Natural Vision Improvement

[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 Orthoptics has been mostly superseded by Behavioral Optometry.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 highly complex 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 impeccable 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 there 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 touching 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 circle 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 eye chart and can be easily slotted 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 scrutinity 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 between 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 myopia, 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 excursions are wider and made with more apparent effort.

It is impossible 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 which 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 practiced 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 successful 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 doesn’t cause a corresponding opposite swing in a few attempts, then rest and palm. With practice 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 naturally 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. Don’t try to recognize 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 rhythmic fashion. 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 remain entirely at rest, open and unfocused. Just allow the scene moving past you in the opposite direction to fly past without trying to make out details, don’t 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.

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[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 essential 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 color 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 reccomended 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 yourright 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 colored 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 trombone shank. Trombone slowly at first allowing the eye to accomodate at each stop then more briskly with random and wider stopping 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 type font. 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 abilities of self-perception.

[9.14] What is fusion?

Fusion is the mental process of taking the two slightly 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 colored 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 don’t 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, covering 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 a point 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 minute or so. Then switch focus to a point behind your two thumbs and a new illusory thumb will appear. Alternate between near and far illusory thumbs.

The Swinging Ball. Developed by Robert-Michael Kaplan. Suspend 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 splitting 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 hemispheric 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 attuned 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 relaxation 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, particularly 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 possess central fixation.

Exposing the eyes to a variety of conditions is a necessity 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.

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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) with 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 circle 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 fluorescent highlighter. The colors 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 colors that pleases you. The bright colors are useful 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 naturally and breathing normally, find the line which is the faintest, and move your eye slowly and deliberately 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 fluorescent colors 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.