It's really very hard to say. There are rare cases in which Bates' method practitioners are cured almost instantly, then there are those that takes about a year or two. You really shouldn't set a deadline for yourself because it will only lead to frustration and you'd feel like giving up. Just take it one day at a time. It's important to realize that the Bates' methods of curing eyesight are so simple it would seem like it's quackery, but I assure you it is not! I've had at least one VERY clear flash already and I've been a practitioner for only 2 and a half months. Bottom line is, don't expect immediate results. Read the Bates book and come here often and read what others are doing. ;D
If you don't see much results with a particular Bates technique, I suggest you temporarily give it up after about one day and start fresh with a new technique. For example, if you aren't getting many clear flashes from palming, drop it and practice shifting and swinging.
As Marlon noted, the amount of time required to be completely cured varies greatly with different individuals. However, it is a fact that when the habit of staring is permanently corrected, the eyesight is permanently cured. You'll understand this more when you read Dr. Bates' book, 'Perfect Sight Without Glasses.' You don't have to read the whole book. If you want quick vision improvement I would suggest that you:
1) Stop wearing your glasses/contacts at all times. (If you wear them for emergencies it will take longer to get cured!)
2) Read thoroughly the chapters in the Bates book about the cause and cure of errors of refraction, strain, palming, shifting & swinging, memory, and imagination. Also, if you have access to the 'Better Eyesight' magazine, also published by Dr. Bates, you should read it as well!
3) Practice the suggestions outlined, including the flashing technique described on page 1. Keep note of the techniques that give you the most improvement.
4) Repeat the techniques that work best for you, daily. Even when you're busy doing something else, do your best to use your eyes correctly at all times. You must consciously break the stare all day long until it becomes a subconscious habit.
5) Keep in mind, while practicing whatever method, this (especially the text that I bolded):
Bates Wrote:No patient is cured until he becomes able to imagine a letter at ten feet or further as well as he can see it at one foot or less. In this connection, it is well to emphasize the fact that the cure of imperfect sight can only be accomplished without effort. Too many patients believe that the cure of imperfect sight is very complicated, and that they have to make a great effort. It is only when they become convinced that the one way they can obtain perfect sight is by rest, or that when their sight is imperfect, a strain is necessary to keep it imperfect, that a permanent improvement, is obtained. A sufficient improvement of the imagination is a cure of imperfect sight. Patients with perfect sight have a perfect imagination of the things that they can remember. Patients with imperfect sight always have an imperfect imagination.
In conclusion, here are the Bates methods that help me the most:
- continuous shifting/swinging/dodging
- looking at bright lights
- long swing
- variable swing
- circular swing
- thumb movement
- memory of the period
(Some of the above techniques are only described in the 'Better Eyesight' magazine. If you have trouble finding them, just ask and I'll post them for you.)
ironheart Wrote:so the object is to break the stare and make it an automatic habit?
Exactly! And you can break the bad habit of staring by acquiring the good habit of shifting/swinging/blinking. Observe people with perfect sight without glasses, and mimic how they use their eyes. They're constantly moving their eyes from one point to another, blinking easily, all without any sort of effort, in order to avoid the stare.
ironheart Wrote:I heard shifting is the same as swinging,is this true?
They are not exactly the same, but very similar. Shifting refers to physical eye movements; swinging refers to imagined oppositional movements. For example, as you read this sentence you are shifting your eyes from left to right, as the computer screen swings from right to left.
When you shift your eyes without effort, objects should seem to move in the opposite direction. One way to correct the stare is to practice this, along with blinking, consciously all day long, everyday until it becomes a subconscious habit. You are cured of imperfect eyesight when you become able to secure a slow, short, easy, continuous swing of all objects regarded.
