7. Eye Exercise and Mental Drills

The fourth step of the relaxing eye exercise is the Short Swing.

Here we are going to get to work on the back of the neck where nearly all nervous people, and practically everyone with eyestrain, suffers from pain, tightness and discomfort.

The Short Swing, properly practiced, will not only relax the eyes and the neck but it will relieve the tense muscles around the eyes and help to free you from headache and neuralgia. It will also enable you to free yourself from the discomfort which many people experience in the back of the neck after shopping, sightseeing, motoring, and so forth.

Many of the ailments which we have long regarded as due to allergies or germs, are now revealed as hav­ing a nervous or emotional basis. Among these are hay fever, asthma, and certain skin conditions. The short swing has been known to relieve these conditions tem­porarily, and—if consistently practiced—to bring about permanent relief.

The importance of posture, aside from its effect on the general health, is to relax strain to the nerves and muscles in the back of the head and neck. When the proper pivoting of the head is interfered with, ten­sion and pain result. Therefore, in practicing both the Long and the Short Swings, it is essential to keep the head in the proper position.

SHORT SWING

We are ready for the Short Swing eye exercise. Seat yourself comfortably in a straight chair, back erect and head well poised, feet on the floor. Imagine a pull from the top of your head to the ceiling and another from the back of the head to the wall behind you.

Now close your eyes and move your head gently in a lateral swing of three or four inches, swinging it slowly and easily—about thirty swings to the minute.

As the head continues to swing, imagine that the room is moving in the opposite direction. Keep in mind the two imaginary pulls to the head and the sense of the revolving room and in a few moments the head will feel light and free, as though it were floating in space. The tension at the back of the neck will be gone because you have directed your attention away from it.

Now open your eyes and, with an imaginary paint­brush on the end of your nose, paint a line around the room slightly below eye level, following it with your eyes. Blink normally.

It takes mental control to keep that line around the room even. If your attention wanders the line will jump because the eyes have jumped. If the eyes jump, there is no mental focus. We are working to restore proper mental focus and thus to restore proper vision to your eyes.

When you have painted that imaginary line around the room, go over it several times, making sure that you are retracing the same line.

MENTAL  DRILLS

1. All these mental swings are done with the eyes closed. Draw a large circle with your nose, about eight inches in diameter. This will afford a complete swing of the neck and head. See the circle in your mind so that you will have a clear mental picture of the center of the circle. Retrace it three times, each time cover­ing the same arc.

With the center of your circle in mind, draw a hori­zontal line through the... [Chapter Incomplete]

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