12 states of attention: peripheral vision

We have two types of vision, foveal and peripheral. Foveal vision is focused, sees colors and details well. It works really well for threading needles and pulling out splinters. Peripheral vision sees contrast between light and dark, patterns, and movements really well.

Foveal vision uses the cones in the eyes; peripheral vision uses rods. We have many, many more rods than cones, yet modern life rarely offers us opportunities to use peripheral vision--so we may just be using a fraction of our visual potential. Peripheral vision may be closer to how animals see, and it certainly would have come in handy for survival in nature, especially at night.

There's a trick to getting the most out of your peripheral vision. If you hold your thumb up 12" in front of your face and look at the thumbnail, you will notice that you are slightly cross-eyed. Everything beyond your thumb looks doubled.

Practice this and see if you can hold your eyes on that spot while removing your thumb. If you lose it, put your thumb up again and gaze at the nail.

But peripheral vision is not about gazing at your thumbnail. Notice how much more visual information comes into your field of vision while holding your eyes in the peripheral gaze. Extend your arms out to your sides and wiggle your fingers. Move your arms until you can barely see your fingers. It's close to 180 degrees! Notice the vertical expansion of your vision.

Also notice any shifts in physiological state when you shift between peripheral and foveal vision. Some people feel their center of gravity move down. Some feel chakras open up, especially the third eye.

It's interesting to note that in meditation instruction, the teacher may instruct students to move their eyes as if they are gazing at a point in between their eyebrows while they sit. Some images of the Buddha show him with his eyes slightly crossed and gazing down, eyelids half open. Yoga instructors may advise students to use a soft gaze or soft focus.

These are all pointing at the same experience. Peripheral vision has its own physiological state, and it is calm yet alert and grounded.

Read what Nelson Zink has to say about it on navaching.com. Go to Hawkeen Training and read the page on Nightwalking.

I've done nightwalking with Tom Best, who is offering it again in November 2008. Check it out at www.nlpoptions.com. White light destroys peripheral vision, so it's best to do on a moonless or overcast night. You'd be amazed at how well you can see just using peripheral vision. You can learn to have faith in it, that somehow when in the peripheral state of awareness, your body just knows how to walk and be safe without focusing on the path ahead.

I practice peripheral vision from time to time with a "rodball"--a device Tom and Bobbi Best created. One day I was walking on the greenbelt in a ballcap with my rodball attached. I passed several people, and no one said anything. Then one woman and I crossed paths, and she asked, "What's that on your hat?" Pure curiosity. I told her it was a peripheral vision training device. "Cool," she said.

I also practice it at odd moments without the rodball when I don't need to use foveal vision. Walking down long hallways at work is a good place to practice, and it's especially handy in elevators. I don't feel the lurch.

Unusual phenomena may occur, such as a feeling that even while walking, you are in the same place and everything else is moving past you. It's almost like floating and feels incredibly alive. There's no fatigue. Your timeline may shift from linear time to momentary time.

Also, at night you may be able to see phosphorescence around plants in the lower part of your visual field.

What do you notice using peripheral vision?