look at the moon….
January 21, 2008
and tell me what you see.
Last week I was walking at night without my glasses with my fiancé and I saw the most extraordinary thing. I looked at the moon and saw 15-20 images of the perfect crescent shaped moon. It was really like someone had stamped the moon in a circle in the sky. They are tightly bunched together, and really like a stamp, Some are very bright while others are faint. But all of them were clear, crystal clear. I could study the shape of the moon and see the darker marks from craters. I am very surprised that I can see the moon just as well without my glasses as with my glasses, the only difference being that I see multiple images. So far, I can’t think of an explanation for this, but I find it fascinating.
I would be curious to hear from other myopes, what is your visual acuity and what do you see when you look at the moon?
I wanted to write about this before but first I wanted to ask my sister (sassisailor blog) to see what she saw when she looked at the moon without glasses before swaying what she might see.
January 21, 2008 at 10:10 pm
I am happy for your progress.
You said you cannot think of an explanation for the multiple images, so I will tell you. I hope you do not mind knowing the technical terms for those things; tell me if you don’t wish any more technical explanations from me. I will respect that. If you test one eye and find that it can see multiple images, it is called monocular polyopia (mono- = one, -ocular = eye, poly- = many, -opia = images). If you can see multiple images using both eyes simulateously (binocular vision), it is simply called polyopia. It so happens that I have a greater degree of monocular polyopia in the left eye; hence, more images. I have, by accident, learned that the classic symptom of conical cornea (keratoconus) is the perception of multiple ghost images. When I palm with eyes closed, my left cornea feels like it is protruding and it is sensitive as it moves around. The right eye, which does not have as many multiple images, does not feel so sensitive. I used to wear contacts a long time ago and my left eye was extremely sensitive to contacts, and I never knew why. Now I do.
If keratoconus really is a possible cause, I am guessing that the curvative of the cornea has to do with how light rays reflecting off an object onto the cornea are bent upon the retina. I am also guessing that the retina creates a visual image after perceiving the light rays and keeps the image mostly “static” until you blink. I am guessing further that blinking changes the tear film covering the eye slightly, so as to bend the light rays differently upon the retina, which makes the images appear to jump around each time you blink.
However, there is one thing I cannot understand. This is one reason I find the Bates method so puzzling; maybe it is capable of changing the curvative instantly or corrects the retinal image instantly, who knows. 99.9% (999/1000) of the time I would see 4-5 multiple images of a letter when reading the Snellen chart, but if I succeed in imagining the card perfectly white and the black letters perfectly black, the multiple images completely disappear. By completely, I mean I cannot even see a single ‘ghost’ image and the letters become very distinct all the way down to 10/5. This is no normal clear flash either, for usually with a good clear flash the multiple images are still there.
Anyway, on to the moon thing. Do a test and observe the moon during the daytime; you may see a difference in polyopia. With binocular vision, I once saw 8-12 multiple images of the moon at nighttime. They were spread far apart from each other. It has reduced to 4-5 images and has been fusing together. But during daytime or early dusk when the moon is out, I only see one moon. A good clear flash will cause details in the moon’s outline and mares (craters) to emerge. The moon will then appear to be a big boulder. It is there as if it were a real boulder hanging in midair. The same way I have been able to perceive airplanes as if they were very solid objects simply hanging in the air and being propelled by something. An analogy for myopes is this: take a toy car or airplane you can see very clearly. Move the toy car smoothly on the ground, or the toy airplane smoothly in the air. They are very solid and simply there. The same occurs when you become able to see objects in the distance perfectly, such as an airplane or the moon. Even those objects appear to have depth!
My current V.A. is no lower than 10/12.5 (similar to 20/25) at all times even in a poor light.
What I would recommend is to use the 10/?? fraction, not the 20/?? fraction if you are standing 10 feet from a chart. Polyopia can increase or decrease at different distances, so your measurement at 20 feet may not be equivalent to what it is at 10 feet.
