Exercise your eyes back into shape - regain lost vision

[Guest guest]

Exercise your eyes back into shape - regain lost vision

from _http://www.theintentionexperiment.com/wddty/Good_Sight_Guide.pdf_

(http://www.theintentionexperiment.com/wddty/Good_Sight_Guide.pdf)

The Bates Method

Imagine being able to cure your vision problems without glasses or contact

lenses, without drugs or without surgery—all you have to do is relax. That’

s exactly what patients of Dr Bates (1860–1931) were able to do.

Dr Bates, author of Better Eyesight Without Glasses, was a pioneer in

ophthalmology who was practising in New York at the turn of the

century. He was the first to consider stress as the root cause of vision

impairment, including myopia (nearsightedness) and hyperopia

(farsightedness).

Exercise your eyes back into shape

Examining thousands of patients at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, Dr

Bates’ research lead him to the conclusion that eyes could be exercised

back into shape in the same way that other muscles in our bodies can be

exercised.

Dr Bates found that a person’s level of vision fluctuates throughout the

day, at various times shifting from nearsightedness to farsightedness and

back. The degree of visual impairment would increase according to the amount

of stress the individual was under at a given time of the day. For

example, a cold, a loud noise or sleep would elicit a change in the vision of

patients. Patients known to have 20/20 vision would even display some visual

impairment when subjected to a stressful situation.

Observations like these lead Dr Bates to the conclusion that a person’s

level of vision is not permanent. If it can change so often throughout the

day, it can certainly be changed in the long term.

As a result, Dr Bates created a series of exercises to relax and

strengthen the muscles surrounding the eye. He believed that **. . . perfect

sight

is a product of perfectly relaxed organs, unconsciously controlled**, and

that eyeglasses were useless tools that locked the eyes into a constant state

of tension.

Bates used his own techniques to cure himself of advanced farsightedness—

the type we believe to be part of the normal process of ageing.

Today, we understand that Dr Bates’ work provides a different theory of

seeing, which looks upon human vision as holistic—a combination of mind, body

and spirit.

The Bates method is not simply an exercise programme, but a means of

correcting bad habits such as straining to see, and developing a greater

awareness of what we are looking at. The Bates method can work extremely well

on

young children or people whose problems are caught early, such as those in

their 40s who are only just losing their ability to

focus close up. However, it can help every type of visual disorder and is

also effective as preventative medicine.

The best way to embark on the Bates method is to work with a qualified

Bates teacher, who will assess you and individually tailor exercises for you.

Exercises used in the Bates method include:

palming.

Carefully cover your closed eyes with the palms of your hands (making sure

your hands are warm) to block out all of the light, but without pressing

against the surface of the eyeball. You should ‘see’ absolute blackness. If

you don’t (in other words, if you see kaleidoscopic

colours), you do not have perfect vision.

To correct the problem, try focusing on a black object at a comfortable

distance in front of you. Stay relaxed. Now close your eyes and ‘see’ the

same black object.

If this doesn’t work, try imagining a small black dot growing larger and

larger until it envelopes the entire area behind your eyes, or a black fur

or black hole.

Relax with your palms over your eyes for several minutes. As your sight

improves, the blackness will become deeper and darker.

You should do this exercise several times a day. The improvement will be

slow and gradual.

lighting.

Relax and sit in a chair in the sunshine or six feet from a 150-watt

lightbulb. With your eyes closed, lift your face to the light and

7 The Bates Method

79

slowly move your head from side to side for three to four minutes.

Gradually increase the amount of time you spend in the light.

This exercise will warm parts of the eye, relax the muscles, reduce

redness and itchiness, and stimulate the retina.

shifting.

Shift your sight back and forth between any letter on a Snellen chart (the

chart of letters everyone has probably seen at the doctor’s office) and

another letter that is several spaces along, but on the same line. Then,

shift your sight back and forth between one of the larger

letters at the top of the Snellen chart and one of the smaller letters at

the bottom of the chart. Finally, shift your sight back and forth between

an entire Snellen chart three to five feet away and one 10 to 20 feet away.

lazy eights. Close your eyes and draw a number eight with your nose. Be sure

to move your head slowly and evenly. Repeat this exercise a number of

times, changing the size and direction of the eight. You can also try this

exercise while drawing other simple objects like a wagon wheel. This will

relax all of the muscles surrounding the eye, and increase the circulation in

the head and neck.

