--February 11, 2011
I have been reading in the Better Eyesight magazines and have been realizing that my shifting is far too slow. There was a shifting game that Dr. Bates described that I have been using over the last few days that has been working really well for me. What Dr. Bates has you do is palm for a few minutes and then look at a point on the snellen card, for me, I look at the top middle point of the big C. Then you shift quickly to a point on the bottom of the card and back up to your original point. If done correctly this should take one second or less. Then you go back to palming again for a few minutes and the process is repeated. When shifting you need to make sure that the shift is big enough that the eye "lets go" of the first point, so someone with really blurry vision, like me, will need to do a bigger shift than someone who has pretty good vision. I will usually feel it out, and if my vision is improving really good I know I'm on the right track. I practiced this today for about twenty minutes and got wonderful results. I went from 6/200 to 6/50 vision. The other day when I practiced I improved to 6/40 vision. I also wanted to add that I feel a little frustrated because I closed my Better Eyesight book without marking where this shifting game was, so if I find it again I will reference the article.
--March 12, 2011
I have begun to realize how important the universal swing is, and how important it is to watch things moving in the opposite direction all day long. Dr. Bates said in Perfect Sight Without Glasses that someone can practice shifting without improving their vision. Shifting is physical, swinging is mental, and since the vision is 90% mental the swing will improve the vision far more than shifting. When I look back on my vision improvement the time I improved my vision the fastest was when I would practice the universal swing all day long.
--September 4, 2011
I have finally figured out why some people's vision improves quickly and some people's vision improves slowly. It all has to do with the subconscious mind. The more tapes or beliefs that the subconscious mind has about putting an effort into vision improvement the slower their vision will improve. A tape is a belief that the subconscious mind plays over and over, like a broken record. Some people can have so many tapes running in the subconscious mind that they can spend years practicing the Bates method and never have any permanent improvement. If the conscious mind has a belief that vision improvement should be effortless and the subconscious mind has a belief that vision improvement should have effort then the person's vision is not going to improve because the subconscious mind will override the conscious mind. The subconscious mind will sabotage any type of permanent vision improvement. A good example of this is the movie Inception. In the movie Inception, Dom Cobb is trying to get information out of people's minds, but he keeps failing because his subconscious, represented by his wife Mal, keeps sabotaging his progress. He has a belief or a tape running in the mind that his wife should not have died and this belief continues to haunt him and sabotage his current work. It isn't until the end of the movie that he finally lets go of this belief and the cycle stops. Sometimes film writers and directors know the truth and hide it in movies.
With that thought in mind, there are two ways that we can remove tapes from the subconscious mind for vision improvement. The first one is we can gradually remove the tapes over time. This is done simply by having someone practice the Bates method. The tapes of effort are gradually removed and the vision gradually improves. This is how most people are going to improve their vision. Some people can have absolutely no tapes running in the subconscious and these people are the rare cases who improve quickly and easily. My brother-in-law was one of these people. I spent five minutes with him one time teaching him centrailization and in two weeks he had permanently improved his vision by .5 diopters. His mind was so unattached to his vision improving that his vision improved quickly and easily. Attachment is resistance. Resistance is effort. The people who have the hardest time improving their vision are the people who care the most. The mind cares so much about perfect vision that it smothers or destroys the natural process.
