Got the Original Bates Book

Couldn't find time to boast that I have ordered and received recently the original Bates book "Perfect Sight Without Glasses", the Edition of 1920. I bought it in an online second-hand book store, quite expensive, but it's worth every penny.


Needless to say that I'm totally enchanted by the book. It is in a very good condition and but the yellowish side face of pages, one wouldn't tell the book is 90 years old! The paper is pretty dense and glows with milky white. The font is also something special - I have never seen that kind of big black periods above i. The illustrations look much more vivid than in the scanned copies, and the photographically reduced micro print is amazing. I even think I should print more pages in micro type on a high-resolution laser printer, because I find reading the fine print very beneficial, when done properly.


The letters seem very black and distinct and seem to swing all by themselves. I believe Dr. Bates intended this curative effect by carefully choosing the font, page size, paper etc. That's what I've bought the book for - I've already read it many times, so I don't need to chase for new information and can read meditatively, swinging the letters, realizing with awe that it's the book printed by the great Dr. Bates himself!

Improvements

I'm happy to find recently that all my Bates skills have improved.

Palming. I seem to find the way to break out of the chamber behind my closed eyelids and let my imagination take control. I have become able to remember black objects, such as black velvet. Especially vivid are the memories of childhood. I get more relaxation and satisfaction from palming now.

Sun Gazing. I no longer get scotomata and no longer fear the sun. The time to get prepared for looking directly at the sun is now shorter and I don't feel any limitation on the duration of sun gazing. It's a shame that in winter there's almost no sun. I use a 500W halogen lamp, but I come to think I should get a 1000W one. I also light my working place permanently with two 500W lamps. Looking at the bright light is the first aid when the strain returns. It's ridiculous how superstitious people are towards bright light.

Shifting & Swinging. I've found the way to shift without effort, unlike I did it before. Letting my eye drift freely and not trying to see all at once feels like a great relief immediately, and when I occasionally get back to my wrong habit, it feels like tension and pain. When I succeed to stay like this for a long time, my vision improves and I get a lot of clear flashes very easily. What is tough though is not to forget to keep permanently doing so.

By the way, Rishi recently wrote what I find a great recipe of Bates routine:
"The treatment is VERY SIMPLE. Just remove glasses, suffer the inconvenience at first, then strive to remember things moving, again and again when you forget, you just remember, everything moves, if something appears as stationary, then it is because we are staring, fixating it for more than an instant, and then, just move away the gaze, WITHOUT BEING CONCERNED ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE VISION, and that's all, just a question of time, but if you are able to PRACTICE these things consciously and intentionally in some particular period of the day, or more periods, then the better, avoid at first difficult situations where you are not able to remember to move your gaze, that's all."

The amazing thing is that it's really THAT SIMPLE. The more I advance, the simpler Bates method appears to me. But at first, everything seemed to be tough, because the eyes were clenched with strain and were not so responsive to my practice, even if and when I succeeded to do something right. Gradually, things loosen up and I gain more control.

Also, I have found it beneficial to watch the way how normal eyes act. When I watched my wife's beautiful healthy eyes, I couldn't stand exclaiming with rapture - the movements were so short and spontaneous, and the stops were so clear-cut like if it were a stepper motor. Remembering this impression makes my eyes act in a similar manner. It works like subconscious imitation of people you like. Myopia is contagious, and so is perfect sight, so the result depends on who is more immune to influences :).

Memory. As an indicator of my current relaxation, I often try to remember black dot and I find that lately I can do it more often and hold it for longer time. I also find that I can more vividly remember black letters after reading fine print at a comfortable distance.

Night Vision. I no longer feel like blind and my head doesn't get squeezed when I walk out in the night. Although I still see imperfectly, it is not worse than in daylight. I asked my wife whether she sees each light perfectly as a pin point. She said: "Yes, but I don't actually look at them". Then I realized that looking at those blurry halos was actually a big strain and I stopped doing so, and began looking at other objects lit by reflected light, then my vision improved.

Flashing. This technique previously didn't work for me, but lately I find it can bring me relaxation and clear flashes in few minutes. I practice it before I go to sleep, as an alternative to palming.


P.S. When I told my wife about my improvements she asked me whether my vision has also improved, and guess what - I realized that I didn't even know! Unlike before, I just no longer have any interest and care to check my vision all the time. Then I became interested and checked several times throughout a single day and found that my average vision has also improved slightly (not counting the clear flashes), just to tick off in my blog :)