Seeing clearly - a vision workshop
Relax, Refocus, Receive
A series developed by David Webber, GCFP, Buddhist and Bates System Expert
David Webber overcame severe optical degeneration through Awareness Through Movement® and went on to create his own series to help others improve their vision
“The conscious mind is almost entirely housed in the muscles of the eyes - ”
Thoughts, posture and breathing affect eyes, and eyes affect the way you experience and move through the world. Feel what it’s like to have relaxed eyes, and a quieter, more receptive nervous system.
Seeing Clearly is an Awareness Through Movement® program developed by Buddhist, Bates Vision and Feldenkrais Method® Practitioner David Webber to deal with, and even overcome, severe ocular disease. These lessons use slow, gentle – and sometimes downright odd - movements to relax, invigorate and coordinate our eyes. The neuromuscular changes that start in the eyes help release tension body-wide.
Seeing Clearly - Lesson 1 - Eyes, Head, Arms Together and Apart
The optic nerve, one of 12 cranial nerves, may be an extrusion of brain tissue. It’s two branches come from the eyes, cross and then feed into the optical cortex, where the information is processed. Image courtesy of wikipedia.
The themes of Relax, Refocus, Realign, and Receive are core to this series. So take it easy. What a challenge!
This lesson has been an exploration of the movement of the hips, maybe the breath and ribs, also the deep relaxation of the shoulders and arms. The optic nerve is also located quite close to the vagus nerve, which balances the 'fight/flight/freeze' and 'rest/digest' states.
This is a supine lesson.
For science nerd explorations of the optic and cranial nerves Read More.
Seeing Clearly - Lesson 2 - Relaxed Eyes
How rolling your hands like a massage tool can totally relax and release your eyes
Image courtesy of :www.fluidphysio.com.au
Lesson 2 is, delightfully, one long self massage with wrists rolling over your tummy, shoulders, hip flexors, and the back of the head where the optical cortex resides.The eyes barely move, but as the whole system relaxes, the optic nerve quiets and the eye muscles relax.
Lie on your back and your time with this one. Go for flow and see things a little differently when you let those relaxed orbs gently open. For science nerd links Read More.
Seeing Clearly - Lesson 3 - Breathing to See
Gazing with Closed Eyes for Deep Focus and Alignment
Focus on your hands as you breathe and see the inner deep. Image courtesy of Ashana.com
This week is about connecting eyes to hands to deeply feel the centerline and breath. With hands in prayer position, we simply hold a closed-eyes focus on the hands as the hands move, the head moves, the eyes. There is very little movement, but changes everything.
This lesson changes orientation from lying and sitting on a stool. If that doesn't work for you, no problem. But if you can explore the different relationships to gravity, do try.
For science nerd stuff on the muscles orienting the eyes and their enervation, Read More.
Seeing Clearly 4 - Easy Seeing
Find your groove, your deep space
Groove, breath and eyes. Image source: pexels.com
Lesson 4 is about groove. And breath. Finding your way to the deep space of relaxed eyes is the happy outcome. We will be counting and breathing, rolling hands and tapping fingers.
Some of the lesson done on the belly to give a different experience of the breath and different pull of gravity on the eyes. Not doing prone today? Fine. Just remember to rotate your palms to the ceiling to get the same chest and shoulder configuration. That part is important.
For science nerd explorations of the tiny muscles controlling focus Read More.
Seeing Clearly 5 - Improving Your Aim
Closed Eye Tracking for Blind Spots
Aiming is a full body exercise, starting with soft eyes that can hold their focus and connect down through the whole self. Image courtesy of Mt. Washington Hotel Golf Course.
Lesson 5 explores the way the eyes hold their gaze while the body moves around the eyes, while the eyes move, even differences when standing, lying on your side and back. We pay attention to the quality of the eyes’ movement, noticing any little jumps or jitters.
The lesson shifts from standing to lying on the back to lying on one side and then the other. All the better to feel and compare the weight of the eyes in different orientations. Also to feel how different muscles are involved in vision.
For science nerd exploration of facial muscles and the function of tears Read More.
Seeing Clearly - 6 - Seeing Deeply
Anatomy of the mouth, tongue and palate. Source: wikipedia
Lesson 5 is out there, or, rather, deep in. Using the tongue as a pointer and sensor, experience where, exactly, the eyes rest in the skull. It’s a strange and powerful experience.
This lesson starts on the back, with a few brief, optional rests on the side. For science nerd images, text and links,
Seeing Clearly 7 - Integrating Your Vision
Lesson 7 - Integrating Vision - returns to the mechanics of Lesson 1. Lying on the back, eyes open this time, David Webber uses the now-familiar movements of Lesson 1, the classic “Flexors and Extensors” lesson to return to our starting point, but with a new and fresh perspective.
This lesson brings it all together: the calmed nervous system, eye differentiation and coordination, awareness of the eyes’ shape, weight and location, and the velvet darkness of deep inner space. With open eyes, we move out into the world with a refreshed appreciation for vision and balance.
Botticelli Venus source: http:::www.italianrenaissance.org:botticelli-birth-of-venus
Seeing Clearly 8 - Telescope Eyes
Lesson 8 takes us deep into the eyes, behind the rods, cones, retinal to the optic nerves and back into the optical cortex. Imagining eyes as telescopes that passively accept the image, feel what it’s like to simply receive the world from a place of balance and grounding. For lesson details, images, science nerd links, and an extended quote from Dr. Carl Ginsberg, click here.
Girl gazes through telescope source-https:::littleastronomy.com:best-telescope-for-5-year-old-kids-and-under