enVision!
Natural Vision Improvement
Newsletter
Issue# 2                                                                                         October 2000

 

In this issue...

  • Focus on Healthy Eyes  By Roberto Kaplan

  • Featured Website  

  • Integrating VI into Your Life  by Kim Beckett

  • From The Archives

  • This Month's Recommended Book

  • Featured Exercise or Technique

  • Alan Answers Your Questions


Focus on Healthy Eyes

By Roberto Kaplan

Visual Hygiene

 

It is common knowledge that to keep our bodies healthy and fit it is necessary to have the muscles be flexible and strong. While exercising your body muscles you can include routines for your eyes. With the proper discipline you can avoid or minimize strong eyeglasses and develop clear natural eyesight.
 
The first step to improving vision and reclaiming your clear eyesight is to let go of the limiting outcomes of the current system of vision care. This means that vision can spontaneously return if you believe in this possibility within yourself. Let go of what your eye doctor said: "There is nothing that will help your eye condition." Begin with the well-known saying: "Seeing is believing."  I propose you consider that, "Believing is Seeing." In order to see, you have to believe in a new paradigm of vision management. The genetic make-up of your eye does not limit the possibility of you enhancing visual function. Vision does not only occur in the eye. 90% of happens in your brain and/or mind. This has been confirmed by scientists who are unable to fully replicate the human visual system into a robotic form. The full eye cannot be transplanted, because the optic nerve at the back of the eye is actually part of your brain tissue.  
 
If brain function can be enhanced in stroke victims, why couldn't your brain be stimulated through the eyes resulting in increased vision function? This has been happening for many years in a special approach called Integrated Vision Therapy.
 
There are six large muscles that move each eye and allow full motion in all directions.  There are muscles in the coloured part of your eye that control the amount of light entering the eye. There are also muscles for focusing your vision to different distances. Here is a 5 step approach for increasing your vision fitness. This will keep your eyes healthy and fit.
1.  Healthy Attitude
There is nothing wrong with your eyes. They are communicating a need. More than likely your eyes are asking for your help. They either desire more stimulation or more relaxation. Even in the case of an eye disease there are vision principles you can begin using. Observe any negative reactions towards your eyes. Replace those thoughts by reassuring your eyes that you intend to provide the help they need. Thank your eyes for telling you to wake up to new possibilities.
2. Using The Right spectacles
The majority of eye doctors insist on the full-strength lens prescription for 100 percent. Consider getting a weaker pair of eyeglasses especially for indoor use. Then the suggestions for exercising your eyes will provide sharper vision through these eyeglasses.
3. Feeding Your Eyes
Eat more colourful vegetables, grains like brown rice and numerous legumes. Begin using sea vegetables like Arame and Hiziki, or vitamins and minerals to boost the trace elements reaching your eyes. If necessary use therapeutic levels of anti-oxidents and Bilberry as a supplement to better your chances for increasing your vision fitness.
4. Vision Fitness Exercises
Each day spend less time wearing your eyeglasses or contacts  Give your natural "naked" vision a chance to be exercised. Gently stretch your eyes in an up/down, left/right and diagonal position while slowly breathing in and out. Feel your outer eye muscles letting go of tension. After gently rubbing your palms together, cup and rest your eyes and mind by taking a break from reading, watching television or working at a computer.
5. Making Light Work For You
It is believed that the depletion of the ozone layer is causing excess ultra violet rays to predispose us to cataracts. Sunlight can also have a beneficial effect upon your eye function. The muscles that control the size of the pupil are exercised each time you blink in the presence of light. Light also activates blood flow in the retina.  Short exposure to sunlight will help your nervous system get more into balance. Assuming  you are in good health, you need not be fearful that sunlight will hurt you. Get outside before 10 am and after 4 pm and after closing your eyelids, rotate your head from side to side and feel the warmth. Blink your eyelids after each turn without looking into the sun.  
With these simple steps you will be helping to maintain the health and fitness of your very precious vision.

