Head Against Astigmatism
by Irena Castle
THE TRENDY HEAD TILT
People watching is something I like to engage in. In the store, at the airport, even while watching TV. I enjoy making guesses about their occupation, mindset, and happiness. All based on their appearance, the way they hold themselves, or the speed of their walk.
As a vision coach, I also pay special attention to the way they hold their head. Are they facing things straight on or are they side tracking? More often than one would think, people look at things sideways, or under an angle with their heads leaning towards one of their shoulders.
Perhaps tilting their head makes them feel thoughtful. Perhaps it is part of their style. Or do they simply lack confidence in looking other people straight in the eyes?
RECIPE FOR DISTORTED VISION
Whatever the reason, most of these people have one thing in common. They wear glasses. If you too are tilting your head, watch out! Know that this habit is one of the causes of distorted vision.
According to the expertise of some holistic ophthalmologists, when you tilt your head the eyes send a tilted image to the brain for interpretation. While the brain can handle the changes necessary for you to see images the way they are, straight and upright, the brain eventually gets tired of constantly making adjustments and it sends signals to the visual system demanding a permanent fix. Additionally, and in no time at all, your eye muscles get out of balance (it is strenuous to constantly hold the eyes in a rotated position), your cornea bulges and you are presented with a new acquaintance - Astigmatism.
It goes downhill from there. Your vision worsens. Distortion and doubling appear. Tension burdens the way you look. Now what?
HEAD STRAIGHT ON
The human eye likes to look at things straight. So to fix the problem, you need to reverse the habit and put your head back on your neck in a way that keeps the two eyes in a horizontal line.
BOOK ON THE HEAD
A simple way to train this is to balance a book on your head. Look in the mirror, fix your head to a position where the imaginary line between your eyes is parallel to the floor. Then place a book on your head. Watch a movie, walk around, do whatever you want to do while keeping the book from sliding off.
At first, you may feel like your head is out of balance. You may also feel like a robot, afraid of rotating your head and instead moving your whole body when called to look at something out of your eyes’ reach. That is all OK. Just get used to it. Then, as soon as you are comfortable, add motion to this practice. Start rotating your neck when you want to look at something to your left or right, just like you would without the book.
RELEASING ASTIGMATISM
If you already have astigmatism, additional practice may be needed for its release. However, getting the habit of tilting your head out of the way will make it way easier to achieve.
THE SIDE EFFECT
As it is really hard to balance a book on one’s head while slouching, it is likely that your overall posture improves while using this technique. Who would complain!
May your eyesight be boundless.
IC
/i-see/
