I need help

[naruto]

My little brother is 15 years old with 20/400. Can somone give me something like a daily routine to increase his vision.

[Oleg K.]

Hi,

IMHO a 15 years old boy is quite capable to read and understand the principles of Bates method. Just give him the original Bates book, freely available at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.iblindness.org/books/bates/">http://www.iblindness.org/books/bates/</a><!-- m -->

The Bates method is not just a set of routine excercises you could do 15 min a day and get cured. It's about getting rid of wrong vision habits and cultivating the correct vision habits, so it should be practiced more or less all day long, in parallel to your main activity. It is very important to understand the principles of the method as Dr. Bates describes them, because following some routine mechanically is not efficient. That's why Dr. Bates doesn't give any strict routines to follow - each patient is supposed to develop his own routines, adapting them all the time, depending on the obtained feedback.

[bill]

First thing is have him come on to the forum.  Second, have him stop wearing glasses unless he absolutely needs to (like for school for example).  Third is Oleg is correct it isn't much of a routine but eliminating the stress you put on your eyes throughout the day.  I would reccomend setting "goals" rather than "routines". Initially the goals may seem like routines but that should change for after a while.  I have only been practicing this for about a month now so I know how challenging it can be at the beginning.  When i started my goal was to set aside x time for palming and Y time for another technique and so on.  This is ok to start with as it gets you into it but you have to quickly realize to start incorporating better vision habits in your daily activities. This is when you start to have the most improvements.  I am by no mean an expert yet and sometimes I still struggle incorporating into all of my activities but I have been getting better.

[Kazekage]

Dear naruto,

First of all: Welcome to the forum! Let me first say that I am posting this very late at night so sorry if it is a little sloppy. I also just want to mention that I am the sam age as your brother so I guess the chances are that he is a bit daunted by the task ahead of him, and disgruntled now being told that he should begin with the original book, now although it makes sense to start from the beginning, in this case I wouldn't recommend starting with 'Perfect Eyesight' until you have read some of the other more modern books because, at the very least he will, like me,  find it slightly boring and might not be able to appreciate the book without a better understanding of the method gained from other places. Now as the previous users have already stated, improving one's vision is more than following a simple routine; palming 5 minutes, swinging 10 minutes, shifting 500 hours, sun until piping hot and ready to eat. But don't go with the wrong idea,  NVI is a very simple process indeed.  See this thread, you might find it of aid ; <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.iblindness.org/forum/index.php/topic,383.0.html">http://www.iblindness.org/forum/index.p ... 383.0.html</a><!-- m -->

On the subject of 'Perfect Sight Without Glasses' - (or you might find it as 'The Cure of Imperfect Eyesight Without Glasses', but remember this is a hard to find edition of the book, for some strange reason they edited it and renamed it 'Better Eyesight Without Glasses', but this version is kind of crap compared to the unedited version, so just read the original on the internet, don't waste your money.). So anyway when fate had me encounter this legendary book, I was around 13, but the truth is that I hardly understood it, felt fed up, and put it down for until another year. Then I re-read it, understood it, but I was still very annoyed by Bates' olden language style . Now, many would disagree, but in this modern day and age I wouldn't really bother to read all of the book, just skip to the summarization parts where you learn the techniques. When you have become accustomed to Bates' language, and learnt a little more about him than is mentioned in his book, and understand some more about natural vision improvement, you can always come back and read it in depth. Well, if you are a true follower, then you will do this without hesitation . If you want a short summary of the book - All vision problems are caused by straining to see. When the strain is relieved by relaxation, the visual system is cured. Now, my friend, ensure that you (and your brother here) have understood this fact well and good, it is more significant than it sounds.

Once you have come into enlightenment of this heavily emphasized knowledge, you may commence your quest to perfect vision, and there are lots of ways to begin. You may have already gathered that this forum is one of the best places to learn, you will find everything from the highly experienced and helpful veterans of our community forum - founder Dave, Spock, Oleg. K. , and Otis with his i-refuse-to-finish-the-line posts and slightly irritating plus lens obsessive rants (sorry Otis) - and some others - you will be sure to learn a lot from these fellas; all the way down to the less experienced (though very fortunate) peeps like you and me. Even for the experts, the learning doesn't ever ever stop... Members of this forum are aged anywhere from 8 to 80, who have problems ranging from  myopic to hypermetopic to amblyopic eye to strabismus, so there is something for everyone. Make sure to read the old posts here as well the newer ones, you might find something of interest, or someone who is in a similar position to you... If you have a question, don't hesitate, just ASK. Our committee will gladly help.

