Fishgirl Speaks

Occasional Pirate

It's been about a week of vision fitness work. So far, so good. I haven't spent a tremendous amount of time on it, but every little bit helps. Even just being more aware of my eye health is helpful. What is it they say? Admitting it is half the battle. Something like that. Anyway, here are some of the tools I've been working with:

Glasses off - Letting my eyes do their thing with no correction. Enjoying unfiltered, unadulterated sunlight through closed eyes for brief periods of time (morning or evening sun, not afternoon). What I really like about having glasses off is having a more even picture. Everything is the same blur, instead of just the edges of my vision. This definitely helps me be more aware of my peripheral vision. Of course, wearing contact lenses (which I haven't done in a few years) doesn't have this problem. It's also nice to know that there are simple things I can do that don't require crystal clear vision.

Zooming - This involves focusing on a near object, like my thumb, then looking around it, and focusing on something farther away. So much of what we do is at a fixed focal length - books, TV, computers - that this helps strengthen the ability to refocus. It feels like kind of like eyeball pushups. Or this:

 

Palming - Palming is easy to do before or after meditation. By placing the palms over my closed eyes, I can direct healing energy toward them, and visualize things like blood flow/increased oxygen and essential nutrients flowing toward my eyes, and toxins flowing away.

Yawning - Intentional yawning helps wash the eyes and keep them most. Did I just make you yawn?

Patch - By patching my dominant eye, I'm strenthening my other eye - this case, my left. I wear the eye patch usually in the evening when I'm puttering around, not working as much, and also when I do the zooming. I will also wear it for the eye chart exercises which are coming up. Naturally, I say a little "aarrrrrr" to myself when I put it on.

Coming up: Eye Chart work. I just posted two eye charts to practice with. Part of it will be to test my vision over time, and part of it is to practice being relaxed when reading an eye chart to elicit better results at the doc's office. Like I said, it's not a whole lot, but it IS manageable and helpful. The other thing I'm trying to practice is a softer focus when I'm working. Instead of being super intent on a small space, I widen the scope, and know that the info I need is right there. Feeling pretty optimistic about this, and the glorious weather doesn't hurt my outlook either!

The Eyes Have It

Many years ago, I read a book titled Seeing Without Glasses by Roberto Kaplan, O.D. and it made quite an impression on me. I was able to make some small changes to maintain my vision. That was then. Fast forward to now, and my eyes are growing worse. At my most recent eye appointment, I learned that I'm even losing some of my peripheral vision. In short, this sucks. So I made sure this book did not get packed in storage, and I'm finally getting back to it.

There are a whole bunch of exercises I will be working with. Or at least as many a I can manage. Adding stress to my day is decidedly not the point. So far they include things like wearing an eye patch, "zooming" and "palming." I'm starting to take my glasses off more often and can already feel my eyes relaxing a little. If you think about, glasses don't do anything for one's peripheral vision. So much of my work is highly focused (hi, jewelry?) that my eyes just don't get enough time "seeing and being" vs "looking and doing". Heck, I'll claim TV watching as a good way to experience a different focal length. More kung fu and outdoor time would certainly help, so it's on the list, too.

If you know me, you know I don't settle for "oh, you're just getting older." Nope. Don't do it. So the program started yesterday. I hope to check back in here at the ol' blog with updates now and then. Here is to improved eye health and clarity!