More Imagination Insights

Have you ever mused upon what our vision really is? What does it mean to see? We naturally believe our vision is "real", that is, identical to the world around us. Like if there was a computer screen inside our head where each object would be reflected in a few pixels. All seen equally well, at the same time.

However, we don’t really see any "pixels" or any undigested lights and shadows. In fact, we are unable to see anything at all until our mind recognizes or makes the best guess about what we are actually looking at, basing on what the mind has learned through its entire lifetime. If it’s an unfamiliar object, the mind will analyze the smaller parts of it to see if they are familiar. In this way the mind will learn the new object and recognize it in the future.

In other words, to see means to perceive interpreted, already meaningful information about real objects based on your mind’s past experience. We see a tree with leaves and apples, but not a colorful patchwork of lights and shadows. We know what an apple tree is.

We see an object with the visual center of our mind and by imagining the object. Imagination, that is, building images from the raw data, be it eyes or memory, is a wonderfully accurate word for the process.

Imagination as a mental activity is the driving force of the visual system, not another way around. Without imagination you’d be totally blind even if the eyes still provided raw electric signals – they just wouldn’t be used by the mind. When imagination is at work, it also directs mind's attention to interesting details and drives the muscles of the eyes to shift and focus them accordingly, all happening automatically and unconsciously.

It’s clear now that lowered eyesight occurs when you underuse or suppress imagination, usually by replacing it with an abusive fixation of attention on the eyes as physical organs, in vain attempts to command them "to see better". You can feel it as strain and it causes all sorts of trouble. The attention is no longer properly directed by the imagination process, and tends to see all (and nothing) at once. The eyes become misfocused and their shifting stops because the eye muscles no longer receive meaningful commands.

It’s hard to tell what is the cause and effect of this condition, we have a bit of "chicken and egg" problem here. Perhaps somewhere on the edge, where imagination fails due to actual lack of information, like too far or too dim, the mind may happen to insist on seeing the impossible and instead of imagining finer detail, somehow turns its attention to the eyes. The vision lowers, so the imagination works further worse, and thus the vicious cycle is born, which becomes permanent if the abuse is practiced long enough.

Fortunately, it’s not likely that the visual mind completely stops imagining. We are still able to recognize most objects, even though the image is blurry. The blur is in fact only a failure to imagine finer details and textures of objects. The mind imagines objects in large strokes, ignoring details and thereby not producing the finer attention and shifting and focusing commands to the muscles of the eyes.

Therefore, to cure imperfect sight, you should use all means to divert attention from the eyes and wholeheartedly relinquish the control to imagination. It is important to realize that vision is an involuntary process happening in the mind, not in the eyes. The eyes should be ruthlessly left alone, and then imagination of finer details instantly becomes possible again.

One technique that recently helps me leave my eyes alone is to imagine that the image I see doesn't come through the eyes but is already in my mind. Like if there was no bone dome over the brain an the image projected directly on the visual mind. It takes me several seconds to believe, and when I get it, it's usually an instant relief. Also, that funny calm feeling that the image is "already there" and should not be made out, is exactly the one that previously accompanied all my clear flashes.

Why Imagination Works

I agree that imagination is perhaps the most important technique. Or it's memory. (I can't really tell the difference between memory and imagination. You can't imagine anything you never saw, so even though formally imagination is defined as visualizing things that you didn't see, it is still composed of things that you did see. At least, imagination and memory feel the same to me, so far. But Dr. Bates did discriminate imagination and memory.)

It turns out the imagination is as essential as vision itself. People with normal sight continuously imagine what they're looking at, and in this way they see it. The normal mind is focused on imagining the regarded object, and vision just follows it, filling the imagined detail with real data. The strained mind is focused on the vision — blurry vision, and imagination is suppressed. David is right in saying that imperfect sight is a disorder of attention. Imagination drives attention and shifting from one detail to another. Without concurrent imagining the object you're looking at, you cannot shift and therefore cannot see.

I have been ignoring imagination techniques for a long time. I found it kind of boring and childish. There seemed nothing interesting to remember or imagine. Besides, when I tried to imagine anything I began to conjure up words. Pictures didn't really come to my mind, and I was wondering if I understood imagination the right way at all. I couldn't understand how much really vivid and visual the pictures should be.

