How I See Things

How I See Things
Cartoon-like drawing in shades of dark to medium purple. Eyes with beautiful eyelashes, looking through a pair of glasses.

Monday, September 28, 2020

Resting Your Eyes vs. Palming

When I was little, I remember my dad saying, “I’m just resting my eyes.” I am not sure if it was because I was talking too much and he needed a break. (He did, one time, yell at me: “You talk too much!” I went next door to the widow and asked her if I talked too much. She so graciously replied: “I like it.”)

So, Dad would be sitting up, and “rest his eyes.” He would close his eyelids and sit there for a while. 


When I started Vision Therapy, they taught me palming. Well, I had read about it in a book years ago called, “You don’t have to wear eyeglasses,” that my violin teacher had loaned to me at one point. I never really did it. I didn’t think much about it. 



[A photo of me covering my eyes with my hands. Left hand's fingers overlap my right hand's fingers.]


I got to Vision Therapy and on the first day of therapy, they told me to Palm. I cupped my hands over my eyes, and rested my eyes for a bit, wondering how this was different from what my dad did when I was little. 


After more than a year, going to Vision Therapy, I was, once again, Palming in between activities. As I sat there, palming, I asked my Vision Therapist “what is the difference between closing my eyes to rest them, and palming?” 


She gave me a great reply - she said that closing our eyes is fine. But if we palm, then the warmth from our hands can cause our eyes to tear up just a little bit. It gives our eyes some moisture. 


What a fantastic reply! I had no idea! New information! I love learning new things!!


Thinking back about my dad “resting his eyes,” now that I am a parent, I wonder if perhaps he was napping. šŸ˜†šŸ˜‚


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