Natural Vision Improvement V1.1

 
[9.0] ACTIVE VISION

[9.1] What is orphoptics?

Orthoptics is a system of exercises that work the muscles
involved in the visual system, especially with stereo viewers.
Orthoptics has been mostly superseded by Behavioral Optometry.


[9.2] What is active vision?

Vision that involves the use of muscles and muscular
coordination. Active vision exercises build up muscular strength and
coordination and help stretch tight and constricted muscles. Almost
all visual use comes under the category of active vision, but for the
purpose of this FAQ, active vision is defined as deliberate use of
the eyes for the purpose of enhancing vision.

ALWAYS perform visual exercises WITHOUT glasses or contacts
unless otherwise stated.


[9.3] What is central fixation?

Unlike a camera, the retina, the light sensitive area at the back of
the eye has a central point of maximum sensitivity, called the fovea
centralis, literally the "central pit". The retina itself is highlycomplex and has many layers, one of which is composed of rod and cone
like cells which vary in distribution. The rod cells function
mainly in vision under conditions of low light intensity (scotopic
vision) and the cone cells function under conditions of high light
intensity. In the center of the retina is a small circular
elevation known as the macula lutea, literally the "yellow
spot". In the center of this spot is the fovea, a deep depression of
darker color. In the center of this depression there are few
rods and the cones are pressed very close together. As we withdraw
from this spot the acuteness of the visual perceptions rapidly
decreases.

The eye with normal vision, therefore sees one part of everything it
looks at best, and all other parts not as well, in proportion to their
distance from the point of maximum vision, and it is an invariable
symptom of all abnormal conditions of the eyes that this central
fixation is lost.

Contrary to what is generally believed the part seen best when the
sight is normal is extremely small. Textbooks say that at twenty
feet an area having a diameter of half an inch can be seen with
maximum vision. When building up an image the mind places the eye in
constant motion over an object, giving us the illusion of very wide
clarity.

When the eye possesses central fixation, it not only possesses
impecable sight but is perfectly at rest and can be used
indefinitely without fatigue. It is open and quiet, no nervous
movements are observable, and when it regards a point at a
distance the visual axes are parallel. In other words ther are no
muscular insufficiencies. The muscles of the face and of the whole
body are also at rest, and when the condition is habitual there are
no wrinkles or dark circles around the eyes.

In most cases of eccentric fixation, on the contrary, the eye
tires quickly and its appearance, is expressive of effort and
strain. The eyeball moves at irregular intervals, in all
directions. Nervous movements of the eyelids may also be noted,
either by ordinary inspection or by lightly toucing the lid of one
eye while the regards an object at the near point or the
distance.The visual axes are are never parallel, and redness of the
conjunctiva and of the margins of the lids, wrinkles around the eyes,
dark cirlce beneath them, and the tearing are other symptoms of
eccentric fixation.

The Bates method of central fixation has two parts. Firstly to find
where in the visual field you are seeing clearest and with some simple
games to retrain this point back onto the macula.

Secondly by learning to concentrate on as small a point as
possible to develop overall clarity. Trying to make a large area clear
is to struggle against the natural focusing mechanisms. By focusing
on as small a detail as possible this will allow the overall greater
clarity to start returning.


[9.4] How do I restore central fixation?

Bates often used an eye chart for this purpose. This exercise
however does not require an eyechart and can be easily sloted in to
your daily routine with virtually any object. Practice one eye at a
time, then do both.

When looking at the top of the largest letter on an eye chart, the
bottom of that letter should be less clear than the top. In visual
problems this is rarely the case.

Look around the letter and find the point at which you look which will
make the top of the largest letter clearer. Some people find that by
still looking at the a point and moving their head around they can
find a location which makes this noticeable. A few people find that
the point of central fixation looking at an eye chart twenty feet away
is displaced by several feet!

