Central fixation: Have I got it?

[Iwant2cdammit]

Okay so first of all, I think I may have gotten better at central fixation or it could just be in my head, I'll tell you what's happening anyway and maybe you guys can help me.

Okay so the other day I read David's "finally" post and after reading it I had a strong understanding of central fixation among other things. I then proceeded to get ready to go to karate, this involved putting in my 20/20 contact lenses as I havn't got a lower prescription for the contacts yet.

We were halfway through training when we started doing "drills" up the floor which require a bit of focus that often relaxes me. In the middle of it my sensei stopped everyone and began talking about being mentally ready a swell as physically ready when we did these "drills". I must admit I ended up in a state of extreme focus, primarily on my sensei.

Then I think I began to use central fixation. What I did was I basically tried to lur out everything but my sensei, I then began to notice a lot more details on my senseis face, I mean a lot more and clarity was great. This was while wearing contacts...

When I arrived home I was lucky to have the luxury of a bath. While I was in the bath I noticed everything seemed a lot clearer. At this point I had just taken out my contacts and even though it wasn't great it seemed better. I also looked up at the light above he bath and it seemed to be pulsing. This could of been down to the steam but who knows?

The last few days when ever I look at an object I try to blur out the background, I find this works with people the best. Does this sound like I'm coming close to central fixation or am I just imagining it? Also as I mentioned I would basically fixate on a certain object or person and blur out everything else, this isn't classes as staring us it?

If you made it this far in to my post your certainly deserve a medal, sorry for the long post but I thought I should get in all he details. As always all help is appreciated.

[Nancy]

At first I thought you were straining to "blur out the background", which would not be a good thing -- you should be letting it happen instead of making it happen. However, the results you're seeing, like increased clarity, more focus, and the pulsing of the light which sounds like universal swing to me, all sound positive. Keep practicing and observing. If you're seeing more clarity and your eyes are more relaxed, you're doing something right, for sure.

[Iwant2cdammit]

You see, I am getting varied results, the fact that karate is the one thing that really lets me completely chill out could be a factor, I looked at the same light in the bathroom but no pulsing this time, but I probably wasn't as relaxed.

One thing that worrys me is that the increased clarity and focus I had while at karate was while wearing contacts, even though my sight was good after I took them out I still thought it would of had a negative effect on me while wearing the contacts.

I am now trying to incorporate shifting in to this focus but I don't seem to be noticing any swing and I havn't had any flashes of great vision just a small increase but over a long period. Can this be normal?

Last thing is on what you said about "blurring out the background" Nancy, how would I know if I am straining to blur it out, personally when I look at let's say a shot of a face on telly I try to only focus on the face and in a way disregard everything else. I do sometimes find a bit of a tingling in my eyes while doing this but that could just be my eyes getting used to seeing correctly right?

[Nancy]

Yes, the tingling or light stinging of the eyeball can be sign of central fixation re-emerging. If you're just disregarding the background, that doesn't sound like straining, like forcing it to be blurry and using energy to do so would be. What caught my attention in your first post here is that you said you tried to blur out everything but your sensei which sounded like you were straining to me, but it might just have been the wording. The results you are seeing make it seem like you're doing things right. You'll know if you're straining or not by how you feel.

Bates practices will improve your vision even if you're wearing contacts, but wearing contacts or glasses will slow your progress down a lot, especially if they're too strong. Every time you put them on you're undoing some of the gains and reinforcing the old strain pattern. Get under-corrected (20/40 or even less) ones if you possibly can.

[Iwant2cdammit]

Thanks nancy, that is really reassuring, one thing I forgot to mention is that sometimes when I'm looking at let's say a person such as my brother, I try to imagine a black line highlighting the edges of him, mainly where the image of him and the background (which I pay little attention to) begin to merge, I find it useful as it gives me better focus.

In relation to wearing glasses, is it true that the way glasses make your eyes worse is by re-enforcing bad habits but if we try to keep doing good habits while wearing them reduces this effect?

[Nancy]

...is it true that the way glasses make your eyes worse is by re-enforcing bad habits but if we try to keep doing good habits while wearing them reduces this effect?

Yes, but doing without glasses is better if you can do it. It's like trying to run carrying an anchor, not so much extra training as too much strain that will just slow down your progress. My opinion, as always.

[Iwant2cdammit]

Thanks, as always you guys are brilliant.