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+--- Thread: My Vision Journal (/showthread.php?tid=1596)
Re: My Vision Journal - sean - 08-02-2011
Hi Pikachu
Yes, examine it if you can. What I find sometimes happens is that when you do that it comes out into the open strongly.
Sean
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 08-04-2011
Thanks for the tip. I'm not sure if I'm doing it right, but I like to imagine myself prodding the area of strain with an invisible stick, and though I could be imagining it all, I get the impression that the strain intensifies for a little bit and often sort of fades away. Sometimes, it comes back, but then, I just repeat the process. In the end, I figure that it doesn't matter if it's imagined or not. Vision is half-imagined anyway.
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 08-08-2011
I haven't posted my progress in so long that I don't really know where to start.
For starters, I think I'm getting closer to getting the long swing right. I've worked on it for a couple of weeks now, but it is still very much a work in progress.
I also think I've identified one source of extra strain: I have a tendency to not pay attention to anything at times. Trying to swing when I'm doing something else produces this effect more often than not.
I'm getting better at not getting bothered by strain. I just roll out the welcome mat and ask if it'd like a place to stay for the night. Usually, my kind words scare it away.
As for improvement, I'm starting to realize that much of the improvement process comes from within. I have always been the type to ask a bunch of questions and try to analyze a problem to its logical conclusion, but it turns out that vision improvement requires a lot of experimentation and introspection, and for a majority of the questions I have, only I can answer them.
Well, I'm off to continue my quest.
Re: My Vision Journal - JMartinC4 - 08-09-2011
Pikachu Wrote:... I also think I've identified one source of extra strain: I have a tendency to not pay attention to anything at times. Trying to swing when I'm doing something else produces this effect more often than not.... Well, I'm off to continue my quest.When you can connect the times that you are not paying attention to anything (skylarking / daydreaming / etc.) with the times that you are clear flashing (getting distant images focused onto your foveas and paying attention to it), you will begin to develop permanently improved eyesight.
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 08-09-2011
I agree with you there. Problem is, I haven't really had any clear flashes to compare with yet.
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 08-24-2011
Musings about Bates
So I got to thinking about the Bates method last night as I was going to sleep. I was inspired by this apparent paradox: How do you see something without trying to see it? I say âapparentâ paradox because I believe that itâs not so much a paradox as it is common sense for normal-sighted people. For a myope like me though, it really is a paradox â to see something without even trying! How do you even know what youâre looking at then? To be honest, I still donât really get it, but I discovered a bunch of other stuff about the Bates method as a whole.
I started thinking about all of the âexercisesâ that Bates suggested: palming, swinging, shifting, sunning, etc. Why do they work? Doesnât it require an effort to even think about palming or swinging or shifting? When you palm, you have to see black; when you swing, you have to see movement; and when you shift, you have to see the previous point worse. Thatâs effort, right? But then I used my common sense and found something startling: youâre not supposed to *DO* any of those things! What Bates must have meant was that if you palm correctly, you *WILL* see black; if you swing correctly, you *WILL* see movement; and if you shift correctly, you *WILL* see the previous point worse. I donât want to criticize the fellow, but I think he could have done a better job of communicating this point. Even substituting the word ânoticeâ for each instance of âseeâ in the previous lines above would have helped.
So as it would turn out, you donât really make any effort when you do Bates exercises. Seeing black is just an inevitable consequence of palming properly and of the mindâs relaxation. What really stinks is that Iâve been going about this whole business with the wrong mindset the whole time! I always figured that to do the swing correctly, I have to âseeâ the movement. I had it all backwards this whole time! How frustrating.
Then, I started thinking about why all of these other exercises work. Whatâs with the âthree cups accommodation exerciseâ or stereoscopic images? Why do exercises that sound like they require effort actually improve the sight? After some thought, I figured that the reason lies in the relaxation of the mind. Bates wrote, âAnything that relaxes the mind will relax the eyesâ â or something to that extent. That might very well have something to do with it. If you can âdistractâ your mind enough so that it doesnât interfere with the eyes, then you can improve the sight. So itâs really all a âreleaseâ â the idea being that whenever your mind thinks of something unfavorable, it constricts the eyes and lowers their efficiency. Therefore, anything that can âdistractâ the eyes from such bad thoughts should restore this efficiency. In other words, if you can prevent your mind from getting in the way of your eyes, your eyes will work more effectively. I guess the eyes are kind of like an introverted person who prefers to work alone. With this idea of release, it is obvious why there are so many ways to improve the sight (as Bates also pointed out). Anything that can relax the mind or distract it from using effort will leave the eyes in a better condition, at least temporarily. How interesting!
