The First Principle Of Natural Vision: Relaxation

“If you have any sight at all, you should develop more – not by exercise, prodding and urging tired eyes further, but by easing and relaxing them, letting them see, ceasing to force them.”

– Margaret Darst Corbett

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In his book, Relearning To See: Improve Your Eyesight Naturally!, Natural Vision Teacher Thomas R. Quackenbush discusses three principles of Natural Vision that William H. Bates, M.D. discovered: Relaxation, Movement, and Central Fixation (Central Fixation is the medical term Dr. Bates used. Thomas Quackenbush called it Centralization. It is also referred to by other vision educators as Central Clarity, the term I prefer).

Relaxation is the foundational principle of Natural Vision. It is also the guiding principle of Natural Vision Improvement. The eyes must be relaxed in order to see clearly. For the eyes to be relaxed, first the mind must be relaxed. Tension in the mind leads to tension in the body, including the eyes, which lowers vision. Letting go of mental tension, physical tension, and relaxing the eyes improves vision.

Our senses are passive, including sight

According to Dr. William H. Bates:

“All methods of curing errors of refraction are simply different ways of obtaining rest.”

Dr. Bates goes on to say that our sense perceptions are passive, including eyesight:

“The act of seeing is passive. Things are seen, just as they are felt, or heard, or tasted, without effort or volition on the part of the subject. When sight is perfect, the letters on the test card are waiting, perfectly black and perfectly distinct, to be recognized. They do not have to be sought; they are there.”

My first experience of having clear sight was as Dr. Bates said, clear sight came to me. I didn’t have to make an effort to go get it. The black letters in the book I was reading seemed to jump off the page and offer themselves up to my eyes with perfect clarity. It happened to me, not because of something I was trying to do. I did nothing.

“The normal condition of the nerves of sense – of hearing, sight, taste, smell and touch – is one of rest. They can be acted upon; they cannot act.”

– William H. Bates, M.D.

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Experience relaxation

In the short introduction to her 1953 book, “How To Improve Your Sight: Simple Daily Drills In Relaxation,” Bates method teacher Margaret Darst Corbett guides the reader in a quick moment of relaxation. The following simple experience of just letting go, is at the heart of the Bates method and of natural vision:

“Try this. Take off your glasses and look at your watch. Do you have to bring it quite close? Or move it far away to tell the time? Now sit back comfortably in a chair, and close your eyes. Heave a couple of deep, easy sighs. Start turning your chin side to side, as if saying slowly, ‘No, no,’ to a little child. Do not let your lids clamp shut. Everything easy – another sigh. Now look at your watch again. Any clearer? Do your eyes feel more free?”

The Bates method for naturally relaxed vision

All of the Bates method practices are simply different ways of coaxing the mind and eyes into their naturally relaxed state, the very state necessary for normal clear eyesight.

For example, palming

In Dr. Bates’ words,

“All the methods used in the cure of errors of refraction are simply different ways of obtaining relaxation, and most patients, though by no means all, find it easiest to relax with their eyes shut. this usually lessens the strain to see, and in such cases is followed by a temporary or more lasting improvement in vision.

“Most patients are benefited merely by closing the eyes; and by alternately resting them for a few minutes or longer in this way and then opening them and looking at the Snellen test card for a second or less, flashes of improved vision are, as a rule, very quickly obtained. some temporarily obtain almost normal vision by this means; and in rare cases a complete cure has been effected, sometimes in less than an hour.

“Fig. 42. Palming. This is one of the most effective methods of obtaining relaxation of all the sensory nerves.”

– From “The Cure Of Imperfect Sight By Treatment Without Glasses” by William H. Bates, M.D.

So, natural vision improvement is about relaxation… can it be that simple?

Well, yes it can. Relaxation is probably the simplest thing. It requires us to do nothing but practice letting go of the mental strain and physical tension that has been interfering with our vision. Yes, simple, but easier said than done. Hence, it is a practice. And the Bates method is a guide, a road map, an educational way to practice.

“Before normal vision is possible, the eyes and their surrounding muscles and nerves must be completely relaxed. There must be an entire absence of strain, as this tends to keep the eyes rigid and fixed and produces staring – the first sign of defective vision. The normal eye is always moving – it is never still; continuous movement of the eye is absolutely essential for its healthy action, and this is only attained by complete relaxation of all its parts.”

– Harry Benjamin, N.D.

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Resources

• Relearning To See: Improve Your Eyesight Naturally! byThomas R. Quackenbush
• “The Cure Of Imperfect Sight By Treatment Without Glasses” by William H. Bates
• “How To Improve Your Sight” by Margaret Darst Corbett
• “Better Sight Without Glasses” by Harry Benjamin