Can you briefly outline the method. I actually do this sometimes but I'm not sure how systematic or "correct" it is.
1. Walk 2. Think of traumatic or challneging thing 3. Rapidly dart eyes left to right and rinse/repeat for a while 4. Profit?
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Take out three and you've pretty much got the idea.
1. Any movement that utilizes both halves of your brain/body. Walking is just easiest and the one he chooses. In therapy I've had something as simple as alternatively tapping my hands on my thighs. The point is to be using both sides of your brain. I've found walking works best personally.
2. Think of traumatic thing/event. Really focus on it at the front of your mind. The idea is that while using both sides of your brain walking, and keeping the idea at the forefront of your mind can sort of manually force the processing of the trauma. I have to note it works best (in my experience) with more acute trauma. Complex trauma is harder to keep in the same mental box while you're processing.
3. Unneeded. The walking is what facilitates the idea behind the eye movement. Utilizing both sides of your brain basically.
4. Yeah, the idea is to force the processing. Eventually the sort of "charge" with the memory/event dissipates as you begin to better be able to think about and handle the event.
4b I should note being in therapy helps too, as in general how best to think about the trauma can be difficult. For me though, I'd had plenty of therapy and had the tools, the method helped me actually do the "work" of the processing. YMMV.
So what should I do with my gaze, should I zone out, would that be helpful
Whatever helps you focus on the thoughts. Personally, I've found walking in nature is the best. There's plenty of empirics about being in and around nature and even if you're focusing on your surroundings it won't harm your focus (in my case at least, it feels like it helps). But honestly I haven't made any concerted effort to force behavior gaze wise either way. YMMV
I can't tell anything about 1. and 3., but depending on how you do 2. it might be a form of mental exposure from CBT.
Assuming you reach the threshold level (i.e. you're outside your comfort zone), and stay there, a habituation happens, because your brain adjusts to the situation.
In case of fear, you basically think about the proverbial spider so long, that the brain realizes "hmm, it's been 30 minutes, so maybe it won't annihilate me"? (Again, you need to actually feel the fear to the point of being uncomfortable.)
(Of course I don't know your specific case, and also I'm not a professional.)