Ординатура / Офтальмология / Английские материалы / Relearning To See_Quackenbush_2000

It can always be demonstrated that when a student with imperfect sight looks intently at one point, keeping the eyes open constantly, or trying to do so, that a strain of the eyes and all the nerves of the body is usually felt, and the vision becomes imperfect. It is impossible to keep the eyes open continuously without blinking. Each time the eyes blink, a certain amount of rest is obtained and the vision is benefited. For this reason, the student is instructed to blink frequently while swaying... and at all other times... The importance of practicing certain parts of the routine habits at all times, such as blinking... is stressed.

Better Eyesight magazine, February 1928. Article by Emily Lierman:

To begin with, he blinked too fast, which is as [incorrect] as not blinking at all. When

... students acquire the habit of blinking too fast, they are very apt to stare while they blink ... I had emphasized that he must not snap his eyes shut nor open them too quickly ... This new way of teaching him to blink without blinking too fast helped him... to blink one blink at a time, instead of blinking rapidly with a nervous twitch—

Better Eyesight magazine, April 1928:

Question: I notice that my [strabismic] eye does straighten after palming, but reverts when I stop. How can I tell when and how I strain?

Answer: Avoid staring after palming, and blink all the time. You can demonstrate that staring is a strain by consciously doing it for a few seconds

Question: How can one overcome the stare if it is unconscious?

Answer: Blink consciously, whenever possible, especially when reading. Never look

at an object for more than a few seconds at a time. Shift...

Question: By bhnking do you mean shutting and opening the eyes quickly, or is it done slowly like a wink?

Answer: Blinking is done quickly, and not slowly like a wink. Watch someone with perfect sight do this unconsciously, and follow his example.

Practicing frequent blinking helps to break the staring habit.

T H E F R E Q U E N C Y A N D D U R A T I O N O F N A T U R A L B L I N K I N G

Normal, natural blinking occurs approximately every two to four seconds (fifteen to thirty blinks per minute) on the average.

The duration of a blink, i.e., the time between closing and opening the eyelids, is very short—about Vw of a second.

And, of course, blinking should be done very softly.

N O T E S O N B L I N K I N G

* Natural blinking is automatic, rhythmical, soft, casual, easy and fight—-like the wings of a butterfly, i.e., without effort. See Plate 18: Blinking. The upper eyelid should come down completely and touch the lower eyelid during blinking. Watch the blinking habits of people who have normal sight.

*Blink as you shift your attention from one object to another, and from one part of an object to another part. Blink when you shift your attention from near to far, and again from far to near.

*Frequent, soft blinking is meant to be a subconscious habit. Therefore it must be practiced consciously until it is a

subconscious habit again. People with normal vision do not know they blink frequently—it is automatic. As one of my students said, "Practice makes per-

manent."

•Remember the staring contest in grade school, where we challenged our classmate to "Make me blink!"? Those with the strongest corrective lenses usually win the contest. Besides, "Tough guys don't blink."

•As mentioned above, blinking encourages shifting of our attention from one point to another. The theme of one of the earlier Bates teachers was "shift and blink." Blinking aids in the mobility of the eyes, and helps prevent staring.

•Gesell, in his book Vision: Its Develop- ment in Infant and Child, referring to a twenty-week-old infant, states, "Intent fixation dissolves with a flash release, often accompanied by blinking—"5

•Blinking is a free "massage" for the eyes all day long. Blinking also encourages important micro-movements of the extrinsic eye muscles.

•Lymphatic fluid around the eyes increases its circulation by blinking.

•Proper blinking helps prevent strain and fatigue.

•It is important to have correct blinking habits during computer work. Blinking is far less frequent for those who experience eyestrain during computer work.

•Many people do not blink enough

while reading books.

• Humans are the only creatures on this planet who squint and strain with effort to see. Animals do not squint, even in the brightest sunlight.

Chapter Fourteen: The Third Habit—Blinking

*When you are thinking about a problem, and seeing objects around you is not essential, close your eyelids. Do not lock your eyelids open for long periods of time as this creates a strain.

*Ever see a fish blink? No, because fish have no eyelids! The water automatically cleanses their eyes The eyes of fish are open when they sleep.

