Paul's Pathway to Normal Vision

MIND AND SIGHTRESOURCES

Paul's Pathway To Normal VisionA 3-Step Plan

This article will guide you along the most direct route to recovering yourvision in the shortest possible time. If you need additional support, I haveincluded articles that target specific challenges. Turn to them when youneed them. On my website, www.mindandsight.com, you will also find amore extensive explanation of the rationale behind natural vision recovery.

Note: This program is for educational purposes only, and not intended to replace the need

for a licensed qualified physician. You must be under the direction of your eye doctor while

attempting to apply any of the information presented.

Introduction

This program is based upon the work of Dr. William H. Bates, who discoveredthe mind's role in vision around the year 1900. After 25 years of study, Ihave been able to develop his understanding into a practical at-homeapproach, Paul's Pathway to Normal Vision.

Because Paul's Pathway is a return to your natural and normal way offunctioning, it doesn't require the learning of any new skills—only therecovery of your natural innate eye/mind habits. The process of regainingvision may at first seem complex, but in fact it's quite simple. The difficultyarises only because modern thinking is unaccustomed to the concept ofmaking gains by letting go. Ancient Chinese thinking describes it well in thephrase, "Yield and overcome."

As you follow this step-by-step plan, you will learn how you are, in fact,producing the tension, first in your mind and then in your eyes, whichinterferes with your natural way of seeing. I will show you how to completelylet go of this tension, so that your mind and eyes can function in a normal,natural manner. The result will be the return of the brilliant clear vision thatyou were born to have.

To help you track your progress, I have incorporated various objectiveshighlighted in gray like this throughout the text

Let's begin what may be the most exciting journey of your life.

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STEP 1

Achieve The Proper Level Of Mental And PhysicalRelaxation

The objective of Step 1 is to completely relax your mind and body. This stepdoes not require you go without lenses; nor is it about getting clearereyesight—those will come later. You are to simply relax deeply, to a levelthat is common to many of your friends and neighbors, but may, or may notbe common to you. After you have laid this foundation of relaxation, you willproceed to apply it to your vision.

Please turn now to the Levels of Relaxation Scale accompanying this article.Take a moment to familiarize yourself with each of the five levels ofrelaxation. When you've finished, determine the level you are currently on.You may find some overlap in the characteristics you observe for Level I andII, but the higher levels are discreet.

ca I can now identify my current level of relaxation to be

Your first objective is to reach Relaxation Level IV, where you are no longerstriving and the level necessary to recover most of your vision. Later, if andwhen perfect vision becomes the objective, you will practice while at Level V,which is effortlessness. I am going to walk you through some techniques torelax you, tools that have worked consistently with my clients. Use thesetechniques even if you are familiar with other relaxation techniques becausethey have been designed and tested to bring about the kind of mind/eyerelaxation needed for vision recovery. We'll begin with palming.

Palming Practice Routine

1. As with all the methods you'll be using in Paul's Pathway, removeyour glasses or contact lenses before beginning.

2. Rest your elbows on a desk or large pillow placed on your lap.Close your eyes softly, and cover each eye with the palm of eachhand, cupping your palms slightly so as to not touch your eyeballs.This will block out most of the light.

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3. Some people find that counting backwards while palming from 5over and over again deepens their relaxation. Use this technique ifit works for you. Palm for three minutes.

4. Take your hands away from your eyes but keep your eyes closed.Sit resting your eyes for three minutes. Continue to countbackwards from five if this deepens your relaxation.

5. Go back to palming, alternating between palming and eye closinguntil ten minutes are up.

Note: If at any point while you're palming you begin to feel tense or uncomfortable,stop palming. Just continue your relaxation. Return to palming only if you feel itwould be helpful. Continue like this for 10 minutes.

Determining Your New Level of Relaxation

Now, evaluate your current state of relaxation to see whether you've reachedLevel IV. How do you feel? You will know you have achieved Level IVbecause your arms, legs, cheeks, and jaw will feel heavy or numb. Yourbreathing will have dropped to originate from your lower diaphragm. And youwill not have a feeling anywhere in your body of your nerves being on edge.All of the characteristics of Level IV will be experienced at once.

If you've achieved Relaxation Level IV, congratulations! If, however, you'veevaluated yourself at Levels I, II, or III, or appear to have a mixture ofcharacteristics from several levels, you may need a little more practice. Tryrelaxing for 30 minutes or more by palming and perhaps one or more of theroutines described in the appendix titled Relaxation Routines. Use whateverroutine works best for you. Practice your preferred routine until you canattain Level IV relaxation within ten minutes. This may take you anywherefrom a few minutes to several weeks.

If none of the routines resulted in greater relaxation, you may need morefundamental assistance. Refer to the article included in this package entitledSolving Your Inability to Relax that takes up the vital mind condition calledcentral fixation. Many people, even those without problems with relaxationcan speed up their vision recovery by practicing it.

When you can relax to Level IV within ten minutes, you are ready to proceedto Step 2.

u I can use one of the relaxation routines to reach Level IV in tenminutes.

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Step 2

Identify Your Style of Eye Tension

The relaxation level you have achieved enabled you to relax deeply with youreyes closed. This released tension from all of your body including your eyes.However, for most of you, just opening your eyes will bring back the tensionbecause of strongly entrenched habits. This eye tension comes from ahabitual state of mind that is constantly striving to see.

Seeing, like hearing, taste, touch, and smell are designed to operatepassively. We can consciously direct our eyes to what we see but cannotdirectly control the quality of our sight by trying to see. In order to see well,our mind must be in good condition to receive and process the light rays thatconstantly stream in from every direction. This calls for a receptive, effortlessstate of mind that is brought about only by relaxation.

Although you cannot directly prevent your eyes from tensing by physicallytrying to stop it, knowing how you tense your eyes will enable you to knowwhen you need to relax. It will also keep you from purposely replacing thetension in your eyes just because you are accustomed to seeing in thismanner.

The four most common eye muscle tensing styles are:

♦ Squinting

♦ Hard Blinking

• Forced Eye Opening

• Squeezing In

Let's take a look at these styles one by one. Keep in mind that you may beengaging in more than one of these habits.

♦ Squinting

Narrowing or squinting to see is, by far, the most common form of addingphysical tension to the eyes. Your eyes may be chronically locked into asquint—either an exaggerated or very subtle form. Look at your eyes with amirror. Normal eyes are comfortably wide open.

