I know there are people keen to read of others' experience with this method, especially early experience, and it is probably wise for me to record this for myself, so here's how my first week few days have been.
A little background: Today is the fifth full day since removing my glasses for good (very nearly for good - I've used them to read the board at college for seconds at a time). My prescription as of June this year was -2.75 lenses for myopia, and for the first time in the six years of owning any, I had since then been taking them off only to wash and sleep. This was because my optometrist told me that if I didn't wear them this religiously I'd need bifocals by age 25 (another six years).
The online acuity test I was directed to from here suggested that I had 20/80- 20/100 vision. I took this in the way I'm used to, applying no Bates theory and squinting to get a better view. Taking it again today, it seems I now have 20/60 vision, when doing it the healthy way. Here's what's been happening in between.
Day zero (evening of glasses removal):
Familiarised myself with the theory and practise. Experimented with it on my bedroom wall, trying to relax without quite grasping the movement factor, and probably staring even more than usual. Rather disturbing illusions resulted. Went to bed.
Day one:
Read some more of Bates' book. Tried palming while imagining black, and noticed no effects on my eyes but found it helped relieve mild pain I was having that day. Started trying to become more aware of central fixation throughout the day.
Day two: Practised central fixation on letters whenever I had the chance. This was quite easy for close letters, so I perfected it on those before on any further away when I could. This reduces the temptation to strain, by reminding me that clarity isn't the immediate objective.
Day three: Printed a Snellen chart and test card; practised central fixation and swinging with it. Swinging unsuccessful, but had one slight clear flash. Started using Swingbrowser from central-fixation.com, which I find more peaceful to work with. Began to notice my bodily strain. That's really worth its own post, I was quite surprised.
Day four: Taped the Snellen up so that I can use it while lying sideways on my bed. Practised CF for over an hour and took note of which lines I could see. Had a brief, slight clear flash. Read my New Testament and Psalms, with tiny print, in dim light before going to sleep.
Day five (today): Had a free day, and lie in bed for a couple of hours using the Snellen with occasional palming. Had a few clear flashes, including one amazing one an hour and a half in, for maybe thirty seconds. The optotypes were almost all entirely clear. Previously I could quite easily read the first three lines, and the last four or five mostly werenât even worth looking at. During the flash I could read all of them that I looked at, though I canât remember if I looked at the bottom line. They were surrounded by a black tinge, as if the paper were ink-stained, and this returned with subsequent good clear flashes. The best thing is, this flash didnât completely leave. About eight hours later I can still read three lines more than first thing this morning, the next one with a little time and pracise, and bits of the last one now and then. I donât know if thatâs typical this soon in, but I was blown away. :o
Technique analysis:
I'm still not noticing vision improvements with palming, though it can be pleasant, and I may not yet be as good at it as I could be. I do it frequently but for no more than a minute or two each time. I notice swing occasionally. Central fixation is feeling a lot more natural as my eyes are moving more easily, because I can shift between details to get the big picture in reasonable time. Listening to my favourite relaxing music is good preparation for practise and helps relieve tension throughout the day. When palming I like to remember pieces of music and faces of people I like, or imagine nice food, hansom cabs going through London (I like the Victorian and Edwardian eras) or scenery I've dreamed up which I can see perfectly with no effort.
Hope that's of interest. Advice, questions, comments welcome.
All I can say is your progress is rather astounding. I can think of a number of factors which might be helping you out, but whatever it is, your complete success seems not too far away.
The ODs like to impress you with very, very sharp vision. This produces and over-prescription
of about 2 diopters -- consistently.
I think it is far better that you "standardize" your measurements on your own Snellen.
You will be much happier with the results.
Quote:The online acuity test I was directed to from here suggested that I had 20/80- 20/100 vision. I took this in the way I'm used to, applying no Bates theory and squinting to get a better view. Taking it again today, it seems I now have 20/60 vision, when doing it the healthy way. Here's what's been happening in between
For instance, -3 diopters typically "translates" to 20/210 vision. (About 20/70 for one diopter.)
You are obviously much better than that.
Thus (except for driving) you can avoid the minus.) In fact a -1.25 diopter would probably give you 20/40 vision.