I had noticed you were using 20/?? measurements while standing at 10 feet.
Keep up the good work.
January 22, 2008 at 10:18 am
Dear Vidi,
Thank you very much! Technical responses are very welcome and much appreciated
I looked up conical cornea, I find it very interesting how complicated the eye can be! As long as my eyesight is getting better and I’m always seeing less and less multiple images, I guess I don’t have to worry about it.
I haven’t tried looking at the moon with the left and right eyes singly, I will do that! Your response was very logical and interesting, I need to reread it again and looke at some things without my glasses to figure out if my eys are the same.
Once I tried palming after seeing multiple C’s (imagining only 1), and when I looked at the C after the palming there was only 1. That is very puzzling, I wonder if it is the brain correcting the information coming to it!
Also, I have often wondered about reporting my results as a 10/?? fraction instead of 20, but thought 20 would be more standard to compare progress directly. I agree with you about this fact though, that my accuity read from 10 feet and converted to 20 feet is probably not the same as if I measured my accuity from 20 feet. I will report in fractions of 10/?? until I can put up a Snellen chart at 20 feet.
Thank you again for a very interesting comment!
January 23, 2008 at 1:22 am
Thanks. I know you are trying to convert from the metric system… maybe using a chart that measures in feet would help? Or… label your metric measurements as being in meters, because generally everyone else at the message boards talk in terms of feet.
There is no need to worry about conical cornea. I have felt it become less sensitive in my left eye as the monocular polyopia diminished in number. I see that you have had a similar experience in imagining one thing best, and noticing a clear flash without multiple images.
Interestingly, Dr. Bates answers a question regarding conical cornea at the end of the April 1921 issue. In the editted BEM compilation by Quackenbush, it goes:
Q-2. I have conical cornea. Can it be cured or relieved without glasses or operation?
A-2. Yes. One such case secured normal vision in six weeks by the aid of the methods presented in the magazine. Another case was cured in two weeks. Conical cornea is simply an anterior staphyloma, or bulging of the front of the eyeball, similar to the posterior staphyloma which so often occurs in myopia. Both are curable by the same methods.
January 23, 2008 at 10:42 am
Thank you! Actually, my Snellen chart is in feet, but my tape measure is metric, so I convert the tape measure (which I don’t have to any more now that I have the 10 feet marked and don’t report progress from less distance anymore. I still find it useful to practice swinging letters from a distance of about 5 feet though.
I looked further in Bates magazines and found in the index (of those compiled by Quackenbush) many references to conical cornea that I will read up on! Thanks for the encouragement!
January 24, 2008 at 12:27 am
You are welcome! Regarding the 5-feet swinging; you got it! In one of Dr. Bates’ later issues (Dec 1928), there is a real gem I have come across only once. It tells you specifically what distance might be best for swinging/swaying the chart, based on your diopter:
The treatment of myopia which I have found best is as follows: The vision of each eye is tested and the patient is then directed to sit with the eyes closed and covered with the palms of each hand in such a way as to avoid pressure on the eyeball. At the end of half an hour or longer, the patient is directed to stand with the feet about one foot apart and sway from side to side as he reads the Snellen test card at five feet or ten feet. When the myopia is more than 5 D, the patient may make better progress by practicing at a lesser distance than ten feet–five feet or nearer. (regarding a 20-ft Snellen chart, p. 573 – BEM)
January 24, 2008 at 12:44 am
Dear Sorrisi,
When you practice swinging the letters from 5 feet, how do you do it? Do you sway the letters slightly from side to side, or swing the entire card? How far a diameter on the wall, when standing 5 feet away, is your swing?
I’d like to know, to see if I get better results from trying it your way.
January 24, 2008 at 11:10 am
Dear Vidi,
Thank you, the article you quoted from Bates is spot on. I have noticed that if I swing from a shorter distance first, and then from 10 feet, that I can see more on the card from 10 feet, but I didn’t have an explanation for that! I have a lot of reading to do, I’m still in the earlier magazines.