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♦ Hard Blinking

The normal blink is so light that it almost cannot be felt. If you feel yourselfpushing down at the bottom of your blink, then you are using the hardblinking style to continually reinstate your eye tension. Like squinting, thehard blink improves your vision for a few moments, but it must be repeatedfrequently. The forced nature of seeing this way will cause your vision todeteriorate over time. Some people who use a hard blink both push down atthe bottom of their blink and spring their eyes open. Try blinking your eyesso lightly that you can hardly feel it. Did that feel uncomfortable? If so, youcan be sure that the hard blink is your style of adding tension to your eyes.

♦ Forced Eye Opening

Chronically forcing your eyes open past a point where they wouldnaturally be open creates tension and is another style of tensing to see. Ifyou frequently "adjust" your eyes by opening them wider, you are using thisstyle of tensing. Again, the adjustment may enable you to see a little betterbut in the long run is hurting your eyes and eyesight. Normal eyesightrequires no action on your part other than to comfortably open your eyes.

♦ Squeezing

You may be squeezing or pushing your eyes in at the sides, either when youare opening your eyes, or when your eyelids are already open. Squeezing issi milar to squinting but it doesn't give your eyes the same narrowedappearance. It may be very subtle, but it can be identified. Close your eyescomfortably for a minute and lift your eyelids; be careful not to engage anymuscles that affect the round shape of your eyeballs. Specifically, are youreally pushing, or squeezing in at the sides of your eyes to alter their shape?

>

I can now identify that my style of eye tensing is

Releasing Your Eye Tension

You are now going to experience what it feels like to tense your eyes and,then, what it feels like to open your eyes without tension.

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Easy Eye Opening Practice Routine

Note: When you first practice this routine, you may feel uncomfortable or somehow "wrong"to see without your usual eye tension. That is because your eyes and mind have becomeaccustomed to seeing with strain—being tense has actually become "normal" for you. As youbegin to see without strain, however, you will quickly realize that seeing effortlessly is not onlyeasier but eventually results in normal eyesight.

1. Close your eyes and rest for 3 minutes, slowly counting backward from5 to 1, over and over or palm as you learned earlier.

2. Feel all of your facial muscles letting go, including your jaw. Allowyour eyeballs to feel like they are soft, round, and free. Continue thisuntil you relax to Level IV (as described in Step 1).

3. With Relaxation Level IV in place, briefly open your eyes by allowingyour eyelids to move straight up as lightly and effortlessly as you can.Do not use even the slightest excess muscular action. In particular,watch that you do not affect the shape of your eyeballs in the processof lifting your eyelids.

4. Keep your eyelids open for only a second, then close them.

5. Check your level of relaxation. If you have lost Level IV, relax deeplywith your eyes closed until you regain it. See below if you are havingdifficulty knowing when you slip from Level IV. Again, open your eyesfor only a second to a non-descript area such as a wall, carpet, orceiling.

6. Repeat this procedure for five minutes, relaxing to Level IV andopening your eyes without tension. Most of your time should be spentwith your eyes closed, relaxing to Level IV, followed by brief easy eyeopenings.

If you are having difficulty realizing when you are losing RelaxationLevel IV, this will help you:

a. With the Levels of Relaxation Scale at hand, sit in a chair whereyou can face a blank wall and also so that you can turn to face a signor a set of letters that you cannot easily read.

b. Relax to Level IV and open your eyes to the blank wall. Using theRelaxation Scale, observe if you still have the characteristics of LevelIV.

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c. Now, turn to the sign and look at the letters. (Letters you do not seewell cause you to lose your relaxation.) Again, go over the Scale to seeif you have the characteristics of Level IV or have dropped to Level IIIor II.

d. Repeat these steps until you can clearly tell when you have lostLevel IV.

Symptoms of Release

Certain reactions commonly take place when people release long-storedtension in the area around their eyes. If you experienced any of thesesymptoms—as a result of relaxation only and not from tension—that's a goodsign, a sign that you are making progress releasing stored tension. Thesesymptoms include:

• Stinging and tears in the eyes, by far the most common reaction

• Eyes feel tired and worked out

• Twitching or spasms in or around the eyes

• Aching around the eyebrow bones

• Aches and pains in the eyeballs

• Headaches - less common

• A pulling or straining sensation upon putting on your lenses (which arebeginning to feel too strong). This is common one week afterbeginning the program.

What symptoms of recovery did you experience?Take a moment to jot down any experiences or observations you had aboutyour eye-tensing style and any symptoms you had when you practiced thistechnique:

Your Eyes without Strain

Whatever your experience with the above procedure, if you opened youreyes while in Relaxation Level IV, you were releasing long-held tension, evenif you did not experience any of the symptoms. When you continue topractice Easy Eye Opening, the stinging or other symptoms will disappear asyou release even more of your eye tension. You may also be experiencingmuch improved eyesight lasting for seconds or longer. As soon as yourrelaxation is lost, so will your improved eyesight.

By doing Easy Eye Opening, you now know what it feels like to use your eyeswithout strain. Although your relaxed state may have lasted only a few briefmoments, you have learned an important lesson that will put you on the pathto recover your eyesight. Clear vision is effortless, merely opening your eyesand letting the light enter is all you need to do. Your eyes and mind will doall the rest, allowing you to see well without consciously doing anything elseto help the process.

Continue to practice Easy Eye Opening whenever you get the chance. Whenyou find that you are tensing your eyes, using one of the styles of tension,this is an alert for you to relax. In this way, you will begin to connectclearing your eyesight with relaxation, an important step that will speed yourprogress toward normal vision.

You now have the foundation for better vision. You may have even seeni mproved vision with flashes (less than a second) or spells (several seconds)now in place. In the next and final step, you will learn to extend yoursuccessful vision to minutes and hours. Extending your success means tolearn the habit of remaining in Level IV or V throughout most of the day.

q I can relax to Level IV, open my eyes to a blank wall and know that Iam staying in Relaxation Level IV.

_ 9 _

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Step 3

Maintain Normal, Receptive Vision

In Step 3, you combine the ability to release mental striving (Step 1) withthe knowledge of using your eyes without strain (Step 2). Having learned torelax deeply, you must now learn to control your relaxation so that you arenot pulled back into your old habits of straining to see.

Some things you look at are more likely than others to evoke the mentalstriving and resultant eye tension that lowers your vision. Reading unfamiliarsigns is commonly more difficult than other objects because of yoursubconscious habit of straining to read them. For example, you may seedistant branches on a tree very well. However, letters of the same size andviewed at the same distance may be seen very poorly.

