I'd just started practicing seeing with the Bates method ~ 3 weeks ago and yesterday, while sitting at a bench outside of my office waiting for my husband, I realized that I could read the number plate of his oncoming car, which was about 15 feet away.
I remember being surprised that I was able to read it so clearly ( the blur zone starts a few inches beyond my face ) but I thought nothing further about it because his car then turned to the left and I'd rushed to gather my things before getting into the car.
Before leaving, I'd been looking at pictures of babies and animals yawning and I'd been yawning myself and feeling rather relaxed. ( I remember reading in the Thomas Q. book that yawning is good for relaxation and vision improvement. )
I'm not sure if that was actually a clear flash? It was pretty brief ( like 2 seconds ) and I guess the moment was sort of interrupted because I'd moved around to gather my things before getting into the car ( and I know that I usually am not at a calm state when I have to move around to do something! ).
Reading a license plate at 15 feet is definitely a clear flash. A 'clear vision event' is what I used to call it. Congratulations. You have just found a piece of your clear normal vision jigsaw puzzle. Good luck!
If you got a moment of clear-er vision than your overall visual acuity, and you don't do anything with your eyes to 'produce' it, as (tensing your eyes, stretching, putting water, blinking hard, etc.) It's definitely a true clear flash.
I've found that the vision recovery process is like JMartin said, a jigsaw puzzle, every clear flash you get, is a small piece of it, and in fact you never lose that moment of clear vision, as you continue doing what really works, it becomes more easier to maintain a clear vision. Keep walking forward. Congrats!
Another analogy (one that we've used elsewhere in this community forum) might be that you momentarily managed to get all the parts of your invisible visual system bicycle aligned and working, oriented with the outside clear vision pathway, resulting in a flash of clear normal eyesight. Congratulations!
Unfortunately some of your invisible visual system bicycle's parts are in need of repair or adjustment, and so the system immediately reverted to 'safe' mode. Oh, well, it's a start. It's not like you can throw it away and buy a new one. It's now up to you to figure out which parts need repair or adjustment - obviously it's possible, otherwise you wouldn't have experienced that flash.
Maybe you just need to figure out how to relax the sticky brakes, or maybe the chain needs oil, or maybe the fenders are out of alignment, or maybe you're just not pointing the handlebars correctly. Or maybe you need to raise the seat now to match your physical development. Or maybe a combination of those and other problems. (Maybe yawning momentarily straightened and relaxed something(s)!) What a hassle.
But it's worth it. A flash of clear normal eyesight that, according to optical science, didn't really happen or is impossible to control. They would like you to get off of that bicycle and stay off of it. They want to convince you it didn't really happen, and is certainly not worth fighting for. They want you to put the training wheels back on and keep them on all the time. Because not doing so threatens them and everything they believe in and have worked so hard to achieve for themselves. They've given up on preserving the normal human visual system. They are okay with us becoming a race of cyborgs. I hope you are not.
Like Lord says, keep walking - or biking - forward.
I had another clear flash on Saturday afternoon. I was riding in the back of the car, and Iâd closed my eyes for a few seconds before focusing on the license plate of the car in front of mine. I noticed a hint of clarity ( clear outlines with multiple images ), so I tried to look at a small part of the clearest image, followed its outline and suddenly whoosh, the whole thing was clear.
Since then, Iâd been practicing focusing on objects at different distances and these are my results :
(1) Saturday morning : I could read the license plate off a car parked ~ 10 feet away and see the ornamental design of a house quite far away ( must have been more than 50 feet ).
(2) Sunday : I was standing on the balcony of my apartment in the 4th storey and I could read the license plates of cars parked across the street belowâ¦.and that was pretty far considering the fact that my blur zone starts a few inches off my face.
(3) Today : I could read license plates of stationary cars, logos of buildings and notices *almost at will*.
