EYEnews: CLARITY, FOCUS AND VISION FOR YOUR SIGHT AND YOUR LIFE
For the past 30 years I've known that your eyes are deeply connected to the rest of your total being and can be affected - either positively or negatively - by your mind, body and emotions. Now, researchers are confirming this in surprising ways. Even Nintendo is getting into vision training, with a video game that claims to "offer vision training in minutes a day."
Three Items from the World of Vision:
1. Tight Under the Collar? A better term for white-collar workers might be "tight-collar" workers, considering the results of this study:
Researchers at Cornell University found that 2 out of 3 white-collar workers were wearing too-tight shirt collars. When given a vision test, it was found that the ability of their retinas to make rapid adjustments to changes in light was being impaired.
"The eyes are extremely dependent on adequate blood flow," says Cornell University researcher Susan Watkins. "For anyone whose work depends on vision, [Ed. note: Isn't that all of us?] the degree of impairment caused by a tight shirt collar could be significant."
The best rule of thumb: Can you freely pass two fingers between the shirt collar and your neck?
Source: Reader's Digest
2. Eyes Open, Mind Shut? Remember the last time you stumbled on a step or, even worse, walked smack-dab into a wall? Chances are it happened when you were under stress. The connection between stress and such motor mishaps has long been accepted, but now two researchers have added a scientific explanation: Psychological stress affects how much we see with our peripheral vision.
In a series of studies, Mark B Andersen, Ph.D., of Beloit College and Jean M Williams, Ph.D., of the University of Arizona, asked volunteers to report recent negative events and hassles in their lives. The more stressful events a person reported, the more likely he or she was to have relatively narrow peripheral eyesight when forced to respond quickly to a visually demanding task.
Source: Longevity Magazine
[Ed. note: I find that the reverse is true - and more helpful: Becoming more aware of your peripheral awareness can actually REDUCE stress. Being more conscious of your total visual world requires you to be more present and alert. When you are more fully present and alert, you're less distracted by your stressful thoughts and feelings. Total Visual Awareness can make you more relaxed and clear-headed. It's like a meditation with your eyes - and mind - open.]
3. Can a Video Game Exercise Your Eyes? That's the claim of Ninentdo, which has recently released Flash Focus, a video game designed to improve such visual skills as Hand-Eye Coordination, Peripheral Vision, Dynamic Visual Acuity, Momentary Vision, and Eye Movement. I haven't tried it, so I can't say how well it works, but I certainly agree with the underlying premise: You can train your vision and change the way you see.
Care for your eyes,
President
Cambridge Institute for Better Vision
marty@bettervision.com
P.S. Read previous issues of EYENEWS here.