(or your ACTUAL refractive STATE under REASONABLE measurement conditions is -1.25 diopters, not -2.75 diopters.
As far as clearing from 20/70 to standard -- that DOES TAKE TIME.
Urban Wrote:All I can say is your progress is rather astounding. I can think of a number of factors which might be helping you out, but whatever it is, your complete success seems not too far away.
Cool, thanks. I am feeling quite confident now, I must admit. What might those factors be? I am conscious of hyperbolising to people who won't see the same results, as I'm in awe of the effectiveness right now.
otis Wrote:Dear Opti,
Subject: Profound over-prescription by an OD.
The ODs like to impress you with very, very sharp vision. This produces and over-prescription
of about 2 diopters -- consistently.
Haha, that's true, I remember when I first put glasses on, thinking I didn't remember the world ever looking that sharp! Now I know it probably didn't. ;D I wonder if part of that is due to most people under-performing in the optometrist's office. Unfamiliar environments and experiences throw the eyes off focus temporarily, perhaps as the mind can't decide what to focus on from moment to moment. You're also more likely to be conscious of them during that time. Not to mention someone breathing in your face and shining a light in them. My last optometrist seemed to me to exaggerate the case.
otis Wrote:Thus (except for driving) you can avoid the minus.) In fact a -1.25 diopter would probably give you 20/40 vision.
(or your ACTUAL refractive STATE under REASONABLE measurement conditions is -1.25 diopters, not -2.75 diopters.
Luckily I'm not driving at the moment, but I might find an old pair to carry around. That reminds me, two days ago I noticed that when I used my glasses to check something written up, after telling myself to relax, my vision was slightly blurred through them, suggesting that my refractive state is relatively variable now, one way or the other. My vision never used to change with them on.
Urban Wrote:All I can say is your progress is rather astounding. I can think of a number of factors which might be helping you out, but whatever it is, your complete success seems not too far away.
Cool, thanks. I am feeling quite confident now, I must admit. What might those factors be? I am conscious of hyperbolising to people who won't see the same results, as I'm in awe of the effectiveness right now.
otis Wrote:Dear Opti,
Subject: Profound over-prescription by an OD.
The ODs like to impress you with very, very sharp vision. This produces and over-prescription
of about 2 diopters -- consistently.
Haha, that's true, I remember when I first put glasses on, thinking I didn't remember the world ever looking that sharp! Now I know it probably didn't. ;D I wonder if part of that is due to most people under-performing in the optometrist's office. Unfamiliar environments and experiences throw the eyes off focus temporarily, perhaps as the mind can't decide what to focus on from moment to moment. You're also more likely to be conscious of them during that time. Not to mention someone breathing in your face and shining a light in them. My last optometrist seemed to me to exaggerate the case.
otis Wrote:Thus (except for driving) you can avoid the minus.) In fact a -1.25 diopter would probably give you 20/40 vision.
(or your ACTUAL refractive STATE under REASONABLE measurement conditions is -1.25 diopters, not -2.75 diopters.
Luckily I'm not driving at the moment, but I might find an old pair to carry around. That reminds me, two days ago I noticed that when I used my glasses to check something written up, after telling myself to relax, my vision was slightly blurred through them, suggesting that my refractive state is relatively variable now, one way or the other. My vision never used to change with them on.
Well, it is very well known amongst the Bates community that optometrists vastly over prescribe. They like to increase your prescription until further addition does not improve clarity anymore, in my mind this is VERY wrong. That is one factor, when you first remove your glasses, the initial progress you make will usually be quite impressive. Additionally, I've talked at great lengths with David about this, the optometrist's office is very near to the worst possible situation for vision. A dark unfamiliar office, an authority figure, the pressure to perform, the deck is stacked against you. Frankly, if you can see 20/20 in the optometrists office, there will be precious little that can shake your vision.
As for seeing unclear through your old glasses, remember that if you improve your near sightedness, you will be farsighted through your old glasses, although we are more capable of adjusting for farsightedness than nearsightedness.