Then there are the many many books that have spawned as a result of Bates' original genius. Here's one I really reccomend you start off with: 'Relearning to See', by Thomas R. Quackenbush, and 'Improve your Eyesight' by Jonathon Barnes.  If you are looking for motivation, then you'll find 'Better Eyesight Mazgaines: The Compilation' by Thomas R. Quakenbush to be absolutely invaluable book of captivating true stories; Amazon.com will help you out here. But, the chances are that you, like me, really can't be bothered to go and buy all this stuff. You need not fear, for all the talk about natural vision improvement, it really is more simple than it sounds, I will give you a quick starting point with the habits that all normal see-ers maintain. Practice them until they are unconscious. You won't regret it.

1) Blinking; this is my favorite. Why, you ask? Well, it's just so easy, I mean what can be harder than blinking? Always remember, blink softly, rapidly, and in a relaxed way. When you are proficient, you will find that you are able to sometimes even induce what we call 'Clear Flashes' - these are moments of perfect, or near perfect vision - simply by blinking.

2) Breathing; now this may sound silly, we all do it, but the question is do we do it right? The fact is that the majority of us really don't have a clue how to breathe properly, when we inhale we only use our chest, but IDEALLY, when we inhale the stomach expands, and when we exhale the stomach contracts. Sometimes when you inhale the chest might rise a bit after-words, and vice versa. This kind of breathing is very good for you. The big problem is there's just not much incentive to breathe in this way, and at first it can get tiresome, but just remember to do it in an easy way, feel the air filling your stomach like a balloon, and leaving it like a gale of wind. There's no need to breathe beyond the point where it starts to feel uncomfortable - you'll know your own capacity. Also keep in mind that exhalation is just as, if not more, important than inhalation. I hear that without proper exhalation, there will be unbalance in the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. You want them to be balanced, because if you breathe in too much you'll have an overflow of energy and you'll start to feel agitated and edgy, like you're on crack (err.. not that I would know). Breathe in too little, though, and you'll hardly have enough energy to stay alive. If you are just about to do exercise, than an overflowed unbalance of oxygen is alright, I would suppose, since the exercise would use it up, and re-balance the system. (Though don't take my word, I'm definitely no expert on this stuff). It's interesting that babies breathe in this way from the moment they are born; we can safely say this type of breathing is completely natural and unharmful, even though with current times, most people breathe shallow.

3) Shifting; for perfect vision, eyes are always moving. Bates made the important discovery that movement of the eyes is a rest to the system. Take note of this. Basically, to see any object, say, a chair, first you move your eyes over to legs then the seat and finally the back - this may sound wierd to someone with very bad vision, but the memory will store the previous images, and they'll sort of appear to remain clear, because they'll still be in your peripheral vision. This is why many people who have perfect vision will claim to see everything clear at once, and deny that they are central fixators!!!! Yes, shifting is key to central fixation, this is where the eyes see best at the point where they are looking, and see worse at all other points. This maybe sounds complex, but makes sense. To put it simply, have trust in your peripheral, and focus and focus well on small points. Remember it's quality, not quantity.  Modern teachers of natural vision revamped central fixation 'centralization' ,  because fixation sort of implies that you should fixate, and note move your eyes - but this is totally wrong - or so they say, maybe they just can't be bothered to type out 'central fixation'... hah!  So yeah, most authors nowadays prefer centralization.

And then there's the indispensable internet, with its seemingly unending amount of websites to pour through, though like with books, there's only a handful of them that actually contain half accurate and reliable information. You're already on one of the best out there, iblindness, and then there's my other favorite - <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.central-fixation.com">http://www.central-fixation.com</a><!-- w -->. This is nicely designed easily navigatable site, great for free books like Bates' original and many more.

