How LEGO Building Builds Your Vision
by Irena Castle
LEGO has been around for a while. Its indestructible blocks are famous for unlimited playtime, fun, and the development of creativity. When thinking of LEGO more broadly, what comes to mind are competitions, exhibits, movies, wearables and collectibles. Rarely do we think of the blocks as a tool for vision development. And yet a simple task of finding a red, flat, rectangular piece with two connectors in a pile of 100 pieces will train not one, but several visual skills.
LOOKING WITH INTEREST
Let’s start with the most obvious one, and that is looking. You must look in order to find something. You must look at the blocks, not past them, in order to select the one you need. LEGO blocks are colorful, attracting the eyes and promoting visual engagement, which then enables active looking. Additionally, given the task, such looking is performed with interest. Chances are that finding the block will allow you to move your building project forward, and so your looking has a purpose, which prevents staring and strain of the visual system.
PROPER FOCUS
Next comes focus training. Due to the small size of the blocks you will have to hone onto your skills of looking at small objects. As you do, notice that even a very small piece cannot be seen clearly all at once. Thrive to see only a very small part of the little piece clearly and accept that the rest of it is - well - less clear. Later, once your LEGO project is finished, you may realize that your vision has sharpened overall.
SHIFTING OF FOCUS
Finally, sorting through a pile of little blocks promotes constant shifting of the already present focus. In order to find the block you need, your eyes must constantly move, look from a block to a block, so that your brain can analyze them and decide whether you have found what you were looking for. Practicing shifting in this pleasant way will help with the development of your voluntary saccades. Driven by interest first, your eyes will happily move around and thus improve a skill without which clear seeing is not possible.
So, the next time you come across a LEGO enthusiast or a child, volunteer yourself for the job of finding the pieces necessary for the project. Your eyes are going to love you for it.
May your eyesight be reimagined,
IC
/i-see/
Legal disclaimer: LEGO is a registered trademark of LEGO Group. Neither LEGO Group nor any of their affiliates are in any way associated with the author or this article.
About the author:
Irena Castle is a vision coach and innovator in the field of eyesight development, and the founder of Overbound.
She specializes in delivering better eyesight to athletes and individuals who express a burning desire to overcome boundaries of their visual limitations, and to maximize their potential in sports, career or life. In her practice Irena combines vision teachings of Bates with principles of neuro-psychology, and with specialized sports vision techniques.
In addition to her positive impact on her clients' vision improvement journey, Irena's most valuable contribution to the world of natural vision improvement is the invention and introduction of the Overbound Clarity Eyesight Trainer, a vision obstruction system that simplifies the practice of many vision development techniques, and increases their effectiveness. The device is currently helping vision students in nearly 30 countries around the world.
Irena can be contacted via overboundeyesight.com (for natural vision improvement), or overboundathletics.com (for sports vision development).