When I swing at 5 feet or shorter distances, I usually swing my whole room just to relax. Then I swing the boundaries of the card, then I swing a line of letters, and it’s only recently (the centralizing post) that I found that after that if I let individual letters swing I see them clearer. In a way I guess it slowly brings me to a more relaxed state where I’m noticing smaller and smaller detail. I find if I look right away at a small letter, I don’t see it, but after swinging I can.
Thank you for pointing this out. I hadn’t really considered this swinging practice before, it was more like a relaxation I used for my eyes before reading the card!
January 25, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Dear Vidi and Sorrisi,
These is an excellent comment stream. What a lot of useful dialog!
With regards to better clarity when ‘swinging the letters’ I have also noticed this. Even if I’m sitting on my couch and I’m just inadvertently looking at the card I can see the letters much clearer if I swing my body a bit from side to side. I noticed this by accident but I think you’re both onto the important nature of the symbiotic healing nature used by Bates to incorporate the swinging with the test card practice (while centralizing!). Sorrisi, I really like your swinging method. What you are doing makes a lot of sense. You are taking your attention to sharper and sharper levels with each step, which may be much easier to do than trying to immediately centralize. Like most things, it can be difficult to go from one extreme to another without an intermediate stage (i.e., diffusion to centralization). As we are myopes, we have been diffusing for 20 years or so, so it will take time to learn to centralize.
These past few days I think what is missing from my practice are the long palming sessions before swinging practice. I do this in the morning before getting out of bed (palming for like 15 minutes), but I think it would also be useful to do this a few other times during the day, for at least a half hour.
Vidi- how often and for how long do you palm (on average) each day?
January 29, 2008 at 4:51 am
Dear Sassisailor,
I agree – intermediate stages help ease the transition from one extreme to another. They can also be used as a recess, or break, to get relaxed enough to regard the Snellen card clearly again. When patients would look at the Snellen test card, Dr. Bates would tell them to palm if their eyes got tired. This was to give them a break, or intermediate stage. Either way, you have two different ways to use the intermediate technique: extreme-to-extreme transition, or as an intermission. If you want to take a “swinging” intermission instead of a “palming” intermission, taking for example Sorrisi’s mode of transition, you can swing the boundaries of the card instead of the letters (if your vision of the letters seem to constantly blur after seeing them clearly for a while). This will help make the gradual transition back to central fixation.
As Dr. Bates wrote:
The short swing is more beneficial than the long swing. It is necessary to realize, however, that it doesn’t require much of a strain to stop the short swing and blur the whole card. When the short swing stops, you should increase the swing or the swaying of the body from side to side until the card can be again imagined to be moving. (p. 459 – BEM)
It is usually true that it will take time to acquire central fixation, but that is not necessarily always the case. Dr. Bates wrote about patients that were permanently cured in as little as 10-15 minutes by the use of the imagination, despite them wearing glasses for myopia, hyperopia, or presbyopia for more than 20 years. In p. 218 of PSWG, Dr. Bates permanently cured a patient who had worn glasses for presbyopia for 20 years, in less than fifteen minutes. If such a thing really did happen, then there’s no point in setting subconscious limitations. “It will take time to learn to centralize” is setting a limitation, while “Centralizing can happen at any moment” allows you to expect the unexpected instead of unconsciously fighting it the moment it happens.
You asked me about palming. I do not really have an average. Some days I do very little palming and more of the other techniques, while other days I do a lot of palming. On the days I do a lot of palming, it’s something like this:
30 minutes 1-2x/day.
20 minutes 1x/day.
5-10 minutes 1x/day.
1 minute 2-3x/day.
Highest average time: 93 minutes
On days when I have a lot of time, I palm for 30-45 minutes every 2-1/2 to 3 hours. Total palming time = 2 to 2-1/2 hours.
Whenever possible I like to palm in a dark room, as close to pitch black as possible. The best position is not at a desk, but on the bed with two or three standard firm to extra-firm pillows on my lap while I sit in lotus position. To me, this is the most comfortable position.
