VIP for Oct 31st November 1, 2008

Completed:

• 3 hour hike through the mountains, early early morning (out walking 30 minutes before sunrise)
• 100 long swings
• palming
• resting my eyes and relaxing (without palming)
• 30 minutes zazen meditation
• stretches
• Eyebody “work” throughout the day whenever I would think of it

I was going to do some eye work outside today, but by the time I got home from work/school it was already getting too dark!  And then the trick-or-treaters started coming around and I didn’t want to answer a bunch of questions about why I was in my yard looking at an eye chart 🙂

VIP for Oct 30th October 31, 2008

Completed:

• approx. 150 long swings to music
• palming off and on (a few minutes each time)
• a nice long walk WOG
• Practicing the “open focus” and “panoramic vision” — I’m starting to feel a different relationship with my surroundings and am noticing little things like a better spatial understanding of my body’s location (i.e., I’m more directly seeing myself in 3-D space, my hands feel further away when I wash them, etc).  It’s hard to describe, but it’s accompanied by more vivid colors and higher acuity so I think it’s a good sign!

Today I passed my preliminary exams for my PhD program!  It was a huge relief and I’m really glad to have that behind me.  I didn’t realize how much stress it was causing 🙂

VIP for Oct 29 October 30, 2008

Completed:

• LOTS of palming, though it was more off and on as I didn’t have time (make time) to do any extended sessions. 
• Went WOG except for approximately 2 hours, where I wore them to speed things up at work (have a big presentation today (oct. 30th)). 
• Read the Bates’ articles my sister (sorrisi) recommended on her blog.  The one describing how many of each type of technique to do each day was really helpful.  I’m looking forward to giving this a try. 

I forgot to do a Snellen reading at lunch, so I really don’t have too much to report!

It’s interesting, in Bates’ Better Eyesight Magazines he talks about how to not think about using the eyes when looking/seeing and I think this is probably why the Eyebody Method and Open Focus of Liberman work so well!  There is a lot of overlap in these other methods it just seems that everyone describes things differently and has a different interpretation of what they are doing that actually helps.

Back in town! October 29, 2008

I’m back from my long weekend, but trying to play catch-up as I have a major presentation tomorrow. 

I’ve been palming, doing long-swings, etc., but have been wearing my glasses much more than I should have over the weekend.  We went pheasant hunting in Nebraska (had a great ime!), but I wore my glasses when hunting (for safety) obviously, and as a result now must start over with going without glasses.  I seem to be doing OK as I’m now typing this WOG and seeing well-enough I suppose.  I have to sit a little closer to the screen than normal to make out typos though  Tonight I plan to do some extended palming as it seems to be a good way to get back to my previous improvement as evidence by irelandseyes and sorrisi. 

I don’t really have anything new to report; being out of town for so long and then wearing glasses set me back a little bit, but I think I’ll be back back to normal by tomorrow.  I’ll post a Snellen reading later today.

VIP for Oct 23 October 24, 2008

I’ll be leaving town Friday and won’t return until Monday.  As a result I won’t be posting anything for four days!  I’m going to keep my glasses off though and I’ll post about the weekend when I return.

Completed:

• Long swings to music
• 15 minutes Snellen chart work (Eyebody Method, shifting, palming etc).
• Palming
• 20 minutes zazen meditation
• Full 7 days without glasses!

Snellen chart (indoors, full sun coming through the windows) : 20/70, cleared to 20/40 consistently! Could even see the spots where the letters were on the lowest line (couldn’t read the letters though)

VIP for Oct 22 October 23, 2008

Completed:

• Long swings to music
• 30 minutes seated meditation (zazen)
• Palming, bringing my attention to each part of my visual system and keeping my awareness at my visual cortex (top/back part of the skull)
• Another day WOG!  I think this is day 6?  I’m finding myself having fewer urges to put my glasses on.
• Spending much more time throughout the day trying to remain conscious of my postural position and bringing my attention to my visual cortex.  I’ve been working on awareness for a long time now and it’s a very difficult thing.  I typically have a lot of internal dialogue going on about tings I must do, upcoming events, etc   I’m beginning to have more “quiet” time, but it’s amazing how quickly my thoughts take over my mind.   So working on bringing my attention to my visual cortex is going along with my general increased awareness “practice”.  I still spend many moments simply focusing on my breath and nothing else.

Snellen chart: 20/70, cleared to 20/50 (indoors, so-so light).  The weather was snowy so the light levels weren’t amazing.

VIP for Oct 21 October 22, 2008

On Tuesday I did the following:

• Long swings to music at lunch (didn’t have time in the morning — agh, I hope I”m not losing my grip already at a new commitment)
• Palming (extended sessions throughout the day)
• Getting back to reading the Alexander Technique  book I started reading last spring.  I read some interesting passages that I was going to quote in my blog.  I will try to remember to do this tonight.  I made some connections to vision that I probably wouldn’t have noticed six months ago.
• 5th day without glasses!  It’s going much better than I thought it would.  I half expected I wouldn’t be able to see as well as I had been seeing before, but I’m doing fine!  I’ve been able to do any computer work necessary WOG and I can do pretty much everything else just as well as long as I slow down and keep my attention centered.

Snellen: 20/70 (indoors, cloudy outside so light inside was only so-so)

Resurrection of the Eyebody Method October 21, 2008

A man, Ian, from Scotland posted a comment under one of my older posts “Eyebody by Peter Grunwald” and has had success with this permanently improving his vision.  He gives excellent advice for following the Eyebody Method.  I wanted to post his comment in an official post so as other readers can benefit.  It’s kind of buried in an older post and I wasn’t sure if it would be easy for new readers to find.  (Thanks Ian!)  I’m planning to revisit the Alexander Technique and the Eyebody Method using Ian’s advice for the Eyebody method as a start.  It all comes back to awareness it seems 🙂   As I wrote back to him, it seems his advice is a beacon as to how I need to proceed in my own “practice”.  I will always use the Bates Method, but I also firmly believe that we must analyze our posture (both structurally and visually).  But please read what he writes, it’s much more well written.  

