[N.V.I= Natural Vision Improvement. (That means no lasers, no surgery and no medications)]
I know that many people where waiting for this, so here it is.
Before i start, i would like to warn people with "sensitive" ears, close-minded, easily offended, Pro-stereotype supporters and generally anyone who get offended easily, to avoid reading beyond this point.
Its important to speak freely and truly, and i am not willing to proceed in any censorship or filtering of my writings. Of course i will keep them forum-appropriate as always.
Also anti-Bates spammers, N.V.I-deniers and other people who only sing in to say "Bates is crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!", are advised to Take a Hike from this thread, and the forum in generally.
Those who like to make research and study cases of patients cured or improved with Bates Method are welcome.
Of course i cannot just make a HUGE post trying to cover every little thing, so i will write many smaller posts to allow a dialogue to take place and an exchange of opinions to be done.
OK, so we may now began...
(Well, tomorrow actually, i have stuff t do now... )
Until my four years of age i had normal vision. I have no memory of than, my parents would have notice if i had myopia at the time as they did when i had. Also they tested me regularly on many occasions. For example while watching TV, or looking at a picture. Maybe i had something like -1 or -0.5 and maybe that was caused by the antibiotics JMartinC4 says about. As i said before, after birth they even took me blood that disappeared and not exams are shown at my "Health Book".
When i was four, my vision started to become worse. What happened, what a Dreadful place called kindergarten, where a gigantic (about 1.55cm) fat creature lived. That creature used to yell and even physically assault the little kds, terrorizing them and threating them. What a four year old kid could do about this creature? Impale it with a pencil? Possibly, but i had no pencils...
At that time, i was diagnosed myopia and putter the glasses on.
At primary school, the attitude against kids where the same. Teachers here use to take their personal lives in classrooms and see kids are responsible for their faults. When you are just a weak kid, anyone thinks he can throw his anger at you.
If you wonder, Corporal Punishment is Illegal in schools since 1967 and more recently absolutely abolished.
The man who made it illegal was Georgios Papadopoulos. Yes, the dictator. All those years of democracy and it took a dictator to make it illegal! When he was student, the main method of teaching was to beat you with a stick until you learn your lessons. He found that method absolutely inappropriate and devastating for the kids. So when his came in power, he made it illegal, and even sent inspectors to check the teachers in all the country. But they hidden the sticks when the inspector where inspecting. Here, always there is someone who knows someone, who knows someone and he will alert you for the upcoming inspections. even today. But the inspections at schools where stopped after 1974 as "a black page of fascist state control over education".
This attitude against students is rare today, but still happens. I believe is interesting to tell you how it stopped in most cases.
For that, we have to thank Albanians.
When they came here, they sent their kids to school. I guess they made a deal with the government because its even against the Constitution for someone without citizenship to have free education in Hellenic schools, but this is another story.
Truth is, i like Albanians. They are smart and they are not stucking in nothing like we do and they have lots of dare. So when someone was touching an Albanian kid, the father or mother of the kid, just said to the teacher "If you touch my kid again, I'll kill you".
A so simple phrase and BOOM! Miraculously any bad treatment stopped! Also terrorizing and harassment stopped. Later came the anti-rascist mania so teachers started treating the kids in good ways. But not the Hellenic kids. They know that their parents will just go and say, "Please, don't beat my kid again..."
If you wonder if this unequal treatment caused the creation of school gangs, yes it did...
Even in my school where some gangs, and it was a quiet school. In other schools are happening so many bad things that will sound Sci-Fi to you. Stuff like cutting the breaks of the teacher who gave you a bad degree, or stab with a knife someone that looked you strange. On most school kids have access to weed since their 14, and other do crack and other heavy drugs. Someones are even bringing Whiskey and Vodka to parties, but thats nothing in comparison.
After the German Occupation, a law passed that made illegal for police to enter schools or anything else is "educational asylum". That meant that they ones from the state allowed there are the teachers. Even if the Director of a school call the police, and there is a crime going on, they have to way for the DA or someone more superior to enter. And even then, under the crappy law, the actions of the DA maybe found illegal. That law made our schools and even our universities "Ghettos" and allow any kind of criminal activity to take place in them with the protection of the government herself.
Having to deal with all these stuff creates lot of strain as you can imagine...
We are not a country of logic. The so called "young men" burned half the Athens with the police just looking, the congressmen said that we have to disarm the police because these "young men" are felling "threatening" by the "armed" police...
(I am quite aware you guys on the foreign have heard stuff like "Civil Uprising" and many other incorrect things. I can made them clear for you if you wish and allow that way a better understanding of modern Hellas.)
