Ординатура / Офтальмология / Английские материалы / Relearning To See_Quackenbush_2000

natives said to her, "You white people don't move your heads!"

At one of my review/support group classes, a student who had taken my course about two years earlier was in attendance. During the entire class, he was as rigid as anyone still living could be, and it was obvious he was not practicing correct vision habits. Toward the end of the class, he volunteered that he had not experienced any vision improvement. At the end of the review class, four students sit­ ting near him immediately and simultane­ ously informed him that he never moves. This was a quite dramatic event to behold. Stu­ dents who do not improve their vision are not relearning natural movement. They are holding on to the tight, tense way of using their body and mind—the way that created their blurred vision in the first place.

TOM'S PERSONAL LOG: After two years of teaching, while still improving my own vision, the simple realization came to me, "If / remain rigid, the eye muscles will also remain rigid; if / become flexible again, so will the eye muscles."

As someone once stated, "You are not in the problem.The problem is in you!"

One of my students says she can model for a much longer time by incorporating small movements into her poses. She says she is more relaxed and has more energy with less fatigue. Previously she would try to remain as motionless as possible.

"Don't lock life!" says P. В., natural vision student and yoga teacher.

"There is only one disease, called stagna­ tion."

Chapter Nine: The First Principle—Movement

O P P O S I T I O N A L M O V E M E N T —

A VISUAL M A S S A G E

One of the consequences of natural vision movements is that objects appear to move. This idea is alluded to above and is discussed in depth in this section.

From Better Eyesight magazine, July 1920:

SEE THINGS MOVING

When the sight is perfect the subject is able to observe that all objects regarded appear to be moving. A letter seen at the near point or at the distance appears to move slightly in various directions. The pavement comes toward one in walking, and the houses appear to move in a direc­ tion opposite to one's own. In reading, the page appears to move in a direction oppo­ site to that of the eye. If one tries to imag­ ine things stationary, the vision is at once lowered and discomfort and pain may be produced, not only in the eyes and head, but in other parts of the body.

This movement is so slight that it is sel­ dom noticed till the attention is called to it, but it may be so conspicuous as to be plainly observable even to persons with markedly imperfect sight. If such persons, for instance, hold the hand within six inches of the face and turn the head and eyes rapidly from side to side, that hand will be seen to move in a direction opposite to that of the eyes If it does not move, it will be found that the person is straining to see it in the eccentric [peripheral] field. By observing this movement it becomes pos­ sible to see or imagine a less conspicuous movement, and thus the person may grad­ ually become able to observe a slight move­ ment in every object regarded. Some persons with imperfect sight have reversed it simply by imagining that they see things moving all day long.

The world moves. Let it move. All objects

move if you let them. Do not interfere with this movement, or try to stop it. This cannot be done without an effort which impairs the efficiency of the eye and mind.

Better Eyesight magazine, November 1921:

[Students should practice] seeing things moving all day long from the time the eyes are opened in the morning until they are closed at night, and going to sleep finally with the imagination of the swing....

The best thing for a busy person is to form a habit of constant shifting and to imagine that everything seen is moving. It is the habit of staring that spoils your sight. If you can correct this by constant shifting and the realization of the movement produced by the shift, you can get well without so much palming and you will also be able to do your school work better.

Better Eyesight magazine, September 1922:

[While improving your vision, the] most important of all is to see things moving, or rather to be conscious that stationary objects are moving, in the opposite direction to the movement of the eyes. Unless this is done continuously one is apt to imagine stationary objects are stationary which is very injurious to the eyes... .[Some people] complain that moving objects make them uncomfortable. It can always be demonstrated that it is not seeing things move which is uncomfortable but rather it is trying to stop the movement which causes the discomfort.. .One of the first things I have my students demonstrate is that it is impossible to keep the attention fixed on a point and imagine it stationary for any length of time, and that the effort to do so is disagreeable and lowers the memory and imagination and sight.

Better Eyesight magazine, July 1927:

Acquire a continuous habit of imagining stationary objects to be moving easily, until it becomes an unconscious habit.

Better Eyesight magazine, September 1927:

Imagine that stationary objects are moving in the direction opposite to the movement of your head and eyes. When you walk about the room or on the street, notice that the floor or pavement seems to come toward you, while objects on either side appear to move in the direction opposite to the movement of your body.

Better Eyesight magazine, December 1927:

The importance of practicing certain parts of the routine habits at all times, such as...imagining stationary objects to be moving opposite to the movement of his head and eyes, is stressed.

A key concept intimately connected to the principle of movement is oppositional movement. The theme of oppositional movement

is one example of Bates' teachings at first seeming contradictory, or even incomprehensible. Bates discovered vision cannot be normal without the experience of oppositional movement.