For further information on the Bates method, write to:

Bates Association for Vision Education (BAVE)

11 Crest Road

Neasden

London NW2 7LT.

Include a £2 coin (UK only) sellotaped to the inside of a 9-by-6-inch (C5)

stamped SAE to the address above.

BAVE is a group of professionals dedicated to the teaching of vision

improvement. All members of the Bates Association are fully qualified teachers

of the Bates Method of Vision Education. To find out more about the method,

and to find a teacher near you, visit the website:

_www.seeing.org/bave2/bave.htm_ (http://www.seeing.org/bave2/bave.htm)

For teachers in the US, Canada and elsewhere around the world, visit

the Association of Vision Educators’ website at:

_www.visioneducators.org/index.html_ (http://www.visioneducators.org/index.html)

Integrated Vision Therapy

Following on from the Bates idea of eye exercises, Dr -

Kaplan has added other recommendations:

- Listen to relaxation tapes to assist in coordinating the left and right

sides of the brain

- Eat a better diet

- Spend time in natural light without glasses

- Wear a one-eyed patch over your best (dominant) eye for, at most, four

hours to help vision in the weaker eye

- Use glasses if you’ve been wearing contacts

- Get your eye doctor to prescribe vision-fitness glasses to correct your

vision to

20/40, which will force your eyes to work a little harder. (Needless to

say, never wear them when you are doing something potentially

life-threatening like driving)

- Engage in regular aerobic exercise. Try to choose an activity that you

can do without your glasses

- Set life goals to ‘see’ your life clearly

- Copy an eye chart and place it on a wall five feet away (have a smaller

one for close-up vision) and periodically measure how such factors as

stress affect your perception.

- Dr Kaplan also recommends vision ‘games’, depending on your problem,

such as zooming—shifting your focus quickly from near distance to far

distance, which helps with age-related focus problems.

Recommended reading

W.H. Bates. The Bates Method for Better Eyesight Without Glasses. Grafton

Books, 1979

Harry . Better Sight Without Glasses. Thorsons, 1992

Mansfield. The Bates Method: A Complete Guide To Improving Eyesight

Naturally. Vermilion, 1995

- Kaplan. Seeing Without Glasses: Improving Your Vision

Naturally.

Beyond Words Publishing, 1994;

The Power Behind Your Eyes: Improving Your Eyesight with Integrated Vision

Therapy. Healing Arts Press, 1995

L. H. Salov, W.L. Fischer. Hidden Secrets for Better Vision. Fischer, 1995

[Guest guest]

Doesn't work.

Exercise your eyes back into shape - regain lost vision

Exercise your eyes back into shape - regain lost vision

from_http://www.theintentionexperiment.com/wddty/Good_Sight_Guide.pdf_

(http://www.theintentionexperiment.com/wddty/Good_Sight_Guide.pdf)

The Bates Method

Imagine being able to cure your vision problems without glasses or contact

lenses, without drugs or without surgery—all you have to do is relax. That’

s exactly what patients of Dr Bates (1860–1931) were able to do.

Dr Bates, author of Better Eyesight Without Glasses, was a pioneer in

ophthalmology who was practising in New York at the turn of the

century. He was the first to consider stress as the root cause of vision

impairment, including myopia (nearsightedness) and hyperopia

(farsightedness).

Exercise your eyes back into shape

Examining thousands of patients at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, Dr

Bates’ research lead him to the conclusion that eyes could be exercised

back into shape in the same way that other muscles in our bodies can be

exercised.

Dr Bates found that a person’s level of vision fluctuates throughout the

day, at various times shifting from nearsightedness to farsightedness and

back. The degree of visual impairment would increase according to the amount

of stress the individual was under at a given time of the day. For

example, a cold, a loud noise or sleep would elicit a change in the vision of

patients. Patients known to have 20/20 vision would even display some visual

impairment when subjected to a stressful situation.

Observations like these lead Dr Bates to the conclusion that a person’s

level of vision is not permanent. If it can change so often throughout the

day, it can certainly be changed in the long term.

As a result, Dr Bates created a series of exercises to relax and

strengthen the muscles surrounding the eye. He believed that **. . . perfect

sight

is a product of perfectly relaxed organs, unconsciously controlled**, and

that eyeglasses were useless tools that locked the eyes into a constant state

of tension.