I have done overnight palming. Many people who are not used to palming, or do not know how to do it correctly, do not get much, if any, benefit doing something like this. They are thinking about the time rather than simply enjoying the experience.
I’d be glad to answer any further questions about palming and even mental visualization. They are two of the techniques I have had a lot more success with than most other people. Sorrisi (and you too?) is having a lot of success with the swing, so both of you should keep using what has worked very well for you and use palming to complement and improve the swing. Regarding palming, Dr. Bates wrote, “Patients who succeed with palming from the beginning are to be congratulated, for they are always cured very quickly.” (p. 134 – BEM)
January 29, 2008 at 9:56 am
Thanks Vidi!
I am trying to start palming on a more regular basis since the workshop. So far I’m doing very short bursts of it. How do you recommend to start a visualization? Do you choose something to imagine, or just let the first clear memory that comes be the subject of that palming? The latter is what I’ve done so far, with the most random images coming to mind – horses, watermelons, things I haven’t seen in ages but that are crystal clear! Do you start with a small field of view in the memory and expand it, or do you start with a huge ‘panorama’ image?
Thank you for offering to answer some questions! I’m still using the swinging and swaying as the most relaxing methods.
February 1, 2008 at 7:49 am
You’re very welcome – you can ask questions about anything any time you like.
The quotation at the very end of my previous comment about patients who succeed with palming is from PSWG, not BEM. (minor correction)
p. 128-130 in BEM is a must-read; there are lots of gems in that article about visualizing mental pictures.
Some gems include:
1. Mental vision is subject to precisely the same laws as visual perception. The mental picture must be seen or imagined by central fixation; that is, one part of it at a time must be seen best, and the attention must shift continually from one point to another.
2. Mental pictures cannot be retained for any length of time unless they appear to move. This movement may be so slight and easy that it is not observed until the attention is called to it, and even then it may not be realized.
3. When the sight is imperfect it is always easier to hold a mental picture when looking at nothing in particular than when looking at letters or other objects at distances at which they cannot be seen distinctly. (p. 128-130 – BEM)
Keep in mind what he says about mental vision being subject to precisely the same laws as visual perception as you read the next quote. p. 130 of PSWG reveals:
It is impossible to succeed by effort, or by attempting to “concentrate” on the black. As popularly understood, concentration means to do or think one thing only; but this is impossible, and an attempt to do the impossible is a strain which defeats its own end. The human mind is not capable of thinking of one thing only. It can think of one thing best, and is only at rest when it does so; but it cannot think of one thing only. (p. 130 – PSWG)
You can either imagine a small field of view (such as looking at a pencil up close) or a panorama image (such as looking at a city skyline) as long as you mentally regard one part best at a time and keep the mental image swinging slightly.
It is helpful to have a familiar object on hand to practice memorizing its color perfectly, by opening and closing the eyes alternately (flashing). I use a black Pilot Precise extra fine liquid ink pen, which you can find in just about any retail store in the U.S. (not sure about England).
I remove the cap of the pen and regard the tip. There is black ink on the tip – and it is about the size of a small period and very black. Then I replace the cap. The pen is covered in such a way that reflections are blocked while I regard its blackness. I repetitively flash the pen – alternately closing my eyes for anywhere from 5-30 seconds, opening them and regarding the pen quickly for a second, then closing my eyes again for 5-30 seconds, and so on. By doing this, the blackness of the imagined pen gradually approaches the blackness of the real pen. When my eyes are closed, I shift between the blackness of the ink on the tip of the pen and a black part of the pen; I may even shift the gaze very slightly if regarding one part for a longer time, such as the ink on the tip of the pen.
The whole pen is sometimes visible in the mental field, and sometimes not – depending on the mental distance it is visualized at. But one part is always regarded best at a time and imagined to be swinging slightly, even when looking at the part longer than usual.
It has been useful to me to do all this in a poor light. This minimizes the reflections upon the black pen, and makes it as visibly dark as possible.
