Back to Bates

So I’m afraid it’s back to Bates. The good thing about these Shaolin techniques is that whoever invented them came up with an ingenious method of shifting: counting leaves. I think it’s better than so-called sketching: normal eye shift, you can feel vibrations or shifting inside.

Tracking is also good: follow the bird in its flight or cars driving by.

Interestingly, near-far swing is not from Bates but everybody recommends it and in this case I agree that this one is beneficial. Definitely unsurpassed in eliminating near-point stress. But remember to keep your eyes relaxed while looking at the distance.

Update. I noticed recently that for myopia it’s the “far” part that really matters. The first phase is just to look at the distant object without straining. How do you eliminate staring? One good method is to start blinking often while still looking at the distance. Another one is while you are looking at something, keep shifting, for example if you look at the tree shift from one branch (a peak in the outline) to another all the way to the top.

Bates methods are not exactly exercises but rather correct visual habits. Some of them can be regarded as exercises but the thing about them is that they can be practiced anytime and anywhere. You don’t need an eye chart, you don’t need glasses, you don’t need anything. You can practice shifting, for example on any small object. You don’t need to set up special time to perform them. The idea is to develop good visual habits, like shifting, blinking and central fixation.