Consciously unfocusing your eyes.

[Psilosopher?]

Can anyone else do this? I can unfocus my eyes to the point where everything I see is a massive blur. I can see the colours, but they're not striking. They are really fuzzy around the edges. Faces don't make sense at all. People look like stacks of colours, with no clarity.

When I unfocus my eyes, my other senses are heightened, most notable is hearing.

I'm worried that this might be bad for my eyes. I've googled this, but all the medical practitioners are vague and avoiding a direct answer. I can only keep it up for about 10 seconds before having to take a 1 second break.

 

[Psilosopher?]

As I was walking home, I was practicing this. While I walked and unfocused my eyes, I felt like the true me was walking faster than my physical body. I had a slight OBE, completely sober. It was very strange.

 

[Global]

I know that if I avoid refocusing my eyes, and keep and easy gaze on one point that the colors undergo quick transformations. I believe this effect has something to do with feeding a constant form of light to the cones in the retinas.

 

[null24]

It's a pretty common technique that visual artists use to view an image one is working on, it can help smooth a color transition or aid in blocking in forms. I can't do it anymore since i had a lens implant surgery, it's kinda strange.

It could effect a change of one's consciousness, it's a change of perception.

 

[Strigiform]

I know that if I go cross-eyed everything becomes really weird and blurry. Perhaps that is what you are doing? Have you asked someone to look at you while you unfocus your eyes?

If I'm very tired, I have a hard time focusing on objects right in front of me, and both eyes will tend to go "limp" and objects close up will double over, sometimes to interesting effect. If you don't want to click on the link you can try the following: fix your eyes on a distant object and place both hands in front of your eyes with your index fingers on both hands extended. Slowly move them closer together, such that both fingers will eventually touch each other. You will see a third "finger" floating in front of you! But if you focus on your fingers, the effect ceases.

Global: it sounds like you're describing an afterimage. If I stare at something for long enough, the colors go scotopic and look drained of saturation, but once I look somewhere else the effect stops. A very extreme form of this involves facing the sun with closed eyes for only a short time, facing something else, opening your eyes and staring. Everything goes very desaturated, then becomes a sort of uniform blue-green (opposite to the color you see when light is passing through your eyelids), then returns to normal.

 

[Doc Buxin]

I've been doing that since I was a small child Bodhisativa...

It's a great way to shift your consciousness & a great meditation tool.

 

[Koornut]

Hey B,
When you experience this phenomena, does it feel like you are tensing muscles under your brow bone and around your cheekbones and jaws?
Often followed by muscle twitches that feel like tadpoles are swimming under the skin of your temple area and jawline.
Sometimes your jaw can even start shaking, somewhat similar to a peak MDMA experience.
And a current of 'energy' feels like it is flowing through your body the longer you hold it?

 

[Global]

Global: it sounds like you're describing an afterimage. If I stare at something for long enough, the colors go scotopic and look drained of saturation, but once I look somewhere else the effect stops. A very extreme form of this involves facing the sun with closed eyes for only a short time, facing something else, opening your eyes and staring. Everything goes very desaturated, then becomes a sort of uniform blue-green (opposite to the color you see when light is passing through your eyelids), then returns to normal.

I am familiar with the concept of afterimages (a "technique" that DMT takes full advantage of, particularly at the lower doses). I didn't realize that they were the same phenomenon, but you are right. Here is what Scientific American has to say.

 

[Metanoia]

I do something similar...unfocus my vision like you would do with one of those 3D art prints. But the strange thing is (and I've never heard of anyone else who can do this) I can make patterned surfaces move at will while doing this unfocused vision thing. My vision doesn't blur but if I'm looking at a stucco ceiling or a bathroom tile with a pattern to it, the pattern becomes mobile and starts to flow like a liquid :shock: :?:

The 'at will' part is even more fascinating....I can control the direct of the 'flow' with my mind. If I want it to run north to south it takes nothing more than a blink to change its direction.

When I've described this to friends in the past they usually think it's HPPD or something. But this isn't something out of my control; I can do it on command at any point of the day.

 

[Psilosopher?]

Hey B,
When you experience this phenomena, does it feel like you are tensing muscles under your brow bone and around your cheekbones and jaws?
Often followed by muscle twitches that feel like tadpoles are swimming under the skin of your temple area and jawline.
Sometimes your jaw can even start shaking, somewhat similar to a peak MDMA experience.
And a current of 'energy' feels like it is flowing through your body the longer you hold it?

It's difficult to describe. I just relax my eyeballs. Most of the time, us humans are always looking at something while our eyes are open. Kind of like breathing or controlling heart rate, we can't control it. Or at least, we never attempt to control it. When I let go of my focus, it feels like I'm consciously changing the perceptive ability of my eyes, which I am.