Bates used his own techniques to cure himself of advanced farsightedness—

the type we believe to be part of the normal process of ageing.

Today, we understand that Dr Bates’ work provides a different theory of

seeing, which looks upon human vision as holistic—a combination of mind, body

and spirit.

The Bates method is not simply an exercise programme, but a means of

correcting bad habits such as straining to see, and developing a greater

awareness of what we are looking at. The Bates method can work extremely well

on

young children or people whose problems are caught early, such as those in

their 40s who are only just losing their ability to

focus close up. However, it can help every type of visual disorder and is

also effective as preventative medicine.

The best way to embark on the Bates method is to work with a qualified

Bates teacher, who will assess you and individually tailor exercises for you.

Exercises used in the Bates method include:

palming.

Carefully cover your closed eyes with the palms of your hands (making sure

your hands are warm) to block out all of the light, but without pressing

against the surface of the eyeball. You should ‘see’ absolute blackness. If

you don’t (in other words, if you see kaleidoscopic

colours), you do not have perfect vision.

To correct the problem, try focusing on a black object at a comfortable

distance in front of you. Stay relaxed. Now close your eyes and ‘see’ the

same black object.

If this doesn’t work, try imagining a small black dot growing larger and

larger until it envelopes the entire area behind your eyes, or a black fur

or black hole.

Relax with your palms over your eyes for several minutes. As your sight

improves, the blackness will become deeper and darker.

You should do this exercise several times a day. The improvement will be

slow and gradual.

lighting.

Relax and sit in a chair in the sunshine or six feet from a 150-watt

lightbulb. With your eyes closed, lift your face to the light and

7 The Bates Method

79

slowly move your head from side to side for three to four minutes.

Gradually increase the amount of time you spend in the light.

This exercise will warm parts of the eye, relax the muscles, reduce

redness and itchiness, and stimulate the retina.

shifting.

Shift your sight back and forth between any letter on a Snellen chart (the

chart of letters everyone has probably seen at the doctor’s office) and

another letter that is several spaces along, but on the same line. Then,

shift your sight back and forth between one of the larger

letters at the top of the Snellen chart and one of the smaller letters at

the bottom of the chart. Finally, shift your sight back and forth between

an entire Snellen chart three to five feet away and one 10 to 20 feet away.

lazy eights. Close your eyes and draw a number eight with your nose. Be sure

to move your head slowly and evenly. Repeat this exercise a number of

times, changing the size and direction of the eight. You can also try this

exercise while drawing other simple objects like a wagon wheel. This will

relax all of the muscles surrounding the eye, and increase the circulation in

the head and neck.

For further information on the Bates method, write to:

Bates Association for Vision Education (BAVE)

11 Crest Road

Neasden

London NW2 7LT.

Include a £2 coin (UK only) sellotaped to the inside of a 9-by-6-inch (C5)

stamped SAE to the address above.

BAVE is a group of professionals dedicated to the teaching of vision

improvement. All members of the Bates Association are fully qualified teachers

of the Bates Method of Vision Education. To find out more about the method,

and to find a teacher near you, visit the website:

_www.seeing.org/bave2/bave.htm_ (http://www.seeing.org/bave2/bave.htm)

For teachers in the US, Canada and elsewhere around the world, visit

the Association of Vision Educators’ website at:

_www.visioneducators.org/index.html_ (http://www.visioneducators.org/index.html)

Integrated Vision Therapy

Following on from the Bates idea of eye exercises, Dr -

Kaplan has added other recommendations:

- Listen to relaxation tapes to assist in coordinating the left and right

sides of the brain

- Eat a better diet

- Spend time in natural light without glasses

- Wear a one-eyed patch over your best (dominant) eye for, at most, four

hours to help vision in the weaker eye

- Use glasses if you’ve been wearing contacts

- Get your eye doctor to prescribe vision-fitness glasses to correct your

vision to

20/40, which will force your eyes to work a little harder. (Needless to

say, never wear them when you are doing something potentially

life-threatening like driving)

- Engage in regular aerobic exercise. Try to choose an activity that you

can do without your glasses

- Set life goals to ‘see’ your life clearly

- Copy an eye chart and place it on a wall five feet away (have a smaller

one for close-up vision) and periodically measure how such factors as

stress affect your perception.

- Dr Kaplan also recommends vision ‘games’, depending on your problem,

such as zooming—shifting your focus quickly from near distance to far

distance, which helps with age-related focus problems.