*Some programs incorrectly teach students exercises in which they are instructed to hold their eyelids open for long periods of time. This is harmful. Blinking frequently is normal and essential for natural clear vision. In one program, the student is repeatedly told to keep his head still. While performing five different eye exercises he did not blink for 39,82,41,40, and 41 seconds.

*A student of mine, a yoga teacher, read in a book to first practice not blmking for thirty seconds, and then to "build up" to thirty minutes! She had serious vision problems.

*Nearsights tend not to blink for long periods of time when their attention is in the far distance.

*Farsights tend not to blink for long periods of time while reading or doing other activities up close.

*A person who does not blink looks blank!

*Sometimes students see more clearly during or just after yawning. Yawning can create excess tears on the cornea and create a pseudo-contact lens effect. The same effect is often experienced when taking a shower. Usually this clearer vision will disappear within one or two more blinks because the excess tears or water are swept away.

Improved sight can also be due to the relaxation provided by yawning.

• Oftentimes, a person will have infrequent or no blinking when staring, fatigued, or breathing shallowly. The eyelids become tense and locked. Everything becomes immobile. Immobility is the problem; circulation is the solution.

•Contact lenses can interfere with normal blinking due to irritation of the eyelids while passing over the edges of the contact lense. Some contact lense wearers blink much less than normal.

•Some meditation techniques confuse the stilling of the mind with rigidly stilling the body—including the eyes and eyelids. Some yoga books suggest staring fixedly at the flame of a candle— without moving the eyes and without blinking. This is very harmful to eyesight. One of my students who followed such instructions could not understand why his vision was not improving.

One yoga book states "Vision has to be fixed at the tip of the nose without winking the eyelids." This is a strain, as is turning the eyes upward and/or inward in a fixed position. These are all contrary to Bates' principles and habits of normal vision.

T V A N D M O V I E S —

B L I N K I N G A L L O W E D

In regards to someone who is giving a speech on TV, one study suggests that a relatively high blinking rate (48-67 blinks per minute) indicates the speaker is more nervous, edgy, anxious, or stressed. This study also suggests that a relatively low blinking rate (7-11 blinks per minute) indicates the speaker is enjoying

pleasant feelings, feels "in control" or "extraordinarily confident," and has a higher comfort level. This is contrary to Bates' findings on blinking also.

Many actors and actresses on TV have very low rates of blinking. Many actors and actresses in the US are trained not to blink while performing on television. A normal (not average!) rate is associated with higher anxiety. Even some TV news broadcasters are told not to blink too frequently when reporting the news.

There is a popular space travel series on TV in which many of the actors do not blink for extremely long periods of time. With the high number of hours Americans watch TV, one may be concerned about the harmful influence of infrequent blinking habits on the viewers, especially children.

A B U T T E R F L Y B L I N K I N G STORY

An excellent way to enjoy this story is to have someone read it to you while palming with closed eyelids.

as Pretend you are sitting in a comfortable chair in a beautiful meadow, while the sunshine gently warms your skin. A teautiful iri- descent-winged butterfly floats softly over your shoulder and out in front of you. This

magnificent butterfly is so light, it seems as if it is part of the air itself The butterfly wings sparkle from the sunshine as it floats to the right, and then to the left. Returning to the center, our butterfly puts down one toe and spins around in the air like a ballerina.

The butterfly then floats slowly out into the distance, over an ocean of flowers. Five feet out it floats; ten feet; and fifteen feet. Notice how the wind creates waves over all of the dorful flowers. At about twenty feet, the butterfly notices a single, large, snow-white rose in the center of the field of flowers.

As the butterfly floats around the rose, it becomes intoxicated by its wonderful fragrance. Finally, the butterfly lands softly in the center of the white rose. As we brush the butterfly's soft wings, they remind us of how soft the eyelids are as we blink frequently all daylong.

The wings open and close every two or three seconds. This reminds us of the frequency of natural blinking.

After this story, stop palming and open your eyelids. Practice "butterfly blinking" while using your nose-feather to brush objects around you. Remember abdominal breathing. Brush, Breathe, and Butterfly Blink!

