Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

Alexander Technique and Vision

Vision, the art of seeing, is a feature of life which we as humans

dont normally give too much thought to. It is somewhat taken for

granted that, by focusing our eyes on an object, we are able to see

it this is as much thought as it gets. We never really stop to think

about what seeing really entails the mechanisms working within

us, providing us with the precious gift of sight.

People will normally be aware of any sight problems they have and

will simply, upon the advice of an optician, wear glasses/contact

lenses and become reliant upon these to provide us with the

amazing vision we take for granted.

The Alexander Technique originated between 1890 and 1900 and

was the brainchild of Shakespearian actor, F.M. Alexander. It is a

technique of body re-education and coordination, accomplished

through physical and psychological principles. 1 It was created

1
Alexander Technique, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Technique, Various

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

originally to aid Alexander in his career, which was suffering as a

result of poor technique causing pain and hoarseness. It teaches its

pupils the importance of being aware of what their bodies are

doing, how they are being used and how bad habits, both mental

and physical, can be overcome and replaced with new, more

positive ones.

F.M. Alexander

At first glance, one could be forgiven for assuming that the

Alexander Technique would be simply concentrating on physicality,

mainly posture with a tiny bit of mental relaxation thrown in. It is

hard to see how it would link in at all with the subject of Vision.

There is, however, so much more to the Alexander Technique than

posture! It requires a great deal of knowledge and self reflection

into the human anatomy and form, the eyes included. It is the aim

of this essay to explore firstly how the Alexander Technique uses

sight and visual techniques to benefit its pupils mentally and

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

physically, and secondly how the Alexander Technique can, in fact,

help aleviate some sight problems faced by many of us.

In the world we live in today, stresses and strains of everyday life

can really take its toll on your mental and physical health. From the

common headache to depression all kinds of ailments and illnesses

can be the result of stress.

Repairs aren't done, patrols for invaders aren't sent out, you tire

more easily, you can become depressed and reproduction gets

downgraded. High bloodstream levels of glucose and fatty acids and

high blood pressure increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and

diabetes. The immune system is suppressed2

Alexander Technique can definitely help to alleviate stress and

anxiety, using, not only the physical and mental exercises but also

various visual techniques and training.

Perhaps the most well-known visual technique used in Alexander

technique is that of Panoramic Vision.

It is easy, in life to rush from place to place, day to day, focusing

hard on one thing and then onto the next, from goal to goal, seeing

almost in tunnel vision with no attention paid to anything else that is

happening around you at all. This is what is known as Two-

Dimensional Vision, focusing hard on one thing at a time.

Panoramic Vision is the idea of Three-Dimensional Vision. Whilst

2
Stress: A blight on modern life, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4216732.stm, Vivienne Parry

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

walking around or even just sitting in a room or office, instead of just

staring straight ahead or at a computer/book etc, try to relax your

eyes, soften your gaze and see not only what is straight ahead but

all around you, the walls, the floor, the ceiling, all at once. This may

seem strange at first and you may find your vision becomes a little

blurry, but with a bit of practise and adjustment you will find this

improves. Seeing panoramically can be a bit of a revelation, it

certainly was for me. Suddenly you begin to notice everything

around you, appreciating the beauty of the world and becoming

aware of your position within it, it gives you an amazing centred,

almost empowered feeling whilst also being incredibly relaxing and

uplifting.

Panoramic vision is also useful for counteracting those headaches

caused by working late, sitting in front of a computer screen for

hours or pouring over paper work all day doing these things cause

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

us to involuntarily go into Two-Dimensional Vision as we are having

to focus our concentration entirely upon one area - the words and

figures we are reading or writing.

Whilst we still need to read carefully, panoramic vision can be

incorporated without your work quality having to suffer. You will find

that by using panoramic vision during your long working hours your

whole body will actually become more relaxed causing the common

neck and back pains and stiffness sometimes caused by sitting in

one position for a long time to disappear. By freeing the eyes, the

strain that tends to cause headaches is also alleviated.