Learning to be aware of what you see is a fundamental skill in
restoring perfect vision. Some people find that everything they see
is equally indistinct, which cannot be the case. The subtle
distinctions in the visual field requires close srutinity with the
mind. In this case it is simply a matter of learning to enhance
mental vision first.

Once you locate this point of greatest clarity then shift your gaze
back and forward to the top of the largest letter and your current
point of maximum clarity. Do this a half a dozen times and palm for
a minute or so, then repeat as many times as you are comfortable with.

Gradually the distance bewteen where you are looking and where your
point of greatest clarity will become shorter and eventually return at
the macula.

An important aspect of central fixation is that allowing the
larger visual field to be indisctinct creates greater relaxation which
will be rewarded with greater clarity in the overall visual field.

In some difficult cases Bates used a point of light instead of text
to greater attract the attention of the mind. If your seeing
everything with the same degree of blur and not having much
success finding your point of greatest clarity then you could try
this approach.

In high degrees of mypoia, it is sometimes best to attempt to
locate the point of maximum clarity at the near point by looking at a
page of text. When looking straight ahead at a letter, you may
notice another letter in the line above or below or in an adjacent
word jumping out at you.


[9.5] what is shifting?

Conscious, slow-motion versions of saccadic movements. If you
improve your ability to shift consciously, you will improve your
saccadic movements.

[9.6] what are saccadic movements?

Tiny movements of the eye used to survey the current mental point of
interest. The eye can move up to 70 times a second when building
up a complex imagine in the visual cortex. If you get up close to
someone with normal vision you can see the eye is in constant motion,
this give the eye the appearance of sparkling energy and is a sign
that clear vision is happening.

In imperfect sight the saccades are slow, jerky and the
excurisons are wider and made with more apparent effort.

It is imposible for the eye to fix a point longer than a fraction of a
second without a noticeable decrease in acuity. An easy test is to fix
the gaze at an object, it will quickly blur or even disappear and
sometimes even produce pain.

Most of the time we are not aware of these tiny high speed
movements of the eye.

Normal sight is impossible without saccadic motion. A person with
imperfect sight tries to do the impossible and stares at one point for
an extended length of time in order to see it better. One of the
best methods of improving sight is to retrain this unconscious
shifting. During a shift the point just departed should be less
clear than the point arrived at and a swing or motion of the object
should occur in the opposite direction of the motion of the eye. At
first these may be difficult to notice, but with a combination of
palming and shifting, they will reassert themselves. The speed
at wich one should shift is dependent on the state of the vision.
The aim is to stay relaxed while shifting and swinging, so at first
this can be done slowly, and as improvement is made it can be done
quicker.


[9.7] What is swinging?

When a normal eye shifts over an object such as a letter in a
direction the letter will be seen to move in the opposite
direction. This is what Bates called swinging.

When the sight or saccade is imperfect this swinging is
irregular. Depending on the problem, moving the eye is one
direction will make the object either not move or move in the same
direction as the eye.


[9.8] How do I exercise shifting?

Examine the following exercises and adapt them to suit your daily
routine. Shifting can be practised at any time with any object.

Eye Chart. Look at a letter on the eye chart. Shift on the same line
so the first is seen less clearly. Shift back to the first so the
second is seen less clearly. Alternate for half a dozen shifts.

Notice if the letter seem to move in the opposite direction to the
eye. Also notice if both letters improve after half a dozen shifts. If
any strain or effort is involved in causing the letters to
swing in the oposite direction to the eye then rest and palm for a few
minutes, then try again. Shifting is often very much sucessful
when combined with palming. Variations: if the point shifted to does
not leave the point departed less clear then try a larger shift. You
may need to shift across lines or even away from the chart. Again pay
attention to the swing in the letters. In myopes this exercise can
be first attempted at the near point, where vision better. If the
shift doesnt cause a coresponding opposite swing in a few
attempts, then rest and palm. With practive the shift is made
progressively shorter and quicker, yielding a corresponding
improvement in overall clarity


Edging. Developed by Lisette Scholl. Sit comfortably without
lenses, and identify an object just outside your range of seeing
clearly. slowly and precisely trace the edges of the object,
following its contours. Use your nose a pointer and move your head
naturaly as you trace out objects. Then back trace the object, if
you traced clockwise then retrate counter-clockwise.

