optimal eye care, exercise for your eyes so you never need glasses



4👑☸ Cattāri Ariya-saccaṃ 四聖諦

☯🦍 eye-care

preserving quality of vision

This applies to just about everyone in the modern world. If you knew this when you were a kid and put it into practice, then you'd never need glasses. 

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Move it or lose it

I wish I had this brilliant insight like Jack when I was young. But now that I know the principle, I can at least maintain the vision quality that I do have.

Excerpt from Jack La Lanne's

"live young forever: 12 steps to optimum health, fitness & longevity."

(Jack lived to around 100 years, never needed glasses, was famous for doing 1000 pushups in 20min, and other feats of health and fitness.)

Your eyes need exercise just like any other muscle, especially in this day of pollution, television, driving and computers. I am a great believer in exercising my eyes. Like a camera or a pair of binoculars when you adjust the focusing mechanism. I like to exercise my eyes by changing my focus on various objects. Maybe it's my restless nature. I can't sit still for long and I constantly want to look around me, observe and learn. Could be my French heritage, or is it the fact that I feel so energetic and good about myself I just want to explore? Anyways, I use this characteristic of mine to exercise my eyes.

How do I do it? I grab a book with fine print (a telephone book will do, although with everyone owning a computer, I don't know how long the telephone company will continue to print books). Start by focusing on the small print, and then slowly bring the book up close to your face endeavoring to focus as it comes up to your nose. Oops! Now the Jones' and Smiths are really getting jumbled. Then quick as a flash I look out the window beyond Santa Monica, and try to focus on a sailboat way out near the horizon. Repeat this experiment several times a week. Look at objects up close and way out. And from distance again to up close.

This practice has enabled me to see clearly without glasses since I was in my teens, at which time the only focusing I did was at the candy counter at the corner store. I believe focusing the eyes to be a very useful eye-strenghthening exercise. However, the practice is only recommended for healthy eyes. If you have eye problems then your first course for action is to consult your eye doctor. He's the real professional, fully trained to treat abnormal eye conditions.

My version of Jack's insight

I make a point of standing while reading. Holding my book or e-ink kindle at a generally ergonomic posture and distance. But as I'm reading, I'm constantly changing the position of the book, telescoping, and even shifting up and down, left and right slightly, to force the eyes to constantly relax and change your shape to refocus and see clearly at various distances. This works in a sitting posture as well, but it just feels better to get the whole body moving, easier to keep spine, hips, shoulders, neck loose.

taiji rest of body

The rest of my body is doing easy simple taiji, no fixed pattern. Constantly shifting my weight from one leg to the other. Using the free arm and drawing taiji circles to circulate blood and qi throughout the whole body.

movement arouses vigor/energy

You'd think this is more tiring than sitting in a static position, but actually you feel much better, just like the water in the waves of the ocean in motion is clean and pure, and the static still water of a pond is full of algae and filth. 

☸ Lucid 24.org 🐘