So hereâs what I do :
1. Pick 3 objects at various distances : near, medium, far
2. close my eyes for a few seconds, then look at the object I want to see. If I donât see a hint of clarity, I close my eyes and look at the 2nd object. Sometimes, I have to repeat this a few times before I can get some clarity.
3. If I get a hint of clarity upon opening my eyes ( clear outlines with multiple images ), Iâd look at a small part of the clearest image and follow its outlines ( looking at details within details ). After a while, the image usually clears.
There was one time that I couldnât get any form of clarity, so Iâd tried imagining the image coming into focus and well, it literally floated into focus!
Sometimes when there is almost no detail no matter how I search ( blur to the point where I canât see the writing, only the background ), if I keep on searching, the writing materializes and then it becomes clear!
But Iâm only able to do this in natural light, i.e. outside on a sunny day. It gets easier with practice ( now, Iâm able to keep clarity when I shift between 2 objects or if I lose clarity, I can re-gain it quickly ). The problem is, I havenât yet found how to keep the clarity longer than a few seconds.
Itâs very exciting that Iâm able to see again clearly at far distance but Iâm scaring myself at the same time because I could produce clarity almost at will. How else can I tell whether I am straining unconsciously other than what Iâve checked against? Usually when I strain to see something unclear, Iâll get headaches, but no headaches this time, and I could see clearer out of my transition glasses compared to 2 days ago. Also, I get this sensation on my eyeball after practicingâ¦not sure how to describe it but I think itâs the same feeling after Iâd done palmingâ¦.and Iâm not sure if youâre supposed to feel anything on the eyeball after palming ( I didn't touch the eyeball during palming)?
Am I producing artificial vision or re-gaining mental control on seeing?
Iâm happy but afraid at the same timeâ¦not sure how to feel.
I would appreciate it if someone whoâs had similar experience can comment.
Oh my Goood! From what you are saying, it seems as if you were making huge improvement there. I often get clear flashes as well. And by clear I mean crispy clear, 20/20 or better. Whereas normally I feel my eyes (this a bit tired feeling) , when everything clears up, I suddenly feel that I don't feel them anymore, I don't feel my blinking and my eyes don't get tired at all. Plus, I can notice that I (I can feel it but I don't control it in any way) direct my attention to very tiny details and move my eyes constantly. I hope it helped. Glad to hear there are people out there like me
Hi Stefanie,
Can I know what you've been doing to get these clear flashes? Mine don't last long ( only a few seconds )...but I think that's a good start. I thought it was going to take me a few months to get a clear flash.
I'm pretty sure I had two instances of clear flashes as described above, and the rest...where the clarity emerges more slowly ( like curtains being unveiled ), I don't know if that's actually straining in a way or practicing Bates! ???
Hmm...but I guess my practice sessions have got something to do with encouraging those clear flashes? Because nothing happened for weeks and immediately when I started these practices, I got clear flashes 2 days in a row.
Thinking back, I believe I'd been doing what David has been preaching all alone, i.e. look at an object, and if you don't see a hint of clarity, either look at a smaller piece of it or shift to another object. If you see some clarity, follow that string of details and voila, the image clears. ;D
I think the missing pieces of the puzzle for me is it only works if I practice in broad daylight and closing my eyes for a few seconds before looking ( maybe it relaxes the eye? ) and of course, practicing with objects with good contrast but simple outlines ( e.g. license plates, logos on buildings are good.....trees, probably not so, because I can't remember which part of the tree I am focusing on. )
I'm not sure if I feel any kind of relaxation while doing these exercises.....but it does feel intense. Stress-wise, I feel that tightness in my eyebrow area is considerably less compared to 2 - 3 weeks ago.
Can anybody tell me whether straining the eye is always coupled with external facial muscles? Sometimes, when I am too impatient to get the image to clear, I think I might be straining, but after I put my hand on my forehead and eyebrows to calm them, the clarity usually appears and my eyes feel relaxed and calm.