SQUINTING—A HARMFUL HABIT

Figure 14-1: No Squinting.

Squinting is a conscious narrowing of the eyelids, forming a small horizontal slit. This narrowing of the eyelids blocks part of the peripheral light rays entering through the

pupil. Although a person can often see better artificially, squinting is a harmful habit. One Bates teacher refused to continue lessons with a student who kept using this type of "trick vision." A Natural Vision teacher never teaches squinting.

By the way, the word "squint" used here does not refer to the "squint" used by Bates and others in reference to strabismus. There is no connection between these two different usages of this word.

Better Eyesight magazine, July 1927:

Partly closing your eyes brings on a strain which increases your imperfect sight... it injures your eyes

Better Eyesight magazine, December 1927:

Question: Why do some people see better by partly closing their eyes?

Answer: People with poor sight can see better [artificially] by partly closing their eyes, but when they have perfect sight, squinting makes it worse.

Squinting, in all its variations, always involves an effort, and therefore has nothing to do with seeing clearly naturally. Since effort to see always lowers natural sight, vision is worse after squinting.

WHY SQUINTING CREATES AN ARTIFICIAL, SHARPER IMAGE—THE PINHOLE EFFECT

Many people have discovered it is possible to see more clearly without their corrective lenses by squinting or by looking through a tiny hole. How is this possible?

The eyeball allows light rays to pass through the pupil at many different angles When the eye is in the normal shape (for

clear vision), the light rays entering the eye refract, i.e., they curve or bend as they pass through the cornea and the lens and finally land on the retina. None of these light rays interfere with each other. They all land at the proper locations. Each light ray is properly "focused" on the retina.

However, not all the light rays are refracted. The single light ray coming from directly in front of the eye (along the visual axis) does not refract or bend. This single, central light ray passes perpendicularly through the cornea and lens and does not curve or bend. It continues in its original direction, in a straight line back to the fovea centralis, located in the center of the back of the eye. This fact might now make a nearsight, whose eyeball is too long, and a farsight, whose eyeball is too short, wonder why they do not see clearly in the center of the field of vision at all distances without corrective lenses.

Now we must examine the role of the peripheral light rays. Peripheral light rays that pass non-perpendicularly through the cornea and lens refract. When the eyeball is in the normal shape, none of the peripheral light rays fall in the fovea centralis.

When the eyeball is chronically squeezed out of shape, as in nearsightedness and farsightedness, the peripheral light rays do not fall in focus on the retina. They spread out and interfere with each other, landing incorrectly on top of each other. Some of these peripheral light rays fall into the fovea, where they are not supposed to go, creating blurred central vision.

For nearsights and farsights, peripheral light rays also interfere with each other in the peripheral parts of the field of vision. But because the rods, which pick up our peripheral vision, are incapable of seeing better than

20/400, peripheral interference is somewhat irrelevant. This is because the "out of focus" peripheral light rays only result in nearsights and farsights seeing less clearly than 20/400 vision in the peripheral vision. For nearsights and farsights, the peripheral vision is simply less clear than the unclear peripheral vision of the person who has perfect eyesight.

With the creation of a pinhole "tunnel," the majority of the peripheral light rays are eliminated. You are now letting only the "central," non-refracted light rays through. When a nearsight forms a small "pinhole" with the forefinger (very close to the head, but not touching the eye), a distant object is usually seen more clearly, without any corrective lenses. Similarly, when a farsight looks at something close, the close object is usually seen more clearly. The smaller the pinhole, the sharper the object (but it is also dimmer). The peripheral light rays no longer interfere with the cones in the fovea.

Theoretically, if the fovea and the pinhole were sufficiently small, we would be able to see perfectly clearly, but only light rays from one atom from the object straight ahead!

The pinhole effect shows your minimum potential eyesight without glasses.

Those people with astigmatism usually see more clearly with the pinhole experience. But, because the astigmatic cornea has angular distortions (a wavy surface), the clearer vision might not be as clear as someone who has only nearsightedness or farsightedness. In astigmatism, the single light ray from straight ahead might not continue in a straight line back to the fovea.

