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+--- Thread: Just a few questions (/showthread.php?tid=60)
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Re: Just a few questions - David - 02-21-2006
js519 Wrote:Thanks, everyone. Now, there's one more question. There are times where I get "clear flashes", as Bates calls them - periods of time where my vision is better than it usually is. I presume that this is good, for it means my eyes are more relaxed, even though they are not completely relaxed. But one thing is strange. When I have one of these, there is a kind of stinging pain my eyes that makes my eyes water. Does this mean I am attempting the wrong kind of relaxation or does it simply mean my eyes aren't used to this relaxation?
It's very common. My sense is that it's overall an encouraging sign. I used to get it but don't anymore. Maybe it was an adjustment that had to be made. But even so, I didn't get the stinging when I saw even better, so my best guess is it's something that's holding back that produces the feeling, like your eye isn't altogether in agreement.
Dave
Re: Just a few questions - Minesweeper - 04-04-2006
js519 Wrote:Thanks, everyone. Now, there's one more question. There are times where I get "clear flashes", as Bates calls them - periods of time where my vision is better than it usually is. I presume that this is good, for it means my eyes are more relaxed, even though they are not completely relaxed. But one thing is strange. When I have one of these, there is a kind of stinging pain my eyes that makes my eyes water. Does this mean I am attempting the wrong kind of relaxation or does it simply mean my eyes aren't used to this relaxation?
I do not have the answer to that question, but I sometimes experience the same thing if I experience a clear flash: stinging in the eye but not necessarily feeling like my eyes water. Four days after starting on the Bates Method, I started having clear flashes all the time while driving (at a safe distance from other cars), in broad daylight; if I looked at a tree, I blinked for half a second and meanwhile thought about the tree's leaf being up close and imagined the texture of the leaf being perfect, and everything abruptly became clear about 15/20 - 20/20 when I opened my eyes. My eyesight is usually between 3/20-4/20 (myopic) in both eyes.
The near-perfect image would readjust normally with a loss in degree of improvement if I blinked only once or twice--but the image would remain steady if I did not blink. I read that people would get glimpses of perfect sight for fractions of seconds before the image started to blur up, but my vision does not blur until I blink. Can this be accurately defined as a "clear flash" or must the image blur shortly afterwards without blinking?
Re: Just a few questions - David - 04-07-2006
Minesweeper,
The best way to tell whether it's a "real" clear flash is to notice how your eyes and the rest of your feel during it. People notice a profound absence of tension, or the eyes feel light and comfortable, and mentally they become immediately satisfied with the present moment and lose all sense of urgency. This is on the more dramatic side, and isn't always the case, and might diminish over time. But as far as blinking, it can go either way. You might blink and open your eyes into clarity, or you might do a heavy, strained blink in the middle of a clear moment and lose it. Blinking is natural and can break a stare, and so don't suppress it if you feel the need for it. And on the flipside, there's also such a thing as too much blinking.
So as with almost everything in Bates, there is no yes or no answer. It always depends on what else is really going on.
Dave
Re: Just a few questions - Minesweeper - 04-07-2006
I think I am doing heavy, strained blinking to obtain the clear flashes... but I get so many clear flashes and everything starts having more depth and becomes pristine... so it's confusing if this is the right way. If I try doing a light blink which for some reason doesn't happen if I'm trying to imagine something perfectly, the image doesn't really clear up.. but if I try imagining something perfectly it seems every time I open my eyelids there's a heaviness in the eyelids... but it makes things so clear they seem to jump out at me. Then it stays sharp for as long as I do not blink.. although I am now practicing dodging every time I get an instance of clear flash by looking away at another object immediately or blinking.
Also, I have been working on relaxation techniques at the same time in an attempt to solve the heavy blinking problem. One morning, just before I woke up I noticed that with eyes closed, the static (or small white dots in a black background) seemed much less obvious and more calm and the black seemed sharper. I went outside running and noticed that I could read a speed limit sign more clearly from a much further distance.. but it only lasted like about 30 minutes to one hour before my sight seemed to change back to the way it usually is. That was the first time I had achieved such a relaxed state in many years and for me that tells me relaxation is very important.
Re: Just a few questions - bjsilva - 04-10-2006
Minesweeper Wrote:I think I am doing heavy, strained blinking to obtain the clear flashes... but I get so many clear flashes and everything starts having more depth and becomes pristine... so it's confusing if this is the right way.
<snip>
I went outside running and noticed that I could read a speed limit sign more clearly from a much further distance.. but it only lasted like about 30 minutes to one hour before my sight seemed to change back to the way it usually is. That was the first time I had achieved such a relaxed state in many years and for me that tells me relaxation is very important.
Just wanted to chime in that I know what you're talking about with the heavy blinking. It's not really the correct way, but my theory is that the extra muscular tension required to do a heavy blink may for a moment cause those muscles to relax once they are finished being used (i.e., when your eyelids are open). Your most clear vision should come from not using your muscles, as you have correctly ascertained regarding relaxation. It's just a matter of learning to relax the tension you're not aware of.