In order to practice developing your ability to maintain your relaxation,regardless of what you are looking at, I have developed a Scenes Ladder thatranks scenes as they are increasingly more likely to be draw out your oldhabits of straining to see them.

Do not think you have poor vision for everything if you cannot see thingssuch as small lettering or faces. Scenes that involve lettering or faces areoften strongly associated with subconscious tensing and tend to be less clearuntil you develop the ability to maintain your relaxation. During those periodswhen you go without wearing lenses, notice what you see well and what isblurry.

With each practice, begin by relaxing to Level IV with your eyes closed andmove up the Scenes Ladder while staying in Level IV.

The Scenes Ladder

Note: If you are farsighted, you will find a modified scenes ladder in The ScenesLadder and Your Specific Condition included in this package.

6. Unknown letters andeye chart letters

5. Known letters and largesigns

4. Faces and TV screens

3. Known objects such asfurniture and cars

2. Scenes of nature suchas trees and grass

1. Blank and non-descriptscenes such as blankwalls, ceilings, and carpets

The Scenes Ladder Practice Routine

1. Begin by relaxing to Level IV. Use whatever method worked best foryou in Steps 1 and 2 (For more indicators of Relaxation Level IV referto the Levels of Relaxation).

2. Just as you did in Easy Eye Opening, open your eyes while maintainingyour Relaxation Level IV.

3. While maintaining your Relaxation Level IV, open your eyes on to theeasiest rung of the Scenes Ladder, i.e., a blank or non-descript scenesuch as a wall, ceiling, or carpet.

4. Take a moment to monitor yourself. Do you still have the Level IVindicators that you had a few moments ago? If you have lost Level IV,i mmediately close your eyes and regain that level.

HarderEasier

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5. While in Level IV, continue alternating opening your eyes on the easyscene and closing them. Practice this for about 30 minutes, keepingyour eyes open for longer and longer periods as you find you are notlosing Relaxation Level IV. During this time your blinking should be soli ght that you hardly feel it.

6. Practice until you can easily keep your eyes open while remaining inLevel IV. When you find that you can easily keep your relaxation toLevel IV for 45 seconds or longer with only brief, occasional losses,you're ready to move up to the next scene of the ladder. Maintainingyour relaxation for 45 seconds usually means that you could do it formuch longer if you desired. Continue, in this manner, with eachsubsequent rung until you can retain your relaxation for 45 secondsbefore moving higher.

7. Begin each subsequent practice by starting at the bottom of the ladderand view the scene for 45 seconds while taking your normal lightblinks. Continue up the ladder, stopping at the rung prior to the onethat causes you to lose Level IV. Practice like this for one half hour.With each successive scene your vision should be quite clear.

q I can relax and maintain Level IV with scenes on the first rungfor 45 seconds with light blinks.

q I can maintain Level IV with nature scenes for most of one halfhour.

q I can maintain Level IV with objects for most of one half hour.

q I can see familiar faces and familiar lettering while maintainingLevel IV for most of one half hour.

q I can maintain Level IV relaxation with unfamiliar lettering andsigns for most of one half hour.

Adjustment for Distance

If you have difficulty seeing the objects in a scene clearly, it may be becausethe distance between you and the object is causing you to strain and loseyour relaxation. Adjust the distance to a point where you see the object welland can maintain Relaxation Level IV. As you gain the mental control you

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need to maintain you relaxation with that scene at this distance, graduallymove the object to a more challenging distance.

Practice Throughout the Day

In working on the Steps so far, you've limited your practice to periods thatyou have set-aside during the day. To completely break your strongly heldeye/mind habits, however, you must practice seeing with relaxationthroughout the entire day. Whenever you get the chance, bring your mind toRelaxation Level IV or V and practice your Scenes Ladder routine whereveryou happen to be. Do this at every opportunity, such as during commercialson TV or at your desk. Soon, you will develop the habit of relaxing andseeing clearly whenever you get the chance.

• Most of my day is spent in Relaxation Level IV

Achieving Normal Vision

If you want to completely regain your normal vision, you can do so by firstreaching the very deepest level of relaxation that I call Level V. At first, itwill normally take you 5-10 additional minutes after you have relaxed toLevel IV to achieve this level. Follow the same process as before, onlyremaining in Level V for at least 45 seconds at each rung of the ScenesLadder.

u I can reach Relaxation Level V and maintain it with blank walls.

u I can maintain Level V with nature scenes.

u I can maintain Level V with objects.

u I can maintain Level V with television and faces.

u I can maintain Level V with unfamiliar lettering and signs.

A Last Word

It is important for you to practice as directed. You will, as I did, have atendency to look at something you cannot see well and then relax to see itbetter. This will not help you. Instead, you must concentrate on extendingand expanding what you can see well.

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Above all, we are very interested in how you are doing, and would love tohear from you. Write to me at [email protected]

• • •

Supplemental Articles

If you need extra guidance practicing Paul's Pathway, you can refer to one ormore of the following articles that are included in this Basic Vision RecoverySeries.

For Step 1: Learning to Relax for Vision Recovery andSolving Your Inability to Relax

For Step 2: Identifying Eye Tension

For Step 3: The Scenes Ladder and Your Specific Condition

www.mindandsight..com0 2001Mind & Sight ResourcesAll Rights Reserved. Material may be reproduced for personal use only.

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Appendix A

LEVELS OF RELAXATION

Level I

THOUGHTS:NERVES:MUSCLES:BREATHING:

* VISUALIZATION:

constant leaping, rushing, thoughtshighly on edge, wiredchronically tense (e.g., hunched shoulders, clenched jaw)originates from the nose, shallow and constrainedmind is sent toward the desired memory which is fleeting and sketchy

Level II

THOUGHTS:NERVES:MUSCLES:BREATHING:VISUALIZATION:

rushing, but not prominentmoderately on edge, but easily noticedcertain areas are tensefreely from the nosemind sent toward object, memory of object is momentary and vague

Level III


infrequent, quiet, calm and not intrusiveslightly on edgeportions of body feel weightyoriginates from both the nose and diaphragm (middle stomach)memory of the object comes slowly without seeking and lasts for

moments

Level IV


quiet, few thoughtsno awareness of nervesmuch weight to the entire body at once, including cheeks and jawdrawn from the diaphragm exclusively, 3-6" below navel, full flowmind receives object in seconds, fades in seconds

Level V


SAME AS LEVEL IV

receives the object immediately and accurately without sending for it,can he sustained without recalling fbr 20 seconds or longer

* Visualization means picturing a very small familiar object, such as a pencil eraser, period at the end of asentence, or flower.

mindandsight.com© 2001 Mind & Sight ResourcesAll rights reserved. Material may be reproduced for personal use only

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Appendix B


Disclaimer: This program is for educational purposes only, and not intended to replace the need for alicensed qualified physician. You must be under the direction of your eye doctor while attempting to applyany of the information presented.