“Hi Sassy (and Wild!),

I’ve just come across you blog. I too have recently discovered the Eyebody book and received it last Saturday (I live in Scotland).

I understand what you both say about lack of instructions, but on the second reading of the book, I think it contains more than enough to make a big difference. I’ve been trying his ideas for the last 4 days now and the difference in my sight is amazing! Before, I got some clear flashes, and I could hold them for a few seconds, but the minute I blinked they disappeared.

With the Eyebody method however, my vision is vastly improved for as long and as often as I want (and I can blink without losing it too).

I’ve been getting private lessons in the Alexander Technique for quite a long time (I’m a saxophonist by profession) and so I find it relatively easy to direct my attention to various parts of my body and give mental instructions to “let go” etc.

My interpretation of the Eyebody Method (for myopia/astigmatis) is:

Concious Depth Perception is the method of thinking (of a variety of thoughts) using your upper visual cortex (so panoramic vision is just one of the ways to use concious depth perception.

As far as I see it (and it definately works!). Practise trying to think from your upper visual cortex area and use that part of your brain to focus your attention on the inside back of your eyeballs (the retina). Its quite hard to do, but it definitely gets easier and will eventually become the way you see/think.

Various depth perception methods can then include:

1. focussing on the whole inside back of your eyeballs (this is “panoramic vision”)

2. focus on allowing the inside backs of your eyeballs to widen

3. focus on allowing the rest of the inside of your eyeballs to widen all the way to the front

4. focus on allowing the clear “gue” inside your eyeballs to move gently towards the inside backs of your eyeballs

5. focus on allowing the lining between you retina and the outside of your eyeballs to fill with liquid, again all the way to the front.

This is very similar to the Alexander Technique (but for your eyes). You can just try one of them for a few days until its starts to feel like you can “feel” it happening, then add the others, and then shift your attention from one idea to another.

I find it much easier to do this whilst palming. Then go outside for a walk (a park, or the beach etc is best) and try and do the same thing whilst walking (look far in to the distance as much as possible).

Basically then, practise this as often as you can whilst palming, and then do it as often as you can whilst doing everything (reading, computer work, walking etc). It’ll eventually become a new habit and replace the old ways of seeing.

I’m very excited about this, because like the Alexander Technique, it actually addresses the problems that stop you seeing clearly. Eye “exercises” don’t have a great result, really. The shape of my body changed a lot when I started the AT, so I’m very sure that the shape of your eyeballs and the way you see will change very easily with the Eyebody Method – the physical changes needed in your eye are absolutely tiny compared to the large muscles that the AT changes!

I’ve rambled on a bit – sorry. I hope this is of use to you both.

I’d be really interested to hear how you get on – I’m absolutely convinced that this is the way forward.

All the best, from Scotland

Ian”

VIP for Oct 20

Hello All! 

I had to wait until lunch to post today as I didn’t have time this morning.

vision improvement progress for oct 20:

• long swings to music (I actually look forward to doing this now that I’ve started swinging to a piece of music instead of counting).  It’s a wonderful way to start the day and I actually look forward to getting up and doing this in the morning.   I find myself smiling more and really having a good time.  That may sound kind of gimpy, and I’m sure if a stranger walked in on me in my home-office doing long-swings in front of a window they may question my sanity; especially considering the goofy grin that is probably present.
• Palming
• Snellen chart work
• 2 hour hike in the forest WOG
• 4th day WOG!!!  I put my glasses on four different times today but only for less than a few seconds.  I was out elk hunting during the late afternoon and when I would think I saw an elk I would quickly put my glasses on to look and then take them right back off.  Unfortunately each time, what i was seeing was usually a bush or a darker patch of grass, but! nonetheless, I was having a wonderful walk and it smelled incredible up in the mountains. 

Snellen chart:  20/70 cleared to 20/50

VIP for Oct 19 October 20, 2008

My vision improvement progress for Sunday::

• 3rd day WOG!  I didn’t wear glasses for a single moment today, and I even did some pressure canning for the first time ever (which btw was very fun and I’m looking forward to being able to can from a huge garden next year.  I’m canning deer meat currently, as I didn’t have a huge vegetable harvest this year). 
• Long swings to music
• Palming
• Walk outside (~20min) in a field without glasses (WOG)
• Snellen chart work for over 1 hour (swinging, shifting, palming, and divergence work).  I did this work in the evening with only a few lamps on in the living room and was able to clear at times to be able to see that 20/50 line!  Experimenting with my vision is very helpful; letting my eyes “explore” and figure out how to work on their own without me forcing anything.  Sometimes I discover things that make my vision worse and then I learn about things that make my vision much better. 

Snellen chart: Fluctuated between 20/70 and 20/50  (indoors, full sun through the windows).

For the first time (that I can remember), I was able to stand in front of the mirror in the bathroom (in front of the vanity without leaning forward) and see my own pupils.  Normally I can only see a blurred image of my eyes and my eye color, but today I was able to see my pupils very clearly 🙂  It’s kind of a funny thing to post about, but everyday something “new” pops out and that’s what it was today. 

I’m able to read the computer screen from 14 inches away!  I don’t plan to ever go back to glasses — we’ll see how strong my resolve is, I’ve tried this two other times and almost made it 3 weeks once so I have a ways to go before I’ll know if I can do this permanently.  I even went to the post office this morning and conducted all of my business without wearing glasses (my husband drove me).