It is the sun.
People who teach Bates method may be wrong. They may be just earning their living by telling you things that resemble Bates method but actually are against it. They may have been taught by wrong people too. They may not even have perfect sight. There is no guarantee that they completely understand the fundamental principles set forth by Dr. Bates. The reality is that most of them do not.
But even if you find a good teacher, he or she won't tell you the feelings and experiences of your own mind and body you should look for. Human language is just not capable to carry such things. So, the best you can get from a human teacher is just encouragement and a guard from obvious blunders.
The sun is totally different. The sun punishes you immediately with the intolerable discomfort, afterimages and other ill effects when you treat it in the wrong and strained way. And it encourages you with pleasant comfort and improved vision when you find the right way. All this happens directly in your mind, without mediation of words. I often thought that if I only could have a perfect indicator of strain, I would cure myself very quickly. I have finally found it. The discomfort from bright light is a direct manifestation of strain. It IS strain, in a sense.
The next step I have found is a fun game of provoking more discomfort when you reach a certain level of comfort in the bright light. For example, I look at the sky near the sun and notice the sun is seen worse in the eccentric field, look to the earth than back to the sun, swing the sun etc. This all usually breaks my balance, I begin straining and a wave of discomfort returns. Then I dissolve it again, and my comfortable relaxation becomes deeper and more stable.
After successfully learning to obtain comfort in bright light, I began to notice the same discomfort as from looking at the sun with strain, in many other situations, when there is no bright light. It's just too subtle, and that's why I wasn't able to notice it before the sun amplified it hundred times. Now when I am able to sense the discomfort in other situations, I can also apply the same techniques that I use to get accustomed to the bright light. The results are very encouraging.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Right Words and Wrong Words
Our mind uses words to label things. Once a name is called, the corresponding notion of an object or phenomenon begins to exist in the mind, even if the object or phenomenon may not exist in reality. And in reverse, once a name is destroyed, or replaced with a verb meaning an action, the corresponing object or phenomenon disappears from the mind.
Because vision problems are entirely in the mind, it is important to be careful with words, because the ideas behind them may be wrong and thereby retard the cure of imperfect sight. Dr. Bates was EXTREMELY careful with words. Every his word is a gem. I tried to translate Dr. Bates' texts to other languages and I tell you it's very difficult to do so without losing part of the meaning, or using too much words to deliver the full meaning. English is the perfect language for Bates method.
Here is the list of words that Dr. Bates didn't use, and I avoid using myself, in context of eyesight and Bates method:
WRONG: sunning, solarization
RIGHT: sun treatment, sun gazing
WRONG: centralization (I would kill for that! :) )
RIGHT: central fixation
WRONG: clear flash
RIGHT: a flash of improved vision, a flash of perfect vision
There may be others that I will remember and post later
Also, I'd recommend to avoid the following words:
to focus, to concentrate, to try hard, to do my best, to make an effort
And of course stay away from the following optician's words, because the phenomenons meant by them are non-existent but have been brought into your mind by compulsion:
prescription, diopter, myopia, astigmatism, hypermetropia etc.
Because vision problems are entirely in the mind, it is important to be careful with words, because the ideas behind them may be wrong and thereby retard the cure of imperfect sight. Dr. Bates was EXTREMELY careful with words. Every his word is a gem. I tried to translate Dr. Bates' texts to other languages and I tell you it's very difficult to do so without losing part of the meaning, or using too much words to deliver the full meaning. English is the perfect language for Bates method.
Here is the list of words that Dr. Bates didn't use, and I avoid using myself, in context of eyesight and Bates method:
WRONG: sunning, solarization
RIGHT: sun treatment, sun gazing
WRONG: centralization (I would kill for that! :) )
RIGHT: central fixation
WRONG: clear flash
RIGHT: a flash of improved vision, a flash of perfect vision
There may be others that I will remember and post later
Also, I'd recommend to avoid the following words:
to focus, to concentrate, to try hard, to do my best, to make an effort
And of course stay away from the following optician's words, because the phenomenons meant by them are non-existent but have been brought into your mind by compulsion:
prescription, diopter, myopia, astigmatism, hypermetropia etc.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Imperfect Sight Is Mostly an Illusion
It's hard to believe for a newbie that his or her imperfect sight is mostly a mental illusion, because it feels so real and the glasses that seem to correct it are also very real.
