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+--- Thread: FAQ work in progress (/showthread.php?tid=845)
FAQ work in progress - David - 06-15-2008
This forum has worked out great in the few years it's been running. But still there are certain questions that get asked over and over. I don't want to cut down the posts on the forum, but still it seems like a good idea to try to consolidate the questions. So here are some ones off the top of my head. I don't know what I want to do, maybe create a sticky of the FAQ or something. Just looking for ideas and any other questions you see asked constantly. I guess I'm trying to put together some short, simple answers.
Will it work for me? How long does it take?
It takes as long as it takes you to learn how to identify how you're straining your eyes and stop it. If you're open-minded, humble, adapt to foreign ways of doing things, learn well on your own, and can listen to your body, you may find yourself seeing clearly more often in just days or weeks, even if your condition is long-standing. If you lack all of these qualities, you may not ever make any progress at all. Others take months or years.
Where do I start?
Read the Introduction pages on the menu the main http://www.iblindness.org site. Read Bates's book, Perfect Sight Without Glasses, and if you wish, the other books on the free online books page. The Better Eyesight magazines, available on Amazon, contain more writings from Bates. Yes, these sources are decades old, but they happen to still be among the most reliable sources. The Method of the Month forum describes many exercises in detail.
How do I know if it's a real clear flash?
If your eyes feel lighter, you feel other muscles in your body relax, you feel calmer, you didn't blink hard, and you don't have tears or water in your eyes, it was probably a "real" flash or longer moment of clearer vision brought about by you putting less strain on your eyes.
Should i buy this latest vision improvement package from this other website? Does this other method work?
There are constantly new websites popping up trying to sell you their package or promoting another theory about vision. We believe that the Bates method is the most direct way of resolving vision problems. Some websites do have products or info that actually are good presentations of the Bates method. But the Bates method is subtle and often misunderstood, so just because something says it's the Bates method doesn't mean it is. And the Bates method really is NOT complicated, and you don't need to go seeking out the latest and greatest product for it.
Is it okay if I wear glasses sometimes, when I need them?
Try pinhole glasses if you need to wear something sometimes. The bottom line is, putting on your prescription glasses helps you accomplish tasks, and they're also bad for your eyes. If you're going to wear them, don't try to get someone here to make you feel better about it, because you're only fooling yourself. If you diligently practice the exercises, occasionally wearing your glasses might not prevent you from recovering your vision.
Dave
Re: FAQ - sorrisiblue - 06-20-2008
Hi David,
I really like the idea of having this FAQ as a sticky. Another question that I've seen pop up quite often comes from parents - 'How can I help my kid to go without glasses/improve his eyesight?'
Thanks for maintaining such a great site,
Sorrisi
Re: FAQ - David - 06-20-2008
Good one - that does get asked a lot too. I think I'd say:
If you have vision problems of your own, you can't help your kid until after you help yourself. Your kid will imitate the way you use your eyes. You're whom he probably picked up those kinds of subtle habits from in the first place. If you (or another parent or guardian) have poor vision, first practice the Bates method successfully yourself before trying to teach it to the kid. If your vision is already good, you probably have noticed times when your vision isn't perfect, and you can put the method to use on yourself in order to understand how it works. You can't teach something that you don't understand.
Dave
Re: FAQ - David - 06-27-2008
What is strain?
Staring and trying to force your eyes to into focus by muscular effort is what is meant by strain. Look at something that you see blurry and try to "push" your eyes into focusing on it. Maybe you'll narrow your eyelids, wrinkle your forehead, stop breathing, clench your jaw, and other things, all in an effort to try to force your eyes into focus. It doesn't work very well, and it is what causes your blurry vision in the first place. The Bates method is meant to get you to stop doing these doings and let your eyes relax.
Re: FAQ - David - 07-01-2008
How long will it take to improve my vision to 20/20?
If you put in an hour per day with the exercises and and do things at all correctly and have an eye chart on your wall to look at, you should notice some temporary results within the first week or two, or even within the first day or two. Beyond that, nobody can do well to estimate, much less guarantee, how quickly you'll recover your vision. The exercises are not what improves your vision - You learn through the exercises how to use your eyes correctly, without strain, and some people learn faster or slower due to various environmental, personal, or unknown factors. If you're looking for an average time to expect it to take, it would be somewhere between 1 day and never.
Re: FAQ - deeptrip - 11-08-2008
How can I relax my body and eyes?
Positive thinking about pleasurable content and basic trust can give everybody relaxation. Think about something that feels good for you and have trust in the automatical happening of relaxation. You don't have to do the relaxation, you just have to make an ideal surrounding to let it happen. Relaxation is always easy but calming your mind requires daily practice.
I can not imagine black, what should I do?
Many people think you have to see black. You don't! You have just to think about black, just give a tought on it and relax. If you do so pictures of black will come spontaneous after a while. Be calm and be patient, don't try to force seeing black. If you see black don't try to zoom on it, don't try to hold the picture. Let the picture come and go on its own. Let it move. Think about it as a fluidity. Just obsere and you will notice the black blacker and so the relaxation deepens. To imagine black is always easy and simple.
I can not forget about my eyes, my attention always jumps back to it and anyways it is illogical to forget about them if I do eye practice!
You don't have to forget about your eyes. You just have to find something more intresting. If you practice it is natural that you are conscious about your eyes but don't pay attention to this fact. If you start paying more attention to you practice you will forget about them. If you feel the strain in your eyes, see just blur and can not fogret about your eyes then just close them and accept this condition. Just observe the strain, the feel of your eyes and don't do anything about it. After a while you will get tired of this and your attention tunrs naturally toward other things. Just don't stress yourself when you know about your eyes. This will improve with practice and shifting your attention will become more easy.
The only thing that won't bring more strain when you force your attention toward is your breathing. If you feel your attention being too willful just drive it to your breath.
Ok I know my english isn't good enough for this so please if you like something just use it as inspiration.
Re: FAQ - handa_yar - 05-03-2009
Hi david,
I want to have the eye charts. please tell me the link to download them. I already had screensavers and swing windows software. Can you please inform me about any other useful tool i should have.
Thanks
Ajmer Handa
Re: FAQ - blauw - 06-09-2009
Deeptrip thanks for posting that!
That made somethings a little easier!!!
************
Handa_Yar, you can download them of I-SEE.org or you can find them on http://www.central-fixation.com
Good luck to all,
blauw
Re: FAQ work in progress - David - 05-20-2010
I started a new FAQ forum and started with a few of the most common questions. I'll be adding more soon as I think about them more.
Dave
Re: FAQ work in progress - Daniel - 05-20-2010
Did you intend to make the FAQ forum inaccessible to unregistered or logged out users?
Re: FAQ work in progress - David - 05-20-2010
Daniel Wrote:Did you intend to make the FAQ forum inaccessible to unregistered or logged out users?
Nope! Fixed.
Dave