Habit /habət/ - a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.
Habits are actions we perform due to deeply established and automated pairs of stimuli and reactions. Our brain is a complex organ that is responsible for every single move we make, conscious or not. To manage the body and to conserve energy, the brain thrives for efficiency and therefore puts any repetitive actions on autopilot. The brain creates a solid neural pathway that initiates a very specific reaction anytime a corresponding stimuli is registered (i.e. a specific thought).
Some of these automated actions are quite helpful, some are even life saving. It would truly be a chore to actively initiate every step you take, to control every blink of an eye or to constantly remind yourself to breathe. It would be life threatening for the brain to require your active thoughts when you accidentally touch a burning stove top (instead, it just make you move your hand).
The problem is that the habits that are less helpful are as engraved in the brain as the helpful ones. To change them, one has to break the existing neuropathway and replace it (through repetitive action) with a new one. While it can be a bit of a chore to break a neuropathway, and therefore a habit, it is well within your power. The experts on neuroscience and neuroplasticity teach us that it takes somewhere around 70 days.
What eye related habits should you check and adjust so as to not jeopardize your vision practice?
KNOW YOUR EYES’ DAILY CYCLE
Start paying attention to when your vision is sharp and when it needs help. Are your eyes always tired at the same time? Does your vision give up on drury days?
Knowing how your eyes behave and when allows you to intervene before the undesirable state happens. Take a break, close your eyes or relax 15 minutes before the usual vision decline takes place. It is quite possible that you will significantly postpone it or that it will never show.
LOOK INTO THE DISTANCE
Most of us are guilty of looking at close up objects for hours at a time. For you, it may be the computer, the phone, the book you are reading, or the patchwork blanket you are making for your grandson’s birthday. Hours go by and you have not as much as lifted your head to look around.
In order to stay engaged and healthy, your eyes need to change the point of focus frequently. The 20-20-20 rule can be applied here. Every 20 minutes, look at least 20 feet (6 meters) away for 20 seconds. If that is not an easy thing to do, perhaps look away every time you finish typing an email, hang up your phone, reach the end of a chapter in your book, or change the thread color in the sewing machine. Just choose a trigger that is easy to remember without interrupting your flow of thoughts or your work.
MOVE YOUR HEAD
The eyes prefer looking from a more or less central position. They do not like keeping an upper or lower gaze, nor do they like looking through the corners of the eyes. When held for extensive periods of time, or when frequently repeated, all of those positions create strain. This happens to students who constantly switch between looking at their notebook and the whiteboard in the classroom, to people who switch their gaze among multiple computer screens, to workers checking dials on machines in the factory.
For people with good vision, the following is true. When something attracts their eyes, the eyes turn towards the object and they are immediately followed by the head. Such natural movement prevents astigmatism and other errors of refraction. Pay attention to what you do during the day. Do you keep your head still and only move your eyes? Is it always in the same direction? Once you know, make the choice to change it.
LOOK WITH CURIOSITY
Life in the 21st century is fast. We want everything done yesterday. For the most part we get it. We rush, we are hasty, we are demanding, thinking of the past and the future, daydreaming, never stopping. When it comes to seeing, we glance at things and move on, not giving our eyes a chance to look.
When you want to see something, look at it, don't just quickly glance. Stay with it, look gently with interest and curiosity. Give your eyes the time they need, so they can focus, and show you the images you desire.
STAY BROADLY AWARE
When you read a book, do you catch yourself totally drawn in, being fully unaware of anything outside of he black and white pages? Or are you still present in your room? When you take a walk, is the path in front of your feet the only thing you register? Do people passing by surprise you, or are you greatly aware of a bike approaching from behind?
If you want to see clearly, stay aware of what is around you. Refrain from staring forward. When you walk, notice the trees that are framing your path, the buildings and shop windows on the streets, notice your feet moving on the ground, people passing by, birds flying above your head.
BLINK OFTEN
That is, every 2-3 seconds.
Forget the myth about the connection between confidence and staring into someone’s eyes. Blinking is a way for the eyes to stay moisturized and healthy.
So, blink often. If it goes not come naturally to you, then instead of a staring contest, engage yourself in a blinking one. Blink as fast as you can for 30 seconds. Breathe while doing it.
It is unlikely that after this little blinking sprint your blinking won’t improve. You may even feel your vision to sharpen.
Finally, let’s address the elephant in the room, the EYEGLASSES.
REMOVE YOUR GLASSES
Well, if you want to see something without your glasses, you must start by removing them. Of course, that should be done safely and in situations when perfect vision is not required. Logically, keep your glasses on for driving and other activities that require your full focus.
SUNSET YOUR SUNGLASSES
A you will learn later in the program, our eyes are meant to be with light, be in the light. The light stimulates cones, the visual receptors responsible for clear seeing. It also stimulates other parts of the visual system, which is important for its overall health.
“I am light sensitive!”, you exclaim. We will help you with that in the Foundation modular. From now on though, wear a hat to shield your eyes from direct sunlight. If you really struggle, lower the darkness of your sunglasses over time, until you do not need them any more.
SAY GOOD BYE TO BIFOCAL OR MULTIFOCAL GLASSES
Bifocal and multifocal eyeglasses are a cursed invention. While they eliminate the need for multiple glasses, they also force your eyes to look under strenuous angles when adjusting your focus for various distances. They also limit the natural eye-head coordination. If you need vision correction for multiple distances, get yourself a set of glasses for each distance. No buts. It is temporary. You are about to begin a journey to the world where no glasses are necessary. So make it easier for your eyes to come along.
Dr. Bates who gave the foundation to natural vision improvement back in the early 1900 once said: “You have the same amount of time to use your eyes correctly as you have to use them wrongly.”
Work through adjusting your habits over time. Find a way to notice what you are doing and to correct your actions. You will soon learn to use your eyes correctly. The correct eyesight will soon replace your current habits and will prevent your vision improvement from taking D-tours.