It is however accepted even by the optometrists that eyesight cannot be measured in diopters, as it should have been if imperfect sight was really strictly due to eyeball deformation. That's why the Snellen card X/Y numbers are used, meaning that two persons with the same Snellen reading without glasses may require different glasses for the same correction. Consequently, there's something else that contributes to imperfect sight than eyeball deformation, and it is the illusions caused by mental strain.
It took me quite a long time to demonstrate myself this fact. I learned it from my flashes of improved vision. When a flash occurs, the image does not gradually reduce the blur to the point when it fully converges, as it would be for a focusing camera. During the flash, first a multitude of sharp double-images appear out of the blur, surrounded with a cloud of blur. Then the images line up horizontally. Next, most of the images fade out and only two stay, on quite a big distance from each other, one more vivid than the other. At this point, the fog of blur disappears and the two images appears amazingly clear and three-dimensional. Finally, the less vivid image gradually fades out and the perfect sight arrives. What a weird play of mental illusions! You will never obtain this with just optical systems. I believe my eyeballs come into the right shape quite early, when I begin to see the multiple sharp images, and the rest of time I am observing only mental illusions, when I could already have perfect sight.
The conclusion is: stop trying to do something with your eyes. Switch entirely to practicing with your mind. Don't underestimate memory and imagination techniques.
It is however accepted even by the optometrists that eyesight cannot be measured in diopters, as it should have been if imperfect sight was really strictly due to eyeball deformation. That's why the Snellen card X/Y numbers are used, meaning that two persons with the same Snellen reading without glasses may require different glasses for the same correction. Consequently, there's something else that contributes to imperfect sight than eyeball deformation, and it is the illusions caused by mental strain.
It took me quite a long time to demonstrate myself this fact. I learned it from my flashes of improved vision. When a flash occurs, the image does not gradually reduce the blur to the point when it fully converges, as it would be for a focusing camera. During the flash, first a multitude of sharp double-images appear out of the blur, surrounded with a cloud of blur. Then the images line up horizontally. Next, most of the images fade out and only two stay, on quite a big distance from each other, one more vivid than the other. At this point, the fog of blur disappears and the two images appears amazingly clear and three-dimensional. Finally, the less vivid image gradually fades out and the perfect sight arrives. What a weird play of mental illusions! You will never obtain this with just optical systems. I believe my eyeballs come into the right shape quite early, when I begin to see the multiple sharp images, and the rest of time I am observing only mental illusions, when I could already have perfect sight.
The conclusion is: stop trying to do something with your eyes. Switch entirely to practicing with your mind. Don't underestimate memory and imagination techniques.
Sun-Gazing Experience
The day before yesterday, the first time in my life I was able to look at the sun without discomfort for an indefinite length of time, with no afterimages at all, my eyesight profoundly improved immediately during and after sun treatment, and great flashes of improved vision during the same day.
Previously, I was only able to look at the sun without discomfort for a few seconds, then the wave of sleepiness and discomfort returned and I had to look away or close my eyes. This time it was different. By using the burning glass, doing long swing with my eyes up to the sky and getting accustomed to the sky near the sun, in about 10-15 minutes I became able to look at the sun, anywhere at the sky near the sun, and anywhere on earth and then back onto the sun, without losing the comfort and without any afterimages or color changes. I blinked at the normal rate. I even saw the edges of the sun sharp for few moments, although as a rule I see sun in blur. (so, obviously my sun gazing is still not perfect and I still have room to develop). The sun was swinging slowly and I was able to easily remember the swinging black period.
Because I was a bit bewildered with the fact that I no longer have to fight discomfort, I didn't know what to do next :) and decided this time to take a longer session of sun gazing than I normally do. The same day I had unusually sharp flashes of improved vision whenever I looked to the window. The next day the weather was overcast and I had a bad relapse, one like I haven't had for a long time already. I couldn't look even at the clouds without discomfort, and nothing seemed to give me relief. It is however known that relapses often take place the next day after sun gazing, but after they go, the eyesight improves further. Now it's the third day and the relapse is gone, and my vision feels like somewhere on the edge of a flash all the time. I am very intrigued with the power of more lengthy sun treatment, when I am comfortable with it, and look forward to try it again. To be honest, previously I was afraid to try it because of my first bad experience of sun treatment, when I did it wrong and developed a scotoma that lasted for two months.