This brings me back to my original question. How *CAN* I see without trying? Itâs clearly still a work in progress. I suppose if it wasnât, Iâd have much perfect vision. Itâs so difficult because years of bad habits have been ingrained in me and itâs my tendency to make an effort to see things. When I read, for example, I look at words I am reading, but block out everything else. Clearly, this is staring and is a terrible strain on the eyes. But if I donât do this, mostly all of the text looks equally clear! And so, poor vision is indeed a vicious cycle. To see one thing best, I need to lock my eyes or else itâs equally clear. But if I donât lock my eyes, Iâll see everything equally clearly and will end up taking in too large an area and will still strain the eyes. I suppose this is why one should start from an area where he/she sees best. Thatâs where the vision is closest to normal.
Why canât you just do nothing then? Well, the answer is quite simple, after a few minutes of thought. Obviously, when you donât do anything, you are essentially letting your subconscious take the wheel, and so you will mirror whatever habits you have ingrained in your mind. So of course normal-sighted people donât have to do anything because they have all the right habits ingrained in them. But a myope like me tends to strain and stare and lock with a vengeance any time he/she leaves the subconscious to its own devices.
I think Iâve rambled enough. Might have missed a few of my thoughts, but most of it is in the paragraphs above.
Re: My Vision Journal - hereford_picnic - 08-24-2011
It looks like you're starting to see...
Re: My Vision Journal - blwegrzyn - 08-24-2011
This is a great post.
I started my vision therapy 2 weeks ago.
I do it myself and all i do is read all the bates books and forums trying to understand more.
I concentrate so much how this works that probably i don't even progress.
I try to palm and have no idea where to look while palming.
Should I look at my eyes or try not to look anywhere?
Where is that pure black? My brain only or I should see it, etc.
Then swinging, i don't even know what should I do to get this right.
Like you said, it could be as simple as : don't think, just relax!!!
According to Bates the healing takes as long as it takes you to relax, so technically I could be fixed in seconds, but I cannot.
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 08-24-2011
@blwegrzyn: Two weeks really isn't a very long time at all. I've been going at the Bates method for well over a year now (three years if you count the two years in which I thought that palming (I did it incorrectly) every few days was enough to restore vision; how naive I was then
) and for all of that time spent, I don't have a grain of permanent improvement to report! In fact, all I have managed to do is to *slow* my progressive myopia so that it's not accelerating towards blindness.But this simple thought keeps me going: What can I lose by continuing? What can I gain by giving up? (The answer to both questions, by the way, is "practically nothing.")
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 09-13-2011
Another update.
Nothing much really, but I think I've hit upon another little nugget of vision improvement wisdom: Keep it simple.
I find that often times, I make things so much more complicated than they need to be. In another thread, I was advised to shift a point in my mind instead of the physical objects themselves. This is fine...if it's the ONLY thing I'm doing! If I happen to be typing on a computer, as I am now, or reading a book, or doing something else, it's just too much for me to remember. Though perhaps not as principally correct, physical shifting is still optimal for me when I am doing something else, as trying to shift mentally just proves to be an extra strain on top of my pre-existing strain.
Strange, paradoxical, and yet...logical. *shrugs*
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 09-20-2011
Today, I tried to read (a book) with as little strain as possible. It's not at all easy to do, but I managed to keep it up (for the most part) over the course of fifteen minutes. I'm not sure if I read without strain or if I read with the illusion of no strain, but the signs I got seemed encouraging.
The only way I can explain it is that I felt like I could barely keep my eyes open, and at times, I almost wasn't sure if I was awake or not. It'd be nice if someone could confirm this for me, but I feel that I'm on the right track. Unfortunately, it doesn't take much effort at all to start straining again. And it's not yet a habit, so I can only read like this for as long as I remember. Hopefully, that will change.
Re: My Vision Journal - Nini - 09-21-2011
Hi Pikachu
After reading jiminos' success story (<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.iblindness.org/community/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2139">viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2139</a><!-- l -->) I started using plus lenses (only one side since my left eye is more than 3 diopters better than my right eye) for reading.
I feel less strain this way, the rather strong (+3) glass reminds me to keep my eyes relaxed and not to focus too much at one time (otherwise I won't see much at all).
When I don't read much, I don't bother to put on the glasses and then I usually recognize that I tend to approach the writing to my face much more than necessary - I start holding it as far away as possible and somehow I mostly end up rather close to my nose - and still my eyes feel strained when I finish.
Re: My Vision Journal - Diamond_Eyes - 09-30-2011
Pikachu I've read your vision journal.
you're doing a great job, I'm sure that you're gonna make it, just keep at it!
The secret ingredient is perseverance and I can assert with confidence that you have it; this thread is one year old now!congrats
A bit more to go, and I'm sure that you'll post in the "success stories" section ;D
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 10-03-2011
@Diamond_Eyes: Thanks for the encouragement. That's something one can never have too much of.
I still think that I have a very long way to go, but I know it's going to take a while, so I might as well enjoy the ride...
Re: My Vision Journal - Zulfadhli - 11-02-2011
Pikachu Wrote:@Diamond_Eyes: Thanks for the encouragement. That's something one can never have too much of.Yes.
I still think that I have a very long way to go, but I know it's going to take a while, so I might as well enjoy the ride...
No worries.Just keep at it.And leave everything to the future.