Take any object: a cup, a leaf, your own hand. Now look at its edge, the line where it meets the air around it. Follow that edge very slowly with your eyes, as if your gaze were an ant walking along it. Don't skip anything: every curve, every little bump, every change of direction.
That's contour gazing. And it might be one of the simplest meditations there is.
Where it comes from
Art teachers have used versions of this exercise for a long time. One of the best-known is "blind contour drawing", popularized by the American art teacher Kimon Nicolaïdes in his book The Natural Way to Draw, published in 1941. The idea: draw the outline of an object while looking only at the object, never at your paper. Your eye moves slowly along the contour, and your pencil follows at the same pace.
The drawings that come out are often strange, wobbly and funny. That doesn't matter. The point isn't to make a good drawing. It's to see.
Why it calms the mind
Contour gazing asks your attention to move slowly and continuously along a single line. There's no room for planning, judging or wandering. Your breath tends to slow down with your eye. Many people find that after five minutes they feel calmer, more present, and strangely refreshed.
How to practice it
1. Choose an object with an interesting outline: a plant, a shell, a crumpled napkin, your hand. 2. Sit comfortably and breathe slowly for a minute. 3. Rest your eyes on one point of the edge. 4. Move your gaze slowly along the contour, as slowly as you can. If you like, let a pencil follow on paper, without looking down. 5. When your mind wanders, come back to the exact point where your eye was. 6. Continue for five minutes, then look at your drawing, if you made one, and smile at it.
With a painting
You can also contour-gaze a painting: follow the edge of a figure, a tree, a cloud. It's a lovely way to slow down in a museum.
More practices like this
The Digital subscription brings small, art-based practices like this one, along with recommendations on art, books, music and places, at least one video each month and the digital edition of "(meditating) On Art". Ways of looking that become ways of resting.
Remember to take as much time as you need, and meet me at the next one.
Love, Evi