Previously, I was only able to look at the sun without discomfort for a few seconds, then the wave of sleepiness and discomfort returned and I had to look away or close my eyes. This time it was different. By using the burning glass, doing long swing with my eyes up to the sky and getting accustomed to the sky near the sun, in about 10-15 minutes I became able to look at the sun, anywhere at the sky near the sun, and anywhere on earth and then back onto the sun, without losing the comfort and without any afterimages or color changes. I blinked at the normal rate. I even saw the edges of the sun sharp for few moments, although as a rule I see sun in blur. (so, obviously my sun gazing is still not perfect and I still have room to develop). The sun was swinging slowly and I was able to easily remember the swinging black period.
Because I was a bit bewildered with the fact that I no longer have to fight discomfort, I didn't know what to do next :) and decided this time to take a longer session of sun gazing than I normally do. The same day I had unusually sharp flashes of improved vision whenever I looked to the window. The next day the weather was overcast and I had a bad relapse, one like I haven't had for a long time already. I couldn't look even at the clouds without discomfort, and nothing seemed to give me relief. It is however known that relapses often take place the next day after sun gazing, but after they go, the eyesight improves further. Now it's the third day and the relapse is gone, and my vision feels like somewhere on the edge of a flash all the time. I am very intrigued with the power of more lengthy sun treatment, when I am comfortable with it, and look forward to try it again. To be honest, previously I was afraid to try it because of my first bad experience of sun treatment, when I did it wrong and developed a scotoma that lasted for two months.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Universal Swing and Variable Swing
I have noticed that during my flashes of improved vision the space appears transparent and three-dimensional. The entire view field seems overwhelmingly deep and swings slowly in whole, objects at different distances swinging with different speeds.
Looking to reproduce this feeling after few attempts I have found, guess what, that it is the same thing that is described by Dr. Bates as "universal swing" and "variable swing". It feels like realizing that the space is not flat and objects are located in different planes. Even if you can't see the detail, you can always see that objects change their relative positions to each other as you move your body, head or eyes. The easiest it is to notice when doing the long swing. Then, you can make the movement shorter and still notice that the perspective on objects slightly changes. You can also remember this feeling with the eyes closed.
An important point is that you do not pay attention to the blur and not try to clear it away, but instead only pay attention to the swing.
When successful, the strain decreases so that I become able to stop physically moving my head and then keep the swing purely imaginary. It is slow and short, as it should be.
If I am aware of the universal swing for long enough - a couple of minutes, my eyesight improves automatically. So I now remember to practice it all the time. It is easy when you walk outdoors. The challenge is however to practice it while working at the computer screen or book, where the view field is mostly flat.
Looking to reproduce this feeling after few attempts I have found, guess what, that it is the same thing that is described by Dr. Bates as "universal swing" and "variable swing". It feels like realizing that the space is not flat and objects are located in different planes. Even if you can't see the detail, you can always see that objects change their relative positions to each other as you move your body, head or eyes. The easiest it is to notice when doing the long swing. Then, you can make the movement shorter and still notice that the perspective on objects slightly changes. You can also remember this feeling with the eyes closed.
An important point is that you do not pay attention to the blur and not try to clear it away, but instead only pay attention to the swing.
When successful, the strain decreases so that I become able to stop physically moving my head and then keep the swing purely imaginary. It is slow and short, as it should be.
If I am aware of the universal swing for long enough - a couple of minutes, my eyesight improves automatically. So I now remember to practice it all the time. It is easy when you walk outdoors. The challenge is however to practice it while working at the computer screen or book, where the view field is mostly flat.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Improved Experience with Memory of Swinging Black Period
My recent experience with the memory of black period has considerably improved.
As always, after discovering what I previously did wrong, I slap my forehead because it's exactly what and exactly how Dr. Bates wrote about it in his great book. Namely, I tried to imagine the period stationary. Such ongoing "discoveries of the evident" always leave me wondering, whether all the preceding mistakes were really necessary steps or I could have been able, if I weren't such an idiot, to come directly to do the right thing? And in the latter case, how rapid would my cure be? Well, I'm dreaming. :)
So here is the WRONG way to imagine black dot: First I imagined kind of background, such as white sheet of paper and then a black round dot on it. I knew that I should shift over the dot, so I imagined the dot as a quite big circle and looked at different edges of the circle. The problem was however that each time I looked at an edge, I still kept imagining the picture stationary and the entire circle equally well.