Books, newspapers, magazines. Developed by Meir Schneider. Take a book
and turn it upside down and edge the letters. Dont try to recognise
the letters just follow contours. Blink frequently and breath
constantly.

Nose drawing. Imagine there is a long pencil attached to your nose
and edge moving your entire head.

General Electric game. Do nose drawing but imagine that you nose
pencil become an electricity-bestowing wand. first hold your thumb
at arm's length and edge sketch it with your nose pencil. Next
imagine that a hidden light globe is in your thumb which glows when
your nose pencil touches it. Repeat this with other objects in your
visual field.

Long Standing Swing. Developed by William Bates. Swinging is
gentle rocking motion that releases neck, shoulder lower back and spine
tension. and exercise the whole body. Swinging makes the eyes more
mobile, increase blood circulation and calms the central nervous
system. Stand with your feet parallel and 6-12 inches apart, arms
hanging loosely by your side. With your eyes facing straight ahead,
sway from left to right, without pivoting the torso by shifting you
body weight from one foot to the other in a rhytmic fashio. Then swing
your body swing your body to the right by gently rotating your
torso in that direction. Your weight shifts to your right foot and
your left heels is raised slightly. The swing to the left in
the same way. Pivot your torso while turning you head in the direction
of the swing. Keep your head level, and allow your eyes to remian
entirely at rest, open and unfocused. Just allow the scene moving past
you in the ooposite direction to fly past without trying to
make out details, dont pause to analyze, stare or squint. You'll know
an increase in fovea vision is taking place when the scene is slides
past you in the opposite direction. Swinging is not a high speed
aerobic exercise, aim for a shit to take a couple of seconds at
least.

Short swing.

Same idea as long swing, except you move your neck instead of your
torso, shaking "no", nodding "yes", tracing figure-8's.

Notched circle. Developed by John Selby.

[to be completed]


[9.9] What is peripheral vision?

The use of side and up and down vision. Binocular peripheral
vision is what you use to let you know where you are, and is used to
sense size, time and spatial concepts. Is an esential ability for
driving.


[9.10] How can I test my binocular vision?

See the Brock String Test.


[9.11] How do I exercise peripheral vision?

Moving the fingers of your arms stretched out to your sides,
while looking straight ahead. Moving dripless candles or lights in a
similar way. Note that your peripheral vision is very sensitive
to motion, and has very limited colour perception. Stimulating
peripheral vision is good for computer work and other near work.



[9.12] How do I exercise accomodation?

Juggling, ball tossing, table tennis. Juggling is an excellent way
of working your focusing and developing cooperation between the visual
systems. Always stay loose and relaxed and remember to breath when
doing any exercise like juggling.

Thumb zooming. Extend an arm straight out with the thumb pointed up.
Focus on this thumb, note the detail of your thumb against the detail
of the background. Shift your focus to the distant background and
note that your thumb has split into 2 images. zoom back and forth
between your thumb and the background.

Whipping. This exercise is strongly recomended by Lisette Scholl for
helping spasmed cilliary muscles. Cup your right hand over your left
eye and extend your left arm out, palm facing your eyes, as far
to the left as to be still seen by the right eye. Focus on your palm
with the right eye while you briskly move the palm to within a few
inches of oyur right eye. And whip it just as briskly back to its
starting position. Forcing the right eye to nimbly change focus. Whip
a few times then reverse sides.

Tromboning. Developed by Janet Goodrich. On a table tennis paddle or
anything similar stick some brightly coloured shapes or images.
Close your left eye with your left hand and hold out your paddle with
your right arm. Remeber to breath calmly as you move your paddle in
two inch increments towards your eye as if it were a tromboon shank.
Trombone slowly at first allowing the eye to accomodate at each stop
then more briskly with random and wider stoping points, perhaps
in time to a pleasant tune you can recall.