Recommended reading

W.H. Bates. The Bates Method for Better Eyesight Without Glasses. Grafton

Books, 1979

Harry . Better Sight Without Glasses. Thorsons, 1992

Mansfield. The Bates Method: A Complete Guide To Improving Eyesight

Naturally. Vermilion, 1995

- Kaplan. Seeing Without Glasses: Improving Your Vision

Naturally.

Beyond Words Publishing, 1994;

The Power Behind Your Eyes: Improving Your Eyesight with Integrated Vision

Therapy. Healing Arts Press, 1995

L. H. Salov, W.L. Fischer. Hidden Secrets for Better Vision. Fischer, 1995

[Guest guest]

Why do you say that? I thought it was worth a try as I have read in several

places that both short and long sighted eyes are effected by the eye muscles and

the condition of these muscles is different in both those whom are short sighted

and those whom are long sighted. So it seemed logical that if the eye muscles

could be strengthened ,then that would effect both the long as well as the short

sighted eye conditions.

After all we know that strengthening other muscles in our bodies results in

better coordination, stamina & effectiveness.

blessings

Shan

>

> Doesn't work.

>

>

>

> Exercise your eyes back into shape - regain lost vision

>

> Exercise your eyes back into shape - regain lost vision

>

>

> from_http://www.theintentionexperiment.com/wddty/Good_Sight_Guide.pdf_

> (http://www.theintentionexperiment.com/wddty/Good_Sight_Guide.pdf)

>

> The Bates Method

>

> Imagine being able to cure your vision problems without glasses or contact

> lenses, without drugs or without surgery†" all you have to do is relax.

That’

> s exactly what patients of Dr Bates (1860†" 1931) were able to do.

> Dr Bates, author of Better Eyesight Without Glasses, was a pioneer in

> ophthalmology who was practising in New York at the turn of the

> century. He was the first to consider stress as the root cause of vision

> impairment, including myopia (nearsightedness) and hyperopia

> (farsightedness).

>

>

> Exercise your eyes back into shape

>

> Examining thousands of patients at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, Dr

> Bates’ research lead him to the conclusion that eyes could be exercised

> back into shape in the same way that other muscles in our bodies can be

> exercised.

>

> Dr Bates found that a person’s level of vision fluctuates throughout the

> day, at various times shifting from nearsightedness to farsightedness and

> back. The degree of visual impairment would increase according to the amount

> of stress the individual was under at a given time of the day. For

> example, a cold, a loud noise or sleep would elicit a change in the vision of

> patients. Patients known to have 20/20 vision would even display some visual

> impairment when subjected to a stressful situation.

>

> Observations like these lead Dr Bates to the conclusion that a person’s

> level of vision is not permanent. If it can change so often throughout the

> day, it can certainly be changed in the long term.

>

> As a result, Dr Bates created a series of exercises to relax and

> strengthen the muscles surrounding the eye. He believed that **. . . perfect

sight

> is a product of perfectly relaxed organs, unconsciously controlled**, and

> that eyeglasses were useless tools that locked the eyes into a constant state

> of tension.

>

> Bates used his own techniques to cure himself of advanced farsightedness†"

> the type we believe to be part of the normal process of ageing.

>

> Today, we understand that Dr Bates’ work provides a different theory of

> seeing, which looks upon human vision as holistic†" a combination of mind,

body

> and spirit.

> The Bates method is not simply an exercise programme, but a means of

> correcting bad habits such as straining to see, and developing a greater

> awareness of what we are looking at. The Bates method can work extremely well

on

> young children or people whose problems are caught early, such as those in

> their 40s who are only just losing their ability to

> focus close up. However, it can help every type of visual disorder and is

> also effective as preventative medicine.

>

> The best way to embark on the Bates method is to work with a qualified

> Bates teacher, who will assess you and individually tailor exercises for you.

>

>

> Exercises used in the Bates method include:

>

> palming.

> Carefully cover your closed eyes with the palms of your hands (making sure

> your hands are warm) to block out all of the light, but without pressing

> against the surface of the eyeball. You should ‘see’ absolute blackness.

If

> you don’t (in other words, if you see kaleidoscopic

> colours), you do not have perfect vision.

>

> To correct the problem, try focusing on a black object at a comfortable

> distance in front of you. Stay relaxed. Now close your eyes and ‘see’ the

> same black object.