Roberto Kaplan is a former Professor of Optometry and one of the few hundred Doctors of Optometry who is  Board Certified in Vision Therapy. He is the author of Seeing Without Glasses and The Power Behind Your Eyes. Dr. Kaplan offers personal telephone consultations and workshops around the world. He can be reached through his website www.beyond2020vision.com  or  www.integratedvisiontherapy.com
 

Featured Website 
Natural Vision Improvement
A wonderful resource of services, up coming events, lists of practitioners, 
and information from C.J.Wilson and Martha Rigney
 
 

Integrating VI into Your Life

by Kim Beckett

 I know that if I could just go to a resort where all of my needs were taken care of, where there were no worries and no pressures, I could finally work on my vision until I had the degree of improvement I desire.  For years I waited for times like this, like summers off, during time home with small children and babies, and when that didn’t work I settled for anytime I could, a week, a weekend, a few spare hours.  You just can’t get away from it, life happens and it happens continually.  If you are going to make any serious progress you will need to figure out how to integrate vision improvement into your life.  I will share a few ideas I have come up with to do this.

 Driving- while driving you can focus near and far.  Look at your nose and then look out as far as you can up the road.  Look to both sides up and down continually.  You are doing this very quickly.  You will actually be more effective than if you are only staring straight ahead as most of us myopes do.  I find that looking up in particular brings a better clarity to my vision.  Try never to get that glazed-over, zoned out stare going on.  Try to remember to be constantly moving your eyes.  

 Wearing less correction than you need for fully corrected vision.  Start with a prescription that brings you to 20/40 and if you can, also try 20/60 and 20/80.  With these types of lenses you will be getting feedback, you will notice the small improvements.  Feedback is important to tell you that what you are doing is working.  If your Rx is quite high and you walk around with no glasses on you may not notice a little improvement the way you do when you are closer to 20/20.

 Make the time for these important routines each day palming, facial massage, time outside.  I have found that the best way to start a new routine or habit is to link it up with something you already do.  When can you do palming?  How about when you first get up in the morning as you are sitting on the edge of the bed trying to wake up.  Or when you are sitting on the toilet, hey I’m serious you even have a place to rest your elbows.  Facial massage can be done each time you are washing your face.  The soap helps to glide your fingers gently.  Also if you apply moisturizer, massage it in.  To spend more time outside consider finding the furthest parking spots and start taking a walk each day if you can.

 These are just a few things you can do to integrate VI into your life.  Take some time, ask yourself some good questions and you will come up with some more.  And if you do please share them with the rest of us.

TTFN


From The Archives
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2000 3:05 PM
Subject: Millions of members of the medical profession
 
It is alas true that millions of members of the medical profession are ignorant of all sorts of things, so why should it be any different when it comes to vision improvement?
 
In my own experience, I was told as a pregnant woman that millions of members of the medical profession believed that taking aspirin would not harm my baby. Luckily I listened to the "quacks" instead and refrained from taking it. Within a few months of giving birth, I read that NEW STUDIES had shown that aspirin was dangerous to the baby in the last trimester of pregnancy.
 
My mother, on the advice of "quacks," began taking vitamin E for her varicose veins several years ago. She had already had surgery on both legs, and it was the considered opinion of millions of members of the medical profession that she would need to have surgery again every five or ten years. When she told her vein surgeon she was taking vitamin E, he told her that it probably wouldn't hurt her, but it wouldn't help either.  It was just a waste of money. 
Thirty-five years later, her veins are in great shape, she has not needed any surgery, and millions of members of the medical profession have DISCOVERED that vitamin E does indeed help prevent and cure varicose veins.  
Tom already brought up the example of chiropractic. Millions of members of the medical profession said for years that it was quackery, now many orthopedists are referring patients to chiropractors because they know it works better for some cases than what they do.  
 
Probably if the Bates method could be patented (imagine being arrested for palming without a license!), there would be big expensive scientific studies to prove if effective. Too bad Tom doesn't have that kind of money. Studies are done on drug therapies and surgical procedures because that's where the money is. Natural healing just doesn't have the money-making potential. Because of this, our whole culture has been conned by millions of members of the medical profession into believing that the only effective therapies are the ones that make someone else a lot of money.
 