The second way we can remove tapes is to do it instantaneously by allowing the subconscious mind to throw a fit. By allowing the subconscious to fully experience the repressed belief or tape the tape becomes erased. Erasing tapes does not improve the vision but what it does is it gives the mind space. The subconscious mind is no longer playing the tape over and over of "I need to work to improve my vision" and this gives us the space we need to get permanent improvement. The conscious mind and the subconscious mind are now working together. This is what happened to me back in November of 2009, but I did it on accident at the time, and it took me two years to figure out what had happened. I allowed the subconscious to throw a fit and fully experience the blur and then one day the tape instantly stopped playing. The tape in my situation was, "I can't enjoy my vision until it's perfect." And that was a lie. That was a false belief that my subconscious mind was playing over and over. You can tell if someone has tapes running in their subconscious because they will talk about improving their vision (the conscious mind at work), but will avoid practicing or make up excuses for wearing glasses, etc. (the subconscious mind at work). The subconscious mind is physically and mentally sabotaging the process. It does this to reassure itself that false beliefs or tapes are right. When the subconscious mind instantly drops a tape you will know it. There will be no doubt in your mind that it has happened. It will be like a big emotional burden has been lifted off of your shoulders and you will at that moment know what the tape was. I don't really try to figure out what the tape is in advance I just practice my vision games and let the subconscious mind throw it's fit and when the time is ready the subconscious will tell me. You can't really know what the tape is consciously before that because it's running in the subconscious. We don't consciously know what the belief is yet, but we know it's there because reality, or our vision, is reflecting it. It's also important after you go through your "tape release" or "a-ha" moment that the mind is able to fully experience the joy of releasing that false belief and then the system is set up again until all of the tapes are removed. When all of the tapes are removed you have perfect vision. It may sound hard or complicated but it's not. It's actually really easy once you understand how the laws of emotional healing work. If anyone is interested in having me explain the steps I can do that or maybe I could write a post on it. You can also take it a step further and apply it to other areas of your life as well, like depression, fears, etc. One last thing that I wanted to add is that I'm still learning a lot of this so some of it might get changed around a bit over time as I learn more but the basic principles are the same.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Vision Improvement II
--August 1, 2010
I've been thinking about the weaker glasses that I got from Dr. Pugh and I'm starting to realize that my visual acuity isn't always the same from diopter to diopter. That sounds confusing, so let me explain. For example, last year when Dr. Pugh gave me half a diopter that me at 20/30 vision. This year when Dr. Pugh tested my vision half a diopter put me at 20/40 vision. When I first started improving my vision I expected that one diopter would always drop me to 20/40 vision and it would always be that way until I improved my vision to normal, but now I'm realizing that my visual acuity will fluctuate even from power to power.
--August 20, 2010
One thing that has really helped me with vision improvement is to demonstrate to myself that sitting down and practicing even for five minutes really does improve my vision. Sometimes I like to read the Snellen Card before I palm and note how blurry my vision is, and then I will sit down and palm for five or ten minutes and then go test my vision again. Today I did that and I could barely read 8/200. I sat down and palmed for ten minutes and then read the card again. I could very easily read 8/200 at this point. I think this is really helpful because I can actually see that my vision really does improve when I practice and it is a motivator when I have those down days when I feel like perfect vision is so far away.
--September 2, 2010
I read this the other day in Eckhart Tolle and found the comparison to be absolutely fascinating.
Eckhart Tolle: You cannot suffer in a fraction of a second. It takes time to suffer.
Dr. Bates: You cannot stare in a fraction of a second. It takes time to stare. (BE Magazines, March 1927 "Blinking and Shifting")
--September 15, 2010
I was reading in Sorrissiblue's blog yesterday and she had a recent post on consistently practicing. She said now that she looks back on her vision improvement she's noticed that the times she has improved the fastest were the times that she was consistently practicing every day. She also said that when she notices that her vision is getting clearer she will take a break and skip out on practicing and her vision will be back to where it was at the beginning of the week. I kind of laughed when I read this because I have the same problem too. When my vision gets clearer I'll end up telling myself that I can skip practicing today because my vision is getting clearer and I've got a bunch of stuff I need to do instead and missing a day won't hurt, but it does. I notice that my vision does drop or stay the same when I skip practicing. Later on that day I was reading in the BE Magazines and I began to realize how much Dr. Bates would emphasize faithfully practicing. So with that in mind I would like to recommit to practicing everyday and not skipping out which I do far too much. I think it's funny how I know doing certain things will improve my vision and I procrastinate or skip doing them. You wouldn't think that to be the case but sometimes it's true.
--September 17, 2010
Last night I was practicing my sketching because it was a slow evening and I had nothing else to do. I had been consciously practicing sketching for the last half hour when Jacklyn came into the room and wanted to ask me something. I looked over at her and started talking to her and realized after a few minutes that I was still sketching her even though I had stopped thinking about it. It made me realize that if I continue to practice all of this will eventually become permanent.
