I keep forgetting the good vision habits that are used in the Bates method. I've read the book but i keep forgetting and I don't want to go through the trouble of searching the book again. Can someone give me a list of habits that are good for the eye? I remember only a few, and one of them's not staring, getting lots of sunlight, and remembering.
Quote:Can someone give me a list of habits that are good for the eye?
Blinking
Learn to blink rapidly, with ease, and frequently. The normal rate is about 3-4 blinks every 10 seconds or so. Each blink is a rest to the eyes. (Perhaps not because of the momentary exclusion of light, but more so due to the encouragement of movement.)
Breathing
Rediscover the joys of natural breathing by relearning abdominal breathing; Your stomach should expand when you inhale and contract when you exhale. I personally have found this method of breathing to be extremely beneficial to improving sight. By remembering to breathe correctly my progress has been 10 folded, and my eyesight gets noticeably better every day! This style of breathing is described as abdominal breathing, and it is very healthy indeed. Your body will thank you -- And you will find by breathing in this way that, all of a sudden, you have become more agile, are able to move faster, become more alert, are able to read and comprehend faster, and so on. The benefits are endless, and it would take me years to describe them all!
Shifting
A very important habit to keep, if you wish to see effortlessly with central fixation once again. The normal eye is constantly shifting. A great way to reintroduce shifting as an unconscious habit is to imagine that there is a pencil (or I imagine a laser) extending from your nose. With this pencil, you draw the world -- sketching your surroundings as if they were on a piece of paper. You don't need to go crazy, just keep an agile/loose neck and keep your eyes sketching the object around you. You may also find that by practicing this cool technique that your depth perception suddenly improves. It's a great feeling, I tell you that.
Patience
Yes, having patience is very very important. Remember that, ironically, 'rushing' for perfect vision will in the end only be self defeating. I think that this is a major difference between people of today's time and people of the 20th century -- reading the BE/ Magazines made me realize that a lot of these people had much more patience than the people of today. This is one of the big reasons they were able to be cured so fast, IMO.
These four correct habits I believe are the key to rapid vision improvement.
And if you want a REALLY lengthy book which explains the habits that I have just talked about but goes into really long detail, then this is the book you should get:
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If you are confused with anything don't hesitate to ask.
A very important habit to keep, if you wish to see effortlessly with central fixation once again. The normal eye is constantly shifting. A great way to reintroduce shifting as an unconscious habit is to imagine that there is a pencil (or I imagine a laser) extending from your nose. With this pencil, you draw the world -- sketching your surroundings as if they were on a piece of paper. You don't need to go crazy, just keep an agile/loose neck and keep your eyes sketching the object around you. You may also find that by practicing this cool technique that your depth perception suddenly improves. It's a great feeling, I tell you that.
I normally sit at my desk for about 7 hours at a pc, and obviously i need to wear my glasses for this, but can shifting still be done whilst wearing glasses?!
craig85 Wrote:I normally sit at my desk for about 7 hours at a pc, and obviously i need to wear my glasses for this, but can shifting still be done whilst wearing glasses?!
Not very well, or not as likely it will be done well. But in the end it's not about glasses at all, it's about the way you use your eyes, so while wearing glasses can add complexity to the situation, it doesn't necessarily prevent you from learning to shift easily.
David
Site Administrator
"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
Quote:I normally sit at my desk for about 7 hours at a pc, and obviously i need to wear my glasses for this, but can shifting still be done whilst wearing glasses?!
What? If you are nearsighted, you can easily use your pc without glasses. You'll be actually hindering your progress quite a bit if you'll be wearing your glasses for near work... or wearing your glasses at all. What's your prescription?
I have to have my nose about 6 inches from the screen to be able to read it. Not very practical or comfortable. Instead, I wear my reduced prescription and push the monitor back as far as I can.
do you think that by wearing reduced prescription and moving monitor back, this helps?
also, i look out the window as ofdten as i can do and try and keep focusing on something very far in the distance, i've got a good view out of the window over looking fields and trees etc. so i try to this, with my glasses on.
craig85 Wrote:do you think that by wearing reduced prescription and moving monitor back, this helps?
I like to think it does. When I start to get tense or stressed it becomes harder to read and when I slow down and relax I can read easier so, in a way, it seems to provide a certain amount of feedback.
Yes that would be me too, however, I am worse of because of higher degree of myopia PLUS Astigmatism, so I also need glasses for near work. Had been wearing reduced prescription(no astigmatism correction) for 6 months, but the last time I checked, the double images are still there. But I would continue to wear them as my old stronger glasses are giving me a headache when I use them now (even though there had not been any noticable improvement on the Snellen, nor is the image though the reduced prescription crystal clear).
For computer work, is it more better for the eyes to read bigger fonts with no glasses, or to use reduced prescription but make the font very small?
I forgot how reading the snellen chart everyday helps improve your eyesight. Is it because your mind stresses you to see better? I mean not stress, but encourages you to see better in a good way. Can anyone answer my question?
Subject: Two additional items that are good habits.
Dr. Bates had the kids reading their own eye charts in
the 1913 study. This was so they get used to
seeing what normal visual acuity looks like.
I think that most of the kids were just given a minus,
and so most were probably 20/70 or better.
So when they (and the teacher) saw their Snellen
clear towards normal, they (and the teacher)
were greatly encouraged to continue.
Clearly you can not call reading your Snellen "exercis",
but is should be a good habit to know exactly
were you stand on your Snellen.
A even better habit is to not wear that minus all the
time, and as per the students at 20/70, they could
easily dispense with the minus -- as a habit.
Otter> I forgot how reading the snellen chart everyday helps improve your eyesight.
Otis> It helps confirm your success in using the Snellen methods.
After all, you will only believe Bates is working if you
see the objective results on your Snellen.
Is it because your mind stresses you to see better?
Otis>Because your mind begins to understand what "perfect"
(20/20) actually looks like. It is a good memory prompt.
Otter> I mean not stress, but encourages you to see better in a good way. Can anyone answer my question?
Otis> No one can answer perfectly, but the above are
some suggestions about how Bates did it correctly
in 1913.
What Otis said is incorrect. You don't use the eyechart solely to know your current VA.
The idea is to practice good visual habits on the eyechart, and once those habits become habits you can apply them to everything else you look at. Bates found that when one practices reading the eyechart each day, their eyesight does not deteriorate. For a myopic person, you should use the eyechart to practice central fixation, imagination, memory, swinging, shifting, etc... That's what is meant by "eye chart practice". In other words, if you are looking to reduce your myopia, you should practice good visual habits on the eye chart as opposed to just reading it for 10 seconds to determine your visual acuity..
