AB,
A few years ago I did a few developmental opthamology techniques
and they definitely improved my concentration, and I think my eyesight,
as well.
The primary one you have perhaps read about is this: hold a pen about 12"
in front of your eyes, gradually bring it closer to your
face until you are slightly straining to keep it in focus. Hold it at
that point for as long as you comfortably can, starting with a few minutes
and over time work up to 20 minutes. As your focusing mechanism improves you can
bring the pen closer and hold it in focus for longer periods.
I also recently purchased an online course called "Super Vision", which
contains several vision exercises and techniques which are
designed to improve eyesight as well as focus and spatial memory.
It looks promising though I haven't yet had the time to really
drill the techniques thoroughly.
The course is available on the Trans4Mind website: http://www.trans4mind.com/mind-development/course1.html
I don't want to give the whole thing away (the course costs $39),
but here are a couple of exerpts:
Chinese Eye Massage
Amazingly, although there are over one billion Chinese, relatively few of them wear
glasses. The Chinese attribute this to special eye massage techniques based on
acupuncture. These have been officially promoted by the Chinese Government since
1949. Twice a day in nearly every school in China, and many factories as well, the
Chinese stop whatever they are doing and go through four exercises which take ten
minutes.
They are first asked to close their eyes and dream of far-off places, then begin
massaging the key pressure points around their eyes. These simple exercises are
believed to relax the focusing muscles of the eyes and increase blood circulation.
The net result is better vision and healthier eyes.
When doing the exercises the eyes should be closed, fingernails kept short and
hands clean. Massage lightly and slowly, don't use excessive pressure. Repeat every
exercise eight times.
1. Use thumbs to massage inside the eyebrow corners, the other fingers slightly
curled against the forehead.
2. Use the thumb and the index finger of one hand to massage either side of the
bridge of the nose. Press downward and then upward.
3. Place thumbs on the lower jaw, the index and middle fingers against both sides of
the nose near the nostrils. Massage with the index fingers.
4. With fingers curled and thumbs resting either side of the forehead use the sides of
the index fingers to massage outwards around the eyebrows.
5. Use the index fingers to massage from the bridge of the nose across the top of the
cheekbones, underneath the eyes.
Exercise 4: Near - Far
This exercise consists of shifting attention from something near to something far.
The emphasis is on focusing rather than eye movement.
Sit so you can see two objects at the same time: one placed nearby, about 1 foot
away, and the other placed behind about 15 feet away (approximating infinity for
practical purposes). The objects are aligned at the centre of your visual field, so that
it is easy to focus on either of them without shifting the gaze.
Alternate between looking at the near object and the far object and do this as quickly
as possible. When looking at the near object, the far object will be out of focus and
vice versa. Try to observe how these two states, near focus and distant, feel. Then
when you recall those two feelings you will find that you are exercising voluntary
control over your eye focus.
Start at one alternation per second and speed up gradually to three per second.
[This message has been edited by garics (edited February 14, 2006).]
