I figured it was time to stop posting abstract stuff, and get on with actual test card practice. So I palmed and saw what I initially thought was a clear flash. But then I realized that it hurt my eyes to look at the card, and if I moved my eyes at all the letters would blur again. This suggests that this was not a true clear flash, because no matter what you believe about relaxation, in truth straining temporarily makes you see better.
Now I'm questioning whether I've ever actually had a true clear flash--
The good doctor says if the vision is improved temporarily & you consciously notice it, it can disturb you so much that you lose the clarity & in turn, become depressed (strained) about losing it so much that you will not experience another one.
Just don't get absorbed in the fact that you "lost a clear flash".
William H. Bates Wrote:Usually the degree of relaxation gained is markedly imperfect, and is, therefore, lost to a greater or less degree when the conditions are unfavorable, as when letters or objects are being regarded at unfavorable distances. So disturbing are the impressions of sight under these circumstances, that just as soon as details begin to come out at distances at which they have not previously been seen, the patient usually loses his relaxation...
Summon-Pretty-Peace Wrote:...I palmed and saw what I initially thought was a clear flash. But then I realized that it hurt my eyes to look at the card, and if I moved my eyes at all the letters would blur again. This suggests that this was not a true clear flash, because no matter what you believe about relaxation, in truth straining temporarily makes you see better. Now I'm questioning whether I've ever actually had a true clear flash--
This shows how flip-floppy vision creates flip-floppy thinking/misinterpretation. You are unconsciously convinced that your blurry vision is normal for you. When you manage to reverse it for a moment it is interesting and you like it, but it contradicts your unconscious belief. Your unconscious then forces you to give up that clear flash and go back to your good blurry eyesight because that feels so much more normal. The real/true strain that produces blurry vision feels normal and therefore so does the blur. Why?
You are clearly capable of clear eyesight. Clear eyesight is normal. You are nearsight-fixated. Instead of looking at the card when the flash occurs, don't look at anything. Pretend you're blind. Relax. Breathe out. Don't let your gaze drop like a submissive person. Keep looking up.
Enjoy the occasional clear flash, and keep looking to prolong them, but also look for gradual improvements instead of an instantaneous magical cure. You are looking to (re)develop your normal eyesight - think of your eyesight as having been stunted at birth. You didn't get to develop normal eyesight because you didn't know anything about it, and neither did your parents/siblings/friends/teachers etc.
If you had known as a child that by performing certain Bates Method actions you could have had clear distance vision, you would have chosen that - rather than to keep studying or nearsight-fixating in order to read more and answer more quickly and please everybody. Reject the blur. Say 'no' to it. Tell it to 'get behind' you. Say 'yes' to clear vision; tell it to get in front of you and lead you.
Here's another problem: Since each eye has a different blur level, each eye needs slightly different kinds/amounts of blur rejection. But ultimately they have to work together.
And it's not just the eyes! Your head/neck/shoulders/torso/hips need to be in alignment. Continually check your posture.
"The pain and discomfort may be absent in the chronic cases and it is an encouraging sign when the patient begins to experience them" by W. H. Bates...
If you are sick of the distance I can recommend what helped me 2 weeks ago. Get a near vision chart. The one you can cut out of Relearning to See is excellent.
In Bates' article of presbyopia it said that Farsights see the distance very imperfect too, so there not really farsighted. The same is true for nearsightedness.
Since you can always improve vision no matter how perfect. You can just forget about the distance altogether and perfect your near vision. It will improve your distance vision alot.
Summon-Pretty-Peace Wrote:I figured it was time to stop posting abstract stuff, and get on with actual test card practice. So I palmed and saw what I initially thought was a clear flash. But then I realized that it hurt my eyes to look at the card, and if I moved my eyes at all the letters would blur again. This suggests that this was not a true clear flash, because no matter what you believe about relaxation, in truth straining temporarily makes you see better.
Now I'm questioning whether I've ever actually had a true clear flash--
I had a pretty wild clear flash earlier from applying central fixation, shifting and everything else that resulted in strain, I instantly felt my eyes strain, now they still feel strained (is this strain the same strain that causes imperfect vision?), I know that if I worry about the strain I will cause more strain.
Sometimes I question whether or not my clear flashes have been true or not.
blauw Wrote:I had a pretty wild clear flash earlier from applying central fixation, shifting and everything else that resulted in strain, I instantly felt my eyes strain, now they still feel strained (is this strain the same strain that causes imperfect vision?), I know that if I worry about the strain I will cause more strain.
Now you know why blurry vision is painful to keep than the perfect one. Realize the strain more & you will feel motivated to relieve it faster.
"Things get worse before they get better (when you tread the right path)".
Maybe your eyes are just contracting. that's natural. the Heart does that. Relax goes with Contract. Like ying and yang. It happens with everything in the body.
I meet people, where doctors told them their heart was a ticking time bomb. They said their heart pulls it self together (contracts) every once in a while. If they just knew how normal that is. Pressure in itself is a movement.
