I have a couple of questions about shifting. How quickly should you shift, and how long should you keep your eyes on a certain letter?
When I shift I see the letter I'm not looking at worse. However, I can't see the eye chart moving left-right or top-bottom as Bates describes. My eye chart is not huge, and the biggest letter can be seen by someone with 20/70 vision. I generally set it propped up on my desk and scoot my chair back when I do shifting. I'm usually a few feet in front of it because that's as far as I can see the top few rows. Is it because of the still objects in the background that the chart does not appear to be moving? And is any eye chart ok?
I also do not quite understand what a "swing" is - Bates didn't really define it clearly in his book, unless I missed it.
I recommed you to take a look at the the Better Eyesight Magazines
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The shift should be smooth and effortless, noticing immediately afterwards that the letter now regarded has your full attention and that you are less aware of surrounding letters. Once you have this sensation of awareness on the single letter, then shift again. Sometimes you have to shift two or more letters away to get this sensation. You should not be trying to shift as fast as possible or anything like that.
You may need to practice shifting for several minutes at a time, several times a day before you get results. And ensure that you are in good natural lighting and that you experiment with varying distances from the chart.
The swing is again another sensation or illusion of natural vision. The illusion is that when you move your eyes in one direction to see, objects appear to move in the opposite direction.
Just sit in your office chair and swivel or sway ever so slightly... stare at one point on the wall to get the sensation, then when you have it, let your eyes move with your sway... or sway a little more to get the sensation. If that works, then stop swaying and move your eyes only, across large things first like side to side of a big window or top to bottom of a door. With some practice, you will be able to swing smaller and smaller distances.
I practice swinging all day long, by emphasizing the natural motion when I'm walking or going for a run, or consciously moving my eyes only, while at my desk or when talking to someone. My daughter loves to get the swinging sensation when she dances, that's a very natural one.