Ironically, when it's a "real" clear flash, it's less consistent: you can't immediately produce it every time, in the same amount of time, by doing the same thing. For example, if your vision only clears when you close your eyes for a moment, and it clears for the same amount of time (part of a second, or a few seconds) every time you open your eyes, then that's more indicative that your eyes are just being influenced by the pressure of your eyelids or something else physically in force in the process of shutting them. In that case, it isn't necessarily "bad", but it isn't practical to have to do that to obtain clear vision all the time.
But from what you describe, it sounds like it could be real progress. I hope this helps you decide what's going on.
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"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
Marlene Wrote:...So hereâs what I do :
1. Pick 3 objects at various distances : near, medium, far
2. close my eyes for a few seconds, then look at the object I want to see. If I donât see a hint of clarity, I close my eyes and look at the 2nd object. Sometimes, I have to repeat this a few times before I can get some clarity.
3. If I get a hint of clarity upon opening my eyes ( clear outlines with multiple images ), Iâd look at a small part of the clearest image and follow its outlines ( looking at details within details ). After a while, the image usually clears.
There was one time that I couldnât get any form of clarity, so Iâd tried imagining the image coming into focus and well, it literally floated into focus!
Sometimes when there is almost no detail no matter how I search ( blur to the point where I canât see the writing, only the background ), if I keep on searching, the writing materializes and then it becomes clear! But Iâm only able to do this in natural light, i.e. outside on a sunny day. It gets easier with practice ( now, Iâm able to keep clarity when I shift between 2 objects or if I lose clarity, I can re-gain it quickly ). The problem is, I havenât yet found how to keep the clarity longer than a few seconds.
Itâs very exciting that Iâm able to see again clearly at far distance but Iâm scaring myself at the same time because I could produce clarity almost at will. How else can I tell whether I am straining unconsciously other than what Iâve checked against? Usually when I strain to see something unclear, Iâll get headaches, but no headaches this time, and I could see clearer out of my transition glasses compared to 2 days ago. Also, I get this sensation on my eyeball after practicingâ¦not sure how to describe it but I think itâs the same feeling after Iâd done palmingâ¦.and Iâm not sure if youâre supposed to feel anything on the eyeball after palming ( I didn't touch the eyeball during palming)?
Am I producing artificial vision or re-gaining mental control on seeing?
Iâm happy but afraid at the same timeâ¦not sure how to feel. I would appreciate it if someone whoâs had similar experience can comment. Warm regards, Marlene
I just re-read this post, and realized it says something VERY IMPORTANT! Ever heard of 'triangulation'? Read about it here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulation">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulation</a><!-- m -->
It is a method of determining distance/location of an object/area/point by 'triangulating' between two or three different objects/areas/points. Think about it. Incredible. Hold two or three different points/objects/areas in your peripheral awareness, relax, feel/look for/find the clear centerpoint/object/area/pathway between them and direct your attention there. It's working. It is a method of reprogramming our visual system 'software'. Marlene, it's brilliant. Thanks! (Of course we still have to do/practice/incorporate all the other Bates methods!)
I think this is, at a minimum, the second half of one of the two giant steps I had left.
And it's funny that some months ago I was waxing eloquent on the rotating universe, and had thought about using triangulation of galaxies to 'pinpoint' the start of the big bang, (and thus of God's location), but never thought to apply it to my own visual system.
Sounds like a great start, like you may be onto something. The first time you had it, you mentioned looking at baby pictures and yawning animal pictures, and you felt mentally relaxed yourself. The perfect setup for better vision. The things that you are practicing to help trigger flashes are varied enough that it doesn't seem you are manufacturing false ones. Your practice sessions probably have everything to do with it. You mentioned in one instance that you 'imagined' clear sight, and it happened. Once it was shifting on detail, and it happened. And after gently closing and resting your eyes for a few seconds or more, and it happens. Sometimes when one thing starts working, other things become easier too.
