TCC and the Bates Method

People often report that, amongst other benefits they get from practicing TCC, they experience improved vision. To me, as an accredited teacher of both TCC and the Bates Method, it is not surprising, since both disciplines share very much the same principles.

At the 1985 TCC Teachers’ Conference, I was asked if I felt if there were any particular TCC movements which I found to be more conducive to vision improvement than others. To answer that question, I am going to discuss a few of the movements, showing how I see the principles of both the Bates Method and TCC working together. You will be able to come to your own creative conclusions about the other movements, from the ideas I give you. First, though, I need to tell you about the Bates Method and fill you in on some of its basic principles, techniques and activities.

The Bates Method consists of activities which were developed by Dr. William H. Bates, a turn of the century opthamologist, who, seeing that his patients were not getting cured and mostly even getting progressively worse, by wearing spectacles, did exhaustive research on how people could learn, (or re-learn) to see in a natural way, without artificial aids. Even though he had much success, he was ostracized by his fellow professionals, but his ideas are still very much at the basis of vision and healing methods to this day. One of the famous students of the Bates Method was Aldous Huxley, who wrote The Art of Seeing, in appreciation for the help he received from Margaret Corbett, an associate of Dr. Bates, and herself a pioneer in the work.

The method is based on DYNAMIC RELAXATION of the eyes, mind and body and teaches that since seeing is done with the mind, when one allows the conscious mind to relax and let go, the subconscious mind will utilize natural ways and seeing will come effortlessly… The “WAY” of doing is as important, if not more so, than “what” is done…The ability of perceiving MOVEMENT happening in relation to what is being looked at, is one of the building blocks of vision training because it stimulates the natural vibration of the eyes, which all too often is subdued by self destructive habits, such as staring and straining to see, producing tension and immobility, and hence, loss of natural functioning…VISUALIZATION, IMAGINATION & MEMORY play powerful roles, as does the utilization of LIGHT, and also of course, its complimentary opposite, DARKNESS. In the Bates Method (hereafter referred to as “Bates”), there is an activity known as the “swings”, which consists of smooth, flowing, continuous changes of body weight, mostly from side to side, but also front to back. In practicing the swings, (with “softness and continuity”)!, we are training the person to use the central vision in an unbroken, continuous flow, with full attention and receptiveness. We encourage people to “look softly” or “with soft eyes”…at what they wish to see. We talk about “allowing” our vision to come, (through us), rather than going out after it…letting it happen, rather than forcing…relaxing rather than anxiously fearing that we will not be able to see clearly…Sounds more and more like TCC, doesn’t it?

Now, let’s get to a few specific TCC movements to see how they relate with Bates. (The order I have listed them is not necessarily my recommendation as to their importance, and this is only a sampling of the movements.) I have underlined the Bates principles to help with clarity.

PASSING CLOUDS incorporates the Bates smooth continuous swing. While watching our hands at the near point, we notice that the background appears to move in relation to our hands (in an opposite direction), and vice versa when we look through our hands at the background. We also get a Figure 8 pattern in the hand movements, a powerful tool in vision training, as well as left/right brain hemisphere integration, which in itself is integrally connected with vision and whole body/mind coordination. Visualization of the clouds passing is a specific image and memory builder and relaxation agent.

PULLING TAFFY, the perpetual motion variation, extends the Figure 8 pattern into larger dimensions, bringing it into whole body movement.

PUSH PULL is a movement closely related to the Bates “near to far” swing. As our hands come in, we accept the vision at the near point, and as they move away from the body, we let our vision extend as far as we want to imagine.

In DAUGHTER ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP and DAUGHTER IN THE VALLEY, as well as the LIGHT AT THE TOP OF THE HEAD, the peripheral vision is being stimulated, and the visualization of the daughter on the mountain and in the valley is always a sort of mystical reminder to me that vision and T’ai Chi Life share a subtle delicacy that can never be forced but only experienced with awe and humbleness, something like experiencing a Chinese painting. The visualization of light is very important, because the eyes need light to see, and in Bates we work a lot with that concept. Light, of course, is inseparable from its complimentary opposite darkness, which in the Yin/Yang frame of reference is just as important…(incidentally, you might try doing TCC in a darkened room, once in awhile, or even in complete darkness. Different nerve centers in the brain and eyes are being called into play, which not only stimulate night vision, but also bring new dimensions of balance and harmony and feeling of the depth of human experience. By accepting the whole spectrum from pole to pole, we receive much aliveness and awareness).

I could hardly omit in these examples the importance of BREATHING to rejuvenate our eyes and whole existance from moment to moment, with great continuity and softness!…and when it is JOYOUS, that is the whole secret!

My last example, THE COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS POSE has to me, in all its grandeur and loftiness, a whimsical humor (vision-wise)!…But that’s another story! I will share my playfulness about that one either in another Vital Force, or at the Annual Meeting in August!

There seems to be no end as to how TCC and Bates relate to each other. Analyzing it gives understanding and appreciation of its intricate simplicity, but really, it is sufficient to JUST DO IT!, knowing the benefits are hidden in there and are working to restore, maintain and effect growth in the body/mind/spirit.

When practicing TCC with joyful relaxed concentration and dedication, without thinking, worrying or being anxious about whether we are seeing clearly or not, we are in actual fact, at that time, automatically training our eyes and mind (and a lot of other systems into the bargain) to function in the ways Nature intended. The dynamics of the movements are doing it through us!

That is the beauty and joy of T’ai Chi Chih!

Happy seeing, through softness and continuity!

– Peggy Knorr
Whittier, CA