I'm afraid that i'm trying to hard now also. When I first started I noticed a few clear flashes and I had two distinct dreams where I had clear vision. I have had non of that in the last little while. Today while I was at work my eyes started to burn and feel dry (I was not wearing any glasses). That is something that always happened when I wore contact lenses. I think it was just happening because I was staring too much. I'm trying to hard to deliberately try to relax my eyes and allow them to see. It kind of seems like a catch 22, I need to teach myself to relax, but to relax I need to be able to not think about it.
NyoGoat Wrote:I'm afraid that i'm trying to hard now also. When I first started I noticed a few clear flashes and I had two distinct dreams where I had clear vision. I have had non of that in the last little while. Today while I was at work my eyes started to burn and feel dry (I was not wearing any glasses). That is something that always happened when I wore contact lenses. I think it was just happening because I was staring too much. I'm trying to hard to deliberately try to relax my eyes and allow them to see. It kind of seems like a catch 22, I need to teach myself to relax, but to relax I need to be able to not think about it.
Eyes burn & feel dry for a simple reason - you are not blinking enough. And if you are, its too conscious. Blinking is best subconscious.
You don't have to teach yourself to relax; stop it. Imagine anything from your memories that is pleasant & easy - that's relaxation.
One of the first things I began doing before experiencing an incredible year-long surge of clear vision flashes and clear vision development, was to keep my eyes moist by frequently wetting them with any available clean, clear, sterile liquid - usually water, artificial tears, or my own spit (which was often the best).
It is well-known that the neonatal eye antibiotics can significantly degrade the eye's tear-making ability, but of course that effect goes away and of course the infant has no memory of it - right? Wrong.
The reason your eyes feel and are dry is that you are trying to use them in a normal way. Remember Neo in the first Matrix movie? When he wakes up from his dream-state his eyes hurt for no reason, and Morpheus tells him it's because he's never used them.
Normal babies are born with normal 20/20 or better eyesight and normal tear-making and focusing-tearfilm-making conjunctiva. (That makes sense - eyesight-oriented creatures are born with normal vision because they need it to survive.) The antibiotics mess it all up. To the infant, the strain that was forced on it due to the antibiotics soon begins to feel 'normal'. Now the infant is nearsight-fixated. Nearsight-fixation disorder is near impossible to undo or reverse without instruction. No instruction is provided on how to do that and unfixate from the nearpoint. The Bates Methods of palming, swinging, shifting, sunning and central fixation (among others) help promote the redevelopment of normal eyesight.
Mzero Wrote:If you are sick of the distance I can recommend what helped me 2 weeks ago. Get a near vision chart. The one you can cut out of Relearning to See is excellent.
Oh, interesting. I'm going to try that today.
JMartinC4 Wrote:One of the first things I began doing before experiencing an incredible year-long surge of clear vision flashes and clear vision development, was to keep my eyes moist by frequently wetting them with any available clean, clear, sterile liquid
I might try that out. My high school math teacher claimed that she perfected her vision by trying to focus her eyes on small distant points, eating lots of vegetables, and splashing her eyes with cold water every morning.
Mzero Wrote:If you are sick of the distance I can recommend what helped me 2 weeks ago. Get a near vision chart. The one you can cut out of Relearning to See is excellent.
I think I will try that.
Summon-Pretty-Peace Wrote:
JMartinC4 Wrote:One of the first things I began doing before experiencing an incredible year-long surge of clear vision flashes and clear vision development, was to keep my eyes moist by frequently wetting them with any available clean, clear, sterile liquid
I might try that out. My high school math teacher claimed that she perfected her vision by trying to focus her eyes on small distant points, eating lots of vegetables, and splashing her eyes with cold water every morning.
Also JMartinC4, how does one put spit in their eyes? How does one go about getting that on the eyes?
I actually enjoy looking at small distant points. I remember as a little kid with perfect vision always looking to one small point. It was instinct. Now not so much.
I'm going to start using water as well and taking my flaxseed/fish oils again. As I remember getting frequent clear flashes from taking something rich in the Omega's.
Interesting posts you guys. I think August has us all on the same vision season....
Mzero Wrote:If you are sick of the distance I can recommend what helped me 2 weeks ago. Get a near vision chart. The one you can cut out of Relearning to See is excellent.
In Bates' article of presbyopia it said that Farsights see the distance very imperfect too, so there not really farsighted. The same is true for nearsightedness.
Since you can always improve vision no matter how perfect. You can just forget about the distance altogether and perfect your near vision. It will improve your distance vision alot.
has this worked for anyone? Because trying to relax with distance vision seems be very strenuous so I constantly wonder if i'd be better off just doing close up work but concentrating on shifting and movement.
I disagree about rejecting the blur though...to me, rejecting invokes a stessfull and strainful attitude of avoidance... I once recieved some good advice to "love the blur", and see it as fertile ground to grow some clarity! An opportunity to relax, breath, blink, and let clarity sneak itself into your vision. I think I learned this from sorrisblue...
