Figure 5.1. Passport pictures taken ten years apart. My eyes had straightened by 75 percent.
Looking in a mirror was one of my main exercises. I used to stand in elevators if they had good light and, for a moment, look in a mirror at the bridge of my nose between both eyes. Often, however, people with cross-sightedness look far into a distance, and their cross-sightedness is decreased; sometimes it disappears. The reason is deep relaxation of the eyes.
The Melissa Exercise
The most wonderful exercise for cross-sightedness is the Melissa exercise. As mentioned earlier, Melissa, who works with me these days, had an accident in which her face, chest, and ribs were crushed by a truck. She had a great many reconstructive surgeries on her face. After one of these surgeries, her eye turned in and lost a lot of vision. She also saw double. The exercise of putting a small piece of paper in the middle of the face, then using a large piece of paper and waving to the side, was useful, but she saw double below and above it. So I simply devised a piece of paper that I would place on her nose so that it stretched from her forehead to her chin. I put masking tape on the top and bottom and had her throw a ball from hand to hand. She could see the ball with each eye, and her vision was not double for a while; this provided great relief for her visual system as well as her neck, for her neck hurt constantly due to the unevenness of her eyes.
This is a great exercise to help people with cross-sightedness. If you put a piece of paper between your eyes and throw a ball from side to side, at least a hundred times for about two minutes, the ball will disappear for a split second before you see the ball again with the other eye. That will create a very nice difference in your eyes. The dominant eye will no longer control the eye that trails.
Figure 5.2. As you do this exercise (the Melissa), the brain will use both eyes independently.
To a great extent, that’s the essence of all amblyopia and strabismus: a lazy eye. And a lazy eye is not lazy on its own. Often, it’s an eye that doesn’t see well. Sometimes, however, it’s an eye that sees very well, but the brain is not using it. The brain did not learn to use both eyes together, and so, throughout your life, one eye looked and the other one trailed. Until now, the brain did not learn to use both eyes together; it used only the strong or dominant eye. As you do this exercise, the brain will use both eyes independently.
With this division between the two eyes, each eye looks and sees the ball independently. The right eye will see the ball in the right hand; the left eye will see the ball in the left hand. There is a body/eye connection here that makes it very real for the body and the eyes. This is not a peripheral exercise. In fact, look at the ball. When you throw the ball from the right to the left or the left to the right, there is a moment when you do not see the ball as you throw it above your head. That’s good because in a short moment you will see the ball, and your hand will have to respond to what you see. Eye/hand coordination is very precious in this case because it makes it real to your brain that you are actually using the lazy eye, as well as the eye you always use. It’s not our purpose to use the lazy eye more than the eye that is always used. Our purpose in this exercise is to use both of them.
The use of both eyes may give you great relief. If it is hard for you to do a hundred repetitions, then start with ten, and palm after taking the paper off. If it’s easy, continue to do it three or four times a day. And, if that’s easy, then do it for ten minutes three times a day for a month. You will feel much looser, and your muscles will work much better. This happens for two reasons: first, because each eye works independently, which is a big, important first step; second, because each eye looks down and up to follow the ball.
The Melissa Exercise is very important for cross-sightedness, and I recommend that you practice it often. Try the following variations:
Clap: Throw the ball from hand to hand while wearing the piece of paper, and clap your hands before you catch the ball. That will really distract you and will also activate you in a way that will have your brain building new pathways to be able to see with the weaker eye.
So, for example, if your left eye is your weaker eye and you clap your hands before you catch the ball with one hand, it’s going to be easier for you to catch the ball on the right side than on the left side. With enough practice, however, it’s going to be easy to catch on both sides, and it’s going to start to be natural for you to see with your weaker eye.
Walk: Next is to walk as you throw the ball from hand to hand. Walk forward while throwing the ball from hand to hand. Walk backward. Walk sideways. It should become more and more challenging but also more and more relaxing for your eyes.
Jump: Now try to jump when you throw the ball from hand to hand. Jump on the ground or, if you are able to, on a trampoline, which is the best method. You will see the periphery moving in the background while wearing the Melissa paper on your face. You’ll also be throwing the ball from hand to hand and trying to catch it each time you bounce.
Combinations: Challenge yourself to combine all levels of the Melissa exercise. Walk while throwing the ball from hand to hand, and also clap your hands before you catch the ball. Walk backward and sideways while you combine clapping. Combine clapping with jumping or bouncing on the trampoline. Or, finally, the most difficult variation of the Melissa exercise is to keep both eyes open, throw the ball up, and then close the eye that does not need to see the ball.
For example, with your two eyes open, throw the ball from the right hand to the left hand. As the ball reaches the area above your head, close your right eye, and with the left eye you will see the ball. Catch the ball with your left hand and then open both eyes. Throw the ball above your head again and, as the ball reaches the area above your head where the two eyes cannot see, close your left eye and catch the ball with your right hand.
Do this for a while and then go back to the original Melissa exercise. Perform the most basic variation, keeping your two eyes open, while throwing the ball above your head and catching it. See how much you have improved, and how simple this original method seems now that you have expanded your comfort zone and have adapted to your new challenges.
Beads on a String
Your job in this exercise is to teach your brain what to focus on and what not to focus on.
First, make a string of beads with five different colors of beads on it. (We have many of these available for purchase at the School for Self-Healing.) Tie one end of the string of beads to something in front of you, like the back of a chair or the railing of your patio. Now hold the string of beads in front of your eyes. Focus on the different colored beads. As you focus on each separate bead, every bead that you focus on must appear to be a single bead. Every bead that you don’t focus on must appear to be doubled.