I've been getting VERY good results with my eyesight recently by practicing breathing. It may sound strange, but strain that we hold in our eyes seems linked to an entire complex of strain that causes tightness in the chest and labored breathing. I'm becoming convinced that you can't release much strain in your eyes unless you also release (or at least don't add to) the strain in your chest. Please give the following a try before you dismiss the idea.
While you don't have to be in any particular position, I find that it's easiest to pay attention to my breathing sitting crosslegged on the floor.
1. Simply observe how you breathe for a few minutes. Don't try to change the way you breathe or intentionally try to breathe deeply, but just pay attention to various tensions and other pulling and pushing sensations. You may notice that you have bands of tightness around your chest and you may also notice that as you breathe, you can feel subtle movements elsewhere in your body, such as in your arms, feet, and, of course -- around your eyes. A few more tips:
a. Many of us are, I suspect, "chest breathers" unlike the abdominal breathers we were when we started out life. Don't try to resist the chest tension and force yourself to breathe abdominally. If you force it, you'll probably do it wrong and make your breathing even more effortful. Simply notice the way that you're breathing with your chest.
b. It's easier to relax if you exhale for a longer time than you inhale. There are other sources you can go to that explain why, which I encourage you to look into. Search for information on hyperventilation and the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. Feel free to exhale slowly for something like 10-15 seconds.
c. To prevent yourself from consciously trying to change the way you breathe and adding more effort, notice the indirect indicia of relaxed breathing, such as the feeling of coolness at the back of your throat (this was a trick that Bates taught) or the movement of your belly up and down as your breathe. It's kind of analogous to noticing the universal swing -- a SIDE-EFFECT of relaxed breathing. You don't try intentionally force the swing or the feeling of coolness in your throat, but they are EVIDENCE of relaxation.
2. Now put your attention on vision. Remind yourself of the feeling of relaxation. A good way to do this is to use your imagination and make mental pictures. I allow different mental pictures to pop into my head for no more than a split second. It's really easy to start using effort to manufacture the mental images. Notice if you start doing this. Here's a train of thought that really helps to create mental pictures. The following should all be taking place very quickly (don't try to think about it):
a. Think about the possibility of seeing a mental picture of object "A".
b. Do I see "A"? Whether yes or no, let go of that thought and think about the possibility of seeing a mental picture of "B"
c. Do I see "B"? Whether yes or no, let go of that thought and think about the possibility of seeing a mental picture of "C". etc.
I know that David emphasizes paying attention to details and stuff, but you have to be very careful. If you're relaxed, you CAN'T AVOID seeing one small detail of the mental picture best and everything else more vaguely. Don't try to to intentionally see a detail, because if you do, you'll subconsciously try to see ONLY that detail, which is a strain. Instead, if you only give yourself 1/4 second to entertain the possibility of seeing something, and then immediately move on, you can't avoid "seeing one part best," as Bates put it.
Another thing to try: remember different settings or situations, and details of that setting or situation will automatically pop into your head. This seems to prevent making an effort, say, to intentionally remember some particular detail. For example, I allow myself to think about the kitchen. Then, some detail in that kitchen automatically pops into my head, along with a vague impression of everything else in the kitchen. Then I think about the livingroom, and some detail of the livingroom automatically pops into my head, along with a vague impression of everything else in the livingroom. Then I think about some experience that I had in summercamp when I was a kid, and some detail of that experience pops into my head, along with a vaguer impression of everything else about that experience. I don't decide in advance on what the particular detail is -- my attention just automatically ends up on it, somehow.
3. Here's the most powerful part. As you practice making mental pictures, compare it with how you actually use your vision right now. Notice some actual object in the room that you have some awareness of that you aren't looking at directly. Ask yourself: "what would I ordinarily do next with my eye muscles and chest muscles in order to "see" that object? Are there are things that I want to do with my breathing muscles as well as my eyes in order to "see" that object? How is what I would ordinarily do next different from what making mental pictures for a split second feels like?
Then, as you inhale, try to either: consciously do that thing you were tempted to do next, or just think about and maybe "encourage" that feeling (in other words, try to "make your vision worse," in Bates' terms).
As you exhale, go back to making mental pictures.
You may notice some surprising results.