Whichever direction we move with our sight, stationary objects appear to move in the opposite direction.

When a person is driving a car, the road, trees, hills, and houses all seem to be moving in the opposite direction of the car's movement. Specifically, if the car (and you!) are moving north, all stationary objects outside of the car appear to be moving south. Con-

versely, when a person is backing his car out of the garage, the garage seems to be moving forward.Thebe are examples of forward and backward oppositional movement.

As the child moves upward on a trampo­ line or on a teeter-totter, the world seems to move downward; as the child comes back down, the world seems to move upward—in the opposite direction.

г4 ^

-ft. A 'S$fS

When we spin round and round on a merry-go-round or carousel, the world seems to spin in the opposite direction.

When our attention is on a moving object, oppositional movement is an even more sub­ tle concept because our primary attention is on the moving object, and not on the objects that appear to be moving in the oppo­ site direction. For example, when watching a bird fly across a field, the illusion of the trees moving in the opposite direction is experi­ enced primarily subconsciously.

If our attention is on a house across a street, and a car drives by, the house seems relatively stationary, and the car "moves" by. But if our attention is on the car when it dri­ ves by, the house does not appear station­ ary—rather, it seems to move in the opposite direction of the car's movement.

We call evening "sunset," but shouldn't it really be called "earthrise," and "sunrise" called "earthset"?! The sun is not "setting"; the Earth is rotating. The stationary sun appears to move in the opposite direction of the Earth's rotation.

Of course, stationary objects do not actu­ ally move—but they seem to move. Bates dis-

Chapter Nine: The First Principle—Movement

covered that this illusion—stationary objects appearing to move in the opposition direc­ tion of the head movement—is essential for clear, normal sight. Movement and the illu­ sion of oppositional movement are meant to be occurring all day long.

The experience of oppositional movement is a natural, automatic consequence of head and body movement. Usually, oppositional movement is a secondary, subconscious expe­ rience. Still, it is an essential part of normal seeing.

While improving sight, people with high blur or serious vision problems may take a longer time before experiencing oppositional movement. This is because of the high degree of staring they have learned.

Better Eyesight magazine, January 1924:

"The failure to imagine that stationary objects are moving is always due to a stare or strain." Later Bates wrote,"Staring is a strain...," so the problem is strain.

After several years of teaching natural vision, I began referring to the effect of the illusion of oppositional movement as a visual massage. When a person has normal vision, light rays move across the retina in the back of the eyeball and create a continuous, sub­ tle, energetic massage for the eyes and the mind.

M O V E M E N T AND OPPOSITIONAL

MOVEMENT ARE FUN !

I once observed a father swinging his daugh­ ter around him many times. When he finished swinging her, she was dizzy and would even fall down on the grass. Then she ran back to him for more fun swinging!

Amusement parks have many "rides" we enjoy: roller coasters, bumper cars, carousels,

etc. Disneyland has spinning teacups. All of these experiences involve movement. Move­ ment and oppositional movement are fun!

EXPERIENCING OPPOSITIONAL

MOVEMENT OF STATIONARY OBJECT S

The following activities are demonstrations of the importance of movement and opposi­ tional movement.They are not eye exercises. They are examples or demonstrations of nat­ ural movements students need all day long in order to have normal, clear vision. Ulti­ mately, the movements can be large, medium, small, fast, or slow but movement is the key.

The better the vision, the more subtle the movements become, and vice versa. Larger movements are usually emphasized in the beginning to be certain the students do not slip back into the staring habit.

If you do not experience the effects described below, you may not be doing the activities correctly. Find a vision teacher to show you how to do them correctly.

Often, the mind resists the correct, natural vision experiences because of many years of ingrained, incorrect habits If you do not expe­ rience oppositional movement in the activi­ ties described below, continue practicing them until you do. The experience will occur with sufficient practice.

Also, there are levels or "degrees" of expe­ riences. Oppositional movement becomes more "fluid" with the practice of better vision habits each day.

Unless you have normal vision, you prob­ ably will not experience the following activ­ ities to the fullest extent the first time you do them. That is fine for now. I often remind my students that no one experiences everything

I teach the first time they are taught. You are in the process of relearning to see. All of the following activities are experienced perfectly only when the vision is clear and normal. К you experience all of these activities perfectly the first time, you probably do not need this book or classes!

What we see in the world is mostly a con­ scious process, but how we see the world is a subconscious process Therefore, there is some tendency for the mind to avoid correct vision habits when practiced consciously. Vision, and vision habits, cannot be perfectly normal until they are subconscious. Of course, the idea is to practice them consciously until they become automatic, subconscious habits— exactly like they used to be when you used to have clarity.

