FIRST PRINCIPLES OF RELAXATION FOR BETTER VISION: PALMING

The position: open the fingers of one hand wide, palm toward your face. Lay the little finger of

the other hand across the base of the four open fingers on the palm. This forms an inverted V

where your palms meet. That V is the bridge of your glasses and all of you who wear glasses

know where the bridge of the glasses belongs. Put it there, on the bridge of your nose.

Automatically, the hollow of the palms will be correctly placed over the orbits of the eyes. Keep

the eyes closed in rest, collapse the tension of the fingers, soften the palms, loosen the wrists and

rest your elbows on your knees or on a table, desk or pillow on your lap so that the neck will be

on a line with the spine. If you need to bend forward, bend from the waist in order to keep the

neck and spine straight. Every person's own palms fit the orbits of his own eyes perfectly, so

experiment until you find just the right position. The sun dots and dashes will disappear in

palming.

The reason for palming is that palming rests the eyes. Rest soothes the muscles but recharges the

nerves so you are loosening the tight muscles that pull your eyes off focus. At the same time you

are building power in the optic nerve and the retinal nerves. If you palm after flooding the eyes

with sunshine, you imprison the light until the retinal nerves absorb it. That builds their power

and health and restores vision to many blind eyes.

Do not be "eye conscious." In all these drills one should not give attention to the physical eyes,

which are involuntary organs, any more than you would to the heart, also an involuntary organ. If

you sit and look at the inside of your eyes, you defeat your purpose. Some declare that they see

bright colors moving or shadow shapes and lights. Think, instead, of something you enjoy—a

lovely trip, a beautiful scene, a charming experience, a happy social gathering, a book or a movie

that entertained you. When you take your hands down, the world should be brighter.

When and how long should one palm? Our answer is, "A little, often." Even covering your eyes

with the palms for the count of ten will give them a relaxed feeling again during a busy day, the

feeling you want them to memorize until it becomes a lifelong work habit.

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