Learning To Focus & Eye Dryness Solution

Focusing by the eyes is performed so instantaneously that we take it for granted that the whole process is innately given. But focusing is actually something that our brains have learnt to do, because our eye muscles do not have the complexity to understand how far an object is, or what indeed should be within our attention. When something is in focus, the visual details become clearer, and in turn, our brain is 'rewarded' with information; this reward, teaches us how to achieve the same result faster in the future.

With my myopia, I'm learning how to focus on distant objects - in reality, it does not matter how far, because my vision has a refractive error, which makes things appear blurry beyond a certain point. So far, I've discovered that I can put distant objects into focus, if not for but a brief moment, if I relax my body and mind. Often it requires that I stare at a point of interest, without straining my eyes, then the object will become as clear as if I am wearing my glasses. I believe that the more often that the eyes can achieve this, then the better and faster it becomes at focusing.

A problem I encountered early on while trying to focus at distance, were my eyes drying up. As I relaxed my eyes, the objects would slowly come into focus, and then my eyes would suddenly begin to sting and tear up. This transient pain would be enough to cause all my eye muscles to tense up and all the learning effort would be wasted. I came to the conclusion, that perhaps, this was the reason why my myopia was so bad in the first place, that I'm not blinking correctly (sounds silly I know); but blinking lubricates the eyes, and prevents them drying out and hurting - Any type of pain, whether it is in the body or eyes, can create muscle tension. Since then, I've made a lot more progress by practicing blinking, and to blink at intervals while engaged in my focusing exercises.

I've always questioned why myopia is so prevalent in the Chinese population compared to the rest of the world, and my earlier discovery about blinking to relieve tension while 'focus learning' could be partly responsible for this. The Asian eyelid is formed in a noticeably different way from other races, in that many cases, it is insufficiently large enough cover the eyeball without engaging other muscles of the upper brow area. Dry eyes are a common problem in Asia, incidence of persistent dry eyes are estimated to be over 28% compared to 5% in the Caucasians. I believe that this problem can be corrected by learning to blink properly. One exercise that I developed for this, is to just close the eyes lightly, then relax the face. Feel the tension escaping from around the eyes and forehead, then slowly open the eyes without any strain or utilizing your brow muscles, just let the eyelids 'slide' open, keeping all your muscles relaxed while you do it. Then close your eyelids again gently, and repeat twenty times. This exercise will train you to blink fully, and prevent your eyes from drying up.

On a side note, there are many other reasons why people may suffer from dry eyes, from pollution to lack of sleep. The tears that lubricate your eyes are composed of not only water, but also salts and oils. If the oil glands in your eyelids become blocked, then your eyes are not getting the necessary oils to keep them wet. To overcome this, you can use a warm compress over your eyes - just soak a wash cloth in warm water, the fold it into a compress over your eyes for 5 to 10 minutes for several times a day - this will help unclog any blocked oil glands.

So keep your eyes relaxed. I know that many Asians are self-conscious of having 'slitty eyes' so they unconsciously open their eyes more than they should, putting the surrounding muscles under continuous tension, and exposing more of the eyeball area than the tears can lubricate. The forehead and brow muscles should remain relaxed, and if anyone has a subconscious fear of appearing 'slitty eyes' should deal with that psychological obstacle first, before dealing with dry eyes.