Look and See
A Holistic Approach to Vision
by Elizabeth Abraham

In 1989, when I was 44 years old, I discovered to my amazement that it is possible for vision to get better. I began, with excitement and great hope, on the fascinating journey of healing the myopia, astigmatism, and lack of ability to see in 3D with which I had been suffering since childhood. In 1990, I took a professional training in order to learn how to help others with their own vision issues.

It soon became apparent to me that seeing is a much more complex, profound sense than is commonly supposed. Seeing not only happens in our physical eyes, but is connected to our whole way of being in the world.

Our level of awareness and attention, as well as how we use our eyes, makes a huge difference to how and what we see, hear, and feel. When we are mentally unfocused or disconnected from ourselves and our environment, we often see less clearly. It is easy for a nearsighted person who is not wearing glasses to blame her level of vision when she doesn’t see things. But was she actively paying attention, was she looking?

When I touch something I can feel the texture, the temperature, the shape of the object under my hand—but only if I am paying attention to the sensation of touch. I can sit with my hands in my lap listening to someone talking and not be aware of my hands at all, or of what they are touching. The receptors in my hands are performing the same function in both these examples; the only difference is in where I place my attention.

It is the same thing with vision. If we don’t pay attention, don’t look, how can we see what’s there? What is it that stops us from looking beyond what’s right in front of our noses? Perhaps you might like to take some time to discover your own answer to this question.

Looking with soft eyes

One of the things that cause eyestrain from reading and computer use is staring at the screen or the book with no awareness of the room around us or of the sensations in the body of the person who’s doing the staring.

I give my vision students a bookmark to use when they’re reading. I ask them to put it two pages ahead and when they come to it, do what it says: Breathe, blink, and change focus near to far as you look with soft eyes. Many people ask what “soft eyes” means.

The best way to know the meaning of the term “soft eyes” is to first experience “hard eyes.” Sit quietly and focus very intently on one thing, perhaps a letter on this page or something in the room. Concentrate intently on the object. Look at it to the exclusion of everything else. This is looking with hard eyes. Notice how your eyes and the rest of your body feel as you look for a few minutes with this degree of intensity.

Now close your eyes for a moment to rest them. Bring your awareness to your breathing and to the sensations in your body. When you open your eyes again, see the object in the centre of your gaze, allow your attention to move from detail to detail on the object and at the same time be aware of everything else around it. In other words, include your peripheral vision as you look at the object. Feel as if you’re looking from a place behind your eyes and receiving the image of the object rather than going out to grab it. This is looking with soft eyes. Does it feel any different from looking with hard eyes?

I suggest you take some time to sit or walk around while you look with soft eyes. The idea is to practice being able to look from detail to detail all over the object of central importance to you at the moment, and be aware of the periphery at the same time.

Because of the way the light focuses on the retina, central vision is clearer and more in our awareness than peripheral vision. We need both; we need to be aware of what we’re looking at in the context of everything around it.

What is it that causes us to look with hard eyes? Do you notice yourself using your eyes in this way when worrying, thinking particular thoughts, or doing certain tasks?

How can we learn to expand our view to include the whole picture while paying attention to something specific at the same time?

I invite you to begin right away by being more aware of your current habits of looking and seeing. Perhaps you can open up to “the more” of a situation by being curious and interested in both your inner process and the world around you as well as practicing using your eyes in this new way. Eventually, using central and peripheral vision simultaneously will become your new habit and you’ll see with more pleasure, ease, and clarity.

Elizabeth Abraham, founder of the Vision Education Centre in Toronto, Ontario, and co-founder of the Vision Educator Training Institute (www.visioneducators.com) has been teaching individuals and groups since 1991. She uses a holistic approach which includes movement and emotional healing as well as the Bates Method of Better Eyesight. Elizabeth can be reached at (416) 599-9202 or elizabeth@visioneducators.com. She will be teaching workshops in Edmonton, Alberta, in February and April 2012 for the Canadian Centre for Self-Healing. Contact Summer Bozohora, summer@csshealing.com, www.csshealing.com for details and to register.