Note: The reason why I say to do the "making vision worse" thing while inhaling is that when we hold tightness in our chests and eyes, we tend to add more strain while inhaling (think about the feeling of gasping for air), and it's almost impossible to add strain while exhaling slowly. There are many analogies between the effort to inhale and the effort to see something. By trying to consciously think about what you're ordinarily tempted to do with both your vision and your inhalation, you simultaneously bring to consciousness the various forms of effort that are linked to strain in both your eyes and in your breathing.
I know some things I've written here are probably confusing. I'll try to explain more down the road, but I'm so excited about the result I've been getting that I wanted to share them ASAP.
Thanks for that post. I agree with you entirely that there is a special role for breathing in eyesight. Having read your post yesterday, or rather as I was reading it, I concentrated on the breathing and it was most relaxing, as I knew it would be. I find it helpful to pause between deep slow breaths, just for a couple of seconds.
I noticed that my chart practice went very smoothly this morning and the letters cleared obligingly. What was I doing differently? Well, I couldn't spot any difference in the way I was using my eyes, my mind felt the same as other mornings. But my breathing was most definitely slow, deep and relaxed - unlike on other occasions recently. However, I had a very definite attitude from the moment I got out of bed this morning that I was going to insist on looking at detail and not just going through the motions - what this meant in practice was lingering longer on what I was looking at and not allowing my mind to move me on before I was good and ready.
I tried your making your vision worse exercise and I'll try it again. Initial results werenot conclusive, except that I held my breath. This reminds me of an earlier realization that when concentrating on a difficult task people tend to hold their breath. And you know the advice "Take a deep breath" given to people to warn them to brace themselves. I think what peple do is not take a deep breath, or any breath, but to hold their breath. Anyway, your post is carefully constructed and the least I can do is try that exercise again a couple of times.
Sean, here are a few more tips to help you out. It does take a lot of repeated tries to figure out exactly what you're doing subconsciously, but once you have that "aha" moment, everything clicks into place fairly fast.
1. The "right" thing will initially feel wrong and may produce feelings of anxiety. A lot of people have the misguided notion that, because vision improvement requires relaxation, anything that feels wrong or uncomfortable is to be avoided. To the contrary, because most of us developed poor vision in part as a way of dealing with anxiety, releasing the strain inevitably causes much of the anxiety to resurface. Over the last few months, my overall level of anxiety has been quite high, and I have no doubt that it's linked to the vision improvement. It has not been pleasant, but my eyesight has improved markedly.
2. If you're nearsightedness, remember the feeling of looking at something held close to your face (like your hand, a page of a book, or even a blank sheet of paper), even when you're looking at something distant or making mental pictures. It will feel wrong and it will feel like you're making your vision worse, but improvement will come quickly if can maintain the memory of that feeling of looking at something close when you're working on your mental pictures, "searching for details," or doing other vision improvement stuff.
By the same token, for nearsighted people, it's probably a lot easier to imagine things that are near rather than far. If you're having trouble imagining pretty fields and mountains, imagine part of your hand or a black spot held up right by your face.
The feeling of looking at something near or in a more relaxed way may feel like your eyes are withdrawing back in or pulling back in. The feeling of "making vision worse," or straining, may feel like your eyes are pushing out or jumping out toward the object. Just keep this in mind as you try to discover on your own what "making vision worse" feels like to you.
3. I've said this previously, but it's worth repeating. If you want
to imagine something (or some detail, as David would put it) and it doesn't come to you right away, give it up! And by right away, I mean 1/4 of a second. This is a hurdle you have to get over, because it's really tempting to try to do something to make the image appear, and whatever it is you do will inevitably be counterproductive. You have to remind yourself over and over again to simply give it up.
4. Imagining blank space next to the object is easier and thus often more effective than imagining the object itself. Instead of imagining part of a black letter "E", imagine the white space next to the "E," with the black "E" in the periphery. Instead of imagining the wallclock, imagine the space in the room next to the wallclock. For one reason or another, you're less likely to use an effort to imagine blank space than to imagine the actual object. And just remember that the blank space is also an object in itself, so there is no reason why imagining a blank space is any less effective than imagining an "actual" object.