Using the forefinger to see better is not recommended, as it is still artificial vision. Besides, vision functions best when both eyes are used together.

THE PINHOLE CAMERA

A pinhole camera works by focusing light rays without a lens An advantage of the pin­ hole is that objects are clear at all distances. The biggest disadvantage of the pinhole is the image is usually very dim.

A larger aperture on a pinhole camera would allow more light through to create a brighter image, but without a lens or cornea, the image would become blurred. And, of course, with a larger aperture, it would no longer be a "pinhole" camera.

The nautilus, a mollusk, sees using a pin­ hole eye. Its eye has no lens or cornea to focus light.

Chapter Fourteen: The Third Habit—Blinking

face, head, neck, and shoulders become tight, and the breathing usually stops or becomes shallow. Usually a person is very rigid when squinting. Squinting is a very "unsightly" habit.

Even if the eyelids are lowered relatively softly to create better vision with the pinhole effect, it is still harmful. The author of one Bates method book teaches his students this harmful "trick" of slightly lowering the upper eyelids, stating, "Keep the upper lids down...

as if they were half-open eyes." Students of natural vision are cautioned never to do this.

"Вит I Do NOT SEE CLEARLY,

OR MORE CLEARLY"

The image seen through the pinhole may not be perfectly clear for all nearsights and farsights, because it is not possible to eliminate ail the peripheral light rays passing through the pinhole.

Additionally, diffraction may occur on the edges of the finger, distorting to some degree the light rays entering the eyes. As Bates pointed out above, a person with normal sight who squints will not see better. This is due to the diffraction of light rays passing through the pinhole.

The pinhole experience may be diminished if a person has certain pathologies, including problems with the cornea, aqueous humor, lens, vitreous humor, retina, and other parts of the eye and visual system.

MORE ON THE HARM OF SQUINTING

Squinting is harmful to vision because it always involves an effort. The eyes, eyelids,

Figure 14-2: No "Trick" Vision.

It is also possible to see more clearly, again artificially, by bending the head forward and downward, while raising the eyes. The nar­ row angle of fight along the eyebrows, or eye­ brow ridge, creates a partial pinhole effect. This is not only a harmful vision habit but creates a strain on the neck. Additionally, the eyes would be looking in the opposite direc­ tion (up) of the head direction (down). Do not do this.

According to Fritz Kahn,"... myopia is derived from the Greek words mju), 'to close,' and соф, 'the eye,' and refers to the habit near­ sighted people develop of half-closing the lids in order to see more clearly."6 (In Perfect Sight Without Glasses, Bates translated the same Greek words to mean "closes the eye, or blinks")

Worse than the tension created in the eye­ lids, face, and neck by any type of squinting

is the mental harm. Vision is primarily a righthemisphere activity and is based on trust. People who squint do not trust their sight

. to be clear automatically and easily. Straining to see is a distrust of natural vision.

BLINKING—THE SOCIAL

CONNECTION

Many people with poor vision think it is impolite to blink when they talk with someone. Notice the similarity to believing it is impolite to move when talking with someone, discussed in Chapter 9, "The First Prin- ciple—Movement."

One of my recent students stated that, in the past, when she had normal sight, she felt self-conscious blinking frequently (normally) when talking with people who did not blink frequently. As a result, she practiced blinking less, and her vision became blurred.

BLINKING—THE EMOTIONAL

CONNECTION

Similar to the poor vision habit of staring, many people with poor vision think that if they close their eyelids—even for a fraction of a second—they will not be protected from potential danger. Ironically, a person is less protected by not blinking frequently, since vision lowers with infrequently blinking.

BLINKING AND FLASHES

Better Eyesight magazine, May 1923:

Question: I am practicing the methods in your book to reverse myopia and astigmatism. Sometimes, for short periods, I see perfectly, then things fade away. Can you explain this?

Answer: This is what we call getting flashes of perfect sight. With continued

practice these flashes will come more frequently and eventually will be permanent.

Many students have flashes while improving their vision. In the beginning, flashes are usually brief moments of dramatically improved or even perfect sight. This can be quite startling—so startling that many students return immediately to incorrect vision habits—staring with non-movement and diffusion, stopping breathing, and stopping blinking. The student thinks that if he remains still enough, she can keep, or "lock onto," this clearer vision. The student should continue normal bhnking when she has a flash.