Eye chart work. There are numerous variations on the use of
simple eye chart. The simplest is to put up the wall a Snellen eye
chart. stand back so that the chart is mostly in your eye chart
so you can make some of it out but not all. Read the smallest
letters you can. Trace the outlines of edge of each letter.
Close your eyes and imagine the shape of each letter as big, black and
solid. Open your eyes again, palm the right eye and the read the
chart with your left eye. Reverse.

Reverse newspaper reading. Developed by Vic Cinc, useful to learn to
let go and relax accomodation. Find a page in a newspaper or magazine
where there is a long continuous column of text with a good readable
typefont. Sit straight and comfortably at a table. Position the paper
in front of you so that you can make out the words at the bottom of
the column and around the top half is in your blur zone. Make a mental
note as to how far up you can read the text. Palm your left eye and
begin reading and working your way up the column into the blur.
Once you start having difficulty making out words look for single
letters. Only go up a line if you can make out a letter clearly. When
you can't make out any more letters, just scan around the last letter
you are on and sometimes a letter from the line above will come of the
blur. If you lose your place just go back down till you can make out
a letter and then keep going back up again. When you have gone as
far as you can. Swap eyes and start from the bottom again and then
try it with both eyes. If your near sighted then just read down the
column.


[9.13] Can accommodation be brought under conscious control?

Yes. There is a biofeedback device called the Accommotrac that
helps you to develop this ability. It responds with different tones
depending on your focus. However, it's an expensive device, and only
a few clinics have it. Developing conscious control of accommodation
without such a device is possible though, depending on ones abilites of
self-perception.


[9.14] What is fusion?

Fusion is the mental process of taking the two slghtly different
images from each eye and "fusing" them to build up a rich three
dimensional field of binocular vision. Often in errors of
refraction or when one eye is weak, binocular vision is poor and there
is a general degeneration of fusion and the spacial 3D effect.


[9.15] How do I exercise fusion and convergence?

Stereograms are an excellent way. Another is learning to bring
convergence under conscious control by going cross eyed.

Brock String drill. An extremely useful exercise deveoped by
Frederick Brock. Using a piece of string about ten feet long
thread different coloured beads or buttons every 8 or so inches.
Position the first bead about a foot from one end. Attach the other
at eye level to a door or some other convenient handle, you can do
this standing or sitting comfortably. Wrap the other end around your
fingers and hold the string tight up to the middle of your nose.
The Brock string be held still or rotated for focusing and
teaming work. Look at the bead closest to you. If you are using
both eyes together at the same time and aiming accurately at the
first bead it will look as if there are two strings joining in a
V at the bead. The strings seem to go into the beads and come out the
other side, thus they form an X. Each string should be of equal
quality, not become fuzzy or indistinct at any place as you continue to
watch it.

If the strings meet before the bead you have a tendency to fixate or
aim inaccurately or overconverge. This will cause you to hold your
reading material too close. If the strings meet behind the bead you
are diverging. If you see two beads side by side, you have difficulty
converging, which means you probably hold your reading too far
away. Where ther is a lack of teaming, you would tend to use first one
eye then the other.

Spend about 30 seconds on each bead, and observe the results. If you
dont see two steady unchanging strings you need to work with the brock
string on a daily basis to build up your binocular skills.

By focusing on the beads you can also develop eye-teaming skills.
Slowly move down the string pausing at each bead. Once you have
reached the end, retrace your steps. The jump from the nearest to the
furthest several times. Then Jump around at random, vocering as many
combinations as you can, spend extra time on the difficult
jumps. IF strain develops, stop, relax, blink, palm, and try again.

Yardstick fusion. Use a yardstick or meter instead of the beads,
stopping at the black mark on the ruler. Or tape colored pieces of
paper to the stick.