5. I find acupressure to be useful palliative for dealing with some of the feelings of anxiety that come up during vision practice. One thing that works well for me is to pinch the webbing between the thumb and indexfinger of one hand with the other hand. Another point that works well sometime is to press with the tip of a finger on the sternum exactly between the nipples. (There are other useful points for anxiety. Do a web search on acupressure and anxiety). Acupressure does not, by itself, improve eyesight, but because poor eyesight is
linked to anxiety, and because acupressure reduces the temptation to relieve the anxiety by other means (i.e., by holding strain in your chest and eyes, blinking hard, etc.), it speeds up improvement.
5. Do not think of vision practice like training for an athletic performance. You're not building up any muscles or anything. The point of practicing is to gain insight into what you're doing subconsciously. You should focus your effort on discovery, not on mindlessly repeating the same procedure over and over.
Don't give up, Sean. If others could try out what I suggested and give feedback, that could be great.
Sean_Augensicht, thanks for the detailed info, comments, and hints. I can use all the help I can get. Here are a few reactions, and I'll add more later as they come up. We're all learning from each other here, ideally.
About the "reaching out" of my eyeballs when I strain to see something far away, vs. the relaxation and settling into their sockets when I'm comfortable looking at something near, I've noticed this for a long time with myself. When I catch myself doing it, which is still not all the time I'm sure, I imagine pulling my physical eyeballs back in and just letting my visual energy go out to "touch" the far object. Sometimes it seems to work. Trying too hard to muscle things into obedience to my will is a pattern I am having to confront nearly everywhere in my life, not just with vision.
Thanks for the tip to look at the white space next to the letter on the chart, to stop trying and let it clear up (my language but I think that's what you meant). I've been looking under the letter, like the "thin white line" under print when reading books Bates writes about, but as simple and obvious as it is (though I still didn't think of it myself!), looking beside the letter gives me another option.
My physical and visual pattern is to contract and converge and pull in. I've been focusing lately on expanding physically as well as visually, reaching out into the distance and periphery visually, pulling my ribcage up out of my hips and pulling my shoulders out away from my neck, standing evenly on both legs or sitting evenly on both hips, watching my tendency to "collapse" my left side (my left eye usually sees much blurrier) when I reach or lean to the left, making sure I'm expanded up and also out to both sides. I feel like I'm counter-acting a lifetime of trying to be small and not be seen. The habit of NOT looking is so pervasive -- I'm noticing it everywhere! OK, a bad habit identified is the start of a bad habit cured...
One last point which may be common for others too: my vision is getting OK enough that I'm often neglecting to practice to make it even better. In the past few days I've started palming a little more often, trying to implement more of a routine beyond the nightly eye chart, even palming for a minute or 2 when waiting for a computer download, for example. The past 2 days I've had bright long-lasting (for me) stunningly clear flashes of many seconds in early morning soon after I got up, a tease of the vision I could have all the time if I could maintain that level of relaxation and focus. Is it the palming? Is it the deep massage I had 3 days ago, where she worked a lot on my shoulders and neck? Is it the sunnier warmer weather, where I can leave the windows open all day long, and mow the grass in my bare feet? Is is the lunges my athlete partner is guiding me to do while I'm holding the weight only in one hand at a time (I've been doing them for decades with weights in both hands), so coaxing my body to isolate each hip and leg more and strengthen both sides evenly, reducing my spinal twist? Yes -- it's probably some of all of these.
I'm just going to keep practicing and enjoying, and appreciating what I see. As I look out the open window at the mail being delivered, when formerly I couldn't even see to the end of my lawn let alone past my driveway up to the street where the mailboxes are, the depth and color detail is so rich I want to cry at its beauty. A neighbor just walked out of the house across the street to get her mail, and I can see who it is and what she's wearing (though she's blurry). I am so grateful. Sean_Augensicht, keep the tips coming.
thats an interesting topic. I absolutely agree with you that working with breathing is a simple but very powerful method. Not only for relaxing the eyes, but for relaxing overall. I tried it out several years ago and was overwhelmed by the effect it had. It leaves you so calm and relaxed, in such a unspectecular way!
The only problem I had with it, and the reason I had to stop it, is that after a while, my âlarynxâ (I hope that is the right word ) in my throat started to hurt because I had a lot of tension there. So the rest of the day, I had that pain in my throat, sometimes even on the next day. My guess is, that I wasnt able to just WATCH the breath, I always started to breath myself. And that caused that tension.