How to see clearly is fairly simple to under­ stand, but it is not obvious If it were obvious, many people would improve their vision without a book or teacher.

If you have health problems, all vision activities in the beginning should be done very slowly and for brief periods. As men­ tioned in the beginning of this book, the stu­ dent—and not the teacher, author, or publisher—assumes responsibility for any responses generated by doing these activities. You may want to read the section on rever­ sal processes in Chapter 20, "The Two Sides of Health and Healing," before doing anv activities in this book.

Most students will find it valuable to receive instruction from an experienced Nat­ ural Vision teacher.

The Variable Swing—Simple Oppositional

Movement

я*ТО E X P E R I E N C E :

Hold your right forefinger vertical, six inches in front of your head, and six inches to the right. While moving your eyes and head to the right, notice how the finger appears to move to the left in the opposite direction. While moving your eyes and head to the left, notice how the finger appears to move to the right in the opposite direction. Repeat sev­ eral times.

Do not look at the finger while moving your head left and right. Let your attention sweep along objects in the distance.

This effect and illusion of the stationary finger appearing to move in the opposite direction of your head movement is called oppositional movement.

Object Shifting

s&TO E X P E R I E N C E :

Notice three objects in front of you, one on the right, one in the center, and one on the left.

Let's call the object on the left Object L, the object in the center Object C, and the object on the right Object R.

Notice Object C. It is in the center of your visual field. Now, shift your attention to Object L. Notice that Object С is no longer in the center of your visual field. It appears as if Object С moved from the center to the right.

Now, shift your attention from Object L to

Chapter Nine: The First Principle—Movement

Object R. Object С appears to have moved from the right, through the center of your visual field, to the left. Of course, Object С did not move; only the light rays from Object С moved across the retina, placing object С in its new location on the left.

When you shift your attention from Object R to Object L, Object С again appears to move from left to right.

Repeat this activity several times until you experience the oppositional movement of Object C.

Do this all day long with all objects! The idea is simple—continue to move, and never stare. In this way, stationary objects will always appear to be moving.

Some students say, "Of course Object С moved in the opposite direction of my move­ ment; it is obvious." It may be obvious when the student thinks about it, but it is usually not obvious when the student is not thinking about it. The problem is that a person who has blurred vision returns to rigid staring dur­ ing much of the day. Stationary objects do not appear to move when a person is staring, and this strains the visual system.

The principle of oppositional movement is, in truth, very subtle. It is one of the great­ est keys to natural vision, and is one of the subconscious consequences of moving the eyes and the head all day long.

Better Eyesight magazine, November 1925:

MOVING

...Stand facing a window and note the relative position of a curtain cord to the

background. Take a long step to the right. Observe that the background has become different. Now take a long step to the left. The background has changed again. Avoid regarding the curtain cord. While moving from side to side it is possible to imagine the cord moving in the opposite direction...

Never imagine stationary objects to be stationary. To do this is a strain, which lowers the vision.

Oppositional Movement—The Pencil

a*TO E X P E R I E N C E :

Hold a pencil in front of you vertically, with the eraser at the top. Hold the bottom of the pencil near your mouth; the top of the pencil should now be near the forehead. Move the pencil out 8-10 inches from your head.

Now, as if your pencil (and hand) were attached to your head, move the pencil and the head together slowly to the left. Keep your attention on the pencil. Do not tilt the pencil or your head. Do not look into the distance. While you are moving to the left, distant objects appear to move to the right.

Now move the pencil and the head slowly to the right. Remember to keep your attention on the pencil as you move! Distant objects now appear to move to the left.

As you move your pencil and head slowly upward together, distant objects appear to move downward. As you move your pencil and head slowly downward, distant objects appear to move upward.

Stated again, the illusion of stationary objects appearing to move in the opposite direction of the head and pencil's movement is called oppositional movement.

While your attention is on the pencil, you

might notice there are two of each object in the background! This is due to stereoscopic vision, discussed in Chapter 18, "Stereoscopic Vision."

The enjoyment of the following Sway, Long Swing, and Infinity Swing can be enhanced by listening to relaxing music while doing these activities.

The Sway

* T O E X P E R I E N C E

Part A: Swaying with Open Eyelids

See Figure 9-2: The Sway, a-i, a-2, and a-j.

Stand with your arms relaxed by your sides and your feet separated about shoulder-width apart. Relax your kneecaps Breathe abdominally. Blink frequently. The neck is buttery soft, and the head is balanced normally. Pretend you have a feather attached to your nose. The nose-feather extends out to whatever objects are in front of you.