--October 7, 2010
I love to practice the long swing. It is by far my favorite swing to practice. I practice it almost every day. Sometimes my eyes get into these really intense staring modes where I just want to stare really bad, and I think it's just from years of using my eyes wrong, and I have found that the one vision activity that helps me out the most with this is the long swing. I remember reading one time in the Better Eyesight magazines when Dr. Bates said, "The long swing breaks the stare." I have found this to be particularly true in my case.
--November 4, 2010
I'm getting very excited because all this week my vision has been getting sharper in my glasses. I didn't write about it until now because I wanted to make sure that it was a definite improvement instead of just a one day clear flash.
--November 17, 2010
We had an NEI (Natural Eyesight Improvement) Refresher Class last Thursday. I always love going to those classes. While we were there, Troy, my vision teacher, was saying something about pain and staring. I don't remember exactly how he worded it now, but it was something to the extent of there are some people who like to stare because they find it enjoyable and relaxing. I admitted to being one of those people and when asked why I instantly said because pain feels good. One of the students in the class laughed when I said this and replied, why would pain ever feel good? I didn't have an answer right then but it go me thinking over the next few days, why would pain ever feel good? It does sound like a rather silly idea when you think about it. Then it hit me. The reason why staring felt good even though it was painful was because it masked the real pain I was feeling at the time I got glasses. I didn't want to feel all of the emotional pain, so I found that by staring I wouldn't have to feel that emotional pain anymore. I felt the pain in my eyes instead. I think it's very similar to the idea that if the body feels pain in two different places the body will only feel one, usually the more intense pain. I also think it's similar to someone who becomes an alcoholic. They drink the alcohol because it numbs them so they don't have to feel the pain or address the real issues that are causing them the pain in the first place.
--November 30, 2010
I have been thinking about the story of Benzaar and how much it applies to me and my vision.
There was once a man named Benzaar and he wanted enlightenment more than anything else in the world, but enlightenment always eluded him. Then one day he went to the butcher and said, "Show me where your finest meat is. I want only the best meat." The butcher replied and said, "You can choose any meat on my shelf. It is all the best." It was at that moment that Benzaar became enlightened.
What does this story have to do with my vision improvement?
There was once a girl named Jennifer and she wanted perfect vision more than anything else in the world, but perfect vision always eluded her. Then one day she went to a vision teacher and said, "Show me how to get perfect vision. I want only the finest and the best vision." The vision teacher replied and said, "You can choose any point in the vision improvement process, every moment is meant to be savored and relished, every moment is meant to be enjoyable and relaxing. Choose any point you wish, it is all the best." It was at that moment that Jennifer's vision improved.
The moral: Your vision isn't meant to be enjoyed when it's perfect. It is meant to be enjoyed now. Both perfect vision and blurry vision are an illusion. One is not any more real than the other. If you are not happy with one, you won't be happy when you get the other one because you already have the other one.
--December 2, 2010
I apologize if I talk too much about emotional healing. I really had a lot of emotional issues to resolve before my vision would improve, and I'm not going to get into all of that here, but one thing I like to do when it comes to improving my vision is not only will I copy what someone with perfect sight does with their eyes all day long, like shifting, centrailizing, etc., but I will also copy how they emotionally feel about their vision all day long. Someone with perfect vision doesn't hate where their vision is, they don't wish it was better, or different, or clearer, and they aren't afraid or worried if they will be able to read or see something. They are perfectly content with where they are right now. That is being emotionally relaxed, being content with where you are and not stressing out about where you think you should be.
--December 6, 2010
I have noticed something interesting about my vision, even though I see better with my glasses on I see more with my glasses off. Let me explain. I was sitting at the kitchen table one day eating lunch and thinking to myself, I should be practicing some sketching right now, so that's what I started to do. I was sketching the slats on the water heater closet when I noticed that one of the slats was bent. How had I missed that? I had been looking at this closet door every day for five years with glasses on and had never noticed that one of them was bent until I had taken off my glasses and started sketching them. Another time I was driving and wearing my glasses, and I was stopped at a light and there was a Chevrolet truck in front of me. I thought, while I'm sitting here I'm going to practice some sketching, and so I started tracing the letters on the back of his truck with my eyes. When I got to the last E I noticed that a lot of the sticker from the E had been worn off and it had very bumpy edges instead of smooth edges like all of the other letters. Moments like this make me realize how much I miss seeing things by wearing glasses because I'm too busy staring and not actually looking at things.
