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+--- Thread: My Vision Journal (/showthread.php?tid=1596)
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 11-17-2010
Yay! I figured out how to accomplish goal #1. It turns out that reading isn't as difficult as I thought. I know I've read it in many places before, but only after I read clarknight's description of it on the website did I truly understand.
You can't be thinking of something else while you're reading. You have to focus your attentions on the reading and actually be interested. The two things you have to do:
1. Avoid all distractions. The most difficult to avoid are the internal ones: daydreaming, preoccupying thoughts, etc.
2. Shift. By remembering to shift from part to part, there's a much lower chance of strain. Originally, I made the mistake of thinking that shifting had to be nonstop between points that I couldn't even see. It turns out that you strain less if you start with parts of the line that you can already see and shift between those.
I'm trying to apply this to computer work and TV, but I realize the ultimate problem. Most of the time, the computer work or TV show takes so much of my attention away that I don't remember to shift! Distractions aren't problematic but not shifting is!
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 11-18-2010
Observation: When I swing my eyes from the left periphery to the right, I can see a noticeable oppositional movement, which I believe is natural. When I swing them from right to left, the oppositional movement of objects is barely noticeable.
What is the cause of this phenomenon and how might I fix it if it is indeed a problem?
At the moment, this is what I have come up with:
1) My dominant right eye is what causes the oppositional movement when I go from left to right, but it's not as visible when I go from right to left since then, the left eye leads the right.
2) Astigmatism.
I originally thought it might be the first one, then thought it was likely the second one. Now, I really don't know which it could be.
Re: My Vision Journal - Nancy - 11-18-2010
Cover one eye and see if the swing from right to left, then from left to right, is the same with just that one open eye. With both eyes open the stronger one may be taking over.
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 11-18-2010
Thanks for the advice!
I tried it and I still think that both individual eyes have a bit of a problem with the right-to-left swing, although it's slightly better with my right eye.
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 11-19-2010
I got to thinking about central fixation today and I wonder: how does one go about central fixation the most effectively?
I mean, there seem to be two somewhat contradicting statements about it, which likely means that I don't truly understand what they say.
To see one point better, you must see other points worse.
Natural vision habits include focusing on object in the center of the vision field.
Those statements may or may not be direct quotes, but you guys should get the gist of what I'm saying here. My question is: how can you focus on the center AND see the periphery worse at the same time? Is it correct to try both at the same time? I seem to strain less when I do both, yet I cannot search for as small a detail when I am doing so.
Another question: The twin themes of Central Fixation and Movement seem to be difficult to follow at the same time. How does one do it? I can practice movement by swinging and i can practice central fixation by detail-searching, but when I swing, I can't detail-search and when I detail-search, I'm not good at moving from point to point. Is there a more efficient way to incorporate both or should I continue what I am doing now, which is trying to start with larger movements and focus areas? I know it's not a good thing to focus on a large area at a time (in fact, if I'm not mistaken, that's how myopia occurs), but I find it near impossible to focus on just a small part of each letter as I read; I'm lucky if I can successfully shift using sets of four or five letters.
Re: My Vision Journal - Nancy - 11-20-2010
It feels to me like you're over-thinking this. Two ideas which may help, first, to see one point best, notice that all other points are seen worse. You're not focusing on the other peripheral point too, which would be eccentric fixation, just being aware of it. Second, detail-searching is moving from point to point. You may be moving your gaze just a fraction but you're still moving it.
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 11-20-2010
Okay, thanks. I do tend to overthink things. I've noticed that it's often much less straining on the eyes if I notice the periphery, which in the past, I did not do because I thought that your eyes were only supposed to see what was in the center of the field. And I understand that concept behind moving the eyes a little, but considering that it's almost unnoticeable, I sometimes wonder if they're moving at all...
Anyway, I have to be fairly happy with what I was able to accomplish earlier this morning as far as detail searching goes. I still have one problem: Once I get to a certain point, I can't make that area of focus any smaller. I'm pretty sure that it's the extent of my myopia, which means that if I want to get any more details, I have to use imagination, right?
