Hello!
It's been a long time since my last activity on this forum, so I thought I'd let you know that I haven't given up, and never will!
Anyway, recently I noticed that my vision gets a lot better when I'm singing, and it seems to relax my neck and shoulders too. I should also point out that this depends very much on the way I use my voice. I realise this has a lot to do with breathing, but that's certainly not all.
What do you think about this?
And did Bates ever say anything about singing?
No Bates didn't talk about singing. But he did talk about optimums and pessiums. If singing is an optimum - it allows you to feel comfortable and relaxed, which improves eyesight. In my case, for instance, singing produces the opposite effect. It creates a great deal of tension in the jaw and neck, which is probably because I suck at it, and hate to do it in public.
It helps you express yourself, in the sound. It's different than trying to express yourself through talking or writing. Sound in itself, which is more what singing is about, isn't so much filtered by your mind, or so it seems to me. Anyway, a expression that actually comes from you and not fabricated by your mind, or in other words what we would call "genuine", avoids strain.
Dave
Site Administrator
"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
I read that singing massages the bones of the skull, keeps them in good alignment.
Also improves memory, imagination since person is creating mental pictures of thing feeling, singing about.
Improve memory, imagination = improve clarity of vision.
Dr.Bates mentions that for those with defective vision, the perfect memory of other senses such as sound, smell or touch can be used to improve vision. It often happens that perfect memory of even the perfect ear or skin is impaired in the event of defective eyesight. Singing is certainly a great way to relax. Whenever visual imagination strains me I switch to touch sesnsation and move my fingers on my body slowly and concentrate on that touch movement. I found that it can often relax the eyes as well.( when you do this you must move your fingers so the mind can "move" too else it is the same as staring)
Whatever we like and gives us happiness should be good for the eyes too.
Bates talked a lot about the need to relax both the eyes and the mind. Just recently I read a CNN article about music, whether singing or listening to music, is like a mega-vitamin for the brain. A lot of Eastern yoga styles teach humming as a method of meditating, which is a relaxing of the mind. So yeah, I think this is good for you and a beneficial therapy for your vision. The eyes and the mind are closely linked; as a medic for 15 years, I was trained to shine a light into the eyes of a patient to determine brain activity. Your singing relaxes your mind, it results in better vision. Of course, you can't sing all day long, everywhere you go. When you experience this improvement of vision, you need to really focus on what it feels like, this is your eyes relaxed, and if you can accomplish this during normal every day activities, you will find your vision actually improving on a consistent basis. This is a necessary step to move beyond the clear flashes that we experience and really enjoy improved vision.
I've managed to accomplish this consistent relaxation, and have achieved significant improvement in my vision for everyday activities. Street signs used to be just shapes unless I wore my glasses while driving. Now, the numbers and letters look like they are climbing into the car with me. I recently passed my vision test for my drivers license renewal without my glasses. But it isn't easy nor is it overnight. To have functional improvement in vision you have to know what relaxation of the eyes feels like and learn how to make it your natural state in all circumstances. Sometimes if I am placed in difficult circumstances, my vision will crumble, because I've lost my composure and I revert back to a state of mind that induces the strain. This strain is from habits that I spent my entire life forming, so it isn't easy to reprogram, but it is doable. Bates talked a lot about a relaxed mind functioning better, remembering better. With my vision improvement, I have also experienced clarity and sharpness in how I think. I'm really enjoying it. I'm not where I want to end up yet, but I am now seeing improvement on a daily basis.