--> As you seem to have some experience with breathing, do you have any ideas what I could do? I didnt find a solution for that. I read your post and just remembered how good I felt in that time, I think it was really stupid to quit with that, now.
But, to actually share some information, here is a very cool technique by Mirsakarim Norbekov, that I used too, until I got these problems with my throat. Well, the technique is not the reason for my problems, I had the problems with every technique. So here it is:
While breathing in, feel the fresh air in your nose and in your throat, while breathing out, feel the warm air. Try to feel that difference. Do that for a minute or two.
Then, start to feel the breathing with your eyes. Not only the difference in temperature, but the movement of the air, too. Breathe in, feel the coldness... breathe out, feel the warmth. If you can do that, you can add the following: While breathing in and feeling the fresh air, feel how your vision is getting more clearly, while breathing out, feel how all the strain and blur leaves your eyes.
So, the fresh air gives your eyes energy and clearity, the warm air gives you relaxation and makes the strain and blur leave.
Interesting observations. Thanks for adding to this conversation. It's easy to slip into effortfulness, or "breathing yourself," as you put it. Usually this occurs when we try too hard to inhale and don't let it just happen on its own. (It's harder to strain while exhaling, I find).
I find that if I can feel the breath in the area around my eyes as I inhale, it's a sign that I'm adding strain. So check whether you feel your breath around your eyes as you inhale. If so, stop whatever you're doing and try something different.
On the other hand, if I'm inhaling effortlessly, sometimes I can feel the cool air at the back of my THROAT. Somewhere in Bates' writings, he also points out this phenomenon.
Another trick is to feel the air flowing through the bottoms of your feet and your fingertips. Sounds weird and obviously, air isn't literally flowing there, but somehow it helps to imagine this.
Finally, I don't know why this is, but it seems impossible to breathe in a relaxed manner while simultaneously adding eyestrain. A good way to attain a degree of relaxation is to imagine something perfectly. So right before inhaling, recall a memory of something for a split-second--the memory of something seen perfectly, for example, or the feeling of scrunching your childhood teddybear in your hands, or a specific smell. See whether you breathe a little differently as a result. With practice, the breathe arises spontaneously as you recall the memory without your having tell yourself to inhale.
By the way, if you're forming a visual memory (i.e., mental picture), you shouldn't feel your eyes move. If you feel them jumping a little as you make the memory, it means you're using effort. Avoid doing this by placing the mental picture inside your head, not by trying to create the image "out in front of you." This point is very important and I'm sure overlooked by 90% of people who try to use imagination as a cure but to no avail.
Ultimately, the goal is to just allow the inhalation to arise naturally on its own. These are all just tricks that help you stop interfering with it.
One more thought. As you inhale and exhale, see if you can feel a subtle movement in your eye muscles. This movement is a form of locked-in strain. It might take a while to notice this movement, but if you really pay attention, you'll feel it.
We know that when we resist a strain, it usually gets worse. On the contrary, by not resisting or even consciously trying to reproduce the strain, it gets weaker. When you're breathing in an effortful way, you might be subconsciously trying to resist this movement in your eyes. While inhaling and exhaling, see if you can instead "go with the flow" and allow the muscle to move in the way that it seems to want to move in, or maybe even encourage the movement a little. You'll breathe easier and will also see your vision improve in the very same breath.
I know what I've written sounds very bizarre, but when I'm paying attention to these sorts of things, my vision gets noticeably better with every breath, so this is all stuff you can experience in a very tangible and immediate way, as opposed to some kind of new-agey, handwaving boilerplate. I just want to get all these thoughts down in writing so I can remember them when I write my book someday.
thanks for all these ideas. Took a while to read and understand it, or most of it. About the feeling of the breath in the eyes: The goal is to feel the cool air while inhaling, AND the warm air while exhaling, combined with a feeling of "let go". In his book, Norbekov says that the feeling of the coldness while inhaling is combined with a narrowing of the blood vessels (this could be your strain), while the feeling of the warmth while exhaling is combined with a widening of the blood vessels. But both seem to be necessary. To be honest, I have no idea if this is all true, but thats how the technique is meant to be.
The idea of allowing the eye movement is really interesting, I think I was always staring while focusing on the breath. I think I should give that a try. Maybe if I master effortless breathing, I will master effortless seeing, too ???
