Swinging
Whenever we move, objects in the external world appear to move in the opposite direction. Those which are nearest to us seem to move most rapidly, and the rate of apparent movement diminishes with the increase of distance from the eyes, so that objects at a great distance seem to be almost stationary, even when viewed from an express train or a speeding car.
The various procedures, to which Dr. Bates gave the name of “swinging,” are primarily designed to make the person who practises them aware of this apparent movement of external objects and, by this means, to encourage a condition of free mobility in the sensing apparatus and the controlling mind. Where such mobility exists, psychological and ocular tensions are relaxed, staring is replaced by rapidly shifting central fixation, and there is a marked improvement in vision.
It is possible to invent and practise a great number of swings; but all of them are variations on one or other of a few fundamental types, which alone will be described.
The Short Swing should be performed while standing in front of a window, or in a doorway, or anywhere else where one can arrange to look past some near-by object at some more distant object. For example, the upright bar of a window frame may serve as the near-by object, while a tree or part of a house on the other side of the street will serve as the more distant object. Inside a room, the near-by object can be a tall standard lamp, or a piece of string hanging from the ceiling light, while a picture on the wall, or an ornament on the mantelpiece will do for the more distant object. Standing with the feet about eighteen inches apart, one should swing the body, regularly, gently and not too rapidly, from side to side, throwing the weight on to each foot alternately.
The swing should not be wide—less than a foot in all is quite sufficient—and the head should not be turned in relation to the shoulders, but should remain looking straight ahead, moving in unison with the trunk. As one swings to the right, the near-by object (say the window bar) will appear to move to the left across the more distant object. As one swings to the left, it will appear to move to the right. This apparent movement should be noted during a number of swings; then the eyes should be closed. Still swinging from side to side, visualize the apparent movement of the window bar across the tree at the end of the garden or the house across the street. Then open again and, during a few more swings, watch the real bar as it moves back and forth. Close again and visualize. And so on for a minute or two, or longer.
This procedure has several advantages. It makes the mind aware of movement and, so to say, friendly to it. It helps to break the defective eye’s bad habit of staring. It produces automatically a shifting of attention and of the fovea centralis. All these contribute directly to the dynamic relaxation of the organs of seeing. An indirect contribution to the same result comes from the rhythmic movement of swinging, which acts upon mind and body in the same soothing way as do the movements of the cradle and the rocking chair.
To these soothing effects of the Short Swing, the Long Swing adds direct and beneficial action upon the spine by gentle and repeated twisting. When practising this swing, one stands with the feet apart, as before; but instead of confining the movement of the body to a pendulum-like short sway, one swings in a wider arc, turning the trunk upon the hips and the head upon the shoulders as one does so. As one swings to the left, the weight is thrown on to the left foot, while the heel of the right is lifted. Conversely, the left heel is lifted as one turns to the right.
The eyes, as they travel from one side to the other, cover an arc of one hundred and eighty degrees, or even more, and the external world seems to oscillate back and forth in a wide sweep. No attempt should be made to pay attention to anything in the eyes’ moving sense-field. The attitude of mind, while one is practising this swing, should be one of complete passivity and indifference. One just “lets the world go by” without caring, without even making any effort to perceive what it is that is going by. The selecting and perceiving mind is out of action, and one is down to pure sensing—a physiological organism taking a holiday from the conscious “I.”
Such a holiday from the self is extremely restful. Moreover, since it is generally the conscious “I” that is responsible for poor seeing (either through harbouring negative emotions, or through misdirecting its attention, or in some other way ignoring Nature’s rules for normal visual functioning) this temporary inhibition of the self’s activities is helpful in breaking the old habits of improper use and clearing the ground for the building up of new and better habits. In the Long Swing, the sensing apparatus temporarily escapes from its bondage to a mind that misuses it by immobilizing it into a rigid stare, and learns once more how to function in a condition of free and unstrained mobility.
A variant of the Short Swing, which may be practised while sitting and in an inconspicuous manner, has been called the Pencil Swing. In this swing, the near-by object is a pencil (or one’s own forefinger will do just as well) held vertically about six inches in front of the nose. Swinging the head from side to side, one notes the apparent movement of the pencil across the more distant features of one’s environment. The eyes should be closed from time to time, and this apparent movement should be followed with the inward eye of the imagination. When the eyes are opened, they may be focused alternately on the pencil and on the more distant objects across which it seems to pass.
Swinging can and should be carried over from the periods specially set aside for it into the activities of daily life. Perfect vision is impossible without continuous movement of the sensing apparatus and the attention; and it is by cultivating an awareness of the apparent movements of external objects that the staring eyes and immobilized mind can most easily and rapidly be educated out of their sight-impairing habits. Hence, for those with defective vision, the importance of applying the principle of the swing in every variety of visual situation.
To begin with, whenever you move, let the world go by and be aware of its going by. Note, as you walk or travel by car or bus, the approach and passing of trees, houses, lamp-posts, pavements. Indoors, when you turn your head, be conscious of the way in which near-by objects move across more distant objects. By becoming conscious of the seeming mobility of the environment, you increase the mobility of the eyes and mind and so create the conditions for better vision.
Other Aids to Mobility
Swinging is of fundamental importance in the re-establishment of normal visual functioning, and should be practised as much as possible. But there are also other procedures for cultivating habits of mobility and, indirectly, of central fixation. Here are a few of them.
Throw up a rubber ball with the right hand, and catch it, as it falls, in the left. Or, better, take a ball in either hand, throw up that in the right hand and, while it is in the air, transfer the ball in the left hand to the right hand, then use the left hand to catch the other ball as it comes down. By means of this rudimentary form of juggling one can impart to simple ball throwing a continuous easy rhythm, not present when a single ball is used. The eyes should be on the ball as it is thrown up by the right hand, should follow it up to the top of its trajectory and down again till it is caught by the left hand. (They should not stare up into the sky, waiting for the ball to appear within their field of vision.) After a long spell of close work, a brief interlude of this simple juggling will do much to loosen and relax the eyes.
Out of doors, this procedure can be used, not only to remind the eyes to move, but also to establish habits of light tolerance. Start by throwing the ball up against a
