I'd like to pose this idea and see what you all think about it. Especially, if you have had thoughts about this before.
In order to move your arm from a hanging position to a position level with your chest you could do 2 things. You could just give your arm the signal to move into a new position and hope thatyou do it with some grace and poise. Or you could harmonize your mind with your body, put your intent to where you would like your arm to move to and feel your arm move through space effortlessly. The first way is not going to feel very good or have much power behind it unless you are blessed to have not picked up any bad habits of movement during your life. The second way will feel very nice and pleasant and could have a great amount of power behind it. Although we are not looking to have physical power in our eyes, this example has correlation with vision. I believe we (with imperfect sight) have taken the relaxation and intent out of our vision. The natural state of our eyes is to shift with our intent continuously all day long. At some point, our vision became a bit blurry due to stressors in our lives and we started to second guess this process. Out intent, we guessed (probably subconsciously) wasn't enough to receive clear images,. We needed to force a clearer world. (Staring) Maybe part of us thought the external world a bit overwhelming and was relieved to have it fade into a blur. Now we have blur and it is pointless to put our intention out there because out there has become a sort of featureless, nondescript haze of mush; nothing to connect to. Depressing, eh? The blur is maintained by a lack of mental focus: our intention is stuck on this or that shape which we resent not being able to see clearly. We are looking here but or mind is not at the same here or only desperately or unhappily.
By practicing shifting, almost mechanically at first, I am relearning to unify my intent with my eyes, with there movement and through an awareness of that which is central (fixation). Before too long, I remember that this can't be done whilst gripping my eyes with tense muscles and having my usual limited awareness ( of breath, of body, of color, of movement, etc.).
If any of this sounds clearly bogus, please jump in. I'm trying to learn. :^)
Makes sense to me. I've been trying to find the middle ground between trying too hard (over-focusing, the way I've been looking all of my life with my very strong prescription), & not trying at all (just accepting that things are blurry & that's as good as it gets). I'm now paying attention to what I see & looking for smaller & smaller details, which may not be all that small if it's more than a few feet away. The key for me is to pay attention in a relaxed way, not a compulsive grasping one -- I'm working on changing lifelong habits here.
" I've been trying to find the middle ground between trying too hard (over-focusing, the way I've been looking all of my life with my very strong prescription), & not trying at all (just accepting that things are blurry & that's as good as it gets). ..... The key for me is to pay attention in a relaxed way, not a compulsive grasping one."
Yah, staying relaxed while being attentive feels very awkward at this point-makes me feel restless. It takes a great amount of mental focus to keep it up as I am used to being lazy. The two major pitfalls seem to be dissociative apathy and grasping excitement.
I would also like to ask, how best do you deal with the excitement of clarity without loosing coolness?
Quote:how best do you deal with the excitement of clarity without loosing coolness?
Well, this amuses me because I certainly wouldn't describe myself as "cool", but I guess a bit of detachment & removal from the situation is necessary, without being completely out of touch with it. Otherwise the emotional ups & downs of shining clarity interspersed with confusing blur would make me crazy! When I get a clear flash my first response is a smile, as I'm genuinely pleased, & I make it a game to see if I can stay relaxed for enough time that the flash will last a little while. When it fades away I don't get too upset, just try to notice what I was thinking or doing with my face/eyes that might have chased it away. I know it will be back soon.
Yes, it's hard not to "grab" at a flash which I used to do when they first started coming. I'm no longer startled by them because they're more frequent, but they're still a thrill.
About "being lazy", I guess if it were me I'd think about what activity I love to do, some hobby or sport maybe, which I have never been lazy about because I like it. Then I'd see if I could transfer these feelings & attitude to my vision improvement work.
