

Because the method carries you straight into sleep, you might wake up unable to move or speak for a moment. That’s sleep paralysis. It can be frightening, but the NHS says it’s harmless. If it keeps happening and you start to dread going to bed, or you’re tired all the time, see a doctor.

Feeling far away while you practice is part of the method. Feeling that way the next day is not. The NHS calls it depersonalization when you seem to be observing your own thoughts and actions from somewhere outside yourself, and derealization when people and things around you look lifeless or “foggy”. Somer’s team also warn that shifting can get hard to put down, and quote a shifter who couldn’t take a break because their DR was always at the back of their mind. If that sounds like you, or you’re losing sleep, falling behind at school or forgetting to eat because of shifting, set the method aside for a while and tell someone you trust, such as a parent, a teacher or your doctor.

FAQ About Eye Method Shifting of Reality