Panoramic vision is also a great tool in times of fear. For example

during a musical performance we often go into Blind Panic Mode

which, again, causes us to see in almost tunnel-like vision, focusing

only on the notes we have to play with hardened eyes and not

daring to look up - simply hiding behind the music stand, or, if

playing from memory, even closing the eyes.

This is not good for a few reasons; the first being that even though

you are effectively hiding and cant see the audience or panel,

doesnt mean the performance is less scary, it actually intensifies

the fear and stress of the situation.

Also, even though we may think that zooming in and focusing on the

notes will make our playing more accurate, this is not necessarily

the case, tunnel vision is something associated with stress and

panic and so we are at an increased risk of making silly mistakes out

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

of fear, such as missing lines or not concentrating enough in bars

rest.

Another hindrance caused by this two-dimensional vision is the fact

that the musicality of the performance suffers, hiding behind the

music and standing stiff as a board means it is going to be

practically impossible to put any musicality into what you are

playing and the lack of interaction with the audience is going to

make it quite a boring performance for those watching you. The

point of going to a live musical performance is to see just that, a

performance. If you are just going to hide behind the stand and

make no attempt at eye contact then the audience will begin to

wonder why they didnt just stay at home and put on a CD instead!

It is not just audience interaction that is so important, the other

musicians that may be on stage playing alongside you or

accompanying you are going to appreciate eye contact and

communication.

By seeing panoramically on stage your musical performance will

improve a vast amount. Being aware of what is around you will take

the mystery away from the situation hiding behind the stand and

not daring to look will just cause your imagination to go into

overdrive (Are they laughing at me? Is that person Im frightened

to perform in front of there?etc) By actually being present in the

room, and looking around and being aware these anxieties will

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

cease to exist the reality is never as scary as your imagination

makes it out to be!

By giving eye contact to the audience and your fellow musicians

they will feel involved and you will actually begin to enjoy yourself

as you wont feel so alone anymore. The fact that seeing

panoramically causes you to relax should cause you to make less

silly mistakes and be more in control, therefore leaving you with

more room to showcase your musicality and, above all, have fun.

The ability to connect with the audience is vital. Conscious depth

perception will increase the presence of a performer, and the

listener will be able to come closer to the performer. The listener

will feel included in the mind and action of the performer regardless

of whether five or fifty thousand people are present.3

Seeing panoramically also helps us to look at the world and other

people in a more positive life. If we look at somebody else with

3
P.Grunwald, Eyebody (New Zealand, 2004), p.97

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

hardened eyes we are almost definitely going to be thinking

negative thoughts which will drag down our mood and also the

mood of the person we are looking at. By softening the gaze, we

instantly relax creating a more positive energy for us and everybody

else.

Even in the least stressful of situations we still tend to revert to two-

dimensional vision. On holiday, for example, we may be too busy

running around trying to keep everybody happy or looking ahead for

a particular landmark or attraction. If we just stopped and started

seeing panoramically, as Alexander Technique teaches, we would be

shocked at the beauty all around us and it would definitely put all

those little worries into perspective. Peter Grunwald, author of the

book Eyebody, writes of his travels in India and the moment he

suddenly began to see in 3D.

My surrounding became completely clear and three-dimensional

and the colours extraordinarily vivid; I felt I was seeing inside

people and clearly perceiving their true nature. I experienced a

wonder mental clarity. I was completely connected, merging with

this 3D worldI felt peaceful and calm, yet emotionally totally

present and alive.4

4
P.Grunwald, Eyebody (New Zealand, 2004), p.18

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

The most common eyesight problem is short-sightedness (myopia)

which causes objects in the distance to appear blurry.

