Yoga of Perfect Sight

Vision and Education

Poor sight is admitted to be the cause of retardation at school and it is commonly assumed that all disadvantages might be prevented by suitable glasses.

There is much more involved in defective vision, however, than mere inability to see the blackboard or to use the eyes without pain or discomfort. Defective vision is the result of an abnormal condition of the mind, the mind is under strain, and when the mind is under strain and is in an abnormal condition, the process of education cannot be conducted with advantage. By putting glasses on a child we may, in some cases, neutralize the effect of this condition and improve his mental faculties to some extent; but we do not alter fundamentally the condition of the mind, and by confirming it in a bad way we may make it worse.

Among the faculties of the mind which are impaired when the vision is impaired is the memory; and unless the strain of the mind is relieved, very little will be gained by putting glasses on a child to see better. The extraordinary memory and keenness of vision of primitive people was due to the mind at rest. Perfect memory and perfect sight go together.

Under the present educational system there is a constant compulsion on the children to remember. This compulsion always fails. It spoils both the memory and the sight. We remember without effort, just as we see without effort, and the harder we try to remember or see, the less we are able to do so.

The sort of things we remember are the things that interest us, and the reason children have difficulty in learning their lessons is because they are bored by them. Boredom is a condition of mental strain which affects the memory as well as eyesight. The fundamental reason, both for poor memory and poor eyesight in school children, in short, is our irrational and unnatural educational system. Montessori has taught us that it is only when children are interested that they can learn.

When one is not interested, one's mind is not under control, and without mental control one can neither learn nor see. Not only the memory but all other mental faculties are improved when the eyesight becomes normal. It is a common experience with patients cured of defective sight to find that their ability to do their work has improved.

A teacher reported that one of her pupils used to sit doing nothing all day long and apparently was not interested in anything. After the eye testing card was introduced in the classroom and his sight improved, he became anxious to learn, and speedily developed into one of the best students in the class. In other words, his eyes and his mind became normal. In another case symptoms of irritable temperament were quickly relieved when the vision became normal. It is always observed that when the sight is improved by relaxation methods, the faculties of the mind are also improved. Myopic patients, who use glasses all the time, often complain of loss of memory; when they learn how to rest the mind and avoid the use of glasses in reading, their memory is improved quickly.

From all these facts it is clear that the problem of education cannot be solved simply by putting glasses on the eyes of children. The children should be taught the right use of the eyes without effort or strain. They should be encouraged to read the Snellen test card daily with gentle blinking and do palming.

Besides the methods of mental relaxation, it is worth the trouble to teach children who have so-called incurable diseases how to enjoy themselves for long periods of time both in winter and summer. Their eyes as well as their bodies are kept in motion while playing games or engaging in sports which relieve the stare and strain that cause imperfect sight. It is so much more efficient and better than drugs.

Unfamiliar objects always cause strain on the minds of children. Hence children learning to read, write, draw, or sew, always suffer from defective vision, because of the unfamiliarity of the lines or objects with which they are working. They can be helped by chart reading daily and by games which keep them in motion.