I have been trying to imagine a small black circle slowly swinging like a pendulum during palming. When I do this I noticed that my eyes also move slightly inside my closed eyelids - corresponding to the circle. Is this normal during mental shifting? Is such an eye movement with closed eyes beneficial? We know that shifting is good with open eyes, but what about closed eyes?
I was curious about this as well. I assume it is almost an unimportant distraction, wondering about the movement of the eyes. The important thing is developing relaxation and that is partly indicated by the willed appearance of the swinging black dot. I wish someone else with success in black dot imagining would chime in with their opinion.
I have also been visualizing the swinging black period and yes, this does cause my eyes to physically move back and forth (even when my eyes are closed). I think this may be partially why Bates suggested this technique (for the movement benefit and the color visualization benefit). When I work on swinging the black period with my eyes closed and continue after opening my eyes, they maintain a very nice natural rhythm that keeps my eyes shifting. When I have done this outdoors it has led to partial and sometimes full clear flashes. I think if we can master this technique then we're well on our way to healthy vision habits
I forgot to mention one thing. In my opinion, yes, having the movement with your eyes closed is beneficial as well. Bates did mention that people can strain their eyes with the lids closed (some people strain while they sleep), so I imagine that having this movement with the eyes closed helps to relax the eyes with lids closed and open. When visualizing, Bates recommended shifting around these objects as well; I imagine vision with the lids closed (memory or imagination) or open (perception of light) can benefit from all of the techniques he describes (except for palming perhaps, which is best with lids closed). I enjoy swinging with my eyes closed sometimes and it induces the same relaxing effects as with my eyes open.
I'd suggest to try not to pay attention to whether your eyes move or not while they're closed. Don't try to make them move while closed. If anything, you should have to consider afterwards whether they were moving or not. You don't want to make the mistake of looking at the dark field you "see" on the inside of your closed eyelids.
Dave
Site Administrator
"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
I forgot to mention one thing. In my opinion, yes, having the movement with your eyes closed is beneficial as well. Bates did mention that people can strain their eyes with the lids closed (some people strain while they sleep), so I imagine that having this movement with the eyes closed helps to relax the eyes with lids closed and open. When visualizing, Bates recommended shifting around these objects as well; I imagine vision with the lids closed (memory or imagination) or open (perception of light) can benefit from all of the techniques he describes (except for palming perhaps, which is best with lids closed). I enjoy swinging with my eyes closed sometimes and it induces the same relaxing effects as with my eyes open.
Sassy
What exactly is the difference between memory and imagination? Is the following example correct?
Memory: Reproduction of a visual image in the mind field exactly as it was seen with eyes open.( or as close to it as one can remember). For eg, remebering a black ball placed on a table.
Imagination: This is adding imagination to an existing memory. For eg, using the memory of the black ball on the table, one imagines a bouncing or a rolling black ball though such a scene was not necessarily seen before.
I find this practice soothing on my eyes - With my eyes closed with my plams, I use one of the fingers and draw different shapes like figures, letters, alphabets etc on my forehead and try to concentrate on the movement of my finger. It is easy to remember a letter while tracing its shape like that. This also helps me to prevent staring into the visual field under closed eyes as the attention is now on the forehead where the drawing is made. It also serves to massage the forehead which by itself gives a wonderful feeling.
I would agree with your examples of memory and imagination. I think Bates describes the difference in his magazines, but I don't have my sources on me now.
Also, with respect to the swinging period; I never try to force the eye movement, or concentrate on the movement itself. It is simply a by-product of the visualization technique. Visualizing the swinging period will eventual and naturally lead to the eye movement. I think the purpose of the technique is to simply start making the shifting a natural habit that becomes unconscious.
Interesting palming variation exercise you described. I'll have to try it sometime!
I also feel my eyes moving around when I swing with my eyes closed, As Dave said, I try to ignore them. The swinging helps you relax, and when you focus on your eyes physically moving you begin to strain and make the swinging useless.
Though I am trying to visualize the swinging period, I think I cant actually visualize it yet. So it reduces to something like mental swinging without a period in the mind field. I have printed a number of periods of different sizes on a white paper and try to shift them at the near point ( where it is seen quite black) with eyes open for a couple of minutes before I try them with eyes closed. This way I hope that memory of the period will be retained but so far I can retain the image only for the first 2-3 seconds after which I can imagine no black so the period almost disappears. But I can imagine a white period for slightly longer periods. I have been into this only for a couple of weeks and should improve. I dont do this for more than a few seconds at a time because I seem to get restless and strained after that. I figured out that if you loose the mental image it cannot reclaomed by any effort and the only way is to open the eyes and shift with open eyes and continue again. I can actually see the period swing at my near point though frequently it is in the same direction as the eye movement.
This maybe the reason why I am still paying attention to the movement of the eyes. When the period begins to become more steady I think the mind will ignore the eye movement by itself.
