A few weeks ago, one of the Sensei I used to train with posted this quote about the mind-body experience:
The integration of the mind-body is an experience and not a concept. Without this experience, no matter how hard one trains, one cannot go beyond the mundane physical endeavor, but instead will sink in the tub of mediocracy.
“Ku: A Lifetime of Karate and Zen”
I find it interesting that, since I’ve been on my vision improvement journey, much of what I learned from taking karate and jujitsu has parallels to what I’ve learned about curing my vision naturally. It’s been many years since I last stepped into a dojo, but I now understand things that I didn’t understand way back then because of what I learned on my vision journey. Alternatively, there were things that I learned from karate and jujitsu that have made me understand what’s happening with my eyes.
The above quote not only applies to training in karate or jujitsu, it also applies to vision as well. Many of us lose our ability to see clearly for the simple fact that we’ve lost our mind-body experience and connection. We become so distracted with mundane tasks, like constantly checking our social media or going through an endless binge fest on Netflix, that we really don’t experience the things that we should. We have essentially shut off our minds from our bodies and now the body has to go into survival mode while our brain is left to do these singular, mediocre tasks.
This leads us down a path of tension that can spread throughout the entire body and manifest itself in all sorts of issues to include: foot issues, knee pain, hip pain, back and neck alignment issues, tension headaches and you guessed it, vision problems!
About a year ago, I started to realize that vision is more than just the eyes. It’s a full body experience and when you stop feeling what is going on not only in your body but what is going on outside your body, tension starts to set in. The parasympathetic nervous system goes beyond fight, flight or freeze and gets stuck in survival mode. It can remain in this state for a long time, and it’s hard to get out of it. This is one of the reasons many who have tried vision restoration and failed because they don’t quite understand how to get their nervous system to calm down and out of this state.
I stopped thinking about fixing my vision and started working on fixing the things I didn’t even realize were broken, starting with my mental awareness. As I slowly started to learn to relax and take in every moment and everything, I found the mind-body experience that I lost many years ago.
So what is this mind-body experience?
I’ll give you an example. You want to fix your vision and you try a technique like rocking, that I often speak of. You start rocking and the whole time you’re thinking, “If I do this, I’ll see clearly.” This is singular task thinking and because you are so focused on this one thing, you can’t see or experience anything else! You’ve blinded yourself from seeing and feeling everything else that is going on! Tension now has its clutches around you and you can’t escape it. You might understand the concept of rocking, but you’re not experiencing it!
So what do I experience through rocking? I see motion between two objects. It’s a pattern like waves repeatedly crashing on a beach. It’s relaxing to the point that it’s almost hypnotizing. I notice colors that I don’t normally pay attention to. I hear sounds of the room or environment that I’m in; I smell the air, and I feel the ground, all at the same time. My mind is connected to my body and my body is connected to everything that is going on around me. This is a full mind-body experience and once you have this experience, you’ll be surprised at how fast the body can correct itself and believe me, it goes beyond vision!
To find out more on how I restored my vision, be sure to check out my free basic journey guide.