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 11-21-2010
Just letting all who care to read this that I am now taking a bit of a break off of detail-searching since it hasn't worked out very well. I'm going to go toward the imagination aspect of the Bates method, since I am not very good at that yet. I had no idea that remembering a period could be so difficult! I'm also rereading Bates's book Better Eyesight Without Glasses. It seems I learn a little more every time I reread it.
What I am confused about: When Bates says that you look away from the letter on the Snellen to see it worse and then look at it to see it better, I have no misunderstandings. When he says to look at the top and see the bottom worse, I understand that too. When he says to imagine a period at the bottom of the letter, I feel that he is a little ambiguous. Does he mean to imagine a period ON TOP of the black that makes up the bottom of the letter or does he mean to imagine a black period BELOW the letter?
Re: My Vision Journal - Nancy - 11-21-2010
I interpreted this as the period printed over the letter image, an even darker black on a period-sized area of the bottom of the letter.
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 11-21-2010
Thanks, that's what it sounded like to me too, but I was unsure.
Re: My Vision Journal - Zulfadhli - 11-22-2010
Pikachu Wrote:Thanks, that's what it sounded like to me too, but I was unsure.May I ask how much time you actually do all these exercises?I am not the busiest guy in the world but working at Intel i sometimes have to do 100hour a week.
Re: My Vision Journal - Nancy - 11-22-2010
Sneak it in where you can -- put an eye chart on your office wall, or use a calendar. Ideally if you have normal sight you're doing these "exercises" all day long.
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 11-22-2010
Yes, I tend to spend as much of my free time as I can doing these exercises, even spending time when I should be doing other (less important) stuff.
Incidentally, I'd like to say that I had a moment of success yesterday. I was practicing central fixation while brushing my teeth (I told you I practice whenever I can!) and as I was getting ready to leave and go to sleep, I decided that I was going to demonstrate that central fixation works, so I did a bunch of shifting between two points on the wallpaper in the bathroom, and the next thing I know, I saw the entire pattern clearly, definitely not 20/20, but about as well as I normally could with my weak glasses, which is a serious improvement for me. This was the first time that I had derived any benefit from central fixation, so you could imagine how happy I was.
It turns out that I figured out central fixation only after reading the chapter in Bates' book about five times through. I started with the letter "l" in the book, shifting from top to bottom and bottom to top and then putting the book further and further away. Then I tried it with the patterns on the wallpaper and finally the incident described above happened. It's a pity that I had to go to sleep rather than try more central fixation. Today, I've tried it all day and while I haven't had any clearing of the vision of that magnitude, I definitely feel more relaxed and more confident of my own abilities.
I still can't do the imagining a period on the bottom of a letter thing. I guess it has something to do with my imagination. I'll try to improve my imagination over the next few days.
And...I'm going to see the optometrist some time next week. I think that speaks for itself.
Re: My Vision Journal - Pikachu - 11-23-2010
Tried some more central fixation "look better, look worse" throughout the day, this time focusing on blinking and relaxation while doing it. I'll definitely say that there's improvement, but I still find that I'm straining, especially when I go from point to point repeatedly (i.e. from Point A to Point B and back again). I'm convinced that I'm not blinking correctly yet and likely there is still some internal strain involved. I'll look into this.
Having gone through the Bates book several times over the last week, I'll look into the Quackenbush book again. I've never really read it from cover to cover, but I tend to only read what I consider relevant anyway. I'll look at the blinking part and maybe the central fixation and palming aspects.
I know it sounds weird, but I've also been talking to some friends about this stuff, and they all regard it rather skeptically, which is to be expected. At least I'm spreading the word.
Re: My Vision Journal - sorrisiblue - 11-24-2010
Hi Pikachu, I'm just catching up on your posts since mid november. First, I'm glad to hear that you're telling friends about the method. If some of them eventually learn from you or practice witih you, then you will have helped yourself and someone else a lot! I'm going back to this question you asked a few posts back:
Quote:To see one point better, you must see other points worse.