It turns out that the imagined pictures should be just as vivid as vision, and getting them is easy. You should just want to imagine something, let it come to you and stop preventing it.

I recently watched an old series "My name is Earl", where Earl tried to compose an essay, but couldn't imagine anything. His imagination was screened as a plain white space with no objects around, except Earl himself, and a black-eyed gymnast, a haunting image from another guy's essay, about whom Earl didn't want to write. The gymnast kept popping up driving Earl crazy and then he (the gymnast) said "I won't go away until you stop thinking about me!" Then Earl somehow managed to let go of the fixed idea and his imagination immediately fountained.

After a good laugh I thought that the gymnast is exactly what happens to me when I try to imagine anything, where by gymnast this time I mean the focus on vision. My mind cannot imagine anything until it's locked on seeing, even with my eyes closed. When I somehow manage to stop worrying about seeing just for a second, I am immediately flooded with a bunch of shockingly vivid images and memories. So far it doesn't last longer than a second, because it's just overwhelming, and my scared mind jumps off to habitual "seeing" again. But I am sure that with practice, it's possible to persuade the mind that it's okay to keep imagining.

Even glimpses of imagination do wonders to vision. All tension and pulling sensations around eyes disappear, redness of sclera clears up in few minutes, and clear flashes begin immediately. And what's great about imagination-induced clear flashes, is that it feels different, like if you already have the detail, you're no longer making it out.

So I'm now a big fan of imagination techniques. It is important to find inspiring images to imagine. Personally I find it good to imagine well-lit objects like rocks, trees, sea shore on bright sunny days, surrounded with bright blue sky.

One other technique I currently use is to keep telling myself to not try to see under any circumstances, even when I "need" to see. Trying to see always fails and is therefore useless, but the habit is deeply ingrained, an it increases the strain to the degree when you can no longer imagine anything. So take a couple relaxed breaths, stop trying to see and then imagine. Swinging the head slightly, noticing the movement relative to stationary shoulder or feet is another good way to stop trying to see. Keep repeating like that all the time. We need to persuade our minds that not trying to see is okay, and go for imagination. Gradually.

Figure out what you're doing to make it not work

I like the idea of observing myself carefully and figuring out what exactly I'm doing to sabotage my vision. I guess it's the habit of resisting the strain, which makes the things worse. When strain occurs, I unconsciously perform some counter-work to compensate the disagreeable state. I think this counter-work establishes the balance of forces that makes eye disorders so unbelievably persistent.

My mind constantly fools me by trying to hide the strain and the counter-work I'm doing, letting it slip habitually into the subconscious area. It takes some attention and patience to not let it happen, and keep it within conscious field. Interesting...

Practice with Sunlight: Mistakes and Lessons

It's been a while since I last wrote about the sun treatment, and I'd like to share some new lessons I have learnt.

All newbies seem to make the same mistake. They think the sun has some magic power to cure their eyesight and all they have to do is to let as much light as possible in their eyes for as long as they can. With neophyte's ardor they look directly at the sun only to produce lasting scotomas and other disagreeable symptoms, to no benefit whatsoever. My own scotoma (the worst part of it) lasted for several weeks, and its remnants continued for months, after looking just once at a winter sun for 40 mins. After that I elaborated some safety rules that allowed me to look at the sun without unpleasant consequences, but still I didn't have any real benefit from sun gazing.

The truth is that all "magic" happens inside your mind, and not through any external object or influence, be it sunlight or whatever. When you know mental relaxation, you can use bright light as an aid to that magic, to let it come easier and seep deeper. But there's absolutely no recommendation to sungaze otherwise. You will do it wrong and only make your strain worse.

As you know, I have recently become an advocate of deep body relaxation as the first step in the Bates practice. It really gave me some knowledge of how my mind actually works and what is mental relaxation at all, how it feels. Now I am applying that experience to relearn all Bates practices, including sun treatment. Here is how I do it now.

