Yoga of Perfect Sight

Glaucoma and Stare

When a patient stares, an effort is always made to hold the eyes still without moving them. It is impossible to hold the eyes perfectly still. Trying to do the impossible always requires strain. This strain can be demonstrated to be a mental strain. With a mental strain, the memory and imagination become imperfect and imperfect sight results. Pain, fatigue, dizziness, are acquired or made worse.

Glaucoma, acute or chronic, has been produced by the stare. The most common symptoms of glaucoma are hardness of the eye-ball, contraction of the nasal field, appearance of a halo around lights. The look of the glaucoma patient is a clear indication of the stare. Such patients use the stare to improve their vision and are unconscious that an effort to see is being made. So it is good to teach these patients how to stare and how to relax. By staring, the patient then becomes conscious that it affects the sight and increases the tension, while by relaxation the severity of the glaucoma symptoms is lessened.

Many adults past middle life unconsciously stare and produce glaucoma. By practice they become conscious of the stare. When the stare is strong enough and sufficiently prolonged, it increases the hardness of the eye-ball. In the matter of treatment the great problem is to suggest measures which will enable the patient to demonstrate that the stare is the cause of increased tension of the eyeball in glaucoma.

When the forefinger of one hand is held about six inches to one side of the face and about six inches straight ahead, the patient, by moving the head and eyes from side to side slowly or rapidly, can imagine the movement of the finger from side to side. This movement of the finger is called variable swing. When the finger appears to move, the injurious stare is prevented.

Prolonged palming and long swing alternately also prove very helpful to break the habit of staring. One should learn to blink at each step while walking and imagine the side objects moving backwards. Two candles may be put one foot apart, and the patient shifts the sight from one candle flame to the other, then the candle flames appear to move in the opposite direction.

Sun treatment proves effective in glaucoma. The patient faces the sun with the eyes closed and moves a ball from one hand to the other. While moving the ball in this way he shifts to fall his eyes and head from side to side.

Allowing the rays of the sun to fall on the white part of the eye-ball is very effective in chronic cases of glaucoma. While facing the sun the patient is directed to look as far down as possible, and in this way the pupil is protected by the lower lid. Then by gently lifting the upper lid, only the white part of the eye is exposed, while the sun's rays strike directly upon this part of the eye-ball. The sun glass may then be used on the white part of the eye. Care should be taken to move the glass from side to side quickly. The length of time devoted to focussing the light on the white part of the eyes is never longer than a few seconds.

If the patient is not totally blind due to glaucoma, then in almost all cases the vision improves by relaxation treatment. Cases of early symptoms of glaucoma are cured quickly, sometimes within a few days. In such cases shifting the sight on the white lines of fine print proves very effective. When patients can read fine print comfortably without or with glasses in good light and in candlelight, they are quickly relieved of glaucoma symptoms. The pain and discomfort is chased away. It is because fine print cannot be read by strain; one can read it well only by relaxation.

A lady patient had developed the habit of strain and often suffered from the pain and discomfort of glaucoma. Her one eye was operated upon for glaucoma but there was no relief, the condition grew worse and worse. Her pain was completely cured and the vision considerably improved by sun treatment and relaxation. The orbital swing helped a great deal in her treatment.

Orbital swing: Move the index finger in the air in a circular way, follow the movement of the finger while moving the head and eyes with eyes closed. It seems as if the eye-ball is rolling in the orbit. When done properly, it brings quick relief from pain in the eye-balls.