Relaxation Routines

These are relaxation routines that I found most effective with my clients inthe order of what was best for people who could relax most easily, to thoseroutines that were successful with people who had more difficulty. After thisli sting, I have added some specialty relaxing routines that everyone mighttest.

Generally speaking, in the office, I would first try simple eye closure, and ifthis did not relax them deeply enough, I moved down the list to palming,sunning, and then alternating between sunning and palming. About half ofmy clients could relax well with either eye closing or palming, but the restneeded to alternate between sunning and palming. As soon as you havesucceeded with alternating between sunning and palming, it won't be longbefore simpler routines will also work for you.

You are much better off if you can practice relaxing anywhere and at anyti me. The habit of tensing to see is often deeply rooted and may take youconsiderable time relaxing to replace it. The simpler the routine is for you,the easier it will be for you to turn to it.

Remember, the objective is not merely to do the routine but to gain deeperrelaxation as indicated by the Levels of Relaxation scale found in theappendix. Your specific objective is to achieve Level IV or V relaxation within10 minutes.

A. Eye closing

Use this routine if you find you can relax from simply closing your eyes andconsciously letting go. Time yourself for three full minutes using a watch witha sweep second hand. Did you find that you could keep track of time, anddeepen your relaxation as found on the Levels of Relaxation scale? If so, thissi mple routine is probably all you need. Use other relaxation routines, suchas palming, only if you wish.

B. Palming

Some of you will find that you can best relax by the palming routinepresented in the Paul's Pathway article. If palming relaxes you quicker anddeeper than eye closing, use this as your main relaxation routine. Palming isoften very relaxing or merely tenses you, and you should decide early if it isfor you.

Palming should be comfortable and pleasant to do. Some people can palmwith ever deepening relaxation for a long time. However, I found that manypeople could only palm successfully for a short time before they begin totense. Monitor yourself for this, and stop palming just as soon as you believeit is not relaxing to you. It may only be a minute or two. Continue relaxingwith your eyes closed until you feel you are ready to palm again for a shortti me:

C. Sunning

Many people relate light and warmth to relaxing. Perhaps we have innate anability to relax in the warm sunlight. If sunning produces a soothing feelingand enables you to relax, this can be a real treat for you.

By using either a 120-watt indoor spotlight, in a holder bought at anyhardware store, placed about 6 feet away from you, or the actual sun, sitcomfortably allowing the light to shine on your closed eyelids. It is oftenhelpful to turn your head gently from side to side a few inches, allowing thewarmth of the light or sun to pass over your closed eyes. If the sun is toobright, turn so that you are not directly facing it. If the light is too bright,back up from it until it is just comfortable.

Since this routine simulates the relaxation of sunning on a beach, many findit especially relaxing. It is good to sun like this for as long as you find that itis peaceful and relaxing, changing to another routine such as palming toalleviate boredom. When teaching, I routinely had people alternate between

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sunning and palming approximately every three minutes, suggesting theystay longer with the routine they enjoyed most and found most relaxing.

D. Counting backward

Use counting backwards to strengthen the relaxation affects of the otherroutines. Especially, if you have difficulty with rushing thoughts, countingbackward will probably be a strong addition to your other relaxation routines.Often the above routines are interfered with by worried, intruding thoughtsor a subtly anxious frame of mind. By counting backward from fiverepeatedly, you can place your mind on the neutral thoughts of the numbers.In this way you can let go of negative, tensing thoughts or an anxious frameof mind. Try adding counting backward to the other routines of eye closing,palming or sunning.

I often chose 5 as the number to count backwards from because, until yourmind is calm and relaxed, it is easy to forget what number you are on. Ifyou have many rushing thoughts, it may help to repeat the number 1 overand over until your mind settles enough to keep track of counting backwards.Count at whatever rate seems comfortable; eventually you will find thatsilently saying a new number with each out-breath is a good pace. Do nottry to visualize the numbers, but do not try to prevent it if a picture of eachnumber arises naturally.

E. Alternate Palming and Sunning Using Counting Backwards

If you have never really relaxed at will very easily, this routine of alternatingbetween sunning and palming is often very powerful. Also, include countingbackwards with this when and if it seems to help you relax.

This routine of alternating between palming and sunning with countingbackwards was the one routine I used for everyone who had difficultyrelaxing. I suggest that you alternate about every three minutes; stayinglonger with the routine you enjoy more, and using the other to break anymonotony that develops. Some of you may prefer to strictly do three-minuteintervals of each routine with a timer.

Suggestion: Use a friend as a guide if you find that you need help with thediscipline of staying with your routine. For instance, many start their routinebut frequently talk themselves out of continuing, feeling they are too busy orare not successful. Your guide can time you, and tell you when to switch tothe other routine, and, in this way, assist you in staying with it the routinefor at least 30 minutes.

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SPECIALTY RELAXATION ROUTINES

1. Long Standing Swing

This routine is for those who are very restless physically, and have a hardti me sitting down to relax. After doing the. long-standing swing for 5minutes, you may be able to settle enough to sit down and alternate sunningand palming as described above.

Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, keep your head and shouldersas one unit, lift your left heel and turn your head and body to face a wall toyour right. Now swing back, lifting the other heel, until your head and bodyface the left wall. The body should be loose with your arms moving freely.Your eyes should be comfortably open allowing the scene in front of you toappear to move rapidly in the opposite direction you are moving.

A comfortable pace is about 20 complete back and forth swings per minute.Start with one minute and work up to five.

2. Dead Man's Pose

Sometimes any instruction just makes a person try harder. For those of youwho make an effort to do everything, it is often best to start with this deadmans pose of relaxation.

Lie on the floor or a firm bed, loosen your belt or any clothing that isrestrictive, and spread your arms and legs comfortably. This is all.Complete permission to do nothing at all for 10 or 20 minutes is all that isnecessary. Set a timer. Add counting backwards only if it adds to yourrelaxation.

3. Memory of alphabet letters

Some people automatically relax to recall something neutral or pleasant.Others find it a chore and tense to the task. If you know you enjoyvisualizing or recalling, you might give this a try.