Natural vision habits include focusing on object in the center of the vision field.
Those statements may or may not be direct quotes, but you guys should get the gist of what I'm saying here. My question is: how can you focus on the center AND see the periphery worse at the same time? Is it correct to try both at the same time? I seem to strain less when I do both, yet I cannot search for as small a detail when I am doing so.
I'm hoping not to encourage overthinking of this
but I think it's a question worth responding to. I know exactly what you mean by it, because it took me a while to get this. What Dr. Bates wrote about that we're all familiar with was seeing best where we look, central fixation. This is often accomplished by the normal eye by looking at details of interest as you already know. Many people doing the Bates method also improve their vision by gradually looking for smaller and smaller details (note, it is vital that there is also interest in the details being seen). One trap that you've noticed already is that sometimes it is 'difficult' to make that area smaller. This is an indication of straining, or staring out that small point. There are two things recommended by Dr. Bates to prevent staring and straining while practicing central fixation. The first is shifting. No matter how small the shift, it is necessary for central fixation. Example: the period. He says that no matter how small a period that is remembered, seen, or imagined perfectly, it is slowly swinging from side to side. The eye unconsciously shifts around it, which produces the illusion of the swing.
The second is what you wrote above: To see one point better, you must see other points worse. This is an indirect method of practicing central fixation that dr. Bates recommended in that chapter of his book. Central fixation is NOT seeing only one thing clearly. It is seeing one part best. If one part is seen best, it follows that other parts are seen worse. At the same time. It might sound like eccentric fixation at first since it seems the attention is on more than just the center. Physiologically, though, the eye is sending all of this information to the brain from all of the cones and rods scattered around the back of the eye. What we want to train our brain to do, is to be less aware of the periphery than the central vision. The periphery is still important, though. Less aware does not mean blocking it out. Blocking it out would be a strain, since the information is there in our brains. This is why you noticed less of a strain when noticing the periphery and central vision at the same time. Follow those instincts and observations of yours!
So, how to do this, seeing the periphery worse? tom Q. has some good stuff in his book on this. I first got frustrated with his book. Went back and learned C.F from Bates's book, only to go back and find that exactly what helped me in the end, was what Tom recommends in his book. Life! It's good to learn things from trial and error because then I never forget. So, get out two of anything: rocks, apples, marbles, bubbles. Something that makes you smile. Now, look at the one on the right. See what you can notice about it: texture, cracks, color variation. Now look over at the left one. Observe that the fine details on the right object are now less apparent than what you can see on the left object you are looking at. What you are doing subconsciously is comparing your central vision (left object) with that of the periphery (right object). Normal vision is unconsious and immediate. You don't have to try or even be conscious of it, but by seeing the right object worse, the left object is seen better. There, you have achieved central fixation, by thinking of the previous point seen worse. In order to not lose it, you then have to shift over to the object on the right and now notice that the left object is seen worse.
Now, to address the part of your question of how to make that area smaller. As Dr. Bates said, becoming able to see the smallest letter on the chart easily from 20 feet is a matter of practice. What does he mean by this? It means, gradually make the objects you are shifting between smaller, and shorten the distance they are apart. Another variable is to increase your distance from the objects. The key is to start in your comfort zone, where you can easily see and demonstrate these principles, even if that is for large areas of central vision and close distances (if you're myopic). From the comfort zone gradually expand the range of distances you can practice at and shorten the distance required to look to see something worse. Eventually, you will be able to see the left side of a small rock worse than the right side at a distance of 20 feet as well as you can do that at 6 inches. And then, what is stopping you from seeing the left side of the smallest letter on the chart worse than the right side at any distance?
Practicing this twice daily on a Snellen chart got me from 5/200 to 20/50 pretty quick, now I've slowed down a bit, but I think that has more to do with some mental barriers and self-imposed phd stress I've been writing about lately.
well, that was long - I hope it answered your question. I'll be offline for about a week and will try to remember to look back in on this thread when I resurface.
all the best, sorrisi