by Leo Anghart
Sensory alignment exercise
The purpose of this exercise is for you to become aware of which sense system is most natural to you – visual, auditory or feeling. This experience will also make you more aware of exactly how your visual system works. Do this exercise without any corrective lenses. It is easier if you do this with a friend to guide you, the explorer, through the experience.
Mark three points on the floor so they are a perfect triangle, with one point for each of the representational systems – visual, auditory and feeling. Make sure the visual has as good a view as possible. If possible, conduct this exercise outdoors.
First, ask the explorer to step into the auditory (the order in which you do the representational systems is not important).
Now begin to become more and more aware of the sounds around you. Become as auditory as possible. You may begin to notice tiny little sounds you were not aware of before. Also notice where in space the sounds come from. Some are very close, like my voice, some are very far off in the distance. When you are ready, begin to move very slowly … very slowly, taking tiny steps and begin to leave the auditory, and very gradually … very gradually move towards the visual. Notice the subtle changes that take place as you gradually move from the auditory to being between the two, and gradually become more and more visual. Now, as you stand there in the visual space, begin to notice the colors, the different shades of colors, and the contrast between light and shadow. Become aware of what’s close to you, and now begin to become aware of what’s in the middle ground, and what’s out there far away in the distance. Let your eyes roam around, jump easily from one object to another. Just enjoy the freedom to move. Let’s experiment and see if we can learn something. Find a point or an object that you can see clearly. Fix your eyes there, don’t allow them to move. Continue staring at that point without blinking, until you experience a change in what is in front of your eyes. What happens to your visual clarity and your visual field?
[Allow time to experience this.]
Most people find that their visual clarity begins to deteriorate, and their visual field begins to shrink and dim when they stare for a prolonged period of time. Your eyes want to be free and move around. Now, let’s do something else that’s very interesting. Locate an object that you can see relatively clearly. It can be the same one as before or something different. First, focus on it really hard. Then look at it a second time, but more softly. Notice that the more you focus, the less of everything else you can see. Your entire visual system closes down. Now look at the same object without focusing or staring rigidly and become aware of your breathing. Allow your visual focus to soften and expand … soften and expand, continuing to soften and relax until you can see not only the object but everything around it with the same soft focus. Notice how you can expand this farther and farther until you see everything in your visual field with soft focus … easily and naturally. Everything you see is equally important, and your eyes are in continuous movement. Here and there … out there … over here … moving easily, softly, naturally. You know how you can focus in on one detail and see only that, whilst still seeing the bigger picture? Did you know that you can do both at the same time? Pick an object, then look only at that object. Now soften your focus and bring in the rest of the picture. Keep moving your eyes. They love to roam around, easily, softly, naturally. Now begin to slowly, very slowly, move from the visual towards the feeling. Notice the gradual changes that happen when you begin to move, slowly, noticing all the subtle changes that take place as you move to the halfway point between visual and feeling. Continue to notice and to move towards the feeling. Standing now in the feeling space, begin to feel the ground under your feet. Feel the temperature, begin to sense the flow of air around you. Feel the rhythm of your breathing, easy … in … and out. Feel yourself being here right now, completely. Feel the feelings you have and enjoy being fully in touch with yourself and the environment, easily, softly, naturally. When you are ready, begin gradually to move, slowly. Now, move towards the auditory. Begin to sense the subtle changes that happen as you slowly move towards the auditory. What are the changes that let you know that you are beginning to move past the middle point, moving closer and closer to the auditory? Now you are back in the auditory.
Step outside the triangle and talk about your experiences and discoveries. If you like, go around and re-experience each point again. Then ask the following questions:
Show me whereabouts within the triangle you would be when listening to music.
Show me where you would be when watching a movie or visiting an art gallery. Where would you be within the triangle when you are listening to a discussion program on the radio, or when you are listening to a speaker in a seminar? This is an interesting one. Show me where you would be within the triangle when you have a strong intuition that something will turn out a certain way, and you are proved to be right – when you are most tuned in and confident about it. What happens when you change to soft focus?
Finally stand at the center of the triangle having equal access to all senses. What does it feel like?
[Most people feel exceptionally connected and in touch with the world. You have equal access to the three most important input channels.]
Think of three times in the past when you would like to have been this connected. As you cast your mind back, notice how the memory changes now that you have added this powerful connectedness. Go through the memories, one at a time. Select different contexts, for example, one episode may be at work, another may involve the way you interact with people, the third may be a communication with a member of your family. Notice how the memories change.
Now think of three times in the future when you plan to act from this state of connectedness. Again, work with three different contexts. In this way your mind begins to assimilate this resource and make it available to you in your daily life.