--January 10, 2011
I'd like to spend a few minutes and talk about time and the role it plays in vision improvement. Dr. Bates said that our vision is an illusion, and I have learned that the same idea also applies to time. Time is an illusion. Time, like blur, is something that is created in the mind and is not real. If someone is on a date with someone they enjoy being with, two hours will seem like a few minutes. If the same person is instead sitting in a boring lecture that they hate, two hours will seem like an eternity. Time seems to speed up or slow down depending on how the mind is interpreting or enjoying the present moment. Since time is not real and is not needed to cure someone this is why Dr. Bates could take someone at a -13.00 prescription and cure them in fifteen minutes. Time usually creates disease. Someone has to hold onto that fear or that staring long enough for it to manifest into blur. It takes time to do this. So when someone asks, How much time is it going to take to cure me? That becomes a rather interesting question. It is not time that is going to cure you, it is rest.
--January 18, 2011
I've been thinking of doing some flashing exercises. I think flashing is a very good vision game to practice since flashing takes time out of the equation it also takes staring out of the equation. I have to admit that I am pleased with the vision improvement that I've been getting so far, but I would like to speed things up a little bit, so I'm going to play around with those and see how it goes.
--January 24, 2011
I practiced palming and flashing with the Snellen Card today at six feet. I went from reading 6/200 to reading 6/80. Flashing definitely helps improve my vision and I think I'll get better at it with practice.
I've been thinking about the weaker glasses that I got from Dr. Pugh and I'm starting to realize that my visual acuity isn't always the same from diopter to diopter. That sounds confusing, so let me explain. For example, last year when Dr. Pugh gave me half a diopter that me at 20/30 vision. This year when Dr. Pugh tested my vision half a diopter put me at 20/40 vision. When I first started improving my vision I expected that one diopter would always drop me to 20/40 vision and it would always be that way until I improved my vision to normal, but now I'm realizing that my visual acuity will fluctuate even from power to power.
--August 20, 2010
One thing that has really helped me with vision improvement is to demonstrate to myself that sitting down and practicing even for five minutes really does improve my vision. Sometimes I like to read the Snellen Card before I palm and note how blurry my vision is, and then I will sit down and palm for five or ten minutes and then go test my vision again. Today I did that and I could barely read 8/200. I sat down and palmed for ten minutes and then read the card again. I could very easily read 8/200 at this point. I think this is really helpful because I can actually see that my vision really does improve when I practice and it is a motivator when I have those down days when I feel like perfect vision is so far away.
--September 2, 2010
I read this the other day in Eckhart Tolle and found the comparison to be absolutely fascinating.
Eckhart Tolle: You cannot suffer in a fraction of a second. It takes time to suffer.
Dr. Bates: You cannot stare in a fraction of a second. It takes time to stare. (BE Magazines, March 1927 "Blinking and Shifting")
--September 15, 2010
I was reading in Sorrissiblue's blog yesterday and she had a recent post on consistently practicing. She said now that she looks back on her vision improvement she's noticed that the times she has improved the fastest were the times that she was consistently practicing every day. She also said that when she notices that her vision is getting clearer she will take a break and skip out on practicing and her vision will be back to where it was at the beginning of the week. I kind of laughed when I read this because I have the same problem too. When my vision gets clearer I'll end up telling myself that I can skip practicing today because my vision is getting clearer and I've got a bunch of stuff I need to do instead and missing a day won't hurt, but it does. I notice that my vision does drop or stay the same when I skip practicing. Later on that day I was reading in the BE Magazines and I began to realize how much Dr. Bates would emphasize faithfully practicing. So with that in mind I would like to recommit to practicing everyday and not skipping out which I do far too much. I think it's funny how I know doing certain things will improve my vision and I procrastinate or skip doing them. You wouldn't think that to be the case but sometimes it's true.
--September 17, 2010
Last night I was practicing my sketching because it was a slow evening and I had nothing else to do. I had been consciously practicing sketching for the last half hour when Jacklyn came into the room and wanted to ask me something. I looked over at her and started talking to her and realized after a few minutes that I was still sketching her even though I had stopped thinking about it. It made me realize that if I continue to practice all of this will eventually become permanent.