I feel that current of "energy". But in the form of an OBE. More specifically, I feel energy leaving my body. This "energy" has form, though. I don't feel sapped of energy. This feeling is accentuated when I'm walking. Like the real me is walking out of my physical body. It isn't a complete OBE, because the real me is walking a fraction faster than my physical body. I think if I can keep on unfocusing, I might have a full on OBE. All speculation, though.

 

[Koornut]

Ahh yep I understand
Next time you're in a comfortable space, in conjunction with your technique for de-focusing throw in a big fat "Ommm", the kind that rattles your brain with vibrations. It's a far out experience if you get it right

 

[Psilosopher?]

Ahh yep I understand
Next time you're in a comfortable space, in conjunction with your technique for de-focusing throw in a big fat "Ommm", the kind that rattles your brain with vibrations. It's a far out experience if you get it right

When I was walking home yesterday with unfocused eyes, I was listening to this with bass boosting vibrating headphones.


[youtube]

 

[Koornut]

Oh wow, that's a very good recording I can totally understand how you lose focus of your eyes, I did it too in my car. Do you know if that is multiple voices or just one?
It's strange how once you learn do it once, you instantly know how to do it forever, it just happens at will. The reason I asked about all those other bodily effects is because of a strange thing that I can do involving those body parts and the de-focusing of the eyes. One thing I noticed is an immediate spike in my heart rate, coupled with a feeling of adrenaline or other similar chemical coursing through my body. It is pronounced more from the back of my head and flows down my spine and into my extremities. It feels like I'm flexing a muscle. I can only hold the feeling for about 10-20 seconds with a minute being my maximum. I have researched this a little and it seems there's quite a few others that can do it too, but there doesn't seem to be much research on it.

 

[Psilosopher?]

It's just one voice. Lama Tashi is a master at multiphonic chanting.

I'm just a but worried that I'll be damaging my eyes. It feels uncomfortable at times, only becuasr I'm not used to it. Perhaps its all a matter of practice.

 

[Koornut]

If you start getting headaches, and the unfocused-ness bleeds into times where you don't consciously activate it, you should go and see an optometrist. Other than that, have at it sir

 

[Intezam]

Sphorange, can you eleborate on that? Thanks in advance...

 

[Koornut]

Sphorange, can you eleborate on that? Thanks in advance...

Gladly
I have had issues in the past with higher than normal intra-ocular pressure, and my humble assumption is that it is in someway connected to the over-use in my youth of both the de-focusing technique, and the other thing I described. But, on the chance that I could be (and likely are) completely wrong in this matter, it is best to play it safe and see a specialist. Glaucoma can be a nasty surprise later in life.

Funnily enough though, I was driving in my car yesterday and I was delightfully high on cannabis until it turned on me, and became one of those anxiety ridden hell rides. So (out of curiosity) I squeezed whatever 'muscle' that activates the 'adrenaline rush' and was instantly awash in a flood of what started like the fight or flight panic mode feeling. Which rapidly coalesced in my neck and back of my head, it felt like electricity. It washed over my brain in three intense waves and left me facing my biggest fear, having a stroke. I thought I'd really done it this time. My heart was pounding, cold sweats, perturbed vision etc. it was the mother of all panic attacks.
When I finally convinced myself it wasn't actually a stroke, I came out of it buzzing with intense energy and euphoria which lasted the better part of an hour after. One of the main symptoms I had in the afterglow was the de-focusedness that bodhisativa pointed out.

So yeah, care and caution should be considered. As with everything.

 

[Intezam]

Sphorange, wow, that was an unexpected turn of events...! We thought you would rather venture into focal and temporal lobe seizures, which, according to our own experience are often accompanied by a certain absence and "otherness" (while being aware of the absence and often with ability to return at will) and, by a partly (or total) relaxation of the eyes and facial muscles (open mouth...etc)

 

[Koornut]

Sphorange, wow, that was an unexpected turn of events...! We thought you would rather venture into focal and temporal lobe seizures, which, according to our own experience are often accompanied by a certain absence and "otherness" (while being aware of the absence and often with ability to return at will) and, by a partly (or total) relaxation of the eyes and facial muscles (open mouth...etc)

:shock:
I just googled focal and temporal seizures, and it describes what I experienced in my car (frontal lobe it seems). Should I be concerned about this? The last fit I had was a very long time ago, I was 18 months old.
Sorry to de-rail the thread with my hypochondria :|

 

[Intezam]

nah, you shouldn't be overly concerned, but one could always have an EEG done to determine if one has an unusual seizure threshold..... we are not sure if your panic attack qualifies as a focal seizure at all...(cannabis, unlike benzos and alcolol raises the seizure threshold) but then again, low blood sugar is said to be able to trigger seizures....perhaps stick with a moar balanced, CBD rich indica (landrace) , rather then a THC heavy modern strain (and not drive at all when doing so)?

note: this is from our viewpoint (... we do have epilepsy) - not to worry you