Now, sway your body slowly and smoothly approximately 3-4 inches to the left while sweeping the nose-feather to the left a small distance. Keep your attention on whatever objects the nose-feather sweeps along in the distance. Do not tilt your body or head as in Figure 9-2, b. The weight of your body simply shifts over to one leg and then to the other. While swaying to the left, pretend that objects in front of you are moving to the right.

Now, sway your body slowly and gently to the right, moving the head and nose-feather to the right. While swaying to the right, pretend that objects are moving to the left.

Alternate swaying from left to right and back, allowing the distant objects, which your

nose-feather is sweeping along, to move in the opposite direction of that of your body and head.

&Part B: Swaying with Closed Eyelids:

The above sway can be repeated with the eye­ lids closed.

Pretend you are standing in a nice sunny meadow with many redwood trees in the dis­ tance, about 100 feet in front of you. The trees are aligned in a row from left to right. When you are swaying to the left, the nose-feather taps the trunks of the trees as they appear to move to the right. When swaying to the right, the tree trunks appear to move to the left.

Some students incorrectly move their head and nose-feather to the left while swaying to their right (see Figure 9-2, с and d), and move their head and nose-feather to the left while swaying to the right.

When a person walks down a hallway and turns to walk through a door on the left, both the body and the head turn and move natu­ rally to the left. The body should move in the same direction as the head and nose-feather.

Also, do not tighten your shoulders as shown in Figure 9-2, e.The shoulders and arms should be relaxed.

From Better Eyesight magazine, February

1930:

THE SWAY

When one imagines stationary objects to be moving in the same or opposite direc­ tion to the movement of the head or eyes when both heels are resting on the floor, it is called "the sway." When both heels are lifted from the floor, it is not called the sway, but "the swing." The apparent move­ ment of stationary objects may be hori­

zontal, vertical or at any angle. The sway is a very valuable thing to use, because it pro­ motes relaxation, or rest, much better than other methods. In fact, so general is this conclusion that I always try to have every student practice the sway immediately upon starting lessons.

The sway may be practiced rapidly or slowly, and with a wide or a narrow motion. When the sway is practiced, distant objects are covered more or less completely, which explains why rest is obtained. When the sway is used properly, all stationary objects regarded appear to be moving. Whether the sway is short or long, if practiced prop­ erly, the vision is usually improved...

Most people with imperfect sight have a constant strain and tension of nearly all the muscles of the body. The nerves are also under a strain and their efficiency is fre­ quently lost. By practicing the sway prop­ erly, fatigue is relieved as well as pain, dizziness and other symptoms.

The sway always brings about a relief from the effort of trying to see, staring, or concentration. The normal eye needs relax­ ation or rest. It does not always have nor­ mal sight. WЪen it is at rest it always has normal sight.

Things which are done by the student to improve the sight do not always succeed There are many ways of improving the sight by the sway, provided it is practiced correctly....[One student] practiced the sway with her eyes moving in one direction and her head in the opposite direc­ tion This method of practicing the sway is to be condemned.

Better Eyesight magazine, June 1925: Emily C. Lierman, "The head should turn in the same direction with the eyes."

The Long far Elephant) Swing

"It Don't Mean a Thing, If ft Ain't Got That Swing." (title of a song)

The image of an elephant's trunk swinging left and right is helpful to many students.

The Long, or Elephant, Swing is simply an

"extended" Sway. See Figure 9-3; The Long

(Elephant) Swing.

Chapter j\ine: The First Principle—Mo\einent

•» Part A:

The Long Swing With Open Eyelids Instead of swaying the body left and right,

turn your whole body gently to the left, b, and then to the right, c. When you are turning to the left, the right back of the heel raises slightly; similarly, when turning to the right, the left heel raises slightly. The head and nosefeather "swing" softly around the room (or scenery, if you are outdoors). The arms remain relaxed by your sides; any movement of the arms is due to the turning of the entire body.

"Brash" the objects with your nose-feather like a searchlight sweeping across clouds in the sky at night.

This is not a physical workout. It is an easy, floating visual experience.

Many students try to lock onto objects while doing the Long Swing. This is due to the staring habit. Do not lock onto objects as they move past you. Allow all objects to "float" past you. Do not "space out" or diffuse.

* Part B:

The Long Swing With Closed Eyelids Same as above, except now pretend you are a hundred feet tall, standing in a beautiful, sunny meadow. Many redwood trees approximately fifty feet away extend around you in a circle. While swinging casually to the left let your nose-feathtr tap the trunks of the trees, Imagine a tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap sensation as the feather touches the trunks. Pretend the trees are moving toward the right. While swinging to the right, pretend the trees