Originally published in the Journal of the Allied Medical Associations of America, Oct 1921.
Read at 10th Annual Meeting, Allied Medical Associations of America, held in Atlantic City, June, 1921.

At this time I have to announce what I consider … more...

In the previous video I mentioned a meditation exercise that I sometimes use to give myself a quick refresh when I’m feeling mentally tired or my eyes aren’t staying relaxed.

People call this the hypnagogic state, or hypnagogic hallucinations, but … more...

Who was Dr. Bates? How did he revolutionize eye care? How in the world did Bates come to his conclusions?

Dr. William Horatio Bates was a New York City ophthalmologist (medical doctor specializing in eye care) who pioneered a form … more...

Quite a few near-sighted people have told me that after driving for several hours, looking around at a farther distance than they’re normally used to, their vision is better for a day or so. One woman said her occasional double … more...

Palming is a basic Bates method exercise. There’s not much to it, as far as the basic instructions go. There doesn’t have to be anything mysterious about it.

Place your hands lightly over each eye, cupping your hands enough that … more...

How do you actually visualize?

Some people say, “I can’t visualize anything. I’ve never been able to. My mind is blank. I’ve never been able to do while sleeping, and it isn’t something that’s possible for me.”

B.S.!

You can’t … more...

I want to describe a little bit more about how vision is made in your mind, kind of a continuation of what I was talking about before. I mean, I guess everything is kind of a continuation; it’s all kind … more...

As part of the early stages of your vision improvement process (or even after a long time, if you haven’t quite found what works for you), it’s great if you can notice how much tension you’re holding in your eyes, … more...

Often when people start vision improvement and begin paying more attention to how they’re using their eyes, they are surprised to find how much they’re not relaxed with their looking habits. If you think “more is better” in most cases, … more...

You probably have one of these two beliefs about visualization and vision:

1. The most common belief is that the images in your mind, while you’re asleep or daydreaming, have very little relation to the quality of your “real” vision from

Relaxing your eyes, or relaxing your mind, is supposed to be a major part of the Bates method. It underlies every exercise.

Dr. Bates went so far as to say that nothing else matters.

By constant repetition and frequent

I started exploring meditation a little bit recently. Or should I say, exploring it again. I did it in the past, off and on, but I never really had a clear idea of what I wanted to accomplish with it.… more...

I was lying down on a bench, looking up at some tree branches, and I slipped into an altered state of mind, near sleep. I saw the leaves and branches pretty clearly, but at the same time I had no … more...

I first created “Imagination Blindness”/iblindness.org years ago with the belief that vision heavily depends on imagination, and bad vision is due to a person neglecting and losing the power of their imagination. Visualization, or “seeing” in your mind’s eye, is … more...

First of all, I’m not splitting hairs here for fun. I do have a point that I feel is of practical importance.

Remember the Morpheus-Neo dojo fight scene from the Matrix? Morpheus defeated Neo, and as Neo sat panting, Morpheus … more...

As kind of a follow up to my previous post, here’s another thing to try. The great comments on the forum to my last post got me thinking.

The gist of it is: Switch back and forth between visualizing and … more...

The Bates method is said to be about relaxing your eyes and mind. I’ve tried to describe how I understand the method, which is a little hard because I’m not sure what to think. There are so many confusing variables.… more...