Does anyone else get discouraged by people?
My mom always tells me to put my contacts in blah blah It gets me really down. Yeah, it could be that easy to just stick something in your eye and instantly see better, but if I need help seeing then I don't want to see at all, if you get what I'm saying. Humans aren't suppose to try to see. She wouldn't believe me so I don't tell her about the bates method.
I'm 19 and my last contact perscription was -4.75.
When I walk outside, for an hour or longer, I see my vision getting clearer, like I can make out words far away and the lines of things, like it's clear but hazy. I've noticed that with a lot of things like when I'm looking at the television and I see a face and it's clear but really hazy if that makes sense, like foggy. It gets this way when I ignore the blur and just look at the face. I've been doing the bates method for like 40 days.
Also, I will be driving away this summer, driving 3 hours, and I don't know how I'll do this without a seeing aid to drive because I do need to see the road, so any suggestions for that?
I haven't worn any correction for a month so I'm going hard core on this.
Here's my progress:
Started out 20/400 because that's the highest my snellen chart goes.
On the 23rd day I saw 20/125 slightly so I'm assuming it was a clear flash, but when I blink it's gone so I just wrote down all my progress the farthest I could see.
The next day I saw 20/100 and also 20/125, another flash.
On the 25th day I saw 20/70 twice but it was just an instant.
On the 30th day I saw 20/100 again just a flash.
33rd day I saw 20/70 twice again.
And the 37 and 38th days I saw 20/60.
So I'm just jumping around with my progress I've noticed. I took down the half of the snellen chart and just left the 20/60 - 20/16 part up.
But I am still at the same blurriness, but I know I'm progressing. I don't know if it's the way I blink, I blink normally I presume, I don't blink hard. But I count it all as progress.
I can see black indecations where the 20/60 - 20/16 snellen chart is at so it's something.
But I really dislike the days where I'm grumpy and just can't relax at all, so if you have any tips for that that'd be nice. I do meditate a lot. Every hour or so I palm just whenever I'm bored because I have nothing else to do here. And I test myself constantly which I know is a bad habit. I also don't know how to keep my mind off of my eyes so if you could help me with that, that'd be appreciated.
And, how long are you allowed to sun for? Because I don't want to ruin my eyes but I love sunning right when I wake up.
Thanks guy, this forum really inspires me.
Hi!
Wow! You should be really proud of your progress!
Your progress is really good, continue like that!
Disclaimer: Never put your life or the life of the others in danger while driving. Use your common sense and judge well your abilities to drive with lower sight.
Me too I'm 19 and I'm to the point where I see perfectly half of the time when I'm outdoor, I have many flashes of perfect sight, one flash after the other.
I get a nice speech each weeks from my parents and they thinks that I don't use my glasses only for appearance and they think that I see nothing, exacly as the older persons who aren't able to see a stop. Glasses gives me even more headaches and I now rarely have headaches and migraines anymore. I'm so used to this kind of speech that I don't even listen to it anymore. I have between 10/25 and 10/7 when I'm outdoor and between 10/30 and 10/10 indoor and I had 10/40 sight before starting the bates method.
I know a lot about the negative effects of discouragement. I still get down by it, too and only recently I began to work on dealing with it. I think us, myopes, are especially hungry for people's approval, that's what got us into this mess the first place! Just think about it this way. People, even your parents and people who love you will believe what authority tells them. They say that there is no cure for your vision problem and that it is impossible to improve it permanently or temporarily. Most people assume that putting on those glasses or sticking in contacts is good for you somehow. But YOU already know otherwise. You have had clear flashes and nobody can explain them to you using any of the theories the mainstream eye care is dependent on. So you either believe that you are totally insane or you believe that what you are doing is great. In fact, what you are doing is great even for those people, who are against it. They just don't know it, yet. Just keep reading the Bates and stick to your exercises, please! It won't be easy to maintain your independent mind but you are on the right track!
Thanks for your support you guys it really keeps me moving!
The exercises I do are palming, sunning, eye massages and pressure to releave tension.
I sun every morning maybe for 10 mins, I did for 30 minutes once. and then I learned that if I do palming right after that I get almost but not quite complete blackness but stops after a while.
And then I palm throughout the day, at random. Almost every hour or every other hour for a couple minutes for when I'm waiting for something really passes the time. Sometimes I do it for 30 minutes it depends. I did palming for 1 and a half to 2 hours once and I couldn't feel my eyes it was great.
I don't really think about the time, I just palm. And I've learned its the quality of relaxation that's better than how long you palm for.