In this relaxation routine you recall each capital letter of the alphabet withyour eyes closed. Determine in your mind if the letter is straight, curved, oropen on the each of four sides. Take up the next letter. For instance, the "B"is straight on the left, curved on the top, curved on the right, and curved onthe bottom. The "C": is curved on the left, curved on the top, open on theright, and curved on the bottom. Going through the entire alphabet this waycan be very relaxing.

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4. Your Favorite Colors

Some people relax better by visualizing or simply remembering. If you find iteasy to recall colors, then this routine will probably be relaxing to you.Always evaluate yourself according to the Levels of Relaxation scale.Choose your three favorite colors and recall them each as vividly as possible.Go from one color to the next, repeating them over and over again for 3 fullminutes. Let go of each color when it comes to you and comfortably take upthe next one.

5. Going Down the Elevator

An interesting routine that some people have found successful is to imaginethey are going down an elevator and relaxing a little more with each passingfloor. Finally, they get out at the bottom very relaxed. They then repeat thei magined elevator ride.

Mindandsight.com© 2001 Mind & Sight ResourcesAll rights reserved. Material may be reproduced for personal use only


Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only, and not intended to replace the need

for a licensed qualified physician. You must be under the direction of your eye doctor while

attempting to apply any of the information presented.

Solving Your Inability to Relax(Learning to Concentrate without Tension)

STEP 1 SUPPLEMENT

By Paul A. Anderson

If relaxation routines such as palming, sunning, eye closing and countingbackwards are not working, you may have a more fundamental problem withtension. The very style of your thinking is probably striving and narrowinginstead of opening and receptive. Concentrating in this manner is commontoday, causing many problems, including tension and poor eyesight. In thisarticle, I will show you how to open up and relax so that you can concentratein a receptive way. Solving your difficulty with concentration will enable youto remain relaxed even when you are very busy. The solution to thisproblem with concentration is also an excellent pathway to complete visionrecovery.

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TYPES OF CONCENTRATION

Normal Concentration

The mind was meant to operate receptively. Thoughts don't have to besought after, nor does information have to be seized upon. Whenconcentration is normal, the thought of a memory is enough. There is nowork to it. Haven't you ever told a friend who was trying too hard to recallsomething "Just relax and it will come to you"? To illustrate this to yourself,try to concentrate very intently on each and every word individually thatsomeone is saying on TV or the radio; you will quickly realize that you arenot concentrating well at all. This example is, of course, an exaggeration, butdoes reveal that attempting to focus too intently hinders rather than helpsconcentration. Perhaps you are doing this without knowing it.

Normal concentration occurs when your awareness is spread out to receiveall things coming your way, such as sounds, sights, thoughts, etc., butreceive the focus of your attention best of all. The smaller this central pointof focus, the better your concentration. There are many different levels ofconcentration of your sight and thoughts, from very sharp at the center toincreasingly blurry or vague toward the periphery. For example, you seemany things while walking down a crowded street, but see and think of thethings you are looking at directly best of all. Think of a drop of water fallinginto a still pond, the largest impact is at the center with smaller and smallerwaves radiating away from that center. At the outer edge, the wave is soslight as to be hardly noticed.

Faulty Concentration

With faulty (overly intense) concentration, you go after a sight, sound orthought instead of allowing it to come to you. When you do this, you arereally attempting to exclude information from peripheral parts of yourawareness in favor of just this one central thing. This overly narrowed formof concentration stresses your mind, which was meant to be open andreceptive. You may have unwittingly acquired this constricted form ofconcentration in the classroom when your teachers asked you to focus onjust their words.

If you strive toward the object of your attention, you will not have the fluidmind condition to let go of each word or thought in order to concentrate onthe next one. You will lack the letting go element of normal concentration.Remember the earlier illustration of listening too intently to a speaker? Thestriving ultimately causes you to be torn between your last focus of attentionand your current one. Since both our eyes and mind are constantly moving,

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we must let go in order to think of and see the next thing clearly. You will beable to see how well you let go in the demonstration below.

Correcting this form of concentration will enable you to relax deeply becauserelaxation is the very essence of letting go and allowing our awareness tospread out. People who cannot relax often try to do everything, including letgo. If this is what you do, you already know that relaxation routines do notnecessarily help you relax. They may even be a source of stress!

LEARNING CORRECTCONCENTRATION

Demonstration

Do not use lenses for the following demonstration or later practice becausethey will interfere with your ability to let your awareness spread out toreceive all things. They have a distinct tendency to focus you toward justwhat you are looking at.

1. Take the lampshade off of a lamp, exposing the light bulb. Turn it onor leave it off, whichever you prefer. Sit in front of it where you cansee the bulb fairly well.

2. Now look away from that light bulb toward any other object far enoughto see the bulb less clearly because it is now in your peripheral vision.This may be 2 to 10 feet away or more; whatever it takes to see it lessclearly than when you look directly at it. Notice that you can see theli ght bulb less clearly in your peripheral vision and allow it to be therecomfortably. It should be a comfortable feeling; you should not feelli ke you want to see the bulb better than you do.

3. Look further away from the bulb if there is a pulling of your attention,which is a desire to see the bulb equally well when looking away. Thispulling sensation is your inability to let go of sights in your peripheryand see (and think) of them less clearly. This is the problem I havebeen talking about.

Correct concentration allows your mind to see and think of the light bulb lessclearly when you look away from it. You have just learned the rudiments ofproper concentration and started on a course to improve your concentrationand relaxation.

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Did you notice if you had a torn feeling between the light and looking awaythat made you feel that you still wanted to see the light clearly even thoughyou were not looking at it? Did you yawn when you looked away and sawthe bulb less clearly? Was it a surprising released state for you mentallywhen you were far enough away to let go of seeing the light clearly?

That yawning was a release of tension because you were not trying to seebut, instead, were receiving your sight and thoughts. By practicing in thisway, you can, by increments, lead yourself to become fully relaxed and atthe same time develop excellent concentration skills. Every moment youspend practicing will be of value to you. In six months time or less, you canbecome better focused, more relaxed and well on your way to recoveringyour vision.

Extending your Ability to Relax and Concentrate

By moving two objects closer together while keeping one in your peripheralvision, you can steadily correct your concentration.

1. Take two coffee cups and place the first (target cup) in front of you on a tableor the floor, at a distance you can see well, but not necessarily perfectly.

2. Place the second cup about 5 feet away and to the side of the first cup. Bothcups should be approximately the same distance from you.