Laural Muller

This Month's Recommended Book
 
  The Healing Brain
 by Robert Ornstein and David Sobel
Not a new book but an interesting one.  How beliefs affect our bodies, how we can use our brains to heal our bodies, backed up by studies and research. 

 


Featured Exercise or Technique
 
HOW TO DO SIX CHINESE EYE EXERCISES  

by Andrew W. Saul

I've worn glasses since the age of eight; how about you?  Many of our children may be better off knowing about the following ways to reduce eyestrain.  These exercises probably help anyone, so take off those specks or take out those contacts, and let's begin. 

EXERCISE #1: TEMPLE MASSAGE 

With the pointer finger of each hand, massage your temples (the side of the head on the level with the eyes) in the depression that you will find there.  If you wear glasses, the depressed location is right underneath each side of your glasses frame. 

EXERCISE #2: NOSE-BRIDGE MASSAGE 

Use the finger and thumb of one hand to gently pinch and massage the uppermost part of the nose.  Again, if you wear glasses, this is right under where the center of the glasses sets upon your nose. 

You may have, unconsciously, already been doing the above two exercises when you've had a headache or sore eyes.  Here's four more for you to try: 

EXERCISE #3: FOREHEAD AND SCALP LINE MASSAGE 

This is a tricky one.  Place the ball of your thumb along the underside of the upper margin of your eyesocket, find the supraorbital notch, and press.  ("What?")  In other words, press up under the eyebrow with the ball of your thumb.  Just under the top of each eye socket there is a little notch.  No kidding, you can feel it.  This tells you that you've got the right place.  Press carefully upward. 

Now, at the same time, take your fingers and rest them along your front hairline (or where your front hairline used to be!).  Draw the fingers DOWN together, while drawing the thumb up, bringing it all together as you gently mush your forehead skin in the middle.  I call this exercise the "Boris Karloff Exercise" because you feel (if not look) like the Frankenstein monster in full forehead make-up. 

EXERCISE #4: MID-FACE MASSAGE 

Smile.  No, really: smile.  An upper line formed by your grin curves up on each side towards your nose.  One finger's distance out from each nostril, right on this smile line, is the location for this massage point.  The facial nerve emerges from the maxilla bone at this point.  After stimulating this point, try a deep breath through your nose.  Many people find that it helps clear their sinuses. 

So far, we have massaged, and relaxed, all four major muscle areas around the eye. The eye can move in all directions because of the four attachments.  It is much the same control provided by a joystick in a computer game or airplane.  We've just relaxed all "remote controls" to the eyes.  Ophthalmologist William Bates, M.D. explains how this can improve one's vision in Better Eyesight Without Glasses (available through interlibrary loan if out of print). 

EXERCISE #5:  CLOSED EYELID MASSAGE 

One of my favorites, and Dr. Bates would agree that it is quite relaxing.  Close your eyes and lightly and rapidly stroke the lids with your fingertips.  Back and forth, top and bottom lids as well. 

EXERCISE #6:  ACUPRESSURE POINT ON THE HAND 

We're not even close to the eye muscles, but there is reason to believe that reflex or trigger points operate throughout the human organism.  Utilization of such a point is in your hands, literally.  With your palm open and your thumb up, you will notice a ridge of skin between your thumb and a top plateau that runs flat up to your forefinger.  Take the thumb of your opposite hand and place it over this fold of skin on top, like a tent.  Roll the thumb further over the side and you will locate a point about a thumb's distance in.  Meet your thumb with the forefinger and press together.  You have the point if you feel a wincing pain like when the dentist is drilling a tooth.  I hate going to the dentist as much as any one, but after stimulating this point a few times daily I can take my glasses off and see better than I should be able to.  To learn other pressure points, please refer to The Natural Healer's Acupressure Handbook, by Michael Blate. 

HELPFUL HINTS WITH THE CHINESE EYE EXERCISES 

 1. Always stimulate points bilaterally.  That is, be sure to do the points with each eye,   on both sides of the face and on each hand. 

