7 Tips for Sun-Gazing Learned in the Hard Way

In my early days, I used to think that sun treatment in Bates method was like vitamin pills - supposed to be good for you, but virtually imperceptible to your overall health unless you've got a deficiency.

Needless to say how wrong I was. Sun treatment appears to be a real strain killer. Its effect is so great that I would say I have never even started practicing Bates method until I began sun treatment. I am not alone in feeling like this, read what others from my favorite Bates community say.

(Note that I intentionally use the original term "sun treatment", not "solarization" or "sunning" that are misleading.)

In fact, the ability to look directly at the sun without discomfort is an equivalent indicator of relaxation, similar to the memory of black dot. In other words, when your eyesight is perfect, you can look at the sun without discomfort and afterimages for any period of time, and in reverse, if you are strained, you can't do this, or only can for a short period of time.

Unfortunately, people are frightened by the idea of looking directly at the sun. For this reason, "Bates disciples" reduced the role of sun treatment in their books, and invented abridged techniques, for they had no true faith in Dr. Bates discoveries and were superstitious that people could permanently damage their eyes. At the bottom line, very few in today Bates communities practice sun treatment. Look at the forums and you will hardly find many threads about sun treatment; in contrast, you will find loads of threads on things that don't matter at all. This needs to be changed.

It is also true however that sun treatment needs to be done properly and with discretion. Look what Bates said:

"One has to be very careful in recommending sun-gazing to persons with imperfect sight; because although no permanent harm can result from it, great temporary discomfort may be produced, with no permanent benefit. In some rare cases, however, complete cures have been effected by this means alone."

When I took my first sun treatment session, I was impatient and stupid enough to do it all wrong. In result, I suffered of afterimages (also known as scotoma, pl. scotomata) that lasted over two months. When that yellowish round spot in the center of my view field didn't go the next day, and after two days, and after a week, you bet it scared the shit out of me. It took me a while to fully demonstrate to myself that scotomata were only illusions caused by strain. Like floaters, I was myself supporting that damned illusion by permanently worrying about it. And paradoxically, the best way to get rid of the afterimage was to look at the sun again :). So looking back I realize that although I indeed haven't caused myself any permanent harm, this temporary discomfort could have been avoided too if I weren't such an idiot.

So I gradually elaborated a set of safety and efficiency tips for sun treatment for myself. By following these tips I no longer experience lasting afterimages. The worst I get is a couple of minutes watery yellowish field immediately after sun-gazing. The best I get is no afterimages at all, that is how it should be.

Please note that although these tips are good for me, you may need to adjust them to your own peculiarities, so begin cautiously and learn from your own experience.

Safety Tip #1: Never Force Yourself!
Whenever you look at the sun and feel an intolerable urge to close your eyes, do it immediately! This is how my body signals that I am not ready - it feels like if I were extremely sleepy or like dust fell into my eyes. Never force your eyes to stay open, don't hold your eyelids with your fingers, don't squint, don't frown, don't cover the eyes with your hand etc. Sun gazing is only beneficial when you look at the sun literally without any discomfort, like if you were looking at the screen of your computer. Otherwise it will only cause you afterimages.

For this reason, I find it better to look at the sun when it is high and bright, in contrast to what some may recommend. When the sun is around its peak, it is impossible to look at it without relaxation, whereas when the sun is low (especially when it seems yellow or red on the sunset) or clouded, one can look at it with the strain still there, which causes no benefit but scotomata very quickly.

Safety Tip#2: Be Patient and Moderate!
After learning how good sun treatment is, it is tempting to start right away and do it as often and as long as you can, but learn to be patient and moderate. Start with short sessions and then gradually increase their length, and begin each session slowly and smoothly.

Bright light is beneficial for the eyes. You'd agree that on sunny days you see better than on dim days, and the brighter is the light, the more is the relaxation. This is how sun treatment works. However, an abrupt change of illumination causes a temporary strike of strain (this is why even people with normal sight sometimes see afterimages), so the idea is to drive in (and out of) the bright light as smooth as possible.

Here is a grade of sun treatment methods, sorted by increasing intensity:

1. Look at the sun with closed eyes (few minutes)
2. Look at the sun with closed eyes and focus sun rays on the eyelids using a burning glass (few minutes) Note: Constantly move the burning glass around to avoid heating.
3. Open the eyes and look down while focusing rays on the white part of the eyeball (1-2 minutes)
4. Look at the sky or near the sun with open eyes (few minutes, while you don't feel discomfort)
5. Look directly at the sun with open eyes (1 - 30 seconds, while you don't feel discomfort )
6. Repeat from step 1 (5-10 times).

During each session, I start with a less intense method, then pass to a more intense method, then repeat. Usually I allocate about 30 min in total. If I'm in haste, I better don't do sun treatment at all, because it is not going to be efficient unless I take my time. After all, sun-gazing is a pleasure I would hate to miss or cut short :).

I may take 1-5 sessions per day. From day to day, I may increase the duration (in seconds) of direct sun gazing, and the number of sessions per day, but do it slowly and cautiously, because sometimes it happens that although I don't have an afterimage immediately after sun-gazing, I may have it in the evening of the same day when the strain returns with the twilight.

Here's what Bates wrote:

"Light is necessary to the health of the eye, and darkness is injurious to it. Eye shades, dark glasses, darkened rooms, weaken the sight and sooner or later produce inflammations. Persons with normal sight can look directly at the sun, or at the strongest artificial light, without injury or discomfort, and persons with imperfect sight are never permanently injured by such lights, though temporary ill effects, lasting from a few minutes to a few hours, days, weeks, months, or longer, may be produced. In all abnormal conditions of the eyes, light is beneficial. It is rarely sufficient to cure, but is a great help in gaining relaxation by other methods.

The quickest way to get results from the curative power of sunlight is to focus the rays with a burning glass on the white part of the eye when the patient looks far downward, moving the light from side to side to avoid heat. This may be done for part of a minute at frequent intervals.

Looking at the sun, while slower in its results, has often been sufficient to effect permanent cures, sometimes in a very short time. There is a right way and a wrong way to do this. Persons with imperfect sight should never took directly at the sun at first, because, while no permanent harm can come from it, great temporary inconvenience may result. Such persons should begin by looking to one side of the sun, and after becoming accustomed to the strong light, should look a little nearer to its source, and so on until they become able to look directly at the sun without discomfort."

And please read the related original Bates chapter about sun treatment!

Continued... It's time for me to look at the sun while it's shining in my window :)