3. As you did with the light bulb, practice looking first at the target cup to seehow well you see it, then shift your eyes or head to look at the second cup.As with the light bulb, the objective is to learn to stay sufficiently relaxed sothat there is no sensation of pulling or desire to see the target cup well.Instead, allow yourself to see it less clearly in your peripheral vision.

4. If you are not able to let go of seeing (or even the desire to see) the targetcup as well as the second cup, move your second cup gradually further awayuntil you get that comfortable feeling while seeing it less clearly.

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. Once you can let go and see your target cup in your peripheral vision whenlooking at the second cup, move it a little closer. Check to see if you can seeit less clearly when you look at your second cup. If you get that pullingsensation or a desire to see both cups equally well, close your eyes, rest, andlook again at your second cup. You may need to close your eyes and restthem for up to a minute or two.

Important: Do not jump ahead and move the cup too closely too soon. Keep your secondcup at a distance where you can see the target cup less clearly and without tension. Whenyou have the heavy desire to see the target cup as well as the second cup, close your eyes and relaxfor a full 2 minutes. If you still get that pulling sensation, dose your eyes and relax for 3 minutes orlonger until you reach a deep level of relaxation. (Level IV or V on the Levels of Relaxation page.)

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6. Occasionally you may have to separate the cups a little further than you oncehad them. After repeated failure to see the second cup less clearly but yetcomfortably, move it back to your starting point for the day and practiceagain seeing the one cup in your peripheral vision less clearly, looking backand forth. Make sure that you do not experience any tension to see it better!Any sensation of wanting to see the target cup as well when you are lookingaway means you have lost your poised concentration. Stop and close youreyes and rest until you can do it easily again.

You will eventually be able see the second cup less clearly when it is placedright beside the target cup. Subsequently, you will see one side of one cupbetter than the other. The last step will be to move that cup gradually awayfrom you. With perfect concentration, you will be able to see one side of onecup better than the other at a distance of 30 feet.

Central Fixation-The Concept

Your eyes see best at the center of your sight, and see everything elseperipheral to that center, increasingly less clearly as it is further away. Whenyou look at a leaf on a tree, you see the leaf better than all that surrounds it.Everything else, i.e., the rest of the tree, the grass, etc., is seen less clearlythe further away it is from the leaf. This is central fixation.

The mind operates with central fixation too. Although many things can be onyour mind at once while walking down the street, the words of a friend youare conversing with are thought of best. Central fixation of mind parallelscentral fixation of sight.

Practicing Here and There

You can practice improving your concentration almost anywhere, anytime.Just find two objects in your surroundings that more or less match thedistance apart of your cups at home. (Remember, all practice is donewithout lenses). It could be a picture on a wall, one side of versus the other,or any two items that are close enough to be seen fairly well yet far enoughapart to allow you to practice seeing worse when you look away to the otherobject. Wherever and whenever you practice, you will be improving yourconcentration, relaxation, and laying the foundation to improve youreyesight.

Mindandsight.com Revised 2/01© 2001 Mind & Sight Resources

All rights reserved. Material may be reproduced for personal use only.

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Disclaimer: This program is for educational purposes only, and not intended to replace the need for a licensedqualified physician. You must be under the direction of your eye doctor while attempting to apply any of theinformation presented.

Learning to Relax for Vision RecoverySTEP 1 SUPPLEMENT

By Paul A. Anderson

Relaxing can be difficult for some, yet everyone can learn to relax completely. Often, thedifficulty for those having trouble is getting started on the right foot. When I began withrelaxation routines, nothing seemed to happen! I would sit with my eyes closed for a longwhile, and it seemed my thoughts just kept churning away, never really slowing down,until finally I would ask myself "am I really relaxing?" The answer was always no!

What follows is how I found my way out of this difficulty and was able to learn completerelaxation. First, I had to learn that relaxing was not something I had to do. Rather, it wassomething I /et happen. And learning to let this happen takes time, at first, especially ifyou seem never to be relaxed. I would not be surprised at all if you were really impatientwith your relaxation, expecting it to "happen" in just minutes. Instead, if you are a personwho never seems to be relaxed, do not expect anything for at least twenty minutes.

It helps to vary your routineTry either palming or sunning (see descriptions under Relaxation Routines on the site) for3-minute intervals each, and then switching to the other one. If you find you arecomfortable with one, then stay with it longer than the 3 minutes. Switch, though, after

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the three minutes if you find you are beginning to get anxious. Continue switching backand forth like this between palming and sunning for 20 minutes. When sunning, do not sitclose to the light! The light from the lamp or sun should not feel bright on the closedeyes. If using the sun, this may mean facing away from the sun toward the bright sky.You should not feel that you are shying away from the light after your eyes have had 30seconds to adjust. Comfort and peace are the feelings you want to experience.

A Sample Practice Routine

1. Sun for 3 minutes (use a timer or glance at a second hand to know when time is up)

2. Switch to palming for 3 minutes

3. Back to sunning for 3 minutes (this time counting backwards from 5 over and overduring the 3 minutes)

4. Now palm for 3 minutes (repeating the number one over and over every time youbreathe out)

5. Continue alternating like this, every three minutes, for a minimum of 20 minutesand up to 1 hour. Stop, and do not push on if you are becoming bored or tenser.

Count backwards over and over againThe big problem with relaxing is often rushing thoughts and it helps if you can switch yourthought to ones that are neutral, such as numbers. Do not try to visualize or "see" thenumbers in your head, just say them to yourself silently. Count backwards from 5 to 1,and then simply repeat it. Do the counting at a rate that you are most comfortable.Eventually though, you will find counting at a rate of one number per out breath iscomfortable.

Morning practice is often easierFor those having difficulty relaxing, the morning is a better time to practice, if at allpossible. Fatigue plays a role in our relaxing, and the fresher you are the easier it will be.Also, the longer the day goes on, the more tense many people get. Relaxing from higherlevels of tension is more difficult. The point is that you want to begin having somesuccess, so make it easy on yourself.

Do not expect too much at firstIf you find that after twenty minutes, you are a little quieter mentally and that some ofyour muscles have relaxed, count this as a success. It is! The more often you successfullylet go of your tension, the easier it is to let go again. Give it time and you will find thatshallow relaxation, repeated often enough, adds up to deeper and deeper relaxation. Referto the Levels of Relaxation to measure your progress.

