Mastering Eyesight and Expanding Insight: Three Tips to Help You See Better and Better, Every Day

Tip 1: Be Open, Imagine the Possibilities nand Explore the Cause of Good SightnnOur eyesight can improve and our insight can expand at any time in our lives. It is natural to see with our own eyes. Most of us have memory of seeing well, even if we are wearing glasses or contacts now. In that remembrance is often a longing, confusion, and a wistful wishing that we could return to that sharp sight we once had. nnMost of us went through the proper stages of early childhood development, and most of us had perfect sight as children. So, what happened, and what can we do to reverse this “curse” of a visual blur? The good news is that genetics is not the cause of “blurring”; instead vision-habits, ignorance, and emotional and mental distress over a period of time cause us, in vision training terms, to “throw a blur.”nnThis might sound radical to some people since there isn’t a lot currently written on the subject. We “throw a blur”? That sounds preposterous, doesn’t it? Let’s accept the concept for now and see what happens. See if anything I describe resonates with you. By the time I have led you back into some inner wisdom for your eyes, you will see for yourself, although skepticism is certainly allowed and welcomed. We will take a brief inward journey, but first, we will start with an outward picture.nTip 2: Go Out and Play! It is the movement that releases and frees our sight!nnA few decades ago, when glasses were more of a rarity, we used our eyes and developed the natural “seeing skills.” As children, we learned to crawl, then to walk, developed eye-hand coordination, we could see straight ahead and peripherally, and we learned to identify colors and shapes and to become digitally adept. What used to help us? Tinker toys, erector sets, Hot Wheels, balsa wood ships, Lincoln Logs, Mr. Potato Head, card games, Chutes ‘n Ladders, building bricks like Legos, and many other fun and detailed games were commonplace in every home closet across America. nnWhat did these games have to do with eyesight? Everything! Focus, detail, eyes working together, and play! We played with blocks, pointed to what caught our attention, looked directly at things that interested us, learned to open doors, to reach for items and succeed, and to play ball. We ran with our pets, played with friends, rode our bikes, and played sports for fun rather than within the framework of the stressful competition play has become for children today. nnAll childhood physical activities are “vision games.” They teach our eye-brain connection to become vibrant and healthy, while developing an effective physical navigation system. By two, three, or four, we are seeing well and playfully using our eyes, and the ability for our sight to function for us has been set in place and is working perfectly. Grown-up activities are also vision games and keep our vision sharp. Examples are baseball, basketball, golf, riding bicycles, playing Ping-Pong, throwing a Frisbee, playing tennis, and skiing. All of these require action, flexibility, playfulness, and a lot of head movement, without a lot of thinking, strain, or staring.nnNow what do kids do? They sit and stare at a screen and get strained thumbs from video games; they never breathe, get out into the sunshine, drink enough water, eat food with high nutritional value, throw a paper route, or do puzzles or games that are interactive. Of course vision is going to suffer—there is no movement. Now what do adults do? They live in front of the computer, most often stressed, on deadline, hours at a time without moving, eating, breathing, or having water. Technology is wonderful, but only if we balance it with healthy movement.nnThe good news is that eyesight is tremendously forgiving and resilient. It isn’t too late for our eyesight to get better, regardless of how long we may have worn glasses or how severe our dependency on them. Vision can be gently reversed and improved—who knows how far?n nTip 3: Relax into the Visual Blur, nRather Than Fighting It—Getting Out of the WaynnThis will sound strange to many people. The reason I wear glasses is to see clearly—why would I want to see blurry without them? Well, the answer is to give your eyes a break and to leave room for improvement by taking that strong optical trick away from the brain for a while. Of course, you should do this in a safe environment. nnI used to take my students on walks around the block or have them bounce big, colorful beach balls without their glasses. Eventually, their eyes began to trust, let go, and move again. They got more relaxed, and their eyes started seeing better, often with “flashes of clarity” flickering in and out. Their muscles began to relax, and their eyes started to play. Go ahead and try it. Remove your glasses and relax into the blur and let it become your friend. This suggestion may sound funny, but you will see what happens. Remember that sight naturally fluctuates, too.nnMany approaches to vision improvement can be made, and most have a series of exercises as their foundation. I am grateful that I was not put into an exercise program in order to see and for my eyes to do what they already know how to do naturally. To be fair and balanced, as they say, I did learn what to do properly to relax my tightly wound system, which had previously caused an ever-increasing blur and the need for a stronger prescription. nnI gave my eyes a break and tossed my pretty blue lenses, trading them for glasses that I could easily remove when unnecessary. This gave my eyes even more rest and encouraged them to become happier, move more, and relax because that “disc of distortion,” a phrase I coined in the 1990s, could stay off my brain. I learned to return to childlike playfulness with my eyes. I started paying attention to my straining habits. After a few weeks the poor vision habits faded away and were replaced with good ones; I reduced the strength of my glasses, and my vision gently returned. Now as promised, the brief inward journey and the underlying stress factor that affects and diminishes vision.nnWhat most people don’t realize is that the eyes are the only organ directly connected, through the optic nerve, to the brain, and perception or “seeing” actually occurs in the brain at the back of the head. The delicate muscles around our eyes, which affect the eye’s ability to make fluid accommodations, which allow our eyes to enjoy the natural ability to see near and far through the fluctuation of those muscles, are immediately responsive to our thoughts and feelings. It is all connected, and the mystery of visual blur and eye strain is available for reversal to a great degree. The more relaxed and “softened the mind,” the “softer and more flexible the eyes”—they are fully connected and reflect that in our visual/emotional clarity. Our “feelings” about what we see affect how we see, and strain results from our lack of presence and our interpretation of our world—for near-sighted, far-sighted, astigmatism, lazy-eye, and more.nnSo, the more we strain, the more strained our vision becomes. The more we become used to “how poorly our eyes see for us,” the more anguished we become inside. The habit of strain, resistance, rebellion, and anguish is then set into the cellular and muscular areas within and surrounding the eyes, and the result is a visual blur, and we are locked behind ever-strengthening optical devices, i.e., glasses or contacts, getting used to seeing clearly through those “discs of distortion.” nnAt this point it is important to inform you that seeing better again is also a healing, from the inside out. At times we can feel more disgruntled or be more exhausted because “disgruntled feelings or exhaustion” is flushing up and out of our cellular system. Not to worry: emotions, memories, and even tiredness is naturally let go of as our vision gets more and more clear. The eyes are not only “the windows to the Soul,” but being our navigational devices, they are the recipients of information, and our interpretation of that information impacts how we see. As we gently back-step out of our strong glasses, vision naturally improves. Vision improvement is “winding back out of this subconscious, visually stressful journey” and gently and lovingly returning to relaxation for inner and outer clarity. Relaxation is the key to clear seeing, and this is the healing process.nnMaster your vision by letting go of inner stress . . . and going out to play!nn** This article is one of 101 great articles that were published in 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life. To get complete details on “101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life”, visit http://www.selfgrowth.com/greatways2.html.