The right way is to begin by imagining the swing of the dot, even before the picture of the dot appears in the mind. The feeling of swing I borrowed from my flashes of improved vision, when letters swung like crazy and were perfectly black. If I find it difficult to imagine the dot swinging right away, I may at first imagine that I blink frequently and each time after opening my eyes the dot slightly changes its position. Then the dot begins to swing even without blinking. Then all of a sudden, I can see the perfect black dot of very small size swinging in my mind! It feels like my mind switches to seeing the perfect imaginary picture somewhere else in my mind while still seeing the real picture from eyes. I may even see some background the black dot is on, but it feels unimportant and loose. This may last for a couple of seconds now, or come in series of intermittent short intervals. The vision always improves when I am able to do so. Sometimes I am unable to remember the black dot swinging and I know then that I need to palm or do some sun treatment, because I am under strain. Black period is a reliable indicator of strain.
The blackness of the period also improved. I think it's because of the sun treatment I take a lot recently. Brilliant light is somehow connected with its opposite - perfect blackness. Actually, now I sometimes look at the Snellen card, see those gray blurred letters and I just grin, because I can easily discard this illusion of grayness by comparing the letters with the memory of perfect black that is now more readily available in my mind. And I do! Then the letters clear and become blacker, temporarily. Then the strain returns, just like a fluctuation of discomfort goes during sun treatment (see my other post about this).
So, the main two factors that enabled me to remember the black period better: memory of short swing and universal swing from flashes of improved vision, and memory of blackness improved by sun treatment.
Needless to say that the swinging black period has immediately become my favorite game, along with the universal swing and noticing things moving. As Dr. Bates advised, I always carry with me the memory of a small, round, perfectly black, inky, greasy, wet, sexy black period! :)
As always, after discovering what I previously did wrong, I slap my forehead because it's exactly what and exactly how Dr. Bates wrote about it in his great book. Namely, I tried to imagine the period stationary. Such ongoing "discoveries of the evident" always leave me wondering, whether all the preceding mistakes were really necessary steps or I could have been able, if I weren't such an idiot, to come directly to do the right thing? And in the latter case, how rapid would my cure be? Well, I'm dreaming. :)
So here is the WRONG way to imagine black dot: First I imagined kind of background, such as white sheet of paper and then a black round dot on it. I knew that I should shift over the dot, so I imagined the dot as a quite big circle and looked at different edges of the circle. The problem was however that each time I looked at an edge, I still kept imagining the picture stationary and the entire circle equally well.
The right way is to begin by imagining the swing of the dot, even before the picture of the dot appears in the mind. The feeling of swing I borrowed from my flashes of improved vision, when letters swung like crazy and were perfectly black. If I find it difficult to imagine the dot swinging right away, I may at first imagine that I blink frequently and each time after opening my eyes the dot slightly changes its position. Then the dot begins to swing even without blinking. Then all of a sudden, I can see the perfect black dot of very small size swinging in my mind! It feels like my mind switches to seeing the perfect imaginary picture somewhere else in my mind while still seeing the real picture from eyes. I may even see some background the black dot is on, but it feels unimportant and loose. This may last for a couple of seconds now, or come in series of intermittent short intervals. The vision always improves when I am able to do so. Sometimes I am unable to remember the black dot swinging and I know then that I need to palm or do some sun treatment, because I am under strain. Black period is a reliable indicator of strain.
The blackness of the period also improved. I think it's because of the sun treatment I take a lot recently. Brilliant light is somehow connected with its opposite - perfect blackness. Actually, now I sometimes look at the Snellen card, see those gray blurred letters and I just grin, because I can easily discard this illusion of grayness by comparing the letters with the memory of perfect black that is now more readily available in my mind. And I do! Then the letters clear and become blacker, temporarily. Then the strain returns, just like a fluctuation of discomfort goes during sun treatment (see my other post about this).
So, the main two factors that enabled me to remember the black period better: memory of short swing and universal swing from flashes of improved vision, and memory of blackness improved by sun treatment.
Needless to say that the swinging black period has immediately become my favorite game, along with the universal swing and noticing things moving. As Dr. Bates advised, I always carry with me the memory of a small, round, perfectly black, inky, greasy, wet, sexy black period! :)
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