Practical Techniques
Confidence in the harmlessness of light should be translated into practice by a process of gradual habituation. If the eyes shrink from sunlight when open, start by accustoming them to sunlight when they are closed. Sitting comfortably, lean back and, “letting go and thinking looseness,” close the eyes and turn them towards the sun. To avoid internal staring and the possibility of too prolonged an exposure to the light of any given portion of the retina, move the head gently but fairly rapidly from side to side. A lateral swing of a few inches will be quite sufficient, so long as it is kept up continuously.
In some persons sunning of the eyes will produce discomfort even when the lids are closed. Where this is the case, it will be as well to start by directing the eyes at the sky, and not directly at the sun. When the light of the sky seems tolerable, one may turn for short periods to the sun. As soon as any discomfort is felt, one should turn away, palm the eyes for a little, and then start again. The closed lids may be sunned for several minutes at a stretch (with brief interruptions for palming, if the need of it is felt); and the process should be repeated several times in the course of the day.
After a very little while most people will find that they can, without discomfort, take the sunlight upon the open eyes. The most satisfactory procedure is as follows. Cover one eye with the palm of the hand and, taking care to swing the head from side to side as before, allow the other eye to travel back and forth three or four times across the sun, blinking rapidly, lightly and easily as you do so. Then cover the eye that has been exposed to the sunlight and repeat the same process with the other eye. Alternate for a minute or so; then palm until the after-images disappear. When the eyes are uncovered, it will generally be found that vision has distinctly improved, while the organs feel relaxed and suffused with a warm sense of well-being.
When the open eyes are sunned one at a time, in the manner described above, the light seems far less dazzling than when both are sunned simultaneously. Because the illumination seems more intense, simultaneous sunning of both eyes may result in involuntary shrinking, which is then overcome by an effort of will that results, in its turn, in a state of tension. This condition may postpone the achievement of the complete relaxation which should normally follow the process of sunning. Nevertheless, those who wish to sun both eyes simultaneously may do so in moderation without any fear of harm. It may be noted that the process is accompanied, at first, by a copious discharge of tears and followed by after-images brighter and more lasting than those which attend the sunning of each eye separately. The tears are refreshing, and the after-images soon disappear with palming. On the whole, however, the method of sunning one eye at a time is to be preferred.
Harmlessness of Sunning
The enemies of Dr. Bates’s method are fond of telling hair-raising stories about the effects of sunning the eyes. Those who do it are solemnly warned that they will go blind, either at once or (when in fact this doesn’t happen) at some future date. From personal experience, as well as from fairly extensive enquiries among people who have taught and practised the technique, I am convinced that these stories are wholly untrue. When the eyes are sunned in the manner described in the preceding paragraphs, no harmful effects ever follow. On the contrary, the organs are agreeably relaxed, circulation is speeded up, and the vision is improved.
Moreover, many forms of inflammation, both of the eye and its lids, tend to clear up very rapidly when the eyes are sunned. There is nothing particularly surprising about these facts. Sunlight is a powerful germicide and, used in moderation, it acts as a valuable therapeutic agent when directed on the human body. There is no reason why it should not act upon the eyes in the same beneficial way as it acts on other external organs.
The sun produces harmful effects upon the eyes only when people stare fixedly at it. For example, after following the phases of an eclipse, many persons report a temporary impairment of vision, mounting sometimes to partial or even complete blindness. In almost all cases, the condition disappears after a short time, leaving the sufferer none the worse. Among the many thousands who have used the technique developed by Dr. Bates and his followers, a very few have had a similar experience. Neglecting their teachers’ advice to keep the head continuously swinging from side to side, they have stared fixedly at the sun. If the results are bad, they have only themselves to blame.
The truth of the matter is that, like everything else in the world, sunlight is good for us in reasonable quantities, bad when taken to excess or in the wrong way. If people are foolish enough to eat ten pounds of strawberries at a sitting, or swallow a quart of castor oil, or take a hundred aspirin tablets, they will have to suffer for their folly. Nevertheless, strawberries, castor oil and aspirin are freely sold. The fools must take their chance. It is the same with sunlight.
Every summer a great many silly people sun-bathe to the point of burning their skin, running a high fever, and even enlarging their spleens. Nevertheless sun bathing is permitted and encouraged, because it is pleasant and beneficial for people who do it reasonably. So too with the eyes. In spite of all the good advice that may be given, some imbeciles will stare fixedly at the sun and so temporarily impair their vision. This is no reason for discouraging those who have the sense to sun their eyes wisely from undertaking a practice which will certainly do them good.
Those who have learnt to take the sun on the closed and open eyes, will note a progressive diminution of their susceptibility to glare and bright illuminations. The fear of light and the discomfort caused by light will vanish, and along with them will go the tinted goggles, the frowns and grimaces, and the strain that is always associated with fear and discomfort.
To maintain normal reactions to light, one should carry over into active life a modified version of the sunning technique, which is practised during periods specially set aside for the purpose. If the light seems unpleasantly bright when one goes out of doors, one should close the eyes for a moment, “let go and think looseness,” then re-open as gently and relaxedly as possible. After this the eyes should be raised to the sun, which may be taken for a few seconds on the closed lids and afterwards (always with a swing of the head), on the open eyes. When one looks down again, the brightness of the world around will seem very tolerable, and there will be no sense of strain or tension. These procedures should be repeated at frequent intervals when one is out of doors on a bright day. They will help to keep the eyes in a state of dynamic relaxation and to improve the vision.
At night one may use a bright source of artificial light in lieu of the sun. For this purpose, as well as for reading, I have found a 150-watt spot- or flood-light very useful. These bulbs, which are like self-contained headlamps, with a curved and silvered back and a circular transparent front, through which the concentrated beam of light is projected, will give a thousand foot-candles at three or four feet. Using the same procedure as with the sun, one may take this light on the closed and open eyes. Improved relaxation, circulation and vision follow exactly as with the sun. Those who wish to increase the illumination may do so by reflecting the light from a spot-lamp into their eyes by means of a convex shaving mirror. At the focus of the mirror there will be warmth and illumination not greatly inferior to that of the sun itself, when looked at on a bright summer’s day.
CHAPTER IX, Central Fixation
In the present chapter and the two which follow I shall give an account of certain procedures designed to encourage mobility in the defective organs of vision. For more than half a century, as we have seen, experimental psychologists have proclaimed that adequate cognition of the external world depends upon movement. This fact is, obviously and on the face of it, enormously significant for vision. And yet, for some inexplicable reason, orthodox ophthalmologists have never paid the smallest attention to it. As a class, they have been, and still are, content to prescribe crutches for the mechanical palliation of symptoms, and to leave the matter at that. The first person to devote any serious thought to this manifestly important problem was Dr. W. H. Bates—and all he got for his pains was the professional cold shoulder and the reputation of being a crank, or even a quack.
Before describing any of the procedures designed to encourage habits of mobility, I shall give a brief account of the mental and physiological conditions, which make such procedures necessary. As explained in the first section of this book, attention is naturally mobile, and shifts continually
