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".

Seeing the Sun in the Deep Sky

April has finally brought sunny days. I have moved to the village for a two-week vacation and enjoy sun-gazing outdoors several times a day. I put a paper mask under my eyes, to avoid skin over-drying and wrinkling. The sun is not yet very hot, so my sessions can be quite long without overheating, even at midday.

And I have discovered a beautiful thing I'd like to share. Usually at the beginning of sun-gazing, it's hard to look at the sky and the sun, without squinting and blinking too frequently and hardly. Also I often have attacks of sudden sleepiness that forcefully shuts my eyelids and rolls up my eyes. I already know these are symptoms of mental strain. I keep sitting in the sun rays doing nothing, just relaxing and enjoying. Suddenly it feels like a fresh breeze touches my face and I become fully awake. I open my eyes easily and widely, no longer feeling the urge to blink, and see the sun with perfect comfort and joy. The entire sky appears different. It becomes so deep and so blue, and the air seems so clear. When there are white clouds or a tree branch in the field of view, they appear unusually deep, three-dimensional and clear. I also notice the universal swing. This state lasts for few seconds, 5-10. Then I have the attacks of strain again, but they tend to be shorter and less with each time. Needless to say that my sight is greatly improved after this sun-gazing, temporarily.

I hope I have found the right way of sun-gazing. Or at least the right result of it. I think this is what Rishi meant when he said he could sun-gaze without discomfort for 45 seconds and more. At that time I was confused to hear it, because I could spend much more time in the sun, without scotomata. But this "full depth" state really lasts only few seconds, and I will be looking to make it longer.

Routine Failure

I dropped the routine described in my previous post after almost a month of following it. The lesson I have learned is that once a practice becomes a routine -- something tedious, boring, and scheduled in time, it becomes pure effort, strain and nervousness, at least for me. Actually, I felt great relief when I no longer had to palm every hour, and I can bet even my vision a bit improved. :)

Because the routine failed, for a couple of weeks afterward I tried doing the opposite -- did not practice at all and watched myself. My vision did not worsen and at the beginning was even better than at the end of the routine month. So, the other lesson I have learned was that one should continuously change and try different things, as soon as the previous things stop working. Boredom and tiredness are forms of strain.

The best environment for successful practice, at least for me, appears when I know that I don't have to do anything "Bates", and there are no limits in time. I can do it just for fun to explore how my mind works, or just to entertain myself.

"Practice Time": The Routine of the Bates Method Given by Dr. Bates Himself!

While reading the filing of the Better Eyesight Magazine, I stumbled upon something I thought did not exist. In November 1928 issue, on the first page, there is a small article titled "Practice time" where Dr. Bates gives us a concise yet accurate recipe of what patients should routinely practice to get cured with his method, and most importantly, how much, how long and how often they should do it. 

I was amazed to discover that my own practice has been several times less intense than Dr. Bates suggested it to be. Three weeks ago I discovered this instruction and since then I follow it diligently and literally. As Dr. Bates said many times, the ones that simply do what they are told to are cured the quickest, and finally there is the instruction that is easy to follow. I am already seeing some progress. I admit I was wrong thinking that the Bates method was not routine; now I believe it is more routine and maybe even tedious. Regularity is king. The strategy is to make small improvements as often as possible, never allowing yourself to sink back to deeper strain again. This way the average level of strain decreases. The other strategy - make seldom but long relaxation sessions does not work to make any improvement permanent, I have proved it by two years of my practice.

Because the 1928-11 BEM issue is not available online, I typed it below. 

Practice Time

A large number of people have bought the book "Perfect Sight Without Glasses" but do not derive as much benefit from it as they should because they do not know how long they should practice.

Rest: The eyes are rested in various ways. One of the best methods is to close the eyes for half an hour after testing the sight. This usually improves the vision.

Palming: With the eyes closed and covered with the palms of both hands the vision is usually benefited. The patient should do this five minutes hourly.

Shifting: The patient looks from one side of the room to the other, alternately resting the eyes. This may be done three times daily for half an hour at a time. The head should move with the eyes and the patient should blink.

