This is primarily for Dave because he said he's willing to help someone who posts detailed descriptions of what they do, but any other help would be appreciated.
So, I think the setup is not unlike how other people would do it. A few books are placed on a desk, a pillow over that, and I sit in a chair and place my elbows on the pillow and place my palms over my hands. Obviously the left palm goes over the left eye and the right palm over the right eye... the fingers, lacking any other place to go, just go on the forehead, kinda. The left hand is above the right hand. I try to sit relatively straight; I'm not slouching, but I'm definitely not sitting straight as a rail either. I'm looking kind of in a downward direction instead of straight forward. My feet are flat on the ground, or stretched out in front of me.
While palming I see black, of course, but not "perfect black", and sometimes random white glowing shapes. I allow my mind to wander, sometimes it thinks of images, other times sounds. Smells and tastes are uncommon, touches even rarer. Pulling sensations are felt around the eyes, which I can only assume is a manifestation of strain. Sometimes my sholders/elbow feel tired too, and I'm not sure what to make of that. Sometimes I kind of get this nodding-off sensation, as if I'm falling asleep or something. Sometimes I feel a cold wave that comes from my chest and spreads through my whole body, and I have no clue what that is. About five minutes pass before I get bored and/or restless and stop palming.
Now, there are people out there who've reported 20/20 vision right after palming until they blink. No such luck for me, so I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong or if it's just that they're different from how I am. What do you think?
Well, I thought to give you an answer based on my experiences.
Those who have used glasses for many years and have put them on most of the time, have made their face and eyes get out of shape and get into a strained and tense state.
To release those tensions you have to:
1. be patient
2. use the eye chart so much
3. use palming afterwards
the more you release those tensions, the more you get eased, and the more your vision clears. If you have started the vision improvement lately and you have just stopped using your windows, you must know that it needs more energy at first. You must use your mind to change the shape of your eyeballs and face.
I recommend you practising central fixation so much, such as shifting and imagining a black period on on of the letters and so on. This takes so much force from the mind to act on your eyes.
I have been doing the Bates mothod for four months and I have improved my vision from 20/220 to 10/20 - 15/20. I didn't know at first how much tension I have to remove, but I have to say that it was a LOT. Pain and itching feeling on the eyes are common. I didn't know what central fixation meant at first and how important it is. But I tell you now that central fixation is the key method and palming is a means of resting your eyes.
I can go up to 40/30 visual acuity by using just shifting, it may take about 1-2 minutes but I can do it, and the tension gets released. As the tension gets released you can massage your eye and facial muscles, to help the tension get removed. If you practise regularly it is always possible to improve your vision to perfect vision after a year.
js519 Wrote:This is primarily for Dave because he said he's willing to help someone who posts detailed descriptions of what they do, but any other help would be appreciated.
So, I think the setup is not unlike how other people would do it. A few books are placed on a desk, a pillow over that, and I sit in a chair and place my elbows on the pillow and place my palms over my hands. Obviously the left palm goes over the left eye and the right palm over the right eye... the fingers, lacking any other place to go, just go on the forehead, kinda. The left hand is above the right hand. I try to sit relatively straight; I'm not slouching, but I'm definitely not sitting straight as a rail either. I'm looking kind of in a downward direction instead of straight forward. My feet are flat on the ground, or stretched out in front of me.
While palming I see black, of course, but not "perfect black", and sometimes random white glowing shapes. I allow my mind to wander, sometimes it thinks of images, other times sounds. Smells and tastes are uncommon, touches even rarer. Pulling sensations are felt around the eyes, which I can only assume is a manifestation of strain. Sometimes my sholders/elbow feel tired too, and I'm not sure what to make of that. Sometimes I kind of get this nodding-off sensation, as if I'm falling asleep or something. Sometimes I feel a cold wave that comes from my chest and spreads through my whole body, and I have no clue what that is. About five minutes pass before I get bored and/or restless and stop palming.
Now, there are people out there who've reported 20/20 vision right after palming until they blink. No such luck for me, so I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong or if it's just that they're different from how I am. What do you think?
You're doing pretty well at it. Nodding off means your body is used to going to sleep when you're in that state, which is normal, but you just keep avoiding it so you teach your body to relax without sleeping. Many people only relax while sleeping, but they aren't necessarily relaxed while asleep most of the time.
I recognize the cold wave. I don't know what it is, but it's something.
Personally I don't get anything out of palming unless my back is actually straight. I wouldn't say like a rail because the spine is curved, but I'm not slouching the least bit and it takes a certain amount of conscious will to stay that way.
Do it for much longer than 5 minutes. The restless feeling is resistance. When you're at the critical point where something is about to change, your subconscious will try to find a way to make you stop and get up.
Even if you don't have good vision after palming, you might find that it's a good precursor to practicing shifting, like a warm-up that helps you do it better.
Dave
Site Administrator
"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
Thanks Elias and Dave. Elias, it's always good to see how others have improved, and I'll keep your advice in mind. Dave, the most recent time I palmed, I paid more attention to my back and made sure I was not slouching, and I did it fr a longer time, but is there any kind of "trick" to be able to sustain it for longer times, because I still get bored and my mind seems to run out of things to think after 10 minutes and it seems a bit monotonous.
I did notice an interesting thing that I hadn't noticed before when I palmed longer, though. My eyes felt lighter, is the only way I can describe it. Specifically, normally muscles on the sides of my eyes seem to be pulling on my eyes, and it appears I have become so used to that that I did not notice it. After I palmed, however, it had momentarily disappeared. It came back again, but now I know what kind of feeling I'm looking for. In addition, something strange happened when I was in bed right after I had palmed... it seemed my face was moving in a clockwise direction. Seemingly involuntarily, the muscles in my right jaw moved down and to the right and the muscles around my left eye kind of moved to the right. It's hard to describe, but what could that be?
js, may i suggest that rather than being concerned about "running out of things to think about," you just let your mind freely drift over things that are pleasant to you. if you try to think about topics to think of or imagine while palming, you are extending effort ... and Bates' work tells us time and again.... vision should be effortless... if you are straining to think, then you have lost the effortlessness and are straining... straining reduces vision.....
