Floaters are small moving specks, squiggles, or shapes which drift across one’s vision. It’s like looking through glass which has a few tiny creatures sliding around inside it and is not perfectly clear. These can be minor and almost unnoticeable, or very annoying, partially obscuring the view.
Behind the cornea and the small front chamber of aqueous fluid and the lens, you’ll find the main part of the eyeball. This is a large chamber filled with gel-like vitreous fluid. In back of this is the retina, the sensitive brain-like tissue which receives the light signals, then sends them to the mind to interpret what we see. Any clumping in the vitreous fluid or speck of debris there will cast a shadow on the retina, which will be perceived as a floater. Sometimes just knowing that what looks like a real object in front of the eyes is merely a shadow helps people take it less seriously. No one is really afraid of a shadow puppet monster!
Cells in the entire body are born, live, and eventually die to be replaced by new cells, constantly. Keeping all the fluids flowing in the body, the blood and sweat and lymph, with good healthy food and clean water and exercise, will bring in nutrients and release waste. So keeping your entire body healthy is a big part of healing floaters. Perhaps they’re a sign telling you that your natural body cleansing mechanisms are becoming sluggish.
Bates practices, especially movement like the Long Swing, can help. I’m picturing a swamp, where the water is mostly stagnant, as opposed to a fresh lake, with clean new water coming in all the time. Even a clean swimming pool needs a well-working filtration system!
In the years I’ve been studying energy medicine with Deborah King, and in the work I’ve done with other teachers, I’ve become a big believer in visualization. Several years ago I became aware I had a large amoeba-like floater in my right eye. (I was probably wearing -6 glasses then.) I used to imagine a chip of ice melting on a hot sidewalk, trying to nudge the floater to soften and break up. I’ve also visualized every blink being like windshield wipers washing my eyes of any obstructions to my vision. I don’t know if this is why, but that large floater is pretty much gone now, only a few specks remaining. Sometimes I don’t see any specks there at all. Big progress!
Again related to energy medicine, when someone has floaters, part of the cause may be “Why do I want to obscure my vision — what don’t I want to see?”. Last year I did some work with a vision student who had a big floater, which she described as “like looking through my eyeglasses that had a big smudge on them”. The eye doctor gave her a clean bill of health. She did a little work on her “blind spots” and reported the floater all gone!
Finally, as with all vision improvement work, an attitude of releasing the strain and welcoming clearer sight seems to get you further than a war-like angry or fearful attitude of attack, killing the enemy (blur or limited sight in this case). See your vision getting clearer as you easily shift your gaze and blink, the floaters floating into view, then floating away, maybe soon to leave for good. Breathe deeply and feel the oxygen filling your healthy body, including your healthy eyes. Maybe most importantly, enjoy what you see, and be grateful for it.
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I wore strong glasses, then contact lenses, from age 5 into my 40s. While making many mistakes, eventually l learned how to improve the way I use my eyes and to see in a more relaxed, healthy manner. It is my pleasure to coach others to do the same. Visit me at https://NancyLNeff.com.