The above technique is one way to start a visualization. You can also flash letters of the Snellen card where you see them best. What is important is remembering perfectly the color as well as a part best at a time. The smaller the part, the easier it is to remember something perfectly, including a color.
Starting a random visualization can be done this way: start by palming in a way that excludes as much light as possible. The darker the background, the easier it is to visualize something perfectly. Remember something you have seen before, as perfectly as possible. Let it go, while mentally remembering that you had thought of it.
Imagine any object you may have been repeatedly exposed to, or may remember from a time when you could see clearly. I was able to very easily recall a digital kitchen clock display from 20 years ago in my old home, when I used to have very sharp eyesight (about 30/10). I had been standing about 15-20 feet from the tiny kitchen clock display, yet I could see it perfectly clear. I was able to very easily mentally visualize it while palming, by thinking of one part of it and how bright and crisp it had appeared either as a whole or as a part. When I let go of the image and thought of something else, it immediately came back to me with surprising clarity.
This is similar to the horses, watermelons, and things that you haven’t seen in ages but that are crystal clear. They are deeply enough ingrained in your memory to be remembered clearly, yet conscious enough to retrieve. The more deeply ingrained in the memory, the better. They become very familiar. This creates a highly favorable condition for remembering something perfectly.
I also tried the black football technique Dr. Bates recommended to one of his patients (p. 282 – PSWG). Instead of a black football, I used a black tennis ball (because I enjoy playing tennis). While palming, I imagined that I threw the black tennis ball very high and far, watching it getting smaller as it went along its trajectory through the sky into the ocean. I watched the ball be carried by the tide into the horizon. It became smaller and smaller until it became the size of a black period.
Then all of a sudden, the black period manifested itself in a nearly physical sense. I was able to hold it constantly for many minutes, and I had some of the best mental pictures ever. The background was very, very black all of a sudden, and I imagined a very beautiful scenario. It was high up in the mountains, and there was a desolate castle. I had an aerial view of it from about 2 miles away. I could see the black period as part of one of its dark crevices on the upper level. The black period seemed so far away, yet it was so distinct. I got within like 200 feet of the castle, still seeing the black period as part of any dark spot on the castle.
Then I felt something go -boom- -boom- on the floor below me. A person had turned on the surround speaker system for a movie. I could not maintain the visualization and my experience came to an end.
——
In my journal the next day, I wrote:
“My left eye, usually under heavy strain upon waking up, was under less strain and everything was much clearer and letters were so black and distinct everywhere.”
——
The vision improvement after the castle visualization was instantaneous and lasted for weeks. I immediately saw the mounted ceiling light in the kitchen appear to have a more contained, more vibrant, and brighter, less dull glow.
The nearly perfect memory of the black period for an extended time (several minutes) accomplished the strangest results. It created a ripple chain effect and very rare things began happening EVERYDAY, lasting for two weeks. (I stopped because someone knocked on my door at the wrong time as I nearly acquired a permanent 10/5, interrupting the best-ever chain of eight perfect, non-polyopic 10/5 clear flashes perfectly identical to each other. I had been unintentionally interrupted two weeks previously with that black period/castle visualization. The disappointments were hitting me pretty hard and no one could understand why vision was so important to me [it had caused me much trouble in the past and I wanted to get the blurred vision over with so I wouldn’t exclude myself so much from other people’s presence, so I decided to wait for the holidays to end so people would leave.)
Some of the effects were:
1) a photographic memory for things consciously and unconsciously seen. For example, I glanced at an outdoors plant for only one second, looked away and was able to mentally visualize perfectly the physical layout of all the flowers (the height of each flower, the position / shape of each leaf, the angle of all the stems of each flower), and looked back only to discover they were exactly the same as my unconscious photographic memory. Another example was mentally visualizing (with eyes open) surrounding lines that I had read unconsciously in a book,
2) a temporary non-photographic memory in which I could recite verbatim several phrases I had read without consciously memorizing them, in a single day,
3) the moon itself and a very tiny appearing airplane maybe 20 miles away began having depth perception against the sky the way a flying baseball would to a normal-sighted person, and
4) a measure of what seemed to be telescopic vision.
