Warming Up
Warm up your face. Warming up your face will prepare your facial muscles for action. Some of these muscles coordinate eye motion, so by warming them up, you'll stand a better chance of moving one eye. To warm up: Massage your entire face lightly with your hands, rubbing in small circles. Pay special attention to the area around your eyes. Take a big, wide yawn. Open your eyes and mouth, and raise your eyebrows as high as you can. Now squeeze these features together tightly.
Warm up your eyes. Now that your face muscles are warmed up, you can do the same for your eyes. Roll your eyes around your eye sockets a few times. Face forward, hold your neck still, and look hard to the left. Switch to the right. Then, keeping your neck and face in the same position, look up and down. Crossing your eyes is another great eye warmup and is useful for training one eye to move at a time. If you've never mastered this skill, the tips in the next step should help.
Learn to cross your eyes, if necessary. Some of you may have crossed your eyes as part of your warmup, but don't worry if you haven't yet mastered this skill. With a little practice, you'll be a pro. Practice crossing your eyes by looking at the tip of your nose with both eyes. Slowly slide your gaze upwards to the bridge of your nose while looking inward. Hold a pen at arm's length directly in between both eyes. Focus on the pen and slowly draw it to your face until it is 2 – 4 inches (5.1 – 10.2 cm) away. At this distance, your eyes should cross. These techniques may use muscles that don't usually get much exercise, which can cause fatigue. When you get tired, take a break and try again. It may take you a little while, but you'll get it eventually!
Check your form in a mirror. Cross your eyes in front of a mirror to see if you've mastered this technique. How do your eyes look? If you have any doubts, ask the opinion of a friend or family member. If you don't have a mirror or another person available to help check your form, snap a selfie. Being able to cross your eyes can make learning to move one eye at a time easier.
Moving One Eye into Crossed Position
Look hard to the left or right. Whichever direction you choose, hold this position for a few seconds.
Bring your outward looking eye into the crossed position. If you're looking right you'll be moving your right eye, and if you're looking left you'll move your left. While holding your inward facing eye completely still, move the outward eye inward until it's in the crossed position. Give your moving eye a guide to follow. Hold your finger at arm's length off to the side and in front of your outward facing eye. Focus on the finger with that eye. Move your finger inward to the center of your nose, following it with your outward eye.
Return to your initial position. Reverse this motion so the eye you moved returns to its starting position. For example, if you started looking hard to the left, you'll return to this position from the crossed position. Practice one side a few times to get the feel for it before exercising the opposite eye.
Exercise the opposite eye. You know the drill by now. Since you have a feel for this maneuver, try it on the opposite side without a finger guide. If you have difficulty, go ahead and use your finger.
Moving One Eye out of Crossed Position
Cross your eyes. Time to put all your eye crossing practice to work. Cross your eyes, using a pen or finger guide if you need to. Once crossed, hold this position for a few seconds. Take frequent breaks to prevent strain.
Lure one eye away with a finger. Keep your eyes crossed. Now, position one of your pointer fingers in front of its same-side eye. For example, your right pointer finger should be in front of your right eye. Without moving the opposite-side eye, focus on the finger with the same-side eye. Slowly move the finger off to the side, following it with the same-side eye. It may help if you position the finger so only the same-side eye can see it. Try starting with your finger a little off to the side.
Return to the crossed position and repeat. Bring it back home. Reverse the luring motion, returning the same-side eye to its original crossed position. To get this motion down, you may want to repeat it a few times with one eye before trying it on the opposite-side eye.
Practice to master this skill. The more you perform this exercise, the easier it will become. Try it with each eye. Alternate back and forth. Try to move your eyes independently without a lure. If giving up the lure is hard at first, imagine that it's there. With practice, you'll be ready to trip out your friends with this trick.
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