I started Bates method one week ago. After 7 days of practicing palming, sunning and snelling I felt that something is changing in my eyes. I stopped staring and tried to relax all the time. But every evening I feel strain in my eyes. They are red and I have double vision. I thought it was bad using of snellen chart but it happened even when I stopped snelling. I'm almost sure it's because of my astigmatism. I have - 2.0 on both eyes. Is it possible to relax my eyes with astigmatism defect?
Yes, astigmatism is a functional defect which means of course it is curable by rest methods. At this stage it seems like you have only just begin the recovery of Bates, I mean you're only 1 week into it, so don't stress out if you can't reduce strain. Of course the whole point of studying the Bates heritage is so that you can become enabled to do this precise thing!
The reason your eyes become red in the evening and you experience double vision is because the twilight hours are a pessimum for you, like they are for many people including myself. For example I may find my acuity in the sunlight to be what I think is a fairly low amount of imperfect sight, 20/40 or less, transforming into a horrific 20/70 or more past 7 o clock in the evening. The solution is obviously to overcome this unfavourable condition by learning to relax in it. How you go about achieving this relaxation is the whole point of the existence of Dr.Bates' system. As I continue my journey of eyesight recovery I find, however, that such nuances are inevitably fading away, that the difference in vision clarity between artificial light and natural light is slowly reducing until I am certain there will be hardly a noticeable difference, and this follows Dr.Bates own writings where he stated that the eye with normal sight can regard objects with more or less equal vision in both evening and day, whereas in imperfect sight the changes are far more marked.
A good cure for red eyes, just to let you know, is the blessed sun treatment. Obviously in the night time there is no available sun, so the next best thing is to use the strongest electric light you can get your hands on. Remember, it's not light that hurts you but darkness. Drop all fears and superstition of light, expose yourself as much as possible.
The fact that you felt 'something is changing' in your eyes is a very good sign, whether that change feels bad or good from the outset. A strained mind can fool you into interpreting a sign of progress as a sign of inhibition or danger. Just let events unfold as you go through your journey and don't be concerned about the bluriness of your surroundings at the current moment. Remember that all these will disappear once you obtain rest, so they have no real importance.
Thanks for your post. I didnt't read english version of book- that's why I wrote funny word: "snelling" :p It's really difficult to use snellen chart and central fixation with double vision. I hope my astigmatism won't discourage me.
On the contrary, astigmatism is the easiest to treat. It usually disappears shortly after beginning to improve sight, but may return if you keep wearing glasses with astigmatism correction.
yes its possibly to reduce strain from astigmatism.Remember its not the eyes that are at fault, its the mind.We create our blurr with effort to see.Vision is as effortless as the other senses."We do not see, things are seen and when things are seen with maximum vision no effort is made"William Bates.We just need to learn how to stop interfering with the eyes and let them do there job effortlessly
Sun gazing is a bless for me. Any light (even my desktop lamp) makes my eyes much more relaxed, but I need to get some experience. Sometimes I try to look at the sun and I cause strain. I have to learn how to do it with no effort. I tried to look at astigmatism mirror and imagine sharper lines on it, but it makes strain too. Do you know any other methods, which can help my astgmatism?