They are only a few of the things that happened in two weeks’ time. I know from experience how the memory can be a great help in improving vision. Unbelievable things can be accomplished even with a nearly perfect memory of a black period.
Just sharing. I hope this has been of help to you and others.
February 1, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Thank you for taking so much time to detail those experiences Vidi! I have printed some of your comments for future reading to remind me of some of your points. I think these comments on both my and sassi’s blogs are a great contribution and I hope that other people are using this information!
I love Pilot pens! When I go back to the US I used to buy them, but unfortunately the pressure in the plane pops them sometimes… Brilliannt idea though for learning to visualize a black period. I will find a similar pen here since I know what those are like and try this. These are all such great suggestions. What I’m getting used to now is being able to recognize when I’m imagining something perfectly and when I’m concentrating and just straining to make an imperfect image. The difference is becoming more and more striking, so it’s easier for me to just let go of imperfect images and move on.
I have a lot of reading to do in Dr. Bates’s magazines. It is a big help that you pinpoint some of the gems. I try not to rush it though. I find that if I read one article through very carefully, it is more helpful than if I quickly browse 6 or 7. The main thing seems to be to learn these techniques slowly and well. This is the same strategy as learning the autogenics training, one should learn it slowly and make sure each stage is fully implemented before moving on, otherwise the full benefit isn’t achieved. I try to remind myself of that when I get impatient with a certain Bates technique!
February 1, 2008 at 7:38 pm
You could just ask your sister to have someone in the U.S. board an Atlantic-crossing boat to transport Pilot pens to you. (problem solved)
Do what you feel works best for you. I did not mean to rush you – instead, it was meant to give you a strong starting foundation.
I just had an invaluable insight. Dr. Bates wrote that the opposite of effort is relaxation.
But when it comes to mental visualization- what can you also call the opposite of effort?
Answer: letting go.
February 2, 2008 at 9:26 am
Don’t worry, there was no rush felt. It’s put on myself because I’m curious to learn as much as I can, yet I know I shouldn’t gloss over some really important things!
Thank you for that insight! It makes sense. I tried it, and my imagery becomes much better when I let an image go that becomes slightly imperfect. Another better image always follows. Great suggestion! I’m visualizing much better after your tips. Also, when palming or doing autogenics training, I was always distracted by thoughts (imaginary conversations that I need to have with people, or just lists of things to do). Now I’m slowly able to replace these with images instead of annoying thoughts! It makes it soo much more relaxing!
February 3, 2008 at 8:29 pm
I like to go slow when reading material too, but my reading comprehension and speed has increased significantly as a result of this method, so that at times, I can read more fast and furious while being efficient at “getting it” on the spot and long-term retention.
If you have 20/10 acuity you can see better at any given distance, than if you are a myope. In other words, if you have 20/10 you can see even better at a close distance than if you were a myope! That makes things like reading and remembering what is seen up close even easier!
When you’re thinking so much about things during the day, especially when there is some emotional attachment involved, it can be difficult to let go of them when palming. But it can be done easily if you know how. It just takes practice.
You have to learn to think in terms of peacefulness (such as how calm it seems being alone, or something that has a permanent soothing and tranquil quality to it, like the sky).
I finally got around to doing more palming yesterday, and my mind, which seemed to be in a more nervous state the last few days, was finally subdued entirely. It affects how I think and write comments in your and your sister’s blogs.
When I write in your blog there seems to be a certain difference than in hers. This is because I write on your blog and your sister’s blog on different days, when my mind is in a different state. Lately, I have been doing palming on alternating days. The first comments I wrote in your sister’s blog at http://sassisailor.wordpress.com/2008/01/17/january-16-2008/#comments sound different than my later comments because I was doing more palming back then!