Approximately 30% of the population of the UK are short-sighted

and approximately 5% of those have high-degree myopia.5

The second most common eyesight problem is long-sightedness

(hyperopia) which causes objects close to us to appear blurry. The

percentage of people with hyperopia increases with age. A study

has shown that 13.2% of people who are between 20 and 25 years

of age have hyperopia. This increases to 17.4% for people who are

between 40 and 45 years of age.6

Thee problems are normally resolved with the use of glasses or

contact lenses and some people even undergo laser-eye surgery.

With time people become reliant on their glasses which causes the

eyesight to actually deteriorate further meaning stronger and

stronger perscriptions are required.

Peter Grunwalds book Eyebody describes his experiences with

severe Myopia and astigmatism. He claims that he was able to stop

wearing glasses entirely with the aid of the Alexander Technique.

Before reading this book I was extremely cynical, I thought there

was no chance at all that somebody could train themselves out of

short-sightedness, I believed that myopia was an eye problem that,

if left alone would just deteriorate, an unchangeable fact of life.

5
Short-Sightedness, http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Short-sightedness/Pages/Introduction.aspx
6
Long Sightedness, http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Long-sightedness/Pages/Introduction.aspx

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

However once I got into it, this book completely fascinated me,

being short-sighted myself it has given me hope that one day I may

be able to improve my vision too.

The first thing he explains in the book is the structure of the eye.

Understanding human anatomy is exremely important in the

Alexander Technique as it helps us to understand how joints work

and what is going on when we move. In lessons we often refer to a

skeleton or diagrams of muscles and mechanisms inside our bodies.

So it is understandable that having a good knowledge of what is

going on inside the eyes we can then apply this knowledge in a

positive way to help make improvements in our vision.

An important thing to remember is that the eye simply acts as a

messenger for the brain. Collecting information such as light and

dark, shape, depth, colour and movement for the brain to sort out. It

7
Diagram taken from http://www.nei.nih.gov/diabetes/images/content/eye_diagram2.gif

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

is the visual cortex, right at the back of the brain that sorts this

information. So effectively it is the brain that sees things.

The process of seeing is surprisingly complex;

The process begins when light enters through the front of the eye

through the lense and cornea. The light must be able to pass

directly through to the retina so the lense and cornea must be clean

and clear. The light is bent by the cornea and lens which helps it to

focus and give a clear image when it hits the retina. A protective

layer is made on the eye by the tears and this also helps with light

direction. The size of the pupil changes size with the help of the iris

depending on how much light is needed in the eye it gets smaller

in brightness and larger in darkness.

The Vitreous which takes up the whole middle section of the eye is

a clear, jelly-like substance which light passes through towards the

retina. The retina collects the light and passes it on as an electric

signal to the optic nerve which is right at the back of the eye and is

made up of lots of nerve fibres which send the signals to our brain

which then processes the image.

Seeing can be likened to the process of taking pictures on a film

with a camera which you then get developed. The retina is like a

camera film which stores an image of what we are looking at. The

image directed onto the retina is then sent along to the brain where

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

it is processed, like developing a camera film. Therefore we actually

see in our brain with the light information sent to it from our eyes.

This whole process happens very quickly so that everything we see

is in focus.8

Short- sightedness happens when the eyeball changes shape and

become elongated causing light to focus too early, before it hits the

back of the eye, causing a blur. Long sightedness happens when the

eyeball becomes too wide and short.

Short sightedness and Long sightedness

8
Eye Info,
http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/PublicWebsite/public_howtheeyeworks.hcsp
9
P.Grunwald, Eyebody (New Zealand 2004), p.33

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

10

The convex and concave lenses help the light to travel through the

eye correctly thus giving clear vision.

After researching the process of vision, Peter Grunwald then goes on

to make an amazing discovery. He believes that each part of the eye

is connected to a part of the body, in a similar way to reflexology

links the different areas of the hands and feet to different areas of

the body.