Swinging: When the shifting is slow, stationary objects appear to move from side to side. This should be observed whenever the head and eyes move.

Long Swing: Nearly all persons should practice the long swing one hundred times daily.

Memory: When the vision is perfect, it is impossible for the memory to be imperfect. One can improve the memory by alternately remembering a letter with the eyes open and closed. This should be practiced for half an hour twice daily.

Imagination: It has been frequently demonstrated and published in this magazine that the vision is only what we imagine it to be. Imagination should be practiced whenever the vision is tested. Imagine a known letter with the eyes open and with the eyes closed. This should be practiced for ten minutes twice daily.

Repetition: When one method is found which improves the vision more than any other method, it should be practiced until the vision is continuously improved.

How I Enter the State of the Universal Swing

I have realized that noticing the universal swing continuously is fundamental for the cure. It is not optional, you cannot get away with just doing "Bates stuff" from time to time. Having understood this and seen a lot of proofs of the fact, I can now stop worrying and just practice the universal swing faithfully, taking my time. The longer the state can be maintained, the deeper it becomes, and the flashes of improved sight follow immediately. The challenge is to remember to notice the swing all the time.

Here are some steps and hints that I have found helpful to enter the state of the universal swing.

1. Let the blur be. For as "negative" it may sound, I find it the most important first thing that I need to do, and it always helps. In other words, stop worrying if the image you get is blurry, just accept what you see as it is. Tell yourself you don't care to see anything, become totally passive. Sometimes I imagine that my eyes are not even mine, and I somehow perceive a visual signal from another person's eyes. Wow, I say to myself, this poor guy's screen is quite blurry, but that's not my problem.

It sometimes feels like a shock, like when you put off your glasses after wearing them for a long time. It feels helpless, like you are thrown into cold water hardly knowing how to swim. Take a deep breath and relax, don't flounder to see, and you will be rewarded in a few seconds.

2. Blink softly and frequently. I thought it was just a wishful recommendation, but it appeared to be very important, surprisingly. Just turn your attention to how you blink. You will find that you blink at irregular jerky intervals, the eyelids shut hardly and with effort, and the muscles under the eyes contract for a moment after each blink. The closed eyelids may be found trembling when you touch them. This is a wrong way of blinking. The right way is to blink frequently, softly and easily. Imagine the eyelids are easy feathers and let them fly easily up and down, all by themselves, withdrawing any effort. The muscles under the eyes should not be involved. Observe your blinking until it ceases to be spasmodic.

Blinking is so important because it's a shortened version of closing the eyes for a few seconds, which is very relaxing, because it reminds me very effectively that I should not fight the blur (see #1). Closing the eyes is also a very efficient technique for balancing in the state of universal swing, recommended by Dr. Bates.

3. Notice the entire view field and practice shifting with central fixation. While in strain, I narrow my view field by an effort. This is a form of eccentric fixation, when I strain to see a big area in the center equally well, at the same time straining not to see the rest of view field at all. Usually when I simply remember that the eccentric view field is still there, though I don't see it as well as the center, I feel an immediate contrasting relief. I guess this is an initial phase of practicing central fixation, when the distance between two points is maximal. Then I proceed with regarding other points closer to each other, as suggested by Dr. Bates. It is important not to stop shifting, because there is always a risk of stare.

4.Look at the white-spaces. Try to look at blank walls, equally colored areas of objects, or white-spaces between letters when you are reading. Imagine the white-spaces and openings are whiter than the letters. Avoid looking at letters and other features directly. Normal eye does not look directly at the letters, but at the white-spaces while reading. Surprised? This is a form of fine-grain central fixation. The feeling somehow reminds me the macro-mode in a camera, like when I was a child, I picked up a beetle and regarded its smallest bits with perfect sight, the rest of world seen not important, but still seen.

5. Imagine small objects and let the micro-movement of the eyes happen. When you strain, you can always notice that you can't move your eyes on a little angle, despite any effort. The best you can do is to move the eyes in a jerky way on quite big angles. Have you ever seen how a couple of eyes with normal sight move? You will be fascinated with the continuous rapid micro movements. Your eyes can't move on small angles because you are holding them by effort. You can't perform the micro-movement, you can only let it happen by itself. Think about it. Sometimes by only thinking about it I unconsciously let my eyes move and it feels very relaxing. Sometimes I imagine small objects and details on the surface of objects I am regarding. Memory of the black period goes here too.