Fluctuating vision is quite normal, especially for the recovering myope. The difference between myopes and emmetropes, is that myopes have shorter times when vision is clear, and longer times when it is not. Emmetropes have shorter times when it is blurry, and longer times when it is clear. (the short times being so short that they rarely notice them). You're at the beginning stages of reversing that trend, and it can take a lot of nudging in the right direction and awareness/attentiveness to what seems like a vicious internal wrestling match. Like gravity, the visual system wants to keep pulling the eye back to some pseudo-focal point it has adapted to. A flash is a very fragile state, and our subconscious impulses and reactions often hurt more than they help, and we can loose it in seconds. We get overwhelmed, overexcited, or so distracted by what we see that it causes us to loose the relaxation initially obtained. Or we want to test our vision too agressively, hunt too intensely for detail, lock on to it, suppress our blinking, or suppress or forget about the bigger peripheral picture. It's going to happen, some of it, or all of it, and is just a natural part of the rebuilding/relearning process. The more you develop awareness of it, the better the mental control to avoid it becomes possible as well. This is also where relearning good seeing habits is very helpful.
How do you know if you're straining unconsciously when getting better vision? You sound like you're doing a diligent job of checking to see if you are tensing or doing anything abnormal to produce it. You can also look in a mirror, does your face look relaxed, your eyes open and lively, not staring or scrunching up in any way? Are you blinking gently? Real vision will feel simple, easy, effortless, whereas anything manufactured physically will take a lot of energy, tension, concentration. You may not feel much of anything in the eyes, whereas some people feel a great sense of relief, of tension releasing. As Stefanie said, you may become much less conscious of your eyes, and just more conscious of seeing.
Of course it's all going to be easier at first under more favorable conditions, like outside in daylight. Under indoors conditions of artificial light, or outside at night, we tend to more quickly revert to our straining habits to compensate for the unfavorable conditions. Straining the eye definitely sets off a series of events, starting with the internal eye structures/muscles, then radiating out to the facial muscles. I remember a time when gently touching and stroking the side of my face would at times bring clarity. But moreover, I think that the sense of touch can help direct our attention and energy inwards, more directly towards the source of where the problem lies, kindling better awareness of it (and hence being able to relax it, let it go).
Glad that I stumbled into something that is helping you.
You mentioned it's working....you mean you tried it and had the same results?
Read more about it here :
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.eorama.com/en/introduction.html">http://www.eorama.com/en/introduction.html</a><!-- m -->
The website says not to blink. I think it's ok to hold off blinking for a few seconds, but my eyes became teary after a very short time, so I had to blink anyway.
arocarty Wrote:Fluctuating vision is quite normal, especially for the recovering myope. The difference between myopes and emmetropes, is that myopes have shorter times when vision is clear, and longer times when it is not. Emmetropes have shorter times when it is blurry, and longer times when it is clear. (the short times being so short that they rarely notice them). You're at the beginning stages of reversing that trend, and it can take a lot of nudging in the right direction and awareness/attentiveness to what seems like a vicious internal wrestling match. Like gravity, the visual system wants to keep pulling the eye back to some pseudo-focal point it has adapted to. A flash is a very fragile state, and our subconscious impulses and reactions often hurt more than they help, and we can loose it in seconds. We get overwhelmed, overexcited, or so distracted by what we see that it causes us to loose the relaxation initially obtained. Or we want to test our vision too agressively, hunt too intensely for detail, lock on to it, suppress our blinking, or suppress or forget about the bigger peripheral picture. It's going to happen, some of it, or all of it, and is just a natural part of the rebuilding/relearning process. The more you develop awareness of it, the better the mental control to avoid it becomes possible as well. This is also where relearning good seeing habits is very helpful.
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for the tips. I find what you write above holds very true for me....I have never noticed how our emotions and our eagerness to see more in a shorter period of time can actually affect our vision.