Thumb Fusion. Holding your arms out straight with your thumbs up, and
knuckles touching at eye level. Look between both thumbs at apoint
half way between you thumbs and you nose, and an illusory third
thumb will appear between your two thumbs. Notice your breathing
during this exercise, and concentrate on breathing evenly and
smoothly. Keep the third thumb there for a mintue or so. Then switch
focus to a point behind your two thumbs and a new illusory thumb wil
appear. Alternate between near and far illusory thumbs.

The Swinging Ball. Developed by Robert-Michael Kaplan. supend a
tennis ball on a string so that it hangs about 16 inches from your
eyes as you lie down somewhere. First observe the ball as a clear
image against a fuzzy background. Practice spliting the ball into
two images by looking through it. Then set the ball swinging from
left to right and keep tracking it, without straining or moving
your head. Breath normally and constantly, as the ball crosses
the midline of your vision you might experience the hemispehric
switching of perception between your left and right brain. Follow the
ball for about 20-50 breaths.


[9.16] Can convergence be brought under conscious control?

Yes. If you don't know how to cross you eyes at will, try
imagining a fly coming up and landing on your nose.


[9.17] Can I invent my own exercises?

Absolutely! This is one of the fundamental keys to natural
vision. Using the principals outlined for the type of exercise you
need, by all means, devise an exercise that fits into your life
style and your daily routines.


[9.18] How often should I do active eye work?

You need to strike a balance between passive vision (rest,
palming etc) and active exercises. Always start off slowly with
active work and allow plenty of rest. Once strength returns you can
gradually increase the work load to suit your condition. Muscles
that are not worked atrophy, muscles that are overworked can become
damaged. You must become atuned to the state of your eyes and develop
a sense of what they require.

Remember any strengthening benefit that will be derived from
exercise always occurs not during the exercise itself but in the rest
period after the exercise.


[9.19] What is a clear flash?

Very often during simple exercises you may find that super clear
vision has re-asserted itself. At first these "clear flashes" are short
lived but they will gradually last longer and longer and your
average daily vision will improve along with them.

A clear flash will very often bring on a large amount of strain to
"hang on to" it. This of course is self defeating. A useful mantra to
repeat to yourself when you have a clear flash is "I did it once, I
can do it again" and you will.

There are three categories of clear flashes:

a) The tear film has changed your refraction. While this doesnt
count as a clear flash its usefull to do when you need to see
clearly in a hurry and you dont have glasses handy. Its easy to spot
as you can feel excess moisture on your eye. Tear film clarity is
not even and usually it only occurs for a split second and is moved
around by blinking.

b) Voluntary control. Often after having many involuntary clear
flashes some people learn that by relaxing in a particular way and
playing with some of the muscles in their eyes they can "bring
on" a clear flash. Again this is very useful when you need to see
in a hurry and no glasses are handy.


c) Involuntary clarity. Sometimes you just look up and "oh my god I
can see!". This is usually accompanied by a deep sense of peace,
comfort, relief and relaxtion in the eyes. The duration can be
from seconds to extended periods of time. This is your natural vision
and as you progess, it will be occur more and more frequently and the
durations will increase. During a clear flash you will notice that
black is very black. Memorize it. Detail is phenomenal as central
fixation is taking place. There is a strong sense of 3D, as your
eyes are working as a team.


[9.20] Should I be concerned about adverse lighting conditions?

Yes and no. Fear and avoidance of light is a general
cause/aggravator of vision problems. Natural sunlight is of
benefit to the eyes. Excessive indoor work, particulary under
fluorescent lights deprives the eye of a full range of
frequencies and we find in people with sight problems am
unnatural sensitivity to light. Bates claimed that adverse
lighting conditions are of benefit to the eyes. The trouble comes not
from the adverse conditions themselves, but the strain that such
conditions induce in a person who does not posess central fixation.