This may all sound like a lot, but just imagine how rewarding it will all be when you have perfect 20/20 eyesight :O (or beyond), or pass that (x) license exam, or at the very least ridden yourself of these horrible twisted evil things that you rely upon so much, these crutches, dare I say it, SPECTACLES *shudder*, permanently...

Hope I've been of help, and good luck on your quest to the 6/6 highway.

-Kaze

[naruto]

Hi guys my brother let me have his account. I have a couple questions first my doctor gave me glasses that made me see 20/30 not 20/20 because he said that it helped other patients improve their vision. Is he telling the truth or trying to make my vision even worse? I heard about + lenses and wanted to know do I when I should wear them? also if I follow through with the program do you guys think that I will have around 20/100 or better by the end of summer?

[bkowalski]

Welcome to the forum.  Your optometrist (OD) is quite progressive in prescribing correction to 20/30.  It's good to know that your OD is thinking about actually improving your vision. 

I don't believe he is trying to make your vision worse.  In fact, in your case which is severe myopia, using the plus lens is what your OD is already doing by correcting to 20/30.  I'm guessing your prescription is anywhere from -5 to -8, so using the plus lens theory, you would add +1, +2 or +3 to your prescription which would still give you minus lenses. 

There are no guarantees with the Bates Method, so much depends on your commitment and how well you apply the techniques to re-learn good vision habits.  You must be very committed, be willing to not wear your glasses whenever possible, even when you are ridiculed by friends and/or family.  That means reading in class with a book 6 inches from your face, not recognizing your friends in the hallway, and taking a test with your nose to the desk.  It means giving up any sports or activities that you cannot do without your glasses.

And even then it may take longer than a few months to get the results you're looking for.  I also have severe myopia, and I've been doing this for 4 months now.  The progress is slow, but there is definite improvement.  At max, I wear my glasses two hours a day, for driving or some things at work, and at a min I don't wear my glasses at all.  And for me anyways, I'm not sure that it's a definite progression from 20/400 to 20/200 to 20/100 to 20/70, etc....  I see a lot more detail in things, and yet I test only 20/200 right now...  I have a two year plan to regain my natural vision, not just a few months. 

I know you can do this, but with your level of vision, you have to be very committed and you need support from another person.  And I'd suggest that you only do this by looking forward to your long term future, and forget about your goal to see a certain amount of improvement by summer. 

I should clarify something, because before I said you would have to give up sports.  I meant that if you are competitive at a sport, and to be at your best, you would have to wear glasses, then you need to give that up for awhile to get the most out of Bates.  But keep playing games and sports for fun as much as possible, and outdoors as much as possible.  Fresh air and sunshine is so good for natural vision. 

[naruto]

I want to know if you guys like sometimes blink regularly and you see the world much clearer and then like in 2 seconds it goes away.  I remember that I learned about tracking and how it improves your vision. I was at this hill in a park and I never take my glasses because I don't want to break them. My brother lost his keys in the hill so I remembered about tracking and I was doing it very good and in like a minute I seen so great. I even found my brothers keys. He was amazed of how I needed glasses and seen it and he couldn't. I kept doing it and I seen my vision get better. I used to play soccer all the time with my friends and I noticed my vision was getting better. This was in the summer time and after I went back to school my vision just went down hill. I noticed that there are people out there who lie to you and act like they know about the bates method. I read this book and they told me to blink only a couple times a minute because you it makes it tougher and some bull shit. They told me about how these eye exercises and it was like a work out. I realized that he didn't know nothing about improving eyesight. Luckily I found this website and I learned that it is about relaxing.

[bkowalski]

Wow, that is great about how your vision is better when not in school!  And you will likely have more success than me who has worn glasses for over 30 years.  It sounds like you've already had some success, and at your age it is likely you will see improvement quicker than someone like me, but remember, no guarantees on when. 

Keep up playing sports, especially ones where you have to track a moving target like a ball.  And go without your glasses as much as possible.  I (and hopefully others) will write more later. 

I should clarify something, because before I said you would have to give up sports.  I meant that if you are competitive at a sport, and to be at your best, you would have to wear glasses, then you need to give that up for awhile to get the most out of Bates.  But keep playing games and sports for fun as much as possible, and outdoors as much as possible.  Fresh air and sunshine is so good for natural vision.  Again, more later. 