First, I look at the sun with my eyes closed and imagine/remember a "rest point" in some part of my body, e.g. in my foot, or in a shoulder. Then I carefully open my eyes and look at the sky, still keeping my attention on the rest point. When I do it wrong and lose the memory of the rest point, the sky appears intolerably bright, not to mention the sun; I begin to squint, frown and blink nervously. In this case I close the eyes and remember the rest point again. When I do it right, the sky and the sun do not seem too bright at all; the eyes open wide all by themselves, and blink easily and comfortably. So far I've been able to stay in this state for few seconds. To make it longer, I swing my head and eyes slightly from side to side and notice the opposite movement relative to the rest point.

The point of this practice is to learn to stay comfortable with eyes opened in bright light, but not to just let as much light as possible into the eyes. It's not even necessary to look directly in the sun. In fact, I avoid looking directly at the sun for longer than a fraction of second, as I swing my head and eyes from side to side, because when I look longer, I can feel and identify that I'm immediately beginning to stare.

After such practice vision is improved and no disagreeble symptoms appear.

P.S. If you have white skin, it can age quickly when exposed to much sun. Consider wearing some protecting mask on your face.

My Recent Progress & Body Relaxation Technique

Though I haven't been posting for quite a while, I'm doing pretty well recently. I am experiencing the calmness of my mind more often recently and exploring this feeling with interest. All Bates techniques seem to be working better for me now. Involuntary clear flashes are becoming common. I even had my eyes occasionally tested with auto-refractometer and found 0.5D improvement in one eye and 0.25D astigmatism improvement in the other, which is not much to boast about, but I think I'm finally on the right track.

I think we should never give up our Bates practice, but I also think we should be smart, and move on to try different ways until we find what works best for us. In my case, the thing I've been looking for was effortlessness of the mind. I could never discern this feeling, as it was almost otherworldly to my mind, habitually strained and always whirling with thoughts. So whatever I practiced, it was still with effort, and I couldn't even tell.

Then I remembered what Dr. Bates wrote that when the mind is perfectly relaxed, the entire body and all nerves are relaxed too. So I looked around and found a technique for deep body relaxation. This technique was recommended to me by one Bates teacher, but it's also well known in yoga and other practices. It's very simple. I lie down on my back, close my eyes, and scan my body, shifting my attention from one part of the body to another, relaxing each muscle and imagining that part heavy and warm. I spend one breath on each part. I breathe with my belly and notice that the peak of relaxation in each part is reached in the pause after breathing out. The point of this exercise is to divert the mind from thoughts and follow your shifting inside the body. Even a few minutes spent inside the body has a miraculous effect on the mind. The whirl of thoughts dismisses and the effortlessness and calmness come out. Complete silence and relaxation comes to all parts of the body. When you stand up, you find all symptoms of strain quickly and efficiently relieved.

I practiced this exercise three times a day for a few months, and I really liked it, because it's always a rest. Quite soon I began noticing that I can consciously remember that indescribable feeling of effortlessness, comfort and calmness of the mind at any time of the day, and when I do, my vision instantly improves. Any Bates technique works like a charm in such moments. And in reverse, in the days when I can't remember this state, all methods fail. I've practiced this long enough to become convinced that this has the decisive influence on all my Bates practice.

The funniest thing is that when I think about it, I see that my discovery is nothing else but what Dr. Bates already wrote. This body scanning is actually a modification of palming. I'm sure clever Dr. Bates was very well aware about this state of effortlessness, and that's why he started with palming with almost every patient. He could then take a look at the patient and clearly tell if the patient made it or not. That's the secret of his success. As I re-read the book again, the words resonate with my own experience with a new wave.

I keep exploring this state and feeling of effortlessness of the mind, how it can be brought about and what it depends on, and refining my skills. It's such an exciting adventure! :) I'm giving more trust to my body and intuition, and hoping it will bring me to the right path.

P.S. I'm going to change the format of this blog. Instead of lengthy posts that make it hard keep up regular posting, I'd rather write short thoughts and observations quickly as they come.

Reminders for Summer Eye Practice

Dig this, just found in the Better Eyesight Magazine, August 1924. Great stuff!


Reminders for Summer Eye Practice
By KATHLEEN E. HURTY

Miss Hurty distributed these instructions to her patients for use during the summer. These are the fundamentals of Dr. Bates' method and are important to bear in mind at all seasons.