Students are very happy when they have a long flash, and it remains clearer even while blinking.

Squeezing the eyelids very tight can also create a flash for some students, but it is an incorrect habit. A student should never associate any type of effort with his vision.

Not all students have flashes; for some, the external eye muscles let go slowly while improving vision.

FINAL NOTES ON BLINKING

Blinking is one of the keys to normal, clear vision. It should be apparent from this chapter that the simple habit of blinking is of great importance. Blink frequently and softly all day long. Practice correct blinking until it becomes a subconscious habit—again.

NOTES

1This author does not prefer the term "side effects," commonly used in conjunction with unwanted reactions caused by many drugs. I believe that in many cases the so-called "side effects" are actually the "primary effects," and

that the supposed primary benefits of the drugs are actually the "side effects." The reader is referred to George Vithoulkas'

Homeopathy, the most important book I have read on health and disease, and A New Model both listed in the bib-

liography.

3Lael Wertenbaker and the Editors of U.S. News

Books, The Eye: Window to the World (Wash-

ington. D.C: US News Books, 1981), p. 28.

Function (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1943),

p. 645.

4A small card made by Bates with a summary of his teachings; date unknown.

5Arnold Gesell, Francis L. Ug, and Glenna E.

Bullis,

Child (New York: Paul B. Hoeber, Inc., 1949), p. 90.

6 Fritz Kahn, "The Eye,"

Function, p. 656.

correct habits of natural vision are not only common, they are expected. After all, how many years has the student had incorrect vision habits? One of my students who was 69 years old wore glasses for 64 years.

One of my students was describing the cor­ rect vision habits to her mother, who had per­ fect eyesight. Her mother's response was, "You mean you haven't been doing those things?!"

T H E E Y E S A R E L I S T E N I N G

I frequently hear new students say, "I have bad eyes." Since vision is primarily a mental function, many Bates teachers consider it harmful to refer to the eyes as "bad." Since natural vision habits are not a moral issue, I teach students to substitute the word "incor­ rect" for the word "bad."

As one Bates teacher said, "The eyes hear what you say and think about them." Notice that you never hear people say they have "bad" ears.

I T I S S O S I M P L E , B U T . . .

One of the peculiar aspects of relearning to see correctly is that the principles and habits are so simple.

I once took a college graduate course in Quantum Chemistry. The subject was so com­ plex and difficult that the average grade on the final exam was 21 out of 100 points! The subject matter was nearly incomprehensible to me, and, apparently, many other students.

Unlike this chemistry course, the habits and principles of natural vision are simple. But if they are so simple, why do they seem so difficult to relearn? Because the incorrect vision habits have become ingrained in our body and mind. The state of our sight is largely a reflection of how we are living. And

many people in this society live with exces­ sive stress.

P L A T E A U S A R E A T I M E TO COAST

In any learning process there are plateaus. Plateaus are periods of time when, no mat­ ter how much the student practices correct vision habits, the vision improvement seems to level off.

It takes time for the mind and body to adjust to the vision habits you have practiced. Once the level of vision skills you have prac­ ticed is solid, a foundation is created for fur­ ther progress. Simply continue to practice better vision habits each day, and when your vision is ready to progress further, it will.

K E E P I N G T H E P E R S P E C T I V E

It is important to keep a reasonable per­ spective while improving vision, otherwise some students might become too frustrated with their rate of progress

If the student has had incorrect vision habits for many years, these habits probably will not change completely in only a few weeks. Bates told one of his student simply to continue doing exactly what she had been doing which has given her such "great benefit."

Two or three years to rid oneself of the need for corrective lenses—which many nat­ ural vision students have done—may seem like a long time. But compared to twenty or thirty years of incorrect, strained vision habits and wearing strong corrective lenses, this is a relatively short time.

One student, who wore glasses for twentyfive years, asked me after two classes if a 5% improvement, as measured by her eye doc­ tor, was a good improvement. I asked her. "How many years did it take for you to lose 5% of your vision?!"