Do not expect it to last at firstThose who have difficulty with relaxation are often disappointed, and do not want to

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recognize their relaxation at all because it doesn't last very long. If your mind goes backto the same rushing state as soon as you end your practice, do not be dismayed. It is justthat you have habits of rushing anxiety associated with all activity. Activity for you maymean merely getting up from a chair or beginning a conversation! It did for me. Justpractice frequently and know that, in time, your state of relaxation will last longer andlonger.

Find the right routine and stick with itFor me it was sunning. I found that one day I was sitting in front of my light, and time justslipped by because I forgot what I was doing. Twenty minutes had passed and I felt a littlemore relaxed. I was amazed. I felt calmer. I knew then that I could learn to let go and soI practiced sunning twenty minutes 3 times a day. Although I did not relax every time,many times I did, and this was a beginning. A different routine may work better for you;try several until you find the one for you.

It helps to use a timerIf you can get a timer at a kitchen store or drug store, it will probably help you. Set thetimer for the number of minutes you plan to relax doing a certain routine such as palming.In this way, you can let go of watching the clock. Just tell yourself, "I will be doing thisuntil the timer goes off, so there is no reason to worry about it". This will enable you to bemore comfortable and not feel you are wasting your time, because you have given yourselfpermission to do this routine for x amount of minutes regardless of your success. The bigobstacle to those who cannot relax is that their anxiety makes them impatient, and theyinterpret this as being always short of time. Feeling always short of time, they feel thatthey cannot waste a second!

Do not expect to see betterIf you are having difficulty reaching the deeper levels of relaxation, do not make seeingbetter the objective. Rather, learn to relax deeper first. Realistically, your program mustfirst enable you to relax deeply at will, before you can expect to restore your eyesight.Take things in the proper order, learn to relax, and then you will find yourself seeingbetter.

Have someone direct youIf you continue to have difficulty relaxing, it may be of great help to get someone to guideyou through it. It helps if your guide tells you when to start palming, and then 3 minuteslater when to stop, and what to do next. In this way you give over control to someone elseand release yourself from constantly questioning if you should go on.

Relaxing (routines) makes you nervousIf you find that you become fearful during your relaxation routines, then you may havepsychological problems that arise when your mind settles enough to focus. Don't bealarmed by this, as I found it was quite common. Most adults to some degree use tensionas a barrier to knowing certain threatening information.Learning to relax will mean for you the return of living without a barrier of tension"protecting" you from knowledge that is in front of you. It is best that you have thisknowledge. I also think that you need not worry about being overwhelmed with something

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because you will not be able to receive knowledge that you cannot handle knowing.I recommend that you just be kind to yourself and relax only as long as you can withoutgoing too far into the state of tension that may be coming over you. Take it easier on daysyou feel threatened by your newly relaxed state, and go deeper on those days when youare comfortable with relaxing.You can look forward to a new clarity about your past and present, enabling you to makebetter decisions. Also, without your screen of tension, you will have more energy. Thescope of benefits from deep relaxation is much wider than better vision.

Relax as often as possibleJust as soon as you begin to have success with your daily routine, I suggest that you use itfrequently throughout the day, in all available "in-between" moments. You will find yourprogress to be very satisfying if you do.

Mindandsight.com Revised 8/01© 2001 Mind & Sight Resources



Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only, and not intended to replace the need for alicensed qualified physician. You must he under the direction of your eye doctor while attempting to apply anyof the information presented.

Identifying Eye Tension

STEP 2 SUPPLEMENT

By Paul A. Anderson

Many people can relax enough to see well for moments, or for what I refer to asflashes of improved vision. But it is difficult to connect these fleeting glimpses ofi mproved vision to anything permanent. I originally disregarded these flashesbecause I did not know that they were legitimate improvements. Only later did Ilearn that they were indeed the beginning of my improved eyesight that was quicklyundermined by my old habits of tensing my eyes and mind.

You may not feel as though you are holding much tension in your eyes, but if youreyesight is below normal, you can be sure that you are. You can release this tensionconsciously by relaxing deeply, only to find it immediately return as soon as youbegin to look at something. This can cause your improved vision to fade after just aflash. I have found that vision fades when old habits of tensing to see return. Theseold habits are both eye tension and a subtle "seeking to see" mentality. In a splitsecond, you not only lose your improved vision; you also lose the very notion thatrelaxation is connected to improved vision. Unless you are made aware of it, you maythink it is incredible that you could have lost your relaxation and your improved

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eyesight so quickly.

When you put on glasses or contacts, your eyes must tense and tighten to see. Ifyou put on your glasses after relaxing for three minutes, you may notice that youmust blink hard or otherwise "adjust" your eyes. This adjustment is the tighteningthat is needed to see clearly through lenses. Your mind, also, goes through a similaradjustment, as you must begin to seek or strive to see to the degree of yourprescription. I can best describe this seeking state as staring, or looking to see, as ifyour sight was taking place out in front of you rather than in your head.

The longer you have worn lenses and the worse your vision, the more firmly in placethe tension is likely to be. Habits of tensing your eyes and mind can be deeplyentrenched. Years of seeing through lenses cause you to believe on the subconsciousand conscious level that this is what you must do to see. Normal and naturaleyesight, on the other hand, requires no action on your part and has a different feelto it altogether. It's a wonderful sense of freedom and receptivity.

The Release of Your Eye Tension

• Right now, you probably do not feel any tension in your eyes and stronglybelieve that, other than poor vision, your eyes are not unduly tense.However, that tension-free feeling is present only because your strain issubconscious.

♦ Your eyes are probably not fully open as they will be when your naturalvision is returned. Your eyebrows may be pulling down, and other musclesaround your eyes are probably contributing by narrowing your eyes into apartial chronic squint. Take a look at your eyes in a mirror. Gently probewith the tips of your fingers around your eye sockets and between youreyes to see if you feel any pain. Close your eyes and gently probe youreyeballs through your closed eyelids. Any dull pain is an indicator oftension.

♦ If you see that your eyes appear to be locked into a kind of squint, do nottry to open them wider, as this will happen naturally as you release tension.Relaxation will take care of everything. Although much tension will bereleased during the upcoming routine, some of your chronic tension willremain and only be released over the period that you fully recover youreyesight.

♦ You can just assume that your eyes are relaxing as the other muscles inyour body relax. Your eyes may then seem to feel strange and "loose."You may have a strong urge to tighten them to get rid of this "incorrect"feeling. Don't do it! Instead, continue to relax.