When I arrive at the office, it's bright and sunny outside, so the office is better lit with the extra sunlight from outside. But I almost always get so tense when I think of the mountain of work that I have to finish...and I find that my vision is so blurry.
When I prepare to leave the office at the end of the day, it's already dark outside and under this dimmer lighting condition, I find that I can actually see super clear out of my transition glasses.
I had another flash of clear vision lasting about 5 seconds during a practice session yesterday. And yes....I finally noticed the tightness in my eyebrows going away and I was really just looking at one thing at a time. Today, I was very rushed at work but I tried to squeeze in a practice session during lunch break.....grrr....could only get a partial clear. So well, I now truly understand what you mean by our subconscious impulses and reactions often hurting more than they help, and we can loose the clear flash in seconds.
Marlene Wrote:Hi JCMartin, Glad that I stumbled into something that is helping you. You mentioned it's working....you mean you tried it and had the same results? Read more about it here : <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.eorama.com/en/introduction.html">http://www.eorama.com/en/introduction.html</a><!-- m --> The website says not to blink. I think it's ok to hold off blinking for a few seconds, but my eyes became teary after a very short time, so I had to blink anyway.
No, what I mean is that I thought about your observational method regarding choosing three objects at different distances and locations, and shifting back and forth between them to find the clarity, and then I remembered something I'd thought about before: 'triangulation' (tri = three), and then I did a google search and read about it, and realized it was very applicable to myopes trying to use our two eyeball/camera/sensor visual systems in a similar way to fine-tune our distance eyesight.
It's still working for me! But I don't actually have to 'locate' three (or more - the more the merrier!) separate areas/objects/points and triangulate between them - I simply relax and realize that my two foveas were originally 'programmed' to do that! (But in a far better way, using more than two or three references in the visual field - probably a half dozen or more simultaneously and unconsciously. Unfortunately, I have to let it happen semi-consciously.)
The programming 'glitch' is probably that before my visual system could resurrect that original programming, I had to get my two eyeballs/cameras/sensors back in better working order, more coordinated and synchronized, more equalized in dominance, etc. Luckily I had already done that over the past 2 years, using the Bates Methods and improvements, primarily.
BTW - I read the first page of the weblink you provided, and it doesn't appear to be what I'm talking about or interested in. But thanks anyway. Thank you so much more for reminding me of the idea of triangulation!
You're welcome
I've managed to actuate a couple of clear flashes by relaxing my eyes but well, I never got past maintaining it for more than a few seconds...but well, I guess I just need more time to practice ( My 3 weeks into Bates is nothing compared to your 2 years, hehe ).
My goal for now is to improve my vision to the point where I don't need glasses for computer work....then we'll see how it goes from here.
To my greatest surprise this website tells me to do something very similar to what I did two months ago to obtain and maintain long clear flashes The only difference is that I kept shifting very quickly between objects at different distances far away, preferably one just behind the other. This way it helped me to see in three dimensions. I don't know why I stopped doing that. Perhaps because expecting too much I couldn't bring these moments of clarity again
To ask your question, Marlene, about my clear flashes. They usually appear when my eyes don't burn (and they have a lot recently). On such a day, when I don't have problems to look at something I practise with a chart. I read the lines starting from the topmost. When at some point I can't go on, I start shifting on the line above the one which is too blurry. I like most Fs and Ts, I look slightly above and below these letters or just shift between them, trace them, thing like that, and suddenly, the lower line comes into focus. The trick is, I can't expect and be too eager to see, but pay my full attention to seeing the swing. And tada, my eyes start working in a different way and when I look away from then chart and move somewhere, I can feel the whole world moving. I think I more aware of movement in the peripheral vision. Usually after such a session my eyesight improves to 20/20 presently. That is, until I for God-knows-what reason stop using them the correct way and everything goes to hell. They start burning, turn red, and I have problems to regard anything because it causes physical pain
