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.