The following discussion took place on the 'batesmethod' Yahoo Group. It is copied here so members of this forum have a chance to read it and even continue the discussion.
From: "David" <david@i...>
Date: Tue Jan 11, 2005 8:43 pm
Subject: Method of the Week - remembering color
Still no signups to present a method of the week, so I'm doing
another one. About 200 people have viewed the page now, and I'm not
sure why nobody likes the idea.
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REMEMBERING COLOR
I like to do this in a sitting position, either cross-legged on the
floor or in a chair, with my back straight. They say a straight back
helps energy flow through your chakras better or something, but
anyway I do it because it feels better than slouching, and it's
easier for me to relax.
Part 1: Remembering
Close your eyes, palming if it makes you feel more comfortable.
Remember the brilliant whiteness of a cloud with the sun shining on
it. It doesn't have to be a cloud. It could be a face, or an apple,
or anything else that you've seen enough times and can open your
heart to. Specifically remember the intensity of the color. Every
color is intense, if you let it be. Even black, no color at all, can
be intense.
If you can't visualize the exact color, you can imagine that you
remember it, and that will pave the way to remembering it better.
Bates talked about a perfect memory, but don't get the idea that
your memory has to be perfect right away for you to get benefit from
this.
Inevitably when I fail at remembering something at all it's because
I keep trying to remember the form of it, trying to remember too
much of it all at once in order to construe its form. But form is
nothing without color. Forget the form. That comes once you've
remembered the color. I sure can't remember the form of anything
immediately, but it'll come once I think of the color, then the
shades near that, which naturally includes the form.
Let your attention naturally shift about the object possessing the
color, imagining what the color would be like at that other point -
the same? slightly darker? and continue enjoying it, shifting about,
without trying to make any colors any different than what you
initially imagine them to be.
By remembering color primarily and just letting form come to you as
it does, you completely avoid the conundrum of just how small of an
area you should be remembering for central fixation.
Part 2: Opening your eyes
Once you've remembered the color for a minute or more, open your
eyes and look at the chart. Did you immediately lose your memory?
There's no reason you have to. If you did, you strained when you
opened your eyes and ruined your process.
Remembering with your eyes open can be juat as easy as with your
eyes closed. Keep your attention on it as you open your eyes,
instead of your thoughts shifting to anxiousness about what don't
think you'll be able to see on the chart. If you keep your memory,
the chart letters will quickly clear up.
Bates said that perfect sight is instantaneous, that if it's going
to come in this process it'll be as soon as you open your eyes. It
doesn't usually happen that way for me. My vision clears up over a
number of seconds, give or take.
Once you start to feel the strain and/or the letters start to blur
or your start feeling anxious, close your eyes.
Part 3: Alternate
Alternate parts 1 and 2, closing your eyes, palming if desired, and
opening them again only when you have the memory of a color and
you're happy with it. It might take several repeats before you
notice something happening with your open-eyed vision.
Comments? Shoot.
Dave
Site Administrator
"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
This spurred a rather off-topic question...
but qith school presentations (or any presentations for that matter),
Since one is more likely to do better standing straight and not fidgeting and not relying for the most part on constantly looking at one's notes instead of 'establishing eye-contact', does the concept of 'remembering colour' or something similar or equal to that factor in with presenters? As in, those who can use their memory to their advantage - by recalling some factor that stands out whether it be a colour something about one of their audience or just something they happen to catch sight of?
I'm not sure if what I wrote made sense, but...
Quote:Still no signups to present a method of the week, so I'm doing
another one. About 200 people have viewed the page now, and I'm not
sure why nobody likes the idea.
I don't know about others, but I know for myself...
I'm really bad when it comes to starting something (at least coming up with ideas to), but I do pretty well with explaining given I have someone or something to bounce what I say off of....
About the signups - I was originally doing signups for it, and a few people did start some of these topics, but it kind of trailed off, and I ran out of topics that were interesting to me. So I've taken the archive I had already made and posted it here. That way the discussions can continue (like this one!) and still stay organized.