 2. Your fingernails should be short to avoid hurting yourself. 

 3. Do not do the exercises if you have a good reason not to.  It is probably best to avoid using any pressure points while pregnant unless you have first checked them out with your doctor or midwife. 

 4. One may generally do the exercises several times a day.  I do each one for a count of about fifteen. 

 5. Behavioral optometrists are often willing to provide additional vision training.  If you want to know if your practitioner is qualified (and interested), ask!  Or, try   writing to the Optometric Extension Program Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 850,   Duncan, Oklahoma, 73533 for information and referrals.  Or, ask at a health food store. 

 6. Here's a book that's good for your eyes: Total Vision, by Richard S. Kavner O.D., and  Lorraine Dusky (A & W Publishers)

Copyright  C  1999 and prior years Andrew W. Saul.  From the books QUACK DOCTOR and PAPERBACK CLINIC, available from Dr. Andrew Saul,  Number 8 Van Buren Street, Holley, New York 14470.

From the website http://doctoryourself.com/


Q & A
Q:
Hello, I'm a student in Los Angeles. I am trying to find an optometrist or teacher or group who practices the Bates Method because I would like to use it to fix my eyesight. I have read Mr. Bates'  book, but I am having trouble practicing the method myself. I would very much appreciate it if you could give me any information. Thank you!
 
A:
Sometimes it's difficult to locate qualified Bates teachers since many teachers advertise by word-of-mouth only.  There is a qualified Bates teacher not too far from Los Angeles with 26 years of experience named Jerriann J. Taber Ph.D.  Dr. Taber is the founder and director of the Vision Training Institute in El Cajon, just a couple of hours south of Los Angeles. We suggest that you contact Dr. Taber at
 
Vision Training Institute
1351 Gibson Highlands
El Cajon, Ca. 92021-2746
1-800-420-VISION(8474) 
Fax: 1-619-440-5224
 
Dr. Taber may know of some qualified Bates teachers closer to where you live, or you may even decide to visit with Dr. Taber in person.  We wish you the best with your vision goals.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q:
What are the very beginning symptoms of Macular Degeneration?  IS Light sensitivity in the AMs a component? I have not gone to the Alternative site as time is short now and it may not be an issue but...just wondering.
 
A:
Inside the back of the eye near the center of the retina, there is a small, yellow spot known as the macula lutea.  This Latin name actually means "yellow spot", and it is here that visual perception is most acute.  As we grow older, it is possible for the macula to deteriorate and lose its functionality.  This condition, commonly known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of visual loss in the United States. While some people develop AMD in their 40s or 50s, most cases do not occur until a person is 65 or older.  AMD is more common in those who smoke or have circulatory problems.
 
There are two varieties of AMD: "dry" and "wet". Dry macular degeneration blurs the central vision slowly over time and is not as severe as wet. Wet macular degeneration, on the other hand, can cause bleeding or leaking blood vessels, and the loss of vision comes much more quickly.  Normally surgery is usually required, and legal blindness is a common result of wet macular degeneration.
 
We recommend consulting an ophthalmologist in your area for additional information and especially for diagnoses.  You may also visit the Macular Degeneration Foundation online at http://www.eyesight.org/, The National Eye Institute at http://www.nei.nih.gov/publications/armd.htm, or purchase the book entitled "Macular Degeneration : The Complete Guide to Saving and Maximizing Your Sight" by Lylas G Mogk and Marja Mogk.
 
by Alan Winn
 

This Newsletter was created by Kim Beckett and Alan Winn.  For more
information on Vision Improvement see the Dolphin Hill website
 
Click here to Subscribe to
the Natural Vision Improvement Newsletter
or send an email to enVision-subscribe@topica.com
 
 
CONTACT US

Thank you for your support.  Please report any problems or suggestions. 
We appreciate any kind of feedback we receive.   Our goal is to have a fun,
informative resource that will bring our community together in more ways. 
As always, if there's something you would like to see in future editions, please
send your comments to dolphinn@attcanada.ca 
This newsletter is archived on the Dolphin Hill website. www.oocities.org/dolphinhill/