Palming—Do this at least three times a day for not less than five minutes each time. Always palm a few minutes just before going to sleep.

In palming best results are obtained when the whole body is comfortable and relaxed. While palming let the imagination play with pleasant scenes and let your mind drift laxly. Never follow a definite train of thought.

Long Swing—Practice this as often as possible. Keep an easy, lazy, rhythmical motion. Things should appear to move in the opposite direction.

Snellen Card—Practice with the card at least twice daily, using the fine print, your memory of a letter, a short swing, blinking, etc., to help you see the letters on the card.

Sun—Let the sun shine on your closed eyelids for short intervals. Choose preferably the early morning sunlight. It is the light rays which benefit the eyes rather than the heat rays. The sun loses some of its effect when it comes through glass.

Blinking—Normal eyes blink constantly. If you have unconsciously formed the habit of staring, practice the quick blinking exercise in order to overcome this tendency. Practice it often.

General Directions—Try to see things moving all day long.

Never make an effort to focus. Let things come to you.

Do not make a task of your eyes exercises. Make a game out of improving your vision.

If you get a chance, teach someone else. It will help you.

Never let a feeling of strain continue. Stop and practice one of the methods of relaxation. Let me hear from you at least once during the summer.

Great Progress with the Universal Swing!

It's been so close for all these years but I always passed by without realizing what it was, and how do I consciously get into that state.

I discovered it by accident. I was in my country house doing some physical work, and I pulled a muscle in my back causing myself acute pain. That day I practiced a lot of long swing (swinging my head from side to side) and I decided to use it to try to alleviate the pain. To my surprise, the pain momentarily disappeared after just a few swings, and also I noticed at that moment my mind felt different, like if I suddenly woke up!

In few days after that I've been studying that state of the mind and I've learned that it's the universal swing that I've been looking for, and that now I am able to enter that state consciously! Not always, but often times I can, and these times are coming more and more often recently.

Here is what it feels like:

• I suddenly feel like I'm awake from "sleepiness". This is a kind of pseudo-sleepiness caused by stare, when the eyes want to close and roll up and you feel discomfort. This "sleepiness" can be taken to its extreme when one looks at the sun with stare. (That's why I think sun treatment is useful -- it demonstrates people what is stare, how it feels, and then how it feels when the stare is gone and replaced with the universal swing.) BTW, it seems that the association of the feeling of stare with "sleepiness" is pretty personal to me, other people do not seem to use the word "sleepiness".
• The entire world seems to be moving in slow, short and easy motion. Sometimes this motion is so subtle that it's almost unnoticeable.
• The entire vision becomes deeper, more vibrant and transparent
• The state is fueled by motion. When I move my head, even a small bit, my mind resonates to the movement and a new wave of awakeness and swing is produced.
• Photophobia goes away entirely. The eyes suddenly open up wide and blink freely, feeling very light and easy, no need to squint at the bright day. I can look at the sun at such moment, without any discomfort and scotomata.
• Flashes of improved vision follow in few seconds, unless I lose the swing.
• When the swing stops, the stare returns immediately. I realized there are only two states: stare and swing, there are no other states. The movement should never stop.

I learned how to enter the state using long swing. I sway my head from side to side for a few minutes, noticing how my shoulders, window frame and the entire world is moving in opposite direction. Recently I've been able to remember the universal swing with only a couple swings of my head. I keep going and swing my head from time to time pretty much all the time, like a Chinese statuette, checking if I still have the swing, and renewing it.

When I lose the swing, it always happens very surreptitiously, so it's easy to miss. It feels like you forget again what is universal swing, and fall into the unconscious sleep. It requires and will require much awareness from me not to lose the moment when it happens and to renew the swing to keep it permanent. But I think it's now just a matter of time to learn to do it under all conditions.

My vision has also greatly improved. In favorable conditions (sunny days which are plenty recently) I have lots of long-lasting flashes, some of them close to 20/20, all through the day.

P.S. My blog has been quite silent recently. That's because I am participating actively in a Russian-speaking community "TRUE BATES METHOD или как ПРАВИЛЬНО восстанавливать зрение по Бейтсу".