Welcome again, and good luck.

[Minesweeper]

Naruto,

Welcome, and from 20/400 to 20/100 does seem possible by the end of summer...

I used to have 20/100 'average' binocular eyesight (both eyes simulateously), but after about a month my 'average' binocular eyesight increased to 20/40. In addition, I also experience what's called a 'clear flash' which is a mental flash that causes the world to sharpen considerably temporarily. My 'clear flashes' have been recorded at 20/13 on the Snellen eye chart. When things are done correctly, it doesn't take that long to improve eyesight because vision is largely a mental process. Both the the vision center of the brain and our extrinsic eye muscles which cause changes in our normal eyeball shape, causing nearsightedness or farsightedness, have a doubling effect on how we see.

The man behind the Bates method, William Bates, is the only person to my knowledge who has ever done intensive studies on modifying vision through the eye of the mind itself, by leaving mental imprints of an image appearing better than usual through visualization. He also addresses the eye muscles in such a way that relieves chronic tension through techniques such as close-eyed palming, correct eye habit usage (such as people with 20/20 or better use), and so on.

The tendency of the brain to do its own interpretation of how we see has been proven through scientific research, based on the understanding that an infant's image projected on the retina is upside-down (like a camera) shortly after birth and gets flipped right way up by the brain. The research done used trick lens that flipped the world upside down for the subject, and after 3 days of wearing the lens, the brain flipped the world back right way up. Then the lens were discarded, and the world appeared as if it had been turned on its head. The brain did eventually flip the world's image back to where it initially had been without the lens.

To me, this strongly suggests that if the brain could change perception of long-engraved habits in only 3 days, it is possible that we can leave mental imprints which allows the brain to see the world better in such a short time. Bates did this successfully through the use of visualization (mental imprints), which in turn eventually had a permanent effect by 'teaching' the brain differently.

To Kazekage: That was a great introduction you wrote up.

[naruto]

Is it true that kids can improve their vision faster then adults. I heard this from a friend who said that kids can still regain their vision because their eyes are still growing. Also can you tell me what you guys do on a regular basis to improve your vision and how much did you improve your vision to date.

[bill]

It is probably true that kids COULD improve their vision faster than adults since the less time you have spent wearing glasses and acquiring bad vision the easier it will be to "relearn" good vision habits.  The biggest factor to improvement though is commitment.  I have only been using Bates techniques for about a month now and my vision hasn't really improved much.  This is due to me currently currently being under stress at work and not consistently practicing better vision habits.  It is tough not to have eye strain when the entire rest of my body is under strain. My vision is actually ok at about 20/40 so I also don't expect to see big improvement right away. Even though I haven't improved my vision yet I have learned many things.  I am now aware of how my vision changes throughout the day and with various activities.  I am now aware of eyestrain and how much of it I have.  Before I could not really distinguish between being truly tired or sleepy, from just having so much eye strain that my body thought it was tired.  Now I can easily make that distinction. 

My personal goal is to try to spend 20 minutes a day palming and 20 minutes acitively practicing shifting.  What I really need to do is take the lessons from the various techniques and apply ALL the time.  I think other people on the forum will also tell you its about constantly practicing better vision habits. 

As for how fast your vsion improves it will really vary quite a bit.  It depends on so many different variables.  I know you have a goal to attain but try to remember that this is a gradual process and it takes time.  Try not to get frustrated if it doesn't improve as quickly as you wish it to and remeber to come back to the forum for help and support.

[Minesweeper]

Personally, I think the degree to which kids learn faster than adults has to do with their degree of subconscious skepticism. As years go on, they understand more about the world and their beliefs become more firm as adults. As adults, they have a harder time shaking loose of such beliefs.

I know Bates said that it was related to length of time wearing glasses, but it doesn't make sense because the brain has been shown through research to adapt quickly despite years of engraved habits. As shown by my 'trick lens' example. Why would it be any different for adults who have worn glasses and confused their brain for so long?

Relearning to see better is about leaving imprints on the mind, and it addresses skepticism directly.