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.