When the thought of tightening my corneas went through my mind

I noticed a marked slumping in my chest area11

The eyelids and the layer of conjuntiva are associated with the

head and neck region; the eyeball itself is associated with the torso;

the extrinsic part of the eye (sclera) and the entire outer sheath of

the optic nerves reflect the arms and hands; the visual pathways
10
P.Grunwald, Eyebody (New Zealand 2004), p.33
11
P.Grunwald, Eyebody (New Zealand 2004), p.33

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

such as the optic nerves and the visual radiation represent the legs;

and the visual cortex the feetif the eyeball and therefore the

retina is elongated, then the lower back will be correspondingly

affected. If we are kicked in the shin and a bruise appears, this will

be reflected in the visual pathway as wellthey are completely

interrelated in specific ways.12

This really is a fascinating discovery and causes us to think about

vision in a whole new way. Just as the body and the mind work in

harmony, the body works in harmony within itself and all of the

intricate systems and mechanisms within it are connected. By

learning this we can learn to improve our vision by incorporating the

Alexander Technique, which we already know improves our self-use

and kinaesthic awareness.

12
P.Grunwald, Eyebody (New Zealand 2004), p.35

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

This is the diagram which appears at the back of Eyebody created

by Peter Grunwald. It shows all of the connections between the

visual system and the rest of the body.

During my research for this essay I found a great story about

Alexander himself which I had never heard before;

After his stroke in 1947 (Alexander) lost the co-ordination of his

eyes, which is very common I believe, and this was corrected by

him being prescribed prisms because of the loss of vision. He said

that a few years later he began to get very worried about his eyes.

We didnt know he was getting worried about them, but he was.

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

He said that his vision was getting worse and worse and he wasnt

even able to see with his binoculars and he was very worried about

it because he thought this meant that there was deterioration after

the stroke. So he eventually plucked up courage and went to see

Andrew Rugg Gunn FRCS, the ophthalmic surgeon, who was an old

friend and pupil of his and who, I think, had originally prescribed the

prisms.

Rugg Gunn gave him a very thorough examination and looked into

his eyes and when he concluded he said, thats good. Alexander

said, What do you mean, good? and he said, Well, your eyes

have practically corrected themselves. Of course you cant see with

those glasses you dont need the prisms anymore. And Alexander

said it was such a relief to him because he had really been

desperately worried. It had never occurred to him that his eyes had

actually been rectifying themselves.13

This story backs up the theory provided by Grunwald that the state

of the body affects the functioning of the eyes. As Alexanders body

recovered from the stroke, so did his poor eyesight. By learning this

we now know that we can improve our eyesight by applying some

Alexander Principles as we already know these principles work

extremely well to improve the way we use our bodies, thus

improving the health and wellbeing of it.

13
http://www.alexandertechnique.com/articles/eyesight/, Walter Carrington and Peter Grunwald

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

This idea of visual and physical unity and the study of Alexander

Technique as a method for improving sight has become more and

more widespread. There is an organisation in existance called

Altevi which aims to improve peoples sight using the Alexander

Technique.

Altevi teaches people methods and activities to integrate the

function of eyes, brain and body in a dynamic, balanced way which

can result in measurable improvements in their eyesight.14

Cherryl Gardiner, an Alexander Technique teacher attended an

Altevi course in 2004 and noticed positive improvements in her

eyesight;

I was curious to discover whether back on my own anything would

remain or have changed. It was at the piano that I noticed it first:

the notes were at last black on white again. Then I read my

daughter several chapters of a book in the garden without

glasses. But maybe what I value most is that I am slowly learning to

look more softly on the world around me, on my loved ones, on

my self and I am deeply grateful.15

A good thing to do when beginning to train your eyes is to

experiment with panoramic vision;

14
About Altevi, http://www.altevi.com/
15
http://www.altevi.com/cherrylgardiner.htm, Cherryl Gardiner

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

Without glasses, firstly walk across the room for about 30 seconds

focusing on one point ahead of you and notice how you feel

mentally, emotionally and physically.

Next, walk around in panoramic, from the back of your brain,

visualise expanding your retina and choroids three-dimensionally all

the way to the pupil in the front of your eye.16

Notice how this feels.