Finally make a note of your experience:
Personalities differ in visual systems
A Chicago-area optometrist who measured the vision of “multiples” as they switched personalities found “remarkable changes.” Kenneth Sheppherd (1983: 3) examined three of Bennett Braun’s patients in their various personalities. He told Brain Mind Bulletin that he found striking changes in such objective measurements as eye pressure and corneal curvature.
One patient needed a correction for near-sightedness nearly four times stronger in one personality than another. When she changed into a 6-year-old, her nearsightedness improved to the point that her original childhood prescription corrected her vision. Her teenage personality required an increase in prescription strength but had better vision than her adult selves.
Far-sightedness, astigmatism and color blindness also changed with a switch of personalities.
8. The Basic Principles of Vision Training
There is the old philosophical division between the objectivist who says, “When I see it I will believe it” and the subjectivist who says, “Believe and you will see.” Scientists aim to be totally objective and only believe what they can see and measure with instruments. However, many people feel that a human being is not just an accidental mix of chemicals that happened to fall together. A human being is more than its physical anatomy.
If you adhere rigidly to the objective model then you are limited by the sensitivity of your measuring equipment. Some say that we do not know yet what it is, because we do not have the equipment to measure this phenomenon. Vision is one of the senses that it is difficult to be scientific about. Currently, machines can only give an approximate measurement of the components of your eyesight. Your own perception of vision will always be a subjective one and it will vary from individual to individual. Another example is the perception of color. Each and every one of us has a slightly different perception of color. Science can measure the wavelength of light with precision but your eyes will see it in their own way.
Perceptions can also hold us back. For example, in the 1950s it was considered impossi
ble for people to influence their blood pressure and skin temperature. Then came biofeedback and it became possible to do just that. At one time it was considered impossible to run a mile in less than a minute. For many people it currently seems impossible that one could regain one’s eyesight. In fact we can do amazing things. There are many examples of people who have overcome serious illnesses without any medical assistance. Medicine is often powerless in the face of many health problems, yet the human mind has the power to effect very dramatic changes.
A very dramatic demonstration of this is the case of people with multiple personality disorder (MPD). Chicago psychiatrist Bennett Brown conducted an experiment with ten of his MPD patients. He had their eyes measured in three of their personalities. So we have ten people and 30 measurements. To the astonishment of the researchers they noticed objective measurable differences in the curvature of the cornea from one personality to another. Dramatic changes in visual acuity took place within the span of a few minutes as the patients changed from one personality to another. In fact, visual differences are only a minor part of the physical changes an MPD patient can go through when switching personality. Some of them have serious illnesses such as diabetes in one personality and not in others. Some are drug addicts in one personality but in another they can be completely normal individuals without drug dependency.
The multiple personality research is a very dramatic example of how the human body can physically change. Eyesight is really a simple thing to alter compared to serious systemic illnesses that a person with MPD can seemingly put on and take off like a raincoat.
This tells me that eyesight is not a hardware problem, it’s a software problem. The mind side of vision is perhaps more important than the physical side. Also, remember that most people are born with natural clear eyesight. Mother Nature has made certain that your most important sense will function perfectly for your entire life.
Your physical vision is what you see when you open your eyes and what happens in between the parts of your eyes that are involved in focusing and the retina. The nerve impulses from the cone cells in the retina develop into what we perceive as vision. This is what we know as the physical part of vision. It relates to what we perceive out in the world.
The larger “software” part of vision happens mainly in the visual cortex located at the back of the brain. Since software can be updated, this is one area where we can effect change in our ability to see.
Beliefs are concepts and ideas that we have taken to represent truth. Our beliefs surround our world like a fence. What lies outside feels to us as if it is not possible or not real. From research we know that the way we define what is believable or real is colored by our own belief structures. Interestingly enough, there are people who have to believe something before it can become real. Others must think of something as real before they can believe it is possible.
If you believe that something is possible then it is clearly much easier to achieve. If you think of something as impossible you are not likely to invest a lot of energy in trying to achieve it. Regaining your eyesight is a lot easier if you believe it to be within the realms of possibility. In fact, one of the main objectives of my two-day workshop is that people leave the session knowing how much influence they have over their eyesight. Of course, knowing what specific exercises you can do is part of that mindset. So let us do a little exercise that will help you achieve more clarity in your vision.
First of all, what is the status of your vision? Do you have near-sight or myopia? Or do you just need reading glasses – the medical term for this is presbyopia. Perhaps you are far-sighted or have astigmatism. Write down what you know about your vision status:
What do you think caused this? Pause and think about what you believe caused your vision condition to be what it is today. Write it down:
There are many ideas about what causes eyesight to deteriorate. In fact scientists do not yet fully understand what causes myopia, astigmatism and so on. So your ideas are just as good as any others.
