Eye Yoga
I’ve worn glasses since about age 8-9. During my 20’s and 30’s i wore contact lenses. In my 40’s i started to require reading glasses. It seemed silly to wear contact lenses and still have to put on glasses. So i went back to just wearing glasses.
During 2001 this question started my exploration of eye yoga:
"Why do the eyes appear to be the only part of the physical body that is not self-healing?"
A couple of books i read put the blame on the use of corrective lenses, and those who prescribe them.
So, i spent 3-4 months practicing the exercises and spending time with my vision. After two months i went in for a new pair of glasses and i did require a less powerful prescription. But i gradually wandered away from eye exercising, and back into bad vision habits.
I experienced a couple of other tangential benefits beyond the vision improvement itself:
Corrective Lenses Create Tension
Initially i felt a sense of tension and stress when i tried to not wear my glasses. I just had constant panic urges to put them back on. I had to keep convincing myself that unless i absolutely needed clear vision for that particular moment, then i didn’t need to have my glasses on.
I gradually became more comfortable operating in that mode, and the tension situation actually reversed. I found myself putting on my glasses to see what needed seeing (much like when i need to put on my reading glasses) but then i immediately took them off. If i left them on, then i could feel the strain and tension start.
I eventually found not wearing corrective lenses very centering and useful in cultivating some forms of presence.
Dreaming Vision
The most interesting eye yoga things occurred in conjunction with lucid dreaming. I became fascinated with vision during a number of lucid dreams. It always amazes me that the visual experience in dreams happens without any sensorial input from the eyes. But i never gave much thought to the blurriness or clarity of my dream vision, until i started practicing some of the eye exercises…… while lucid in a dream.
posted by J. Stull @ 9:39 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
So J. are you saying that you no longer require corrective lenses? Or that you just find it centering? And I don't mean to say "just" as in not sufficient or less than what I think you're trying to express.
I've too have worn corrective lenses for MANY years, since my teens in fact, and late teens I started wearing the old "hard" contact leneses. And like you, now that I need reading help, I have reverted back to glasses. But they're trendy and progressives. I do though wear contact lenses. I'll wear mono vision for the most part so that I can read a menu at a restaurant for example.
So how much did you correct your vision? Do you recommend this for others?
I had a dream last night, speaking of lucidity and vision, where I was trying to rely on uncorrected vision and for me in the dream it was disturbing.
Fascinating post.
RGMB, I still wear glasses, and like other exercise programs, if you stop exercising the muscles, they get weak again. Not wearing glasses forces you to exercise your eyes more (in addition to the specific eye exercises). My vision only improved a little bit. Mostly, I just seemed to learn how to experience the world differently, without the need for continual clarity.
You would probably find the subject interesting to at least read about, and then figure out whether to take it any further.
Once again, another great post. Up until I start reading your blog, I didn't think there was a blogger who touched on the topics that you've touched upon. I could have listed about a dozen topics that I would have thought would be interesting blog material. I think you've written about all of them.
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