Looking Far Away Professionally Method
The first method is called the Looking Far Away Professionally Method. For this, you need to download and print the chart on Mingmu.net, and put it up on a wall at eye level. The poster has seven Chinese characters that read, “My eyes are healthy and clear”.
Choose one Chinese character according to your current level of eyesight, and adjust the distance you stand away from it, so it is just a little too blurry for you to see clearly. A few meters would normally be enough. Face the chosen character and sit down once you are ready to start. The method is as follows:
- – Close your eyes and rest your mind for a minute.
- – Slowly open them, staring at the character. Do not blink.
- – Visualize connecting the character to the center of your head.
- – Now, try to continue refraining from blinking for two minutes. One minute, or even 40 seconds, is okay when you are getting started.
Over time, you will be able to go longer without blinking. Each time you must resume blinking, close your eyes and rest your mind for three to five minutes. Repeat the exercise two more times, resting for three to five minutes again after each time. With practice, your vision will become clearer. The character you choose will, however, often become clear and turn blurry again during the exercise. Regular training helps the character become clear faster, and stay clear for longer. When you see the chosen character clearly for the entire duration of the exercise, move to the next smaller character.
Why Does the Looking Far Away Professionally Method Work?
Problems with long-distance sight usually have one or both of two reasons behind them. The first is that the body and mind are not relaxed enough. Qi and blood can flow freely, including to the deep layers of the body, when we are truly relaxed. We carry so much tension, and need to re-learn how to really relax the body and mind, on all levels. Qi and blood flow well automatically once we learn how to get out of our own way!
The second issue is that Qi may not be flowing freely. Health problems often do not heal on their own, be- cause Qi is not flowing to the deep layers of the body. What Teacher Dong calls “normal” Qigong practice does not help Qi flow deeper, so specific methods are needed to get Qi and blood flowing in all layers, such as the above method of looking far away without blinking. It is commonly believed that we will injure our eyes if we don’t blink. However, this method improves your vision if you practice and are not over-tired. This is not a secret method created by Teacher Dong. A story from China written over 2000 years ago, called Teacher Learns Archery, centers around the story of an archer called Gan Ming.
Why is Looking Far Away Professionally So Effective?
Teacher Dong calls the first method Looking Far Away Professionally because we must make time to practice at certain times and places, where we look into the distance without blinking. This is unlike the other two methods, where you practice looking into the distance at any time for any duration. It is more like having to schedule an appointment with a professional.
The Looking Far Away Professionally method involves a target fixed in a certain place, making it blurry. Intentionally having it far away enough for it to be blurry in the beginning is a secret of the practice, because your eyes are stimulated to heal and retrain themselves. Difficulty turns on their self-healing ability, much like physical exercise strengthens your muscles, ligaments and bones through exerting stress.