In fact, whenever I palmed regularly, my mind was constantly relaxed. It may have to do with being very experienced with palming, as you are with autogenics. But the principles of achieving calmness in both are basically the same.
I decided to experiment with the “letting go” yesterday while palming. This is what was involved:
1. “Let go” very fast of any images that appear by letting them disappear entirely, or thinking of other images (and letting go of these images just as fast). Do this in a very relaxed manner, without any conscious effort.
2. After practicing the above, let an image or thought emerge. Practice “letting go” of the image by not caring that you see it or really thinking of it, yet with the image still there. Do not bother to let it disappear or think of other images.
Cycle between #1 and #2.
When doing #2, I became able to make the image much sharper as if AT WILL while “letting go”. It was happening so often I was stunned. The image would become so perfect and x-ray-like, although the background static I have was still present. I’d like to see if it works for you. It seems a very efficient way of training the mind to “let go” or relax, perhaps as a transition mode to imagining the period.
Usually it takes a few days of nearly nonstop palming and visualization for me to be able to bring forth several perfectly clear images, but this time it was different.
February 4, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Thank you Vidi,
I am trying to pay attention more to my calmness level. It’s getting easier, but I’m sure you understand, it can be difficult when you are amazed at what you can see without glasses!
I will try alternating between cycles 1 and 2 as you described. I think it might be difficult for me at first to bring more images immediately as you say in #1, but we will see!
February 4, 2008 at 9:28 pm
If the alternating doesn’t work at this time, you can simply let images come to you while palming and that will be fine. All that really is important is understanding how mental pictures work, which I covered in comment#11.
February 4, 2008 at 9:47 pm
After palming today, I was able to read nearly the entire 10/6.5 line with my left eye (which usually is worse than the right eye) more than five different times, and even once was able to read some of the letters of the 10/5 line. My right eye was able to read only the 10/10 and 10/7.5 lines. I don’t know why this happened, but it was interesting so I thought I’d share.
(That took place within only 30-45 seconds of regarding the Snellen card, which is pretty good in my opinion!)
February 4, 2008 at 10:28 pm
That is interesting about the palming. It’s very encouraging that you have better than 10/10 eyesight! I will try this palming as you’ve described in the last comments. So far it’s working very well!
February 22, 2012 at 10:29 pm
Awfully off topic I’m afraid, but reading through the archives of this blog, I discovered your sister’s blog and read some of the messages there. I’m curious, how is your sister doing with her vision?
February 23, 2012 at 6:27 pm
I’m skipping a lot of details here because she chose to make her life more private by stopping her blog. She stopped practicing the Bates method and she started wearing stronger glasses. She knows from her focometer measurements that her eyes got worse and are back to where she started pre-Bates. Her own conclusion is that the Bates method worked to improve her eyes by a couple diopters, and that by going back to stronger glasses and straining again her eyes got worse. Although she knows the Bates method works and she knows how to do it, she doesn’t. I think the support gained from a blog or similar contact is essential to continuing with the method long term. She recently started palming again and that has prevented her from needing even stronger glasses.
February 23, 2012 at 9:54 pm
Thanks! I hope she will restart practicing the Bates method! This blog would be of great help I’m sure!
What I find disappointing though is how quickly her vision deteriorated back to where it started from! A couple of diopters in what is essentially not a very long time… (the last post on her blog dates from less than 3 years ago)
February 25, 2012 at 11:00 am
she said it took the same time to deteriorate as it did to improve it. So I don’t think that’s so disappointing, considering that she did go back to stronger glasses. I don’t think she will restart her blog, but if she does continue with the Bates method I’ll post some updates with her permission.
February 27, 2012 at 1:02 am
I see it like weight loss. Now, I’ve never had to lose weight anytime in my life, but I’m surrounded by people who have. And sometiems people are unsuccessful and gain it back. it’s exremely hard for people to keep weight off sometimes, because it takes dedication forever. I really don’t see vision stuff as being any harder than this.