Palming

Palming

In Mumbai, I was staying at Br. Rajesh Kothari’s house. While talking about health and yoga in general, I learnt about “Palming”.

Palming is a technique of eye relaxation discovered by Dr. William H. Bates. Actually Dr. Bates has developed a full practical science of eyesight improvement, with some of his propositions rejected to date by mainstream ophthalmology. But that is not relevant, because Palming works, at least for me.

In the past 6-9 months, I have been feeling excessive strain in the eyes. This usually happens in evenings. It happens if I have worked on the computer for the whole day and it is more aggressive if I am spending time on my MacBook in the evenings (such as now). Reducing time spent on computer and good sleep helps. Reducing brightness of screen also helps – this was a bit difficult as I like bright places and screens, but actually reducing brightness helps. Palming helps when everything else is unavoidable.

Palming is very simple. It is done by closing eyes and putting palms over the eyes such that light is avoided completely (or as much as possible). The palms are put in such a way that there is no pressure on the eyeballs, the heels of palms rest on cheekbones and the fingers on the forehead. Actually there is a great degree of freedom in choice of how to cover one’s eyes and one has to find what fits best.

I have used Palming only 4 times now. It worked 3 out of 4 and it did not work when I did it lying down. Recently, I read it should be done sitting. I do it only for 5-10 minutes and it works magic. It brings down eye stress and thereby mental tension considerably. It is a versatile exercise in a way because it can be done anywhere and anytime; the efficacy would of course depend on how involved and focused one is in the activity.

I think most people suffer from eye stress these days and this is worth a try. A more clear explanation of the technique can be found here.

PS: Actually a number of books have been published on Bates’ method by Shri Aurbindo Ashram’s publications and are widely available. Dr. Bates have quite a number of propositions that stand in contrast to the current ophthalmology. I don’t remember all but some of these are around how eyestrain is actually caused, how corrective lenses are unnecessary and how fine print reading can improve eyesight. From a purely physical eyeball movement point of view, his theories do appear simply logical.

Buried

Thanks’s to Vinay’s suggestion, I watched Buried in Miri on the New Year. It is one of those movies, which wouldn’t be very inviting from the poster or description. In fact, the multiplex had only 2 A4 size black & white posters, and one wouldn’t be surprised to find only 6 Homo sapiens sitting in the audience.

Buried is not a New Year eve’s movie and thank god I do not have any infatuation with the New Year. Buried is a drama-thriller. But, it isn’t like the normal ones. Everything about the movie is unusual. It is about an American truck driver in Iraq who is taken hostage by insurgents and buried alive. He is left with a mobile phone, few lights, a knife and a lighter (his own) to entertain the insurgents. The whole movie is shot in the coffin and is 99% time focused on a single character – Paul Conroy, played by Ryan Reynolds (these aspects mark this movie as an undisputable piece of art). The movie shows his struggle within the coffin, surrounded by four main themes – fear of death, love for family, dependence on U.S. army/employers to save him and threat of insurgents. The only real hope he is given, rather maliciously, is a mobile phone.

Since the shooting area is limited, it focuses perfectly on human emotions. And perhaps everything is covered – fear, hope, anger, love, care, adrenaline, patience, impatience etc. The movie also captures some very realistic conversations and shows the difference in how people would behave lovingly (family/friends) and practically (e.g. your boss) in real-life situations. Some moments are very touching, for instance one where Paul calls his mother and just tells her he is OK without troubling her with the situation he is in, in the hope that he would come out of it.

Some scenes also mock on the U.S. system. For instance, in one case the guy is calling some department for help and she insists him for giving his social security number. When all hope is lost and he is recording a speech, he records his social security number to make a point. But in the bigger picture, the movie also mocks at the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the troubles and losses the U.S. army had to endure for one man’s whims.

However, what the director does the best is swinging the hope from high to low and back to high, and as the movie progresses the amplitude of this wave increases, making you to hold on to your seat and pray for the good ending. Of course, I won’t tell you the ending here, but it is one of the most dramatic ending I have ever seen (comparable to American Beauty or Amadeus) – it is expected, yet very unexpected.

Perhaps the only unrealistic part of the movie is that after finding himself in the grave, Paul has ‘life’ left to try and save his own life. To insurgents’ credit, they leave lifelines such as mobile phone and torch lights inside. And perhaps to protagonist’s credit, these situations make you behave like no one. When all is on stake, you give everything or you lose yourself.

Babuji Maharaj, on a question on “what is wisdom” said, “Live your life as if you are going to die the next moment.” While death within a moment is difficult to imagine, dying after a day or a year is less difficult to imagine. What would you do if you knew you would/could die in a year? Way of living would change radically. One would be less angry, more loving, more giving, more joyful and thankful for the time one has and at times cry for the inevitable (check out Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture if you haven't seen it before). Paul also shows these emotions very well, except that he is not sure if he’d have time to make up.

To cut a long story short, check this movie out if you like art and quality and if you don’t mind seeing a couple of disturbing scenes. Not recommended for pregnant women, children less than 13 years old and those who are old by spirit.