Kayla, wow and good for you! You're at an age when you're becoming an independent adult, and it's natural for the elders to try to pull you back into the ways of the tribe (especially if they wear glasses themselves!). Trust your experience -- you're seeing visual improvements and increased relaxation, so just keep going. The repeated sessions of frequent palming are great; I find for myself that I need this pretty often. About driving, you can see my blog for some stories about this. You need to be safe like Alexandre says, but if you take your glasses off as often as you can (when stopped at a traffic light, for example), and remember that your natural vision is without them, you might be able to do without them more than you think. Almost all the time when I'm driving now my glasses are on top of my head. Take your time, take frequent breaks to stop and palm or walk around. If you have to wear your glasses to see something, stay relaxed and keep using your good habits, like keeping your gaze moving and continuing to blink, and take them off again as soon as you safely can. Keep up the good work!
Ask your parents if you received antibiotic eye ointment when you were born. If so, explain to them that according to the same measurements that most optometrists use (eyeball length and lens focusing power), most normal newborn babies have normal vision or else they're farsighted. However, the antibiotic ointment, which is instilled within an hour or so of birth, renders the infant's vision a complete blur for many, many minutes if not hours. Try and imagine what effects that would have on a fast-developing human being. Imagine what a terrible blur memory would be imprinted on the infant. And how much harder it would be to bond with the parents and vice-versa. If one of your eyes has much better vision than the other, it may be because the method of putting the antibiotic treatment in one eye at a time makes it difficult to get the 2nd eye treated because the infant squeezes both its eyes shut. The infant is usually being soothed throughout the process and duration, but that probably only imprints the blur as a good thing. But maybe you didn't get the treatment? Keep fighting off the blur either way. Stay Safe Always (drive with your glasses on and completely handy). Don't curl into a fetal position even slightly. Practice the Bates Methods to counteract the blur and the blur memory.
O0
The whole head basically.
Small little circles on the forehead, cheekbones and behind the ears and like that.
Pressures are on the eyebrows, temples, bottom of eyes, and bridge of nose were tear ducts are.
This morning I woke up at palmed for an hour and saw the 20/50 line!
And I can see things a little more better.
It was only for a short time, but I can see now just barely make out 20/60 but still blurry.
I'm so happy right now! I can also see the computer more clearly.
I think that eye doctors that distribute glasses shouldn't even be a career. Its just killing your eyes. I don't understand why this method isn't taught in optical school.
And don't forget, the only thing they learned in school was how to prescribe glasses. If they admitted to anything wrong with that practice it would mean throwing their education and experience out the window. Good luck finding a job that way!
More progress:
I almost saw the 20/40 line, it was a quick clear flash by swinging and shifting. I could only read 2 letters but that's fine.
I've had a couple days where my head felt heavy and my eyes but it's slowly decreasing now.
The tv from my bed, I can almost see it perfectly, which is a good feeling. it's about 70 inches away, basically 6 feet. Things are hazy/clearish again after a couple days where my head was just pounding not even palming would help. I still feel it but I'm so happy that I KNOW I'm progressing.
it sounds like you're doing a great job teaching yourself! here are some tips you asked for that I learned along the way:
It is a big clue that when you see the lower lines, it is only for a short time, that it is only in a flash. Don't stare at improved vision! Dodge it! When you see something really clear, look away, even if it's only a short distance! You will find that then most things you look at are clearer for a longer time
You asked how to not think of the eyes, I think of relaxing a different muscle, like relaxing my jaw (just wrote a blog post about that) or I think of my breath slowly filling up my chest and slowly being released.
You asked about sunning. It's like most Bates things - find the amount of time that improves your vision and that's the right amount of time If you feel uncomfortable then you know it's been too long and can shorten it the next time. Some obvious guidelines would be that you don't burn your skin and that when you palm afterwards it still becomes very dark in a short amount of time. I'm guessing from what you write that you already know the answer to your question, it's just taking some time to trust yourself.
about discouraging people - just don't take it personally. They are acting out of love, and if you respond to them with that thought in mind, then the situation usually resolves itself faster.
If you are adament not to wear glasses, then consider an alternative to driving! Is there someone else you can share the ride with who can drive you, or a bus available? If you do drive and need to wear glasses for the drive, don't feel down, just be disciplined and keep them in the car (not that you step out of the car wearing them!)
one last comment, write down all of these positive experiences and your ideas in a notebook! Getting flashes of 20/40 is really great!!!
best,
Sorrisi
kayla did you gone to a optalmologist in this days to confirm the clear vision ? I wish i could get a clear vision so fast too...
Anyway, how can i interpret what i see when doing palming? Sometimes i see complete dark,sometimes i see white flakes and other times i see green/violet swirls...this means strain or is just colors from my eyes ? Its good or bad?