Exposing the eyes to a variety of conditions is a necessecity for
optimal function. Even occasionally reading in dim light can be of
benefit, training and extending the mental act of borederline
perception. Keep in mind that you need to strike a balance
between exercise and rest.


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[9.21] What is the astigmatic mirror?

Is an indispensible tool for eliminating astigmatism.

Send the following program to a postscript printer.

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If you dont have access to a postscript printer, then follow these
instructions, else skip over the next paragraph.

You will need an A4 sheet of paper, a ruler, a protractor, a
compass, a pencil and a 0.2mm black marker. Find the center of the
paper, and using a pencil draw a circle almost as large as the
paper (diameter 20cm) wiht the center of the circle at the center of
the paper. draw another smaller circle from the same central point
about radius 1cm. Then draw a line cutting the large cirle in two,
but not crossing over the inner small circle. ie Leave the inner
small circle blank. Then divide the two pies you have in two again.
Again not drawing inside the inner circle. Now you have 4 pie
shapes. Then divide each of these in two again, so you have eight
wedges, and then again so you have 16 and then one final time. So
you have a spoke every 10 degrees. The result looks like a bicycle
wheel. Now using your marker draw over the spokes of the wheel with
nice sharp dark black lines, make sure all the lines are the same
darkness.

Now you have your black on white wheel. Use a bright yellow and
bright orange fluoro highlighter. The colours aren't important and
you can even just leave it black and white. Outline each spoke
of the wheel with the orange highlighter and fill in the gaps between
spokes with yellow. Leave the inner circle white. Later you can
experiment and choose colours that pleases you. The bright colours are
usefull cause they attract the mind, and stimulate all the visual
meridians.

So now you have a picture of what looks like the iris of the eye.
Place it on a window at eye height, and get back far enough so you
can still make out most of the lines with your
glasses/contacts off.

Okay Look at the lines near the center. What do you notice? If you
are astigmatic you will notice that some of the lines are darker in
some directions than others. Get used to the wheel for a little
while and experiment with it. Try tilting your hear or looking at it
sideways. Try looking around the inner or outer circle. Try just
staring blankly past the wheel. Notice what happens in each case. Try
blinking or yawning. Try palming for a minute or two. Try covering
each eye with a hand quickly to see what the difference is between your
eyes.

If you a "typical" astigmatic, you may the lines near the
horizontal are clearer and darker than the lines vertically. You may
also find the lines near the horizontal are spaced further apart
and the vertical spaced closer together. You might also find the
inner circle in not quite round.

Try looking at it with your glasses on. If your glasses fully
correct astigmatism, then *all* the lines should be the same
darkness and distance apart. If your glasses do not correct the
astigmatism properly than you will still see some lines darker than
others.
[9.22] How do I use the astigmatic mirror to reduce astigmatism?

The astigmatic mirror gives you a direct and accurate record of your
condition. You can use it as a direct feedback device, a mirror in
which any changes you can make and learn to make will be instantly
displayed.

Say you find the lines that are horizontal to be darker. Your aim is
to make the vertical lines darker. So begin by removing any
glasses/contacts, relaxing and taking a few deep breaths.
Blinking naturaly and breathing normaly, find the line which is the
faintest, and move your eye slowly and deliberatly up and down
that line, imagining it to be getting darker and darker. Tell your
self to relax, relax. And imagine that line to be getting
darker and darker. The key is to _relax_ your eye has much as you
can. You may want to start by massaging around the eye, and maybe doing
a couple of minutes of palming.

With a bit of practice you will be able to make the lines in any
orientation darker than the rest, but your goal is to make them _all_
equally dark.

If you are myopic its worthwhile to place your wheel on a window, as
you get a lot of contrast between the black and fluoro colours of your
wheel, and also you can check out the window to see what effect
playing with the wheel is having on your vision.

Its also _very_ worthwhile putting one up at work and at home and
whenever you get a break you can play with it and see what
happens.

The astigmatic mirror allows you to leverage your own visual
distortion to work for your benefit.



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