Dont worry, there are many bizarre things in this world, Im sure tips for healthy living dont belong to that.... and when Im through all this, be aware of MY book!! ;D ;D
In my case I actually think that there is a lack in the flow of oxygen and nutrition in my eyes and the eye muscles, that does not reach out enough to for instance the ciliar muscle and muscle parts in the front of the eye, and thus those part does not relax properly. I though think that there is no such problem in the back of the eye.
So I agree that oxygen is a critical aspect.
I agree also with your breathing aspects and especially I think it is an advantage to learn how to feel when oxygen reaches the front of the eyes, as a biofeedback.
This central fixation and shifting is also very beneficial for the oxygen/nutrition flow.
When I apply the Davids method regarding this I can feel how the oxygen starts to fill my eyes and my vision improves. I also think that a method to learn about these practical knowhow is to master palming in combination with relaxed breathing.
In my case I actually think that there is a lack in the flow of oxygen and nutrition in my eyes and the eye muscles, that does not reach out enough to for instance the ciliar muscle and muscle parts in the front of the eye, and thus those part does not relax properly. I though think that there is no such problem in the back of the eye.
So I agree that oxygen is a critical aspect.
I agree also with your breathing aspects and especially I think it is an advantage to learn how to feel when oxygen reaches the front of the eyes, as a biofeedback.
This central fixation and shifting is also very beneficial for the oxygen/nutrition flow.
When I apply the Davids method regarding this I can feel how the oxygen starts to fill my eyes and my vision improves. I also think that a method to learn about these practical knowhow is to master palming in combination with relaxed breathing.
Hi Hammer, if what you're doing works for you, fantastic. However, I never said anything about oxygen or nutrition to the eyes and eye muscles. Oxygen flow and whatever is happening to your ciliary muscle are not things we can directly observe ourselves. I try limit my language to describing things that I can directly observe. It's okay to say "when I imagine X happening, Y happens" (e.g., "when I imagine breathing through the bottoms of my feet, I breathe in a more relaxed way.") This is different from asserting that X actually happens. I find that speculation based on things that aren't directly observable generally isn't really helpful in eyesight improvement. If we are to obtain any sort of credibility for our findings, we have to be careful with our language.
In my case I actually think that there is a lack in the flow of oxygen and nutrition in my eyes and the eye muscles, that does not reach out enough to for instance the ciliar muscle and muscle parts in the front of the eye, and thus those part does not relax properly. I though think that there is no such problem in the back of the eye.
So I agree that oxygen is a critical aspect.
I agree also with your breathing aspects and especially I think it is an advantage to learn how to feel when oxygen reaches the front of the eyes, as a biofeedback.
This central fixation and shifting is also very beneficial for the oxygen/nutrition flow.
When I apply the Davids method regarding this I can feel how the oxygen starts to fill my eyes and my vision improves. I also think that a method to learn about these practical knowhow is to master palming in combination with relaxed breathing.
Hi Hammer, if what you're doing works for you, fantastic. However, I never said anything about oxygen or nutrition to the eyes and eye muscles. Oxygen flow and whatever is happening to your ciliary muscle are not things we can directly observe ourselves. I try limit my language to describing things that I can directly observe. It's okay to say "when I imagine X happening, Y happens" (e.g., "when I imagine breathing through the bottoms of my feet, I breathe in a more relaxed way.") This is different from asserting that X actually happens. I find that speculation based on things that aren't directly observable generally isn't really helpful in eyesight improvement. If we are to obtain any sort of credibility for our findings, we have to be careful with our language.
Sean_augensicht,
My tool is inner awareness, it is that simple. For instance I can feel very slight strain in my eyes and I know how to get rid of it. For instance I can try to relax with breathing and palming, but the strain doesn't completely disappear just due to this. Then when I do shifting the strain disappears completely. Remark that I have still closed eyes, shifting on imagined points. That was thus the source of my vision problem that I have proven empirically with awareness.
When you have proven something empirically I think actually you can draw some conclusions out of that result. It does not have to be speculations. I think you can use the brain and figure out what the reason and cause actually would be. But, again that is my personal view, and it is no general view I write about.
) in my throat started to hurt because I had a lot of tension there. So the rest of the day, I had that pain in my throat, sometimes even on the next day. My guess is, that I wasnt able to just WATCH the breath, I always started to breath myself. And that caused that tension. 