So, after 17 years living in this sh#th-... ehm... country of where the illogical is logical, the injustice is justice, the personal ego is the absolute truth,where the Gods live inside the TV and my wallet, where the law and Constitution is something just made to stomp upon, where being proud of your ancestors is a shame (no matter what country are you are from), and i the country where the Borg phrase "You will be assimilated" sends all your dreams and your personality in the governmental grinder, you can understand who hard is not just to have strain, but even to be different.
At 17, i ended up with about -10 and -11 diopters of myopia. Even worst after the dreadful "Pan-Hellenic Exams" which define your whole life because from the degrees you will write, the state allows you to pass to some schools and to some other not. (But thats Democratic...) And you will have to know what you want to become at 15-16 when you going from Gymnasium to Lyceum. If you do a wrong decision and you didn't found out on the month given, the sorry, your life is screwed... Lessons are making you believe they made to be un-understandable. For example, we have to learn the Pythagorean theorem at 10. Also, the computer lesson book i was issued in 2007, was written in 1998!
And so, i wrote these damn exams, and after i finally had control of my life, i gained floaters!
No, thats not the worse. The worse is that i had tried Bates' method just before i become aware of them.
Crappy scary think huh?
So i was believing that Bates' method actually hurt my eyes. By the time before i start i had about -12 and -13. I was desperate and i even gone in the Church to pray for a cure. I say that the miracle is analogue to faith. And i wasn't surprised when i was founding Bates' method again and again after a feeling that i have to search for natural vision improvement. So i did thinks right this time and i saw better. I am not religious. So the miracle was equal to my faith. Later i became pro-Bates, and then i found this place. After some time i joined.
Yes, i wanted to go for Lasik. After i found Bates, i hated the industry, the modern medicine, the government, the system, the society and mostly myself...
But that hate was turned into motivating power to accomplish what others think impossible. And since the begging of August, i dropped my glasses away!
Still no curred. I was fighting for days with strain and tension, But today i finally feel more relaxed and natural. My memory and imagination have also been improved a lot.
As someone wise said "I am feeling like i am hitting my head in a bared door. My head might broke, but so will do the bars."
Wow. Your myopia has had so many psychological causes. Is there a high incidence of myopia in your country?
I'm happy to see all that progress in your signature. Ever since I first saw you on the forum, I wished I had a such a chart that I could check off as I improved! But I don't read the Snellen nearly often enough--
You can use mine by downloading and editing, or throw me a pm and i will make one for you.
Many people here have many different kinds of refractive errors, or eye problems, along with many psychological problems. Many are those who getting suddenly retinal detachment or floating specs, with normal vision.
If you come here, you can feel it in the air. All that strain...
Every Christmas when people have wishes that never come true and they want stuff they can get, or others can't even afford food, you can feel all that depression in the air. It's strange...
But not get fulled buy travel agencies advertisement. Hellas is now a very dangerous Country.
One hundred meters away from the Parliament, people are mugged, beaten, killed or rapped. One hundred meters away from the Parliament!
And in what other country a U.S Embassy was hit with an RPG? Somalia?
Think about it people.
You don't hear about what really happens here. The government herself ordered crimes to be covered up and never show to the public along with the statistics. And we don't have right in self-defense. Here self-defense is thought to be a fascist way on playing' it Judge, Jury and Executioner. Even the police can't shoot in self-defense without order.
And someday i will tell you about the so called "Civil Uprisings".
There's a saying here that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Congratulations on your awareness, your resolve to thrive and avoid despair, and your vision progress. Your story reminds me of the classic "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl, about being in the concentration camps. I look forward to the great things you will accomplish.
hi Ares, thanks for sharing some of your story. These are the things we don't learn in school about other countries!
I hope that you will be an instrument of change. Stay positive. Have you started teaching others around you this method? Perhaps form a small group? I think it helps to spread peace as well as good eyesight
Yes, in schools they is not much true about other countries. I think almost everywhere follows the mode of "Our Allies are Good, our Enemies are Bad, Neutrals are Neutral". Sometimes, and specially here, this follows the political and personal views of the books writer.
Everything I "learn" in the school about other cultures have been found to be lies. > And most of the things i learn actually...
Here teaching is not easy. People need proof. Most of them will believe that i had a Lasik and i make fun of them. And even if they believe, they will require me to have more that perfect vision. If i don't get 30/10, the majority is not going to be convinced. So i have to try different approaches.
Nancy, we say the same thing here. (I think Nietzsche said it? ), but unfortunately, here is used as an excuse to smoking, drinking to a poisoning level, clubbing until amnesia, and eating the most junk food around. Basically, that phrase was long before associated with fascism here. The stereotype goes like that "Anyone who want strength is a fascist. Only fascists want strength." Words like "Power", "Authority", "Strength" and many other are taboo here. You will notice when you trigger a behavior pattern when you say one of this words to someone and start looking at you as threat. Yes, this is a part of our education, we actually learn it schools to be pleased with what we are now and want nothing like "strength" because this will lead as to believe we are superior to others. ??? It's a mess i know...
I will search for the book "Man's Search for Meaning". I think it will be interesting to read.
Let's imagine about playing an Action video game.
No matter if you play with glasses/contacts on or not, a video game can always improve the vision.
No, video games alone are not impair eyesight in any case.
Doctor Bates suggest us to go to the movies. But a video game can be more useful that 1000 movies.
Think about it.
You have to be focused. You have to be relaxed. And you need to pay attention.
A video game can relax you, and draw your attention, and be so interesting to make you focus on it. If there is action, the camera moves around very fast, and the eye can't stare. If the action is really fast, you would have to time even to think! You would have to react fast and by instinct.
A video game can always help you clear your mind, relax and de-strain the eyes.
In time you will notice that you are seeing clear or clearer, and if you just let that change happen without focusing your attention on the fact you see better, you can be more relaxed very soon and maybe also cured.
I personally shed three diopters playing STALKER and Oblivion.
Its advised to play first or third person shooters/action games. Other genders tend to allow you to stare. Racing games are also good as anything that has fast action.
You can use cheats or trainers to help you be more relaxed and suppress any stress. Don't worry, sick people get no sins. But don't use cheats or trainers, or bots or anything in multiplayer!!!
So, next time you will play your favorite video game, or you will see a nice one in a store, you can relax and play it with no worries, helping your eyes see better naturally!
Bates said it.
I believe now. It is beneficial to make your sight worse. Why? Because as i see it now, it gives you knowledge of the control you have and the control you can have in your eyes. Experiencing a vision in an unnatural way, makes you aware of the illusion in sight, as well of the "illusion" of sight. Eyes don't see. Mind sees. And mind sees whatever it wants. I understand now.
So, what i did, was simple to see stereoscopic images in 3D, by fixating the eyes in that unnatural way they re not meant to work. Also i noticed that if i look at distance with eyes fixated like that, nothing happens and i have the same vision as with properly fixated eyes. Interesting...
It was so exiting! In the past i where unable to see images with 3D glasses, or stereoscopic pictures. Now i did it in 10 minutes and i am able to see the 3D picture at will!
Here is a specimen of a Stereoscopic or Cross-Eyed Image.
The guy is a Satyr. The gals don't know. But if you see the 3D picture of these two, its amazing.
You can find some more here:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.digital-photography-school.com/9-crazy-cross-eye-3d-photography-images-and-how-to-make-them">http://www.digital-photography-school.c ... -make-them</a><!-- m -->
Or Just Google it!
Strange as it sounds, my vision improved by looking at these images. ??? (<-- I was actually like that...)
I checked my eyes focus, and i noticed i can focus more better at distance at will. (Looking a candle flame in dim light conditions.) Today, i have improved eyesight all the day, but can;t still say if its permanent.
I see now the Stereoscopic images as an interesting day to make your sight worse while looking on beautiful stuff...
And maybe it can help me a lot.
Will see...
WARNING
Some time later, i had a strong Dizziness. It gone away when I imagined Central Fixation, but it was strong enough...
Check out Magic Eye, too, same thing but not so classically artistic. I buy their calendars every year (use the old ones for practice), and look at the new on-line images when I remember. http://magiceye.com/
I spent some days having fun making my own Stereoscopic Images using existing images i Google-fished.
It was great fun and helped me a lot!
But, more good news also!
My imagination improved !!!
When i go to sleep, i can focus on a thought just like when i wake up!
I think that i have to start palming again, but i will give it some additional time.
I am redecorating my room, so i have many things keeping me busy!
Great thread. Today I found another piece of the puzzle - the mind/vision disconnect, and a possible way to reconnect them. I posted another picture to my picasa site:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://picasaweb.google.com/JMCCAC/USVisualTrainingBiofeedbackDevice#5520093518429575554">http://picasaweb.google.com/JMCCAC/USVi ... 8429575554</a><!-- m -->
It has to do with reconnecting the eyes and the mind so that they begin working together again.
Once the imaginary 3rd image is created between the two twin Snellen, I hold an object in my hand between my eyes, covering the imaginary Snellen, and look at the object, then at the imaginary 3rd image.
Insight: That my eyesight/vision/mind doesn't actually see anything as it really is - only the light reflected off the objects/visual scene. Therefore, seeing blur as a defense mechanism is useless.
My vision continues to improve by leaps and bounds.
Nature is very fair; people aren't.
To me, it seems now that on of the major factors of Myopia is the lack of Distance Awareness.
Somehow, the mind is convinced to keep the eyes fixating to a small distance from the eyes. That can possibly means that the Mind doesn't understand or is programmed not to project the right vision from the distance we are looking at.
Strange enough, it seems that the Mind can see clearly things we see very blurry. Imagination is the prime suspect for that. That means that the mind can process mental pictures obtained during the time we are active or at the time we are active, and using imagination clear them subconsciously.
I am still freaked out a bit when i remember clearly things i saw blurry during the day,
Also, i am trying the following.
In the apartment i live, the balcony offers a great field of view. I can see to other buildings 500+ yards away and i love looking at the building there. Because i like it, my vision becomes a bit better when i look on that buildings that are far away. That means that my eyes are more focused and their shape had changed a bit to allow me see better.
If i close my eyes i can imagine easy that i look on these building and is a pleasant thing to do.
So what i did was to imagine that i look on these building that are many hundred yards away, and instead of looking at the real buildings, i looked on the Snellen chart on my wall. It became more clear, but it was familiar to my Mind and my eyes where eventually adjusted to the distance the Mind uses to fixate them.
Then i meditated on that, my way.
Then i realized that when i was on a tall building on airplane, i never realized the distance except in some rare moments of relaxation.
Close your eyes and think about it. We have a three dimensional space. Your room. Where you place your self. What distance your eyes are from the floor? The wall on front, the wall on the right, the wall on the left or the ceiling?
No, you don't have to give exact measurements but only to be aware of the distance.
It was strange when i looked back to my [-13]---[-12] self and noticed that i imagined what i seen to be exactly in from of my eyes. Just like if the whole world was projecting from a camera on screens on my glasses. You know, like wearing those fancy glasses that project images in your eyes. Now it feels like the world is a painting i am looking at six inches away. NO! that is an illusion!
I have no interest and motive "calculating" the distance or being aware of the distance. Thats bad.
Then i concluded.
The Unnatural Way of Life is guilty.
Sentence is Death.
Ares Wrote:Awareness of Distance Warning This is a Theory
To me, it seems now that on of the major factors of Myopia is the lack of Distance Awareness.
Somehow, the mind is convinced to keep the eyes fixating to a small distance from the eyes. That can possibly means that the Mind doesn't understand or is programmed not to project the right vision from the distance we are looking at.
Strange enough, it seems that the Mind can see clearly things we see very blurry. Imagination is the prime suspect for that. That means that the mind can process mental pictures obtained during the time we are active or at the time we are active, and using imagination clear them subconsciously.
I am still freaked out a bit when i remember clearly things i saw blurry during the day,
Also, i am trying the following.
In the apartment i live, the balcony offers a great field of view. I can see to other buildings 500+ yards away and i love looking at the building there. Because i like it, my vision becomes a bit better when i look on that buildings that are far away. That means that my eyes are more focused and their shape had changed a bit to allow me see better.
If i close my eyes i can imagine easy that i look on these building and is a pleasant thing to do.
So what i did was to imagine that i look on these building that are many hundred yards away, and instead of looking at the real buildings, i looked on the Snellen chart on my wall. It became more clear, but it was familiar to my Mind and my eyes where eventually adjusted to the distance the Mind uses to fixate them.
Then i meditated on that, my way.
Then i realized that when i was on a tall building on airplane, i never realized the distance except in some rare moments of relaxation.
Close your eyes and think about it. We have a three dimensional space. Your room. Where you place your self. What distance your eyes are from the floor? The wall on front, the wall on the right, the wall on the left or the ceiling?
No, you don't have to give exact measurements but only to be aware of the distance.
It was strange when i looked back to my [-13]---[-12] self and noticed that i imagined what i seen to be exactly in from of my eyes. Just like if the whole world was projecting from a camera on screens on my glasses. You know, like wearing those fancy glasses that project images in your eyes. Now it feels like the world is a painting i am looking at six inches away. NO! that is an illusion!
I have no interest and motive "calculating" the distance or being aware of the distance. Thats bad.
Then i concluded.
The Unnatural Way of Life is guilty.
Sentence is Death.
Well Ares, this is difficult questions. I just write here what I think is most logic. I at least can conclude that vision seems to be perceptual and you obviously get some awareness by product. It is the mind that creates the painting. Ok, if that room is threedimensional to your mind, then your mind was designed to let you be aware of all these dimensions, because it is your way of getting oriented, otherwise the mind would get totally lost. So I agree that the mind needs to be aware of these dimensions, else the mind is obviously not in balance.
You also mention the imagination. Einstein said that phantasy/imagination is more important than knowledge. It is because there are an infinite amount of possibilities, infinite range of frequencies, infinite amount of information that can be reached with phantasy/imagination. The imagination just sets the limit. Everything must be possible in the imagination. It is due to this the mind must be positive, else the imagination would suffer. Reality is just one tunnel perceived, you need to choose just one way, because you cannot choose two ways. Thus there are two camps in brain: imagination in one camp that corresponds to "everything" and perceived reality in the other camp that corresponds to one selected "point" of view. Think about it. Isn't it really similar to vision, peripheral vision is "everything", and central vision is one "point". Strange, maybe it is the same thing. Well, then imagination is something you use to select the way you shall go in the perceived reality. And then Peripheral vision is something you use to select one point that you shall see clearly with your central vision. So there is a balance here that the mind is responsible to control. Else it could be that an unbalanced mind causes disturbances, since you don't know where to look at. For instance the imagination could be so dominant that the perceived reality is forgotten, yes, if you study a lot this is the case. So the cause might be that imagination and perception is not balanced as well as the peripheral is not balanced to the central point. I am not really sure about if it works like this but I must have some logic to follow at least to be able to continue.
Bates said it.
I believe now. It is beneficial to make your sight worse. Why? Because as i see it now, it gives you knowledge of the control you have and the control you can have in your eyes. Experiencing a vision in an unnatural way, makes you aware of the illusion in sight, as well of the "illusion" of sight. Eyes don't see. Mind sees. And mind sees whatever it wants. I understand now.
So, what i did, was simple to see stereoscopic images in 3D, by fixating the eyes in that unnatural way they re not meant to work. Also i noticed that if i look at distance with eyes fixated like that, nothing happens and i have the same vision as with properly fixated eyes. Interesting...
It was so exiting! In the past i where unable to see images with 3D glasses, or stereoscopic pictures. Now i did it in 10 minutes and i am able to see the 3D picture at will!
Here is a specimen of a Stereoscopic or Cross-Eyed Image.
The guy is a Satyr. The gals don't know. But if you see the 3D picture of these two, its amazing.
You can find some more here:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.digital-photography-school.com/9-crazy-cross-eye-3d-photography-images-and-how-to-make-them">http://www.digital-photography-school.c ... -make-them</a><!-- m -->
Or Just Google it!
Strange as it sounds, my vision improved by looking at these images. ??? (<-- I was actually like that...)
I checked my eyes focus, and i noticed i can focus more better at distance at will. (Looking a candle flame in dim light conditions.) Today, i have improved eyesight all the day, but can;t still say if its permanent.
I see now the Stereoscopic images as an interesting day to make your sight worse while looking on beautiful stuff...
And maybe it can help me a lot.
Will see...
WARNING
Some time later, i had a strong Dizziness. It gone away when I imagined Central Fixation, but it was strong enough...
Thanks Ares for these 3D pictures,
Wow, these 3D images are really both great and magic. When I look into the three dimensions in the picture and move around my focus point in the 3D picture I actually noticed that my eyes were moving totally relaxed by will, I was totally amazed to notice this, I also saw the 3D picture details much sharper in the 3D picture compared to just looking at the two 2D pictures, wow. It has been a huge problem to me that I cannot move my eyes relaxed by will, but have no problem with this in the 3D picture. Now, I understand that this tension I have when I move my eyes by will has something to do with not beeing able to synchronize my eyes to get into these three dimensions. If the vision only can synchronize in this 3D environment then there is no tension anymore, it's completely gone ! :o , oh now I understand how things works, why my mind has problems. Maybe my myopia started once long time ago due to that the eyes weren't exactly synchronized (because my right eye is much worse than the left eye), then the glasses prevented the eyes to be able to resynchronize into their natural behaviour. I thus got glasses despite I didn't need any once long time ago, and the glasses did make the nearsightedness worse, like a self perpetuating spiral.
Thanks again Ares.
)
And most of the things i learn actually...![[Image: cross-eyed-images.png]](http://www.bouguereau.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/cross-eyed-images.png)