I forgot to mention a few things. I don't know if this is helping me or not, but I decided early on that the point of fixation cannot be too small, all the time your eyes can move easily enough to keep up with the movement required to interpret the world with it. So I've been shifting between the smallest details I can see. On the Snellen, I've been shifting between whole letters only when the letters are completely undefined, because people with 20/20 vision will have a much smaller point of fixation than the size of the letters I'm looking at. I don't want any more strain than I can possibly avoid, if I want to see 'all the moons of Jupiter' like the people Bates mentions, and I reason that paying attention to whole letters per glance at the distance of my Snellen will still produce more strain than necessary.
When a letter is slightly blurred, I find it helps to keep sliding my focus over each of its lines, and this makes it blacker and clearer as if drawing over a mark with a pencil. When feeling relaxed this seems to eliminate any residual blur faster than any other technique I've tried. Also, I do enjoy and look forward to working with the Snellen. I like the whole idea of helping my eyes recuperate and heal, and of practising a new skill. That, I'm quite sure, is important.
Another thing that may be in my favour is that the bodily strain may be purely habitual. I'm experiencing no more feelings that might induce it in the day than any clear-sighted person, and think mine was probably learned over several years that I can specifically identify as being likely to have triggered chronic tension. Now I've just got to unlearn those habits, like clenching my jaw and eyelids at night as if to prevent my eyes from escaping (and some of you will know, that's probably not too far from the reason). It would be easier to list the mundane things that don't make me tense up than those that do. But I'm aware of that now so can work on it. Noticing what's happening in my body, if there's a muscle contracted that's got no business being contracted, I ask what it thinks it's doing.
One more thing. Occasionally I've thought that the Bates method was making my eyes sometimes hurt or feel dry and itchy. Then I realised that I've been so out of touch with my body all this time that it's barely registered consciously that my eyes have been hurting regularly, with glasses on. It's a less sharp and more chronic ache than what I've been getting this week. Probably eye fatigue, but it wasn't severe enough or culturally unusual enough for me to give it a thought. I would vaguely decide to go to bed, I remember, perceiving it as a sign of being tired. Now I'm not feeling that ache at all, but the occasional twinge into which I'm more tuned lately.
When you mentioned in the other thread about sleep paralysis and all that, I got the impression that you were more "open" I guess is the word I would use, than people who are really stuck in their ways and have their myopia so fused into the way they are that they don't see a way out no matter what they do. But you're making progress even sooner than I expected, and you're totally on the right track.
Some people get a stinging feeling or sharp irritation when they get a clear flash - I still get that sometimes. There's been a lot of speculation on what it is.
Once I've got this blog feature working right, I think you'd make good use of it. You can cross-post each blog entry to one of the forums here too (see the test post I made in the Off Topic forum).
Dave
Site Administrator
"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
David Wrote:When you mentioned in the other thread about sleep paralysis and all that, I got the impression that you were more "open" I guess is the word I would use, than people who are really stuck in their ways and have their myopia so fused into the way they are that they don't see a way out no matter what they do. But you're making progress even sooner than I expected, and you're totally on the right track.
That's good to read, thanks! Funny you should mention SP. Remember I said it was gone now? I got it again this morning, first time in six months. Wasn't particularly dramatic, no levitation or visuals, just felt someone leaning over to kiss me *shudder*, and maybe I'll have no choice now but to use it as you suggested. Not much else to do except lie there paralysed.
I suspect that my best days are going to be those each week in which I don't have to go anywhere, because it made me especially contented and patient to know that I had the whole day. Otherwise time pressure puts me off somewhat and makes me want to rush through the process for results.
David Wrote:Once I've got this blog feature working right, I think you'd make good use of it. You can cross-post each blog entry to one of the forums here too (see the test post I made in the Off Topic forum).
Sounds good!
Oh and sorry, one more detail. As well as the black smudges that appear around the letters, during the best clear flash the characters seemed to change slowly in a wave like motion as if under water. Iimagine that's a kind of swing.
Advice, questions, comments welcome.
Wasn't particularly dramatic, no levitation or visuals, just felt someone leaning over to kiss me *shudder*, and maybe I'll have no choice now but to use it as you suggested. Not much else to do except lie there paralysed.