article by Michael Braunstein via heartlandhealing.com | img by JodiWomack

There are many who consider Aldous Huxley a visionary writer. His Brave New World is a classic often set next to Orwell’s 1984 as mid-century visions of a suspect future. For all his insight as a writer, though, Huxley was nearly blind by the age of sixteen. In 1942 he wrote the book, The Art of Seeing. “At sixteen I had to depend on Braille for my reading and a guide for my walking,” wrote Huxley. Thanks to the Bates Method, “I am now wearing no glasses, reading, and all without strain . . . My vision . . . is about twice as good as it used to be when I wore spectacles, and before I had learned the art of seeing.”

The man Huxley thanked was Dr. William H. Bates, an ophthalmologist trained at Cornell University. Born in 1865, Bates attained his medical degree and entered a residency at Columbia University Hospital in New York. It was during this time that he first began to develop what is known as The Bates Method for Better Eyesight Without Glasses.

Bates’ logic is a classic observation about the allopathic medical approach of Western medicine. Id est, Western medicine is more concerned with treating symptoms than in healing. In the case of eyeglasses, it was clear to Bates. Corrective lenses correct refraction of light but do nothing to heal or correct eye problems. In fact, corrective lenses, in Bates’ opinion, and that of many others, actually harmed and interfered with the ability of the eye to correct vision. This viewpoint did not sit well with Bates’ superiors at Columbia whose charge it was to train doctors who would then prescribe eyeglasses. Their paradigm was being challenged.

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RELAX. DON’T DO IT
There are four basic exercises in the Bates Method after the learning of the mental skill of central fixation.

• Palming — This is the primary technique of relaxation. Though many conventional ophthalmologists are not learned in the Bates Method, many are familiar with this technique. It is a classic for optical relaxation. And the mind relaxes easily too. Palming relaxes the eyes by closing all light out. One rests the head on the hands with the heels of the palms against the cheekbones. No pressure should be placed on the eyeball. The result, Bates noted, is a complete relaxation of the eyes and the optic nerve. After just a few minutes, Bates teachers measure an immediate, usually temporary, visual improvement. Palming remains in the repertoire of the student throughout.
• Sunning — This one is easy. Bates recognized that our relationship to light is essential for seeing. Not only that, but he intuited that some form of nourishment not entirely understood came from sunning. Just recently, research has upheld his ideas. The sun is good for us. In the exercise of sunning, the head is turned toward the sun with the eyes closed, of course. Gently rocking the head back and forth, the mental image of bathing the eyes in light is encouraged. The eye regains a trusting relationship with light.
• Swinging — Not related to the late musical trend by the same name, swinging is the exercise of gently swaying the whole body back and forth while focusing on a fingertip held out in front of the eyes. The shifting back and forth, when done as directed, helps integrate the peripheral sight input and the point of focus input.
• Blinking — Yet another way to relax and massage the eyes. Combining this with breathing exercises is a good way to integrate the senses of the entire body.

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