Using memory in situations like you describe is a great idea. I always have to do it when I'm driving at night while tired. It's usually the case that I'm really not THAT tired, it's just that I have trouble focusing at night with so few things to look at, and my visual system gets strained and tired. So I focus on a memory of something and I don't feel so tired anymore and my vision comes into focus.
Using this while presenting could make you look a little distracted, as it's an internal kind of thing instead of a way of interacting with others, but someone whose vision is good enough uses their own sight to the same effect. They remember what they see, as if they were remembering and seeing an object at the same time, and so what they see is so intensely clear that it keeps them calm.
Dave
Site Administrator
"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
I guess that was more of an observation... not just for presentations, but for tests and exams as well. Friends/classmates would ask 'aren't you nervous?' or 'how can you be so calm?' beforehand, especially after finding out that I didn't cram-study. Nor really "study" at all in common sense of the word... And having never practiced in front of a mirror for anything...
So I figured, that memory and not-having-strained to cram at all had something to do with getting better marks than one would expect from a 'non-study-er'.
If you can not obtain a Test Card (Snellen), here is Bate's suggestion for
making your own.
=======
Children under twelve years who have not worn glasses are usually cured of defective eyesight by the above method in three months, six months, or a year. Adults who have never worn glasses are benefited in a very short time - a week or two - and if the trouble is not very bad, may be cured in the course of from three to six months.
Children or adults who have worn glasses, however, are more difficult to relieve, and will usually have to practice the methods of gaining relaxation described in other chapters; they will also have to devote considerable time to the treatment.
It is absolutely necessary that the glasses be discarded.
No half-way measures can be tolerated, if a cure is desired.
Do not attempt to wear weaker glasses, and do not wear glasses for emergencies.
Persons who are unable to do without glasses for all purposes are not likely to be able to cure themselves.
Home Treatment:
Children and adults who have worn glasses will have to devote an hour or longer every day to practice with the test card and the balance of their time to practice on other objects. It will be well for such patients to have two test cards, one to be used at the near-point, where it can be seen best, and the other at ten or twenty feet. The patient will find it a great help to shift from the near card to the distant one, as the unconscious memory of the letters seen at the near-point helps to bring out those seen at the distance.
If you cannot obtain a test card, you can make one for yourself by painting black letters of appropriate size on a white card, or on a piece of white paper. The approximate diameter of these letters, reading from the top of the card to the bottom is: 35 in., 1 3/4 in., 1 1/4 in., 7/8 in., 11/16 in., 1/2 in., 3/8 in., 1/4 in., 3/16 in.
If the patient can secure the aid of some person with normal sight, it will be a great advantage. In fact, persons whose cases are obstinate will find it very difficult, if not impossible, to cure themselves without the aid of a teacher. The teacher, if he is to benefit the patient, must himself be able to derive benefit from the various methods recommended. If his vision is 10/10, he must be able to improve it to 20/10, or more. If he can read fine print at twelve inches, he must become able to read it at six, or at three inches. He must also have sufficient control over his visual memory to relieve and prevent pain. A person who has defective sight, either for the distance or the near-point, and who cannot remember black well enough to relieve and prevent pain, will be unable to be of any material assistance in obstinate cases; and no one will be able to be of any assistance in the application of any method which he himself has not used successfully.
THE DUTY OF PARENTS:
Parents who wish to preserve and improve the eyesight of their children should encourage them to read the Snellen test card every day. There should, in fact, be a Snellen test card in every family; for when properly used it always prevents myopia and other errors of refraction, always improves the vision, even when this is already normal, and always benefits functional nervous troubles. Parents should improve their own eyesight to normal, so that their children may not imitate wrong methods of using the eyes and will not be subject to the influence of an atmosphere of strain. They should also learn the principles of central fixation sufficiently well to relieve and prevent pain, in order that they may teach their children to do the same. This practice not only makes it possible to avoid suffering, but is a great benefit to the general health.
I've been trying something like this on walks home, only noticing colors rather than objects. It's fall, so the trees are green, yellow, red, purple, etc. It helps me relax at a distance. This week, I was able to see a street sign clearly from a block and a half away (I'm usually 20/50-20/40).