6. Slowness is the key. There is perhaps no other way to make universal swing a habit than to do my work very slowly, at first, while remembering to notice the swing. This is what I am going to pay more attention from now. I don't care if others think I'm slow-brained :). Slowness by itself is also relaxing. As soon as I accept the idea that I will be doing everything slowly, I feel much more relaxed too. I have found that slowly rubbing the pointer finger with the thumb, as described by Dr. Bates, works well to help me remember and agree to stay slow.

If you succeed, you will notice that the objects you are regarding begin to swing in various directions, opposite to the movement of the eyes. The entire view field will also swing accordingly. This is the universal swing. It is important that the swing happens by itself, you do not "produce it" by moving your eyes with effort. At first, this swing may be quite jerky and long, gradually becoming shorter and slower. The eyesight also improves immediately, but try not to look at it, because you may soon forget #1. As Dr. Bates said, "dodge your improved eyesight".

This is what seems to work for me right now, notwithstanding all the rest of techniques suggested by Dr. Bates, of course. Some of my tricks change over time.

Nothing Is Straining, Nothing Is Relaxing

It is a mistake to think that there are some "magic bullets" that will make your mind and eyes necessarily relax or strain every time you use them. I've been misguided by this idea for quite a long time, trying and failing many times to reproduce relaxation "that I had yesterday", while doing seemingly the same thing as yesterday. This is a great source of disappointment for the beginners. 

But in fact, nothing strains or relaxes. It all depends on the state you are currently in, and your attitude to the thing. You can use it, consciously or unconsciously, to strain or to relax your mind (or neither nor). Theoretically any procedure can be both straining and relaxing for you at different times. Even sun treatment, even palming can be straining, and what you think is "a strain to see" can be relaxing. I have experienced these.

In practice, however, there are procedures and circumstances that are as a rule relaxing, for the majority of people. These techniques are all carefully collected in the great book by Dr. Bates. There is however no guarantee that you will not misuse them and cause yourself even more strain. In fact, you will, many times, before you learn to use them correctly, without effort. There is a special frame of the mind that you need to discover before you succeed with any of these practices. It is the state of universal swing. 

Two Years of Bates Practice

In few days it's going to be exactly two years since I discarded my contacts. 

I still haven't got perfect sight, and I am still on my way. The problem of imperfect sight appeared to be way more deeply ingrained, and the Bates method is a way more serious and fundamental treatment than one may think after reading the book. My myopia had been developing for maybe ten years, so I guess the cure should not be expected orders of magnitude faster than that. 

Yet I feel my progress is enormous. It is not about the flashes of improved sight, that have become so natural and self-understood, and even some very slow "average" improvement too. The main thing is that I now know for sure what exactly I should do, or, more precisely, not do, to enter this relaxed state - the state of universal swing. The longer this state lasts, the deeper it becomes, and the eyesight improves accordingly. Currently I am able to maintain the universal swing for maybe 5-10% of all time.

Bates practice feels like balancing on a rope, or like carefully saving a candle light from wind, or like growing a tender flower. At some moment you fail and need to start over again, but eventually you become more successful in this subtle balancing. It is completely not like steady body building thrice a week in a gym.

I am at the barrier right now and I don't expect any major breakthroughs until I learn to balance in the universal swing longer and plant it in the background of my mind. It's not fast and easy but I am prepared. 

Bates treatment is not all about the vision only, it's much more. I am amazed how deep and fundamental are Dr. Bates' findings about the nature of mental strain and its influence on our entire body state and health. The corollaries are very interesting and useful. Take for example fatigue, boredom, annoyance, anxiety, fear and so on - these bad effects are all caused by mental strain. There are many possibilities to try and practice, and I do.