• When you relax deeply and then open your eyes gently, they may begin to

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sting and you may feel some pain or aching. These sensations are a goodsign if they've been brought about solely through relaxation. Suchsymptoms are the release of your subconscious tension into your consciousmind. Your mind is now allowing you to experience feelings that it did notallow you to be aware of when your tension level was high. As youprogress, you will only experience this aching or stinging when you reachdeeper levels of relaxation. Once you have restored your normal vision, youwill not experience this discomfort at all because you have released all ofthe tension in your eyes.

♦ You may feel like blinking hard to replace the normal feeling that you are soaccustomed to having in your eyes. Don't do it! By blinking hard, youactually push down at the bottom your blink and tighten your eyes. Thistightening is then left in place when you open your eyes. Blinking hard willget rid of your pain and discomfort, but it does so by restoring your habituallevel of strain, causing it to become subconscious again.

♦ The true normal blink is relaxed and has no pushing down at the bottom.Instead, it is a mere tapping. It is as light as the wings of a butterfly andcannot be felt. Practice it consciously on occasion.

♦ The feeling of stinging and the strange unfocused feelings may be verystrong. Practice closing your eyes lightly when this uncomfortable feeling isoverwhelming and you are tempted to replace the tension. At first, you mayhave to close your eyes more than they are left open!

♦ Opening your eyes in this relaxed way you will give you your firstexperience of receptive vision. Light is coming into your eyes from a widecircle in front of you, left, right, up and down. Since you are seeingreceptively, this entire circle is a part of your new vision.

♦ Your clearest vision is now at the center of this wide field, and things areseen increasingly less well toward the periphery. You see objects directlybeside you very poorly. Put your hand out to the side of you and notice howvague your vision is of it when you look straight ahead. This is the wayeyesight is supposed to be. Seeing through lenses brings about tunnelvision where your peripheral vision is disregarded. Tunnel vision is seeingonly the chair in front of you and disregarding your hand out beside you, asif it was not a part of your visual field.

Identifying and releasing your eyestrain is a very important element in your recovery.The specific knowledge of your style of tensing will allow you to observe the physicalaspect of your tensing to see.

Mind andsight.com Revised 8/01© 2001 Mind & Sight Resources


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Disclaimer: This program is for educational purposes only, and not intended to replace the need for alicensed qualified physician. You must be under the direction of your eye doctor while attempting to applyany of the information presented_

Tailoring the Path to Your SpecificCondition

STEP 3 SUPPLEMENT

By Paul A. Anderson

If you are farsighted or have other problems using the Scenes Ladder, youwill find special assistance here to use the ladder effectively.

Difficulty Seeing the Objects Rung of the Ladder

When working with the Scenes Ladder, you may find that although you canmaintain your relaxation and tension free eyes when looking toward a blankor non-descript scene, you cannot maintain it with objects. In this case, lookat a blank wall with the object in your peripheral vision. You will find a point,perhaps ten feet away, where you can look toward the wall, maintain your

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relaxation, and see the object in you peripheral vision. (It will be blurry, asperipheral vision is much less sharp than central vision.)

As this gets easier, move your eyes closer to the object. This may beaccomplished in a short period or take you many weeks. With practice, youwill be able to look at the object directly without losing Relaxation Level IV.

Nearsightedness

If you are nearsighted and having difficulty using the scenes ladder, it maybe that you are making the mistake of trying to see clearly. Rememberseeing more clearly will not help if blinking hard or tensing in any wayproduces it. The objective of the Scenes Ladder practice is to give youexperience seeing receptively without mental or physical strain. Thisprepares you to see the next scene in the same manner.

What you need to learn is to open your eyes while being firmly in RelaxationLevel IV without tightening your eyes in any respect. Using a blank wall orother non-descript scenes will prepare you to see other more challengingscenes with out effort and strain. The preparation is the objective of thepractice. By gaining experience seeing effortlessly, you will be teaching yoursubconscious mind to let go and see. The time you spend seeing a blank wallwithout effort will be invaluable as you move up the scenes ladder.

Nearsightedness and Low Light

Almost everyone who is nearsighted has some degree of difficulty handlingbright light. It may help you to skip down to the instructions on overcomingyour difficulty with bright light, and work with this simultaneously with yournearsighted condition. Overcoming one will usually enable you to overcomethe other.

Nearsightedness and Astigmatism

If you have a fairly high degree of nearsightedness, you most commonly alsohave some degree of astigmatism. Recovery from your nearsightedness willalso resolve your astigmatism. They may be from separate strains or thesame strain, but in either case, relaxation to the effortless state will resolveboth.

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Farsightedness, presbyopia, reading distance difficulty

In this case, your strain is not with distance, but with closeness, so you needto practice with a different set of scenes. In order for you to learn to see withreceptive vision, use this Scenes Ladder:

6. Small print at readingdistance

5. Medium to large print atreading distance

4. Large familiar letters withmuch space in-between atreading distance

3. Large letters with muchspace in-between about 3 feetaway

2. Small objects such as a pen orpencil at reading distance

1. Blank paper at readingdistance

Amblyopia

Amblyopia can best be recovered by working with central fixation. See thesupplemental article for Step 1 titled Solving Your Inability to Relax andpractice with each eye individually, covering the good eye with a patch.Devote more practice time to the eye that sees less well.

Eesier

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Astigmatism Only

Again, this usually involves a problem with central fixation. Refer to thepractice in the supplement titled, Solving Your Inability to Relax.

Double or Multiple Vision

Use the regular Scenes Ladder to overcome this condition. Just rememberthat your eyes will not see a single image unless you are in Level IV or VRelaxation. The blank scenes on the first rung are especially importantbecause you must learn to see receptively before you will be able to practiceseeing other things well.

Seeing in Bright Light

In this case, your effort or strain is associated with bright light. You begin tostrain in the false notion that it will help you receive the light morecomfortably. Actually, the opposite is true. Practicing with this set of scenesbelow (while achieving Relaxation Level IV) will allow you to see once againin bright light without sunglasses:

5. The bright sun-lit sky

4. Trees, grass and othernatural scenes on a sunnyday

3. A shady sidewalk or theground on a sunny day

2. Objects indoors in a fairlybright room

1. Indoors, in a darkened room

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Seeing in Low Light

This condition is often associated with nearsightedness orfarsightedness/presbyopia. You may tense to low light and separately todistance. To overcome this type of strain, use the regular Scenes Ladder butgradually reduce the amount of surrounding light, starting with brightdaylight and proceeding to increasingly dimmer light for each scene.

www.mindandsight.com© 2001Mind & Sight ResourcesAll Rights Reserved. Material may be reproduced for personal use only

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