My recent post about Aldous Huxley’s Art of Seeing introduced his basic philosophy about the shortcomings in how we think about vision. Today, I want to explore some of his specific tactics for improving vision.
First, a person must believe in the possibility of improvement. There is simply no substitute for belief when it comes to benefiting from disciplined training. This is a two-fold requirement in that although it is important to complete certain training exercises, it is equally vital to avoid harmful habits that increase strain and damage vision. This is seen in the example of blinking. It helps to undergo blinking exercises every hour or two where a rapid series of blinks is followed by a series of slow blinks. However, it’s also critical to avoid the strain of blinking infrequently for prolonged periods. A modern opponent of blinking is the digital screen because by its very construction the eyes are encouraged to stare unblinkingly for long periods. (I personally recommend reducing screen brightness to the lowest tolerable level, an intervention that I believe has led to noticeable improvement in my own vision of late.)
Huxley describes an exercise called palming to help further reduce strain by relaxing the eye. Palming means simply covering the eyes until all light is blocked out. A strained eye will initially see spots of light so remain patient until these spots give way to uniform darkness. If this doesn’t happen right away, take a break, and then try again a little later. Part of the thinking behind this technique is that excessive light exposure is harmful to vision. On the other hand, Huxley points out that like with all other aspects of human function the eyes respond positively up to a certain dose of sunlight. Huxley recommends learning how to occasionally take quick glances at the sun while rapidly blinking, a skill he built up first by glancing quickly toward the sun with eyes shut, then gradually building up the eye’s response. The idea isn’t to actually look at the sun for more than the briefest moment (editor's note: never look directly at the sun), it’s to develop a healthy response to light so that we are able to enjoy a sunny day without straining uncovered eyes.
There are also a number of recommendations for more specific types of vision problems. For those unable to shift their focus quickly from one object to another, a technique of counting dice and dominoes while moving the eyes from one to the other is described in this book. He also explains flashing, a (fully clothed) technique where you train the eyes to ‘see’ quickly by glancing briefly at something, then trying to recall specific details moments later while the eyes are closed. For myopic eyes, he notes that these training activities should be adapted to incorporate focus transitions from far to near to far again.
Finally, never press, touch, or rub the eyeball. Everything around the eyeball – the brow, the orbital bone, the eyelid, and so on – keep us from needing to touch the eyeball in one way or another. This is by design! Ignoring the natural protective and maintenance structure in place around the eye to make direct contact with it violates our anatomy and risks damaging our vision.