Do this regularly and try to use panoramic more and more in your

every day life.

Other exercises recommended by Grunwald are Palming and

Sunning.

Palming;

Place your hands on your eyes, each palm over one

eye.

Cup the palms slightly, so that they do not touch

the eyelids or eyelashes.

Keep your fingers resting on your forehead, either

crossed or uncrossed whichever is most

comfortable. The elbows rest on a table or on your

knees.

All light is now shut out, and you can enjoy total

darkness. Luxuriate in this for a while.

16
P.Grunwald, Eyebody (New Zealand 2004),

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

Once, you feel completely relaxed, become aware

of the mechanisms inside your eyes, visualising the

space between your retina and pupil, also the very

back of the eye.

Move your eyes slightly to feel the Vitreous

Humour move.

Palming is great for relieving eyestrain and stopping people

from staring and straining their eyes, it is also very relaxing.

Sunning;

Facing the sunlight or a lamp close your eyes gently and enjoy

the different colours you can see as the light shines through

your closed eyelids.

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

Alternating between Palming and Sunning vision activities helps

harmonize photoreceptor function, opens the pathways to the

thalamus and strengthens the intrinsic awareness of the eyes and

lower visual cortex. This is a beginning17

A big factor that seems to be a recurring theme amongst successful

eyesight improvers is simply saying no to glasses. By forcing

yourself to go for increasingly long periods of time without glasses,

you and your eyes will have to work extremely hard just to get by

and therefore training your sight into improving. Because this is

probably quite a terrifying prospect for glasses-wearers (I know I

would be a nervous wreck without my contact lenses!) it is

imperative that you stay calm. Luckily the Alexander Technique has

many methods for relaxation and overcoming anxiety, such as semi-

supine, whispered ah and panoramic vision, so this should all help.

Two good examples of people realizing that they can survive without

glasses are described in Eyebody;

17
P.Grunwald, Eyebody (New Zealand 2004),117

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

I recently heard of an 81 year old woman who broke her reading

glasses. She had been wearing glasses since her 40s, but when she

was in her early 80s her granddaughter, who told me the story,

accidentally broke them. The grandmother did not replace her

glasses but instead did all her sewing, reading and knitting for the

12 years until her death at age 93 without any visual aids.

A woman had worn reading glasses for over 50 years, on her

hundredth birthday she was so excited about all her greeting cards

that she forgot to put on her glasses she read all the cards without

them. From that day on she didnt touch her glasses and could read

and did all her other close activities with no vision aids.18

These stories should give those who are afraid to try life without

glasses enough confidence to at least try a couple of hours free of

visual aids.

In conclusion to my research into the Alexander Technique and

Vision, I have discovered that vision can be used to help many

physical, mental and emotional problems. Stress, headaches, eye

strain, neck and back ache and anxiety can all be alleviated with the

Alexander Techiques method of seeing Three-dimensionally.

Panoramic vision can also help us to feel centred and makes us

notice the world around us in all of its wonder and beauty which is

another great stress reliever and could help fend off the symptoms

18
P.Grunwald, Eyebody (New Zealand 2004),

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Sarah Tyler BMus4 Alexander Technique Level 3, Peter Buckoke

of depression and put all over the problems we face in everyday life

into perspective.

I have also discovered that our whole body works in unity and a

healthy body not only helps us to maintain a healthy mind but also a

healthy visual system. (psycho-physical-visual unity.) By learning

this and reading some amazing case studies I truly believe that

Alexander Technique, and a bit of confidence, can help more people

throw their glasses away forever and live their lives seeing with

perfect visual clarity.

Suddenly everything had depth. I could feel the change in my

eyes--a sensation of perhaps relaxation. My back and my posture

changed significantly as well. I was enjoying looking at everything.

Everything was alive and changing--like it was vibrant.19

19
http://www.effortlessvision.com/improvingeyesight.htm, Robert Lichtman

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