For me it's also the science of quitting the deeply rooted wrong habits and changing beliefs. That's what our mind is ruled by - habits an beliefs. If one masters the art of changing them, one becomes the master of his mind, not a slave anymore.  However, no matter how smart a person can be, the brain is very slow in analyzing and realizing how it works by itself, i.e. reflecting in itself. That's why Dr. Bates was a genius. Very few people I know understand or even care that we can change our own habits and beliefs consciously. The habit of strain and the belief that strain is necessary are the most unfortunate ones. I hear people saying they love sweets or can't live without meat or believe eye troubles are incurable or they can't lose weight etc. In fact most people are proud of their "tastes" and deem them to be part of their beloved character, but these all are just habits and beliefs borrowed non-critically and/or unconsciously from the parents and the society. They can be discarded if one stops associating himself with them. It is not fast, but it is possible, like loading another software into a computer. I look around me and see how many other strains surround me, and by becoming conscious of them, I doom them. My life is becoming happier every day. The Bates practice is the right thing for the daring people whose life's mission is liberation. When you get the right thing, it does not matter how long it takes to master it. 

The Cause of Scotoma

Scotomas are the blind spots of varying color (mine were mostly yellow) that people often experience after looking directly at a brilliant source of light, such as the sun. The blind spots can be lasting and causing much discomfort to people with imperfect sight. However, even people with normal sight may experience the blind spots.

After 1.5 years of practicing sun gazing, I have completely got rid of scotomas. After looking at the sun for arbitrary length of time, I almost never have any blind spots, and never such that last for any appreciable time. My sight is almost always improved after sun gazing and I even no longer have those periods when everything seems darker for the period of adaptation to a lower brightness. I literally turn away from the sun and can read in normal light. I thought that I have completely unlearnt and lost the ability to produce scotomas.

However recently I accidentally produced the old good yellow scotoma (though not lasting) after looking at the sun, and I understood its cause. 

As Dr. Bates rightly said, the blind spots are illusions, an imagination out of mental control coming from a strain. There are many types of strain, each causing its own kind of illusion of imperfect sight. And the blind spots after sun gazing are the result of the strain to see details of a too bright object. Once you stop trying to see anything on the sun, or against the direction of sun rays, and just let the light flood your eyes, you will no longer experience any blind spots. 

That's why even people with normal sight frown, wrinkle their foreheads and squint their eyes and then experience scotomas for a while - because they expect to see details of a too bright image, immediately, that is impossible and is a strain. That's why they immediately experience imperfect sight - the blind spots - specific for this kind of strain.

This is an interesting idea that every kind of illusion of imperfect sight comes from the strain to do the opposite impossible thing. Like blind spots occur in result of trying to see a too bright object makes the object seem darker, the blurred vision at the distance occurs in result of the strain to see far object, and so on, respectively.

Update: I no longer practice and/or recommend sun gazing with opened eyes, because there are much less intrusive techniques of relaxation in the Bates method, and the risk of acquiring additional strain and scotomas during sun gazing is simply not justified. Exposing your eyes with closed eyelids to direct sun is enough. Just take care to cover your face to protect your skin from sun burns and premature forming of wrinkles, don't do it in the middle of summer day, don't do it for more than 5-15 minutes. Also you can use powerful (~1000 lumens) LED flashlights on your closed eyes with nearly the same effect but without the risk of a UV burn.

The Wrongest Idea about Eyesight

Perhaps the wrongest idea about eyesight, yet the most widespread and difficult to get rid of, is that when you "need your eyes" you cannot afford to relax them. 

It is also what prevents many people from discarding their glasses. They say that they would be able to discard them unless they needed their eyes so heavily on their work etc.  

I may declare and preach that relaxation needs to be made permanent, but way too often while working or doing something important, I find myself thinking that after I am done with it, I will relax and practice universal swing, but not now, because now "I need my eyes". 

What the hell? How doesn't it split my mind in two pieces by believing that only relaxation makes my eyesight better and at the same time implicitly believing that the strain is necessary to see? 

It means of course that the idea of strain is not completely unrooted from my subconscious mind. It is quite an amusing manifestation when a subconscious idea is realized by the conscious mind and found contradictory with what the conscious believes is true. :) I am looking forward to see that this contradiction will be resolved. 

The Best Bates Teacher in the World

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.