> If this doesn’t work, try imagining a small black dot growing larger and

> larger until it envelopes the entire area behind your eyes, or a black fur

> or black hole.

>

> Relax with your palms over your eyes for several minutes. As your sight

> improves, the blackness will become deeper and darker.

> You should do this exercise several times a day. The improvement will be

> slow and gradual.

>

> lighting.

> Relax and sit in a chair in the sunshine or six feet from a 150-watt

> lightbulb. With your eyes closed, lift your face to the light and

>

> 7 The Bates Method

> 79

> slowly move your head from side to side for three to four minutes.

> Gradually increase the amount of time you spend in the light.

>

> This exercise will warm parts of the eye, relax the muscles, reduce

> redness and itchiness, and stimulate the retina.

>

> shifting.

> Shift your sight back and forth between any letter on a Snellen chart (the

> chart of letters everyone has probably seen at the doctor’s office) and

> another letter that is several spaces along, but on the same line. Then,

> shift your sight back and forth between one of the larger

> letters at the top of the Snellen chart and one of the smaller letters at

> the bottom of the chart. Finally, shift your sight back and forth between

> an entire Snellen chart three to five feet away and one 10 to 20 feet away.

> lazy eights. Close your eyes and draw a number eight with your nose. Be sure

> to move your head slowly and evenly. Repeat this exercise a number of

> times, changing the size and direction of the eight. You can also try this

> exercise while drawing other simple objects like a wagon wheel. This will

> relax all of the muscles surrounding the eye, and increase the circulation in

> the head and neck.

>

>

> For further information on the Bates method, write to:

> Bates Association for Vision Education (BAVE)

> 11 Crest Road

> Neasden

> London NW2 7LT.

>

>

> Include a £2 coin (UK only) sellotaped to the inside of a 9-by-6-inch (C5)

> stamped SAE to the address above.

>

> BAVE is a group of professionals dedicated to the teaching of vision

> improvement. All members of the Bates Association are fully qualified

teachers

> of the Bates Method of Vision Education. To find out more about the method,

> and to find a teacher near you, visit the website:

> _www.seeing.org/bave2/bave.htm_ (http://www.seeing.org/bave2/bave.htm)

>

> For teachers in the US, Canada and elsewhere around the world, visit

> the Association of Vision Educators’ website at:

> _www.visioneducators.org/index.html_

(http://www.visioneducators.org/index.html)

>

>

> Integrated Vision Therapy

>

> Following on from the Bates idea of eye exercises, Dr -

> Kaplan has added other recommendations:

>

> - Listen to relaxation tapes to assist in coordinating the left and right

> sides of the brain

>

> - Eat a better diet

>

> - Spend time in natural light without glasses

>

> - Wear a one-eyed patch over your best (dominant) eye for, at most, four

> hours to help vision in the weaker eye

>

> - Use glasses if you’ve been wearing contacts

>

> - Get your eye doctor to prescribe vision-fitness glasses to correct your

> vision to

> 20/40, which will force your eyes to work a little harder. (Needless to

> say, never wear them when you are doing something potentially

> life-threatening like driving)

>

> - Engage in regular aerobic exercise. Try to choose an activity that you

> can do without your glasses

>

> - Set life goals to ‘see’ your life clearly

>

> - Copy an eye chart and place it on a wall five feet away (have a smaller

> one for close-up vision) and periodically measure how such factors as

> stress affect your perception.

>

> - Dr Kaplan also recommends vision ‘games’, depending on your problem,

> such as zooming†" shifting your focus quickly from near distance to far

> distance, which helps with age-related focus problems.

>

>

> Recommended reading

>

> W.H. Bates. The Bates Method for Better Eyesight Without Glasses. Grafton

> Books, 1979

>

> Harry . Better Sight Without Glasses. Thorsons, 1992

>

> Mansfield. The Bates Method: A Complete Guide To Improving Eyesight

> Naturally. Vermilion, 1995

>

> - Kaplan. Seeing Without Glasses: Improving Your Vision

> Naturally.

> Beyond Words Publishing, 1994;

>

> The Power Behind Your Eyes: Improving Your Eyesight with Integrated Vision

> Therapy. Healing Arts Press, 1995

>

> L. H. Salov, W.L. Fischer. Hidden Secrets for Better Vision. Fischer, 1995

>

>

>