Palming a lot – helps a lot
September 14, 2011
I finally reached my goal to palm every day for an hour! I have managed that now every day for 2 weeks. The original idea was to palm 4 times in 15 minute segments, but it is usually more like 20 minutes during a break, and 40 minutes before sleeping. Sometimes I manage an extra 15 or 20 minutes. So, was it worth it?
Yes! The most difficult part was motivating myself the first few days, but once it became a habit and I noticed the benefits, it became easy to keep it up. This wasn’t the first time I’ve tried to do this, every other time I just couldn’t manage to keep it up or motivate myself at all.
On the 1st of September I decided something had to change. I wasn’t really too concerned about what, but deep down I knew I wanted to commit to practicing the Bates method more like I used to – with dedication. I decided not to wait until post PhD. I wanted to prove to myself that I can do this even when I am busy or stressed out. That is, after all, when it is most needed! So I’ve been palming for about an hour a day since September 1st.
This is the most I’ve ever palmed, period. I’ve gone through times where I palmed what seemed like a lot, but nothing like this. I’m already seeing benefits, which surpised me. I read the entire 40 line from 12 feet for the first time (normally I have trouble with the K on that line) and I can read all of the 20 line letters from further away than before. This is great, because it’s been quite some time since I noticed clear improvement on the chart.
One of the best benefits has been the increase in energy I feel throughout the day. I can sleep less and feel less tired. I can work all day on the computer without my neck hurting. My breathing feels deeper. Palming saves more time than it takes to practice.
Other benefits: I can now recognize the difference between successful palming and not successful palming. Also, my memory and imagination seem better. I was able to use my imagination to difinitively improve my eyesight - so now I finally feel like I understand the role of imagination in eyesight. It’s definitely one of those things that must be experienced to believe. I’ll elaborate on some of this stuff in later posts (as well as the series of chart posts I promised). For now, I really do need to finish and submit my dissertation!
September 14, 2011 at 8:01 pm
Sorrisi,
Way to go! You continue to be my inspiration and example of dedicated NVI practice. If you have a meditation practice, I’d be interested in the contrast you see between that and palming, as I’m getting a lot of the same benefits you mention from meditation. I look forward to those future posts.
Nancy
September 15, 2011 at 9:20 am
Thank you Nancy!
First, a note for people not familiar with meditation: there are many different forms, and here I am just talking about my experience with mindfulness, a form of meditation where I just experience each moment exactly how it is. Of course there is so much more to say about it, but it is nothing more complicated or mystical than that!
I found that meditation has improved my palming. First because it makes me more patient when palming, and second, it has provided the awareness to notice what is relaxing and what is not. I do combine them and find both breathing and body scan meditations are great to do while palming. For me, my breath is a positive thing to turn my attention to. I also get great benefit from the body scan and use that when my mind is agitated – it keeps me from running my thoughts in a worry loop! I’m glad meditation is helping you, too!
Correct palming is a meditation IMO, whether the attention is on a black period or a pleasant memory, or the breath. The mind is turned consciously to something, and the point is to, with awareness, continue that in a non-judgmental way, with intention but without seeking a certain outcome.
That is not to say someone has to study meditation to palm correctly. Just that if someone learns to palm, they have, in essence, learned to meditate in a mindful way.
I might just expand on this to write my next post
hugs, S
September 15, 2011 at 9:31 pm
Read this its interesting
http://www.i-see.org/parsons.html
September 17, 2011 at 9:32 am
interesting for the patient reader, but unfortunately poorly written. I think anything useful in it could be summed up as: if you want to improve your sight, learn central fixation and shifting properly. That would have saved readers a lot of time!
The rest would be much more interesting and useful to me if it were structured logically and referenced. As it is it doesn’t add anything new to any of the topics addressed and serves mostly as a rant – a stream of conscious without beginning, middle or end. Which is fine, perhaps someone asked Parsons what he/she (?) thought about myopia, in which case it gets across just that.
I’m sorry if I come across harsh, anonymous person who posted this link, it’s not directed at you! It is interesting to read different perspectives on vision improvement whether I agree with them or not, so thanks for posting the link.
September 25, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Hi Sorrisi
Just checking in with your blog as I do from time to time… Thanks for posting about the regular and extended palming sessions. I have often wondered if I should be doing more palming and your blog has confirmed that I should!
I have a question… Since you started the 1hr palming, is the vision improvement been temporary or more permanent (immediately after palming). In my experience, my vision is noticable better after palming, but it doesn’t last very long…sometime just a few seconds.
When I palm for an extended time (up to an hour), I try to visualise what life would be like if I had perfect vision. In my visualisations, I have even attended my next optician appointment and been able to read the eye chart perfectly with no corrective lenses. The shock and surprise of my optician also features in my visualisation for a bit of fun!
Where does your mind go when you’re deep in visualisation?
Adrian
October 4, 2011 at 11:44 am
Hi Adrian, thanks for the questions and sorry for the late reply!
Sometimes I experience temporary improvement right after palming. What I have found is that palming a lot, leads to a gradual, but permanent improvement. On the one hand, it is a slow improvement, so it is easy to think palming is not helping. On the other hand, since it is permanent improvement over time that I see, I find it more motivating.
I tried for some time to do visualizations and found it never worked unless it just spontaneously happens! I usually start by just breathing, then imagining my muscles getting progressively warmer and heavier. This relaxes them without ‘trying’ to relax them. It’s similar to the autogenics I’ve talked about. If I do spontaneously start visualizing something, the most successful ones are outdoor scenes with movement, like looking at water moving in the ocean or a stream, wind blowing through trees, or looking at clouds in the sky.
Cheers,
Sorrisi
October 6, 2011 at 8:08 pm
Hello Sorrisi,
Recently 9 year old “maggie’ who lives in Rural Kentucky emailed me with the news that she had given herself a 7 day challenge: (I usually see Maggie on Skype for her coaching session)
She planned to palm one hour each day for a full week.
At the end of the week Maggie came with her family to Portland.
We could tell right away that Maggie was more relaxed and her eyes were normalizing.
She is so happy to ‘take charge’ of her clear vision training that she has begun another 7 day palming challenge.
Besides, Maggie has added cross crawl and two ‘swings’ to her daily vision practice.
Yes, Sorrisi, Palming a lot helps a lot. I can attest to that and so will many of my vision clients.
Gene Younger.
Certified Vision Educator, 503-708-1690
Portland Oregon and on the web at .clearvisionnaturally.com
October 7, 2011 at 2:24 am
I’m the mother of the soon to be 9 year old that Gene Younger spoke of. “Maggie” has had a strabismus since she was 6 months old. I learned about NVI early on but met with and recognize the challenges of getting a young child to practice the disciplines. “Maggie” has turned onto the process of healing her eyes and by the grace of God, she’s doing it!!! We’re noticing significant improvement and praise God for her determination and discipline! We all have benefitted from NVI. I used to wear reading glasses and find I no longer need them. If only the masses knew!!!!
October 8, 2011 at 8:07 pm
Thanks so much Gene and Maggie’s mom for sharing that! I love hearing inspirational stories, they really keep me going. It seems like most people who learn NVI teach their friends, it is only a matter of time before more people understand these methods!
best, sorrisi