Why does looking at the Snellen chart everyday improve eyesi

[fuggles]

In the bates magazine book of over 700 pages, he mentions that school children who looked at the Snellen chart everyday eventually corrected their eyesight.

Why did this happen ? Whats the technical bit that I am missing.

off topic : is the bates method practiced commercially in Germany ?

[AnonymousLex]

I assume it is because of imagination and remembering the chart every time they look at it they remember it better - this results in relaxation and improved eyesight.

[David]

When you look at a chart, it's clear how clear your vision is. If you can't read the bottom line at the appropriate distance, your vision isn't as clear as it could be. For someone who isn't deeply stuck in blurry vision and has only recently had minor problems with their vision, just the act of looking at the chart can help them clear it up as they look at the smaller letters. They don't really misuse their eyes while looking at it, because they haven't gotten that deep into myopia or whatever it may be - all they really need is a primer to keep things right.

For someone with long-standing problems, reading the chart every day is a good way to remind themselves what needs improving and also to note that their vision is not always the same. Eventually, just reading the chart can have the same effect as described above, where at some level they know how to see better and just need something familiar to work with. It has to do with the convenience of how you can gradually read down to smaller and smaller letters.

Dave

[sean]

While i have been following this forum attentively I haven't posted for a good while now. I suppose I'm not alone in being pretty secretive about natural vision improvement - it's such a subjective matter and you wouldn't want to lead others astray etc, but on the other hand it wouldn't be fair either to leave the burden of posting to others.

In recent months I have been able to devote time each lunchtime, on workdays, to the Snellen chart pinned up in front of me on my desk. I find it is very restful and when I take a few days off work I really miss it. Maybe it's unhealthy to get so attached and I should move onto other things but that's the way it is. Maybe it's a text thing - the first time I was aware of my shortsightedness was at the age of 10 when, on returning to school after the summer holidays, I noticed that I couldn't read the blackboard.

I have noticed that all my experiences of clearer vision have related to written text, either on the tv, computer screen, shop signs or (mainly) the Snellen chart.

I find that the clearings are coming easier and easier now (I have been at NVI for one year exactly now) and I have just finished a very relaxing half hour where I have cleared my mind and watched the letters clearing up, dissolving again and returning. The patterns have changed over the months but what now happens usually is that a clearly defined line of letters appears on top, but this isn't the real thing. The real ones usually appear a few minutes later when I am more fully relaxed and are underneath the first line and slightly to the right. Interestingly after reading Ben Hill's recent post about central fixation I did a little of that on objects in the room around me (for the first time in many months) before turning to the Snellen - then immediately the "real" line of letters appeared beneath (and as usual right down through the chart).

I find 30 minutes is ideal. Any less and your'e not giving yourself time to relax and anything more tends to become a bit boring and forced. Six months ago the idea of sitting for 30 minutes at anything would have been a real fright, even though I have always been very committed to the process. If I don't notice any serious clearing then it indicates that I am trying to do things to the visual images in front of me, to order them into line as it were, and this is solved by just relaxing, nothing mystical or technical, just plain relaxation of the eyes, where you feel the eyes relaxing (I say this because I used to try to look to deeply into this). I also often visual myself cutting off direct control of my eyes, by depressing an imaginary clutch pedal, or just abandoning control. And positive thoughts are very beneficial.

Comments anyone?

[Ram]

I find that if I do palming, sunning ( not sun gazing which I dont do) or wall gazing before practising shifting then I dont need 30 minutes to get the maximum benefit from shifting. I need only fifteen minutes to feel that nothing more can be gained from this session.

[sean]

Thanks for responding, Ram. I suppose the point I'm trying to make here is that it has taken me one year to get to a point where I can relax for a full half hour and not feel I've wasted my time. When I started out I would be restless after 3 or 4 minutes only yet I could concentrate on an activity for hours on end no problem! David made the point on a few occasions that we need to give time to the exercises. Actually I don't shift in front of the chart, but simply look at it, calm the mind and wait. When the really clear image emerges I sort of play around with it to see how thoughts etc affect it - it's a bit like reeling in a fish (which I've never done) or controlling a skid on an icy road (the reflex would be to steer the steering wheel the wrong way). What happened yesterday was that the most interesting, and relaxing bit, happened in the last 5 mins. David also made the obvious point in an recent post, about eye watering, that producing clear flashes is not terribly useful unless it can lead to general improvement to your eyesight throughout the day. I'm not sure how how to go about this.

[Ram]

OK, it is clear now. I think I misunderstood what you said. Like meditation, doing any of these routines needs patience, lots of it. It is diificult in the beginning but as time passes we develop it. In the fast paced world where we are brought up now patience is a rare commodity. No wonder people are looking for quick remedies everywhere and paying a big price later - like using glasses for 'quick cure'.