Controlling the visual axes

by | health, Inner Game, Tim Gallwey

In this article, posted in the For Better Vision blog, in the Dr. Arkadiy Davydov shares his theory on the “Dynamic Fixation Method to Control Nearsightedness”

To improve your vision, it is important to understand the direction of the visual axes and the intersection point when looking at visual objects at different distances. In the last exercises, we found out that while gazing at close objects, the visual axes converge, and while moving the gaze to far-away objects, the visual axes diverge. It is easier for people with myopia to practice convergence. When looking into the distance, though, they do not visualize an intersection point for the object. One myopic person told me: «When I look at people, I direct my sight not at their faces, but at the air between me and them.» I was surprised that he understood how he saw things. Usually myopes do not clearly understand how they use their eyes. I have observed many people with myopia and have noticed that in most cases they can not play the inner game of vision. This term was created by the tennis coach Timothy Gallwey in his book The Inner Game of Tennis:
“In every human endeavor there are two arenas of engagement: the outer and the inner. The outer game is played on an external arena to overcome external obstacles to reach an external goal. The inner game takes place within the mind of the player and is played against such obstacles as fear, self-doubt, lapses in focus, and limiting concepts or assumptions. The inner game is played to overcome the self-imposed obstacles that prevent an individual or team from accessing their full potential.”
I mean The Inner Game of Vision when I tell you about extraocular muscle sense, warm-up exercises, relaxation massage, imagining visual axes and an intersection point, the fusion of left and right eye images. It is the level 1 of the inner game for developing the basic conditions. Soon I will tell you about some techniques to create flashes of clear vision, zooming of eye sight and other techniques. It is the level 2 of the inner game. The highest level 3 will be presented with The Space Games. In this lesson, you will learn how to control divergence with the help of your imagination and muscle sense. I will show you pictures to help you imagine (inner game) and pictures that you can see (outer game).
Lesson 14 – Controlling the visual axes

Look at the picture below. Direct your sight at the cross between the circles. When your visual axes are crossed on the monitor, you see one red and one green circle.
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Hold your index finger between your nose and monitor. If you see it doubled and both images of the finger are equally bright, it means that both eyes participate equally in the visual act. The picture below shows what you can see in this case of The Outer Game of Vision:
cva_2

Now the visual axes are converged and you can feel strain in the extraocular muscles at the bridge of the nose. The medial rectus muscles are working. In the diagram below you see the direction of the visual axes. If you feel the muscles and imagine the direction of the axes, you’re beginning to play The Inner Game of Vision:
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Now relax the medial rectus muscles and move the intersection point of the visual axes from the cross to an imaginary point behind the monitor as if you are looking into the distance. If both eyes participate equally in vision, the image of each circle will double. Ok, the divergence is complete. You can see two red circles, two green ones, and two crosses between them as in the picture below. You will notice that during divergence of the visual axes, the strain of the medial rectus muscles at the bridge of the nose decreases. If a person finds it easy to do this exercise, then he usually has a low degree of myopia. If it is hard to do this exercise, the person usually has medium or high myopia. The picture below is what you should see while doing this exercise and it shows The Outer Game of Vision:
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Now incline your head a little to the right or to the left so that both pairs of circles unite at one level. Control the medial and lateral rectus muscles. Try to fuse the middle circles. The picture below shows what you can see with fusion of the middle circles if both eyes work simultaneously. Middle circle opalescence shows the retina’s struggle for leadership. It is an impressive show of The Outer Game of Vision:
cva_55

The diagram below shows the placement of the visual axes like part of The Inner Game of Vision:
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It is necessary to understand that the intersection point of the visual axes is actually behind the screen surface. Most of these exercises are based on imagination, understanding, and control of the intersection point of the visual axes. If both eyes participate in vision equally, the images fuse and the intersection point is a point of binocular fixation. In looking around at objects, we move a point of bifixation in three-dimensional space by means of smooth pursuit movements and fast saccadic movements.
Love your eyes. Respect your eyes. Take care of your eyes.
Dr. A. Davydov

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