For example, do you believe that vision problems are inherited? Many people feel that they have evidence to that effect. There are families where both parents wear glasses and all the children as well. This seems to support the theory that vision problems have a genetic disposition. Yet in other families everyone has good eyesight except one person. This does not seem to support the idea that near-sight is inherited.
Several studies have been undertaken to discover whether myopia is inherited. In the 1950s and 1960s several studies were made with Eskimos in Alaska. The early studies found virtually no myopia among Eskimos of any age. Later studies, made by Francis Young et al. (1969), found about 45 percent myopia in 253 children in one community. However, virtually none of the parents and grandparents of those children had any vision problems. So myopia does not seem to be inherited in the case of Eskimos. In fact, myopia and other vision problems are influenced by a number of genes, so genetic therapy for myopia is not likely for a long time, if ever.
Let me ask you another question. This is a magic question so just let your imagination run free: suppose in your sleep tonight, an angel or a fairy came to you and restored your vision so it was perfect. But since you are asleep you are unaware that this miracle has taken place. When you wake up tomorrow morning, what would be the first thing you would notice as different?
Please write down what it would be like. What would you feel, see and hear?
How would your day be different?
Would the relationship between you and others be different?]
Apart from not wearing glasses, what would others notice about you that is different?
What kind of person would you be?
The last question is an important one:
If you’d had perfect vision for the last five or ten years, where would you be in your life and what difference would it have made?
Take the time and really go inside and discover your answers to the above questions. Your mind will begin to focus on your goal of achieving natural clear eyesight. Regaining your eyesight involves not only the physical exercises but also an evolution of your personal identity. You will no longer be the same. You will have changed more than just your visual acuity. Your physical ability to see will have changed as well as your inner vision of yourself, and the world around you will also have changed. Think about it: if you can change your eyesight – what else can you do?
Updating your beliefs about vision
Our beliefs are very powerful. Positive ones can empower us to do amazing things. Limiting beliefs can severely restrict our potential. Beliefs are fascinating just because they are so potent. Beliefs can also represent boundaries around our reality. They filter our experience to fit their purpose. For example, if you believe that you are not a good dancer, this belief may be re-enforced by experiences of less than stellar performances in the real world. Your belief filters, which in this case are limiting, will make you take heed of any circumstances that support this limiting belief about yourself. All the mistakes you make when dancing take on crystal clarity in your mind. Past experiences rise up and add themselves to this witches’ brew. The final result is that you feel absolutely terrible and swear that you will never attempt to dance again. So the belief has served its purpose – and you hang up your dancing shoes.
Fortunately beliefs can just as easily reinforce our potential. Beliefs are systemic in nature, so a re-enforcing loop can be either negative – with the situation getting worse and more limiting, or positive – in which case you automatically begin to notice things that support your ability. If you believe that you are a good dancer then you will take notice of all the data that supports your abilities as a dancer, and you will remember how well you dance and how much you have enjoyed dancing in the past.
There are a couple of simple NLP processes you can do that will provide you with some tools to work with your beliefs. In this case the beliefs we are focusing on are the ones that deal with your ability to regain your
eyesight. First of all we will explore how you decide exactly what in your life is real and what is not.
Your reality strategy
Knowing the mechanics of how you create the inner code that tells you when something is real for you is of immense value. This is because this pattern can be used to reinforce the things that you want to experience strongly in your reality. Here is a way to check out the way you interpret your world.
1. Think about what you had for breakfast this morning. How do you experience this memory? Do you see the breakfast table in front of you? Notice whether you see this through your own eyes (associated), as if you are part of the scene, or do you see yourself as outside the picture looking in? Is the image in color or black and white? Also notice whereabouts in space this image is located in relation to yourself. Are there any sounds? Does the memory also include the sense of taste? Are emotions involved? Notice all the sensory qualities that make up your experience. Write down the sensory qualities of how you experienced your breakfast.
2. Now change one element of your experience. For example, if you had cereal, change that into something else you might have chosen. Suppose you’d had toast instead, now how do you experience the scenario? Go through the same modalities you checked out before and notice if there are any changes. There are likely to be one or two significant differences. In some cases these will be obvious. For instance, the picture may now have become black and white, whereas it was in full color during the real experience. For other people the differences may be much more subtle. The position in space where the image resides is often of great significance. If the picture moved out by say 10 cm, that could be the difference in your world between something that seems real and something that is imaginary. Write down the way you experienced the imaginary scenario:
