I have been practicing the Bates Method for 3 years until 2 months ago where I quit due to not having results (I actually got worse). But after 1 week I thought that the hard work that I had done shouldnât be lost and try to began all over again without any compromises. I read several books about natural vision improvement without judging the authors and pointing just facts: After many readings I saw a blueprint. I noticed that Bates is the âbibleâ (even if not implicit) for all the literature in the natural vision improvement books but reading other authors is also very important to understand the Bates Method. And most of what I have been doing so far was wrong.
The Bathes Method is so simple in his essence that I think is the main reason why is so difficult to understand. The key concept is how to produce ârelaxationâ. When I heard this I never understood it until now.
I realized that everything that produces relaxation is good for the body, mind and eyes. In this way to improve vision naturally is necessary to treat the person as a whole. For example, if one suffers from stress, anxiety or depression it is necessary to treat these conditions as the person is living with strain. When these conditions are treated and the strain associated with it is remove the person feels more relaxed. This relaxed state has benefits for body and mind including the eyes and vision.
The good news is that the Bates Method could be practiced all day if people try to relax. For example, the simple act of a person walking in the street, with their thoughts on the moment (not worrying or other negative emotions) and observing his world is beneficial for the vision (Dr.Bates said that the practice shouldnât be limited only to the test card but to everyday objects)
People shouldnât look only for answers in books and should learn from their own experience. If one puts his imagination to work and finds a way to be more relaxed, while noticing his world and people, they will be practicing the Bates Method.
With this new attitude I have improved more my vision in 1 month than in the past 3 years where I actually got worse.
Good post. They say it is simple, so I suppose it's, er, simple. The mind keeps finding excuses to avoid the issue. I wouldn't be inclined though to say to people that they need to address their anxieties etc because how are they going to do this? Just where do you start? Probably much better to concentrate on relaxing the vision and the other stuff will sort itself out. This seems to be what people are reporting and it's my experience too.
sean Wrote:Good post. They say it is simple, so I suppose it's, er, simple. The mind keeps finding excuses to avoid the issue. I wouldn't be inclined though to say to people that they need to address their anxieties etc because how are they going to do this? Just where do you start? Probably much better to concentrate on relaxing the vision and the other stuff will sort itself out. This seems to be what people are reporting and it's my experience too.
Hello sean. I am talking about my experience. Of course each person is different. But Dr. Bates said that vision can only clear when the mind is at rest. A mind with strong emotions like anxiety or depression is not at rest and it is under strain. I was one of the so many people that were suffering with this symptoms (anxiety and depression) but didn't realized it until 2 months ago. Then I started a treatment and everything has been changing from then on including a better vision.
Let me answer your questions here. I went down officially 1 and 1.25 diopters after reading/practicing the bates method during the initial 6 months. I am now past my one year mark and refuse to go to the optometrist now for at least another 1.5 years...
I only read real bates stuff after discovering that the people who claim to have "improved the method" compared to dr Bates's findings are doing a disgrace to him because they make up theories and do nothing to prove them or back them up. That is exactly how stupidity and conventional opthalmology works. Dr Bates has done his research with no theories in mind, he simply has documented facts and was even careful to not draw any conclusions, which would have gone past the boundaries of common sense. To me this is very important, but you can choose to ignore this. :-)
I am myself stupid to always brag about the fact that my diopters have gone down as per the autorefractor and the phoropter's measurements. The fact is that if we accept Dr. Bates's findings of the variability of refraction, it really doesn't matter how well we fare at the optometrist until a complete, permanent cure has been obtained, at which time we should have 20/20 vision even at the optometrist's office...
Anyhow, I guess I like the attention I get when I mention that my diopters have gone down. I want people to listen to me so that they don't waste their time with the wrong kind of stuff.
It doesn't matter what exercise a person does, as long as it works and it works fast. But one must be tricky about testing their vision, so it is important to learn the signs of improved vision without testing it - the hardest part of all.
In the beginning I could only do the long swing and even that I did a little bit wrong, but it didn't matter because I learned from it and continue to learn. As a general rule, I try to do about an hour of bates whatever I feel like any given day and be objective about its effectiveness (not always good at that.) (We really should be practicing 2-3 hours a day (as per Bates)...)
What might work for you is working just one or a few inches outside of your comfort zone (where your vision is still sharp is your comfort zone)
Example:
So you take any piece of paper in your hands (any junk you find in the mail with writing on it) fold it small so you now have a card size of a computer mouse sideways. Then you place your thumbs near the 2 edges of the paper and move your eyes from one thumb to the other in a rythmical motion back and forth, making sure to never ever attempt to read the writing in between your thumbs. Your eyes can only stop on your thumbs and only for long enough to turn around and head back to the other thumb. Do a hundred or more, you may find it easier to listen to your favourite music and do it to the rythm of that for the duration of the whole song.
Make sure you never ever attempt to read the card! (You will fail at it for sure, then just start over again, promising again you will not try to read it.)
As soon as you don't make an effort to see it, the writing becomes readable, but then in your shock and awe, you will begin to stare at it and it all goes back to blurry. :-)
If you do this long enough, this swinging outside of your comfort zone will become second nature and you will start noticing that your vision is improving for all kinds of distances as long as you keep the motion up. This is just one technique of the many but Bates has found this very effective in myopia of your and my extent as described in his later articles.
So back to my not-so-hidden agenda:
We can read bates material from others and take any good ideas they may have when it comes to variations on the swing, explanation of the palming, flashing, etc, but be careful when something begins to smell like a stinky theory and is opposing a statement Bates has made. These people have not even taken the time to learn to use a retinoscope, which is the first thing anyone claiming to know a thing or two about eyesight troubles should do. When we come to analyze the facts, the only thing in common for these Bates authors is their knowledge of the Bates findings. Therefore it must have been the original Bates method which has improved their own eyesight and not whatever crazy idea has popped into their minds around the same time as their eyesight has begun to improve. Keep in mind that people with no understanding of the Bates method can improve too if they just happen to master resting their eyes. (Like that woman who believed she could only read the test card with her body bent, and sure enough, that's the only way she could read it! > )
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