Focus close and then far ...

[Lex]

Hi all,

I've been doing some eye exercises for the last 10 days. Surprisingly, after doing practicing the Bates method for 5 months with no result, I think I now am getting some results ... I can see a little bit more clear already.. Even in dim light ...

Every day, I am focusing on my finger (up close) and then into the distance (far). Up close I focus on a detail in my finger (a little groove in the skin for example) and in the distance I focus on the detail that I can still make out. I do this for 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes during the day.

My wife, who is a physical therapist says that she uses the same kind of technique to release tight muscles (in this case the ciliary muscle). It's about tensing (close) and releasing (far) wile at the same time putting in some central fixation on detail.

After about 10+ minutes of doing this, I can feel the eye that I am using get warm around and behind the cornea (If am am right). The warm feeling is in the middle outer part of the eye, exactly where the muscle is. My wife says that this is because of increase of circulation in the area, which makes sense. That's how it feels. After that, the eye begins producing tears and I will give it rest ...

I've looked high and low for ways to make my left eye work / active (left is -4.5 and right is -2.25) and this seems to do the trick. I've written a post on this forum about how my left eye feels static and even looks smaller in comparison to my right. As if it is just asleep. Guess what : after doing this procedure I described, both eyes have the same seize and I feel the left eye being active.

Eventually it weakens again, but according to my wife, it can take up to a year to loosen up some muscles permanently.

Any thoughts anyone ?

Tip: if you want to try this, you need to be consistent. Just doing it for 2 minutes does nothing ... you need to do it for a few days / weeks and long enough (I do around 20-30 minutes spread over the day) ..

Lex

[clarknight]

Hey Lex!

This is a main thing I did my entire life that brought clear vision in a few minutes and clearer than 20/20. Started it in high school. Nice to hear people get results. Some Bates teachers get angry with me for teaching this, they say it's a exercise and not the true Bates Method and that I am cheating, but;
I learned it from Aldous Huxley's old book 'The Art of Seeing' and if you research Bates Better Eyesight Magazines you will find articles where he or Emily have the person looking at, shifting on identical close and far eyecharts or looking at, shifting on fine print up close, then looking out a window to a sign in the distance, shift on it, then back to the print, then the sign...

I have a few theories why it works. Your practice of looking at the details on the finger... is saccades, tiny shifting with central-fixation and this improves the vision even more. I know this exercise improves accommodation, convergence, un-accommodation, divergence and eye movement in each individual eye and both eyes together. Practice with; both eyes, then one eye at a time, (if sight is less clear in one eye practice a bit extra with that eye, then a second with the clearer to keep things balanced), then end with both eyes together again. Repeat. I am working on a additional method. Once the vision is improved with the exercise; then the basic shifting.., Bates Method as a habit, all day correct, relaxed use of the eyes is much easier and becomes automatic, keeps the vision clear.

You can use the exercise only when needed which is sometimes only a few days a year.

Clark

I call this switching. You can see it on my website; My description is a bit old and not all the info. is on there, need to update the descriptions... someday;
http://www.cleareyesight.info/id8.html

Tell your wife thanks for the information on muscles. I needed that!