--October 7, 2010
I love to practice the long swing. It is by far my favorite swing to practice. I practice it almost every day. Sometimes my eyes get into these really intense staring modes where I just want to stare really bad, and I think it's just from years of using my eyes wrong, and I have found that the one vision activity that helps me out the most with this is the long swing. I remember reading one time in the Better Eyesight magazines when Dr. Bates said, "The long swing breaks the stare." I have found this to be particularly true in my case.
--November 4, 2010
I'm getting very excited because all this week my vision has been getting sharper in my glasses. I didn't write about it until now because I wanted to make sure that it was a definite improvement instead of just a one day clear flash.
--November 17, 2010
We had an NEI (Natural Eyesight Improvement) Refresher Class last Thursday. I always love going to those classes. While we were there, Troy, my vision teacher, was saying something about pain and staring. I don't remember exactly how he worded it now, but it was something to the extent of there are some people who like to stare because they find it enjoyable and relaxing. I admitted to being one of those people and when asked why I instantly said because pain feels good. One of the students in the class laughed when I said this and replied, why would pain ever feel good? I didn't have an answer right then but it go me thinking over the next few days, why would pain ever feel good? It does sound like a rather silly idea when you think about it. Then it hit me. The reason why staring felt good even though it was painful was because it masked the real pain I was feeling at the time I got glasses. I didn't want to feel all of the emotional pain, so I found that by staring I wouldn't have to feel that emotional pain anymore. I felt the pain in my eyes instead. I think it's very similar to the idea that if the body feels pain in two different places the body will only feel one, usually the more intense pain. I also think it's similar to someone who becomes an alcoholic. They drink the alcohol because it numbs them so they don't have to feel the pain or address the real issues that are causing them the pain in the first place.
--November 30, 2010
I have been thinking about the story of Benzaar and how much it applies to me and my vision.
There was once a man named Benzaar and he wanted enlightenment more than anything else in the world, but enlightenment always eluded him. Then one day he went to the butcher and said, "Show me where your finest meat is. I want only the best meat." The butcher replied and said, "You can choose any meat on my shelf. It is all the best." It was at that moment that Benzaar became enlightened.
What does this story have to do with my vision improvement?
There was once a girl named Jennifer and she wanted perfect vision more than anything else in the world, but perfect vision always eluded her. Then one day she went to a vision teacher and said, "Show me how to get perfect vision. I want only the finest and the best vision." The vision teacher replied and said, "You can choose any point in the vision improvement process, every moment is meant to be savored and relished, every moment is meant to be enjoyable and relaxing. Choose any point you wish, it is all the best." It was at that moment that Jennifer's vision improved.
The moral: Your vision isn't meant to be enjoyed when it's perfect. It is meant to be enjoyed now. Both perfect vision and blurry vision are an illusion. One is not any more real than the other. If you are not happy with one, you won't be happy when you get the other one because you already have the other one.
--December 2, 2010
I apologize if I talk too much about emotional healing. I really had a lot of emotional issues to resolve before my vision would improve, and I'm not going to get into all of that here, but one thing I like to do when it comes to improving my vision is not only will I copy what someone with perfect sight does with their eyes all day long, like shifting, centrailizing, etc., but I will also copy how they emotionally feel about their vision all day long. Someone with perfect vision doesn't hate where their vision is, they don't wish it was better, or different, or clearer, and they aren't afraid or worried if they will be able to read or see something. They are perfectly content with where they are right now. That is being emotionally relaxed, being content with where you are and not stressing out about where you think you should be.
--December 6, 2010
I have noticed something interesting about my vision, even though I see better with my glasses on I see more with my glasses off. Let me explain. I was sitting at the kitchen table one day eating lunch and thinking to myself, I should be practicing some sketching right now, so that's what I started to do. I was sketching the slats on the water heater closet when I noticed that one of the slats was bent. How had I missed that? I had been looking at this closet door every day for five years with glasses on and had never noticed that one of them was bent until I had taken off my glasses and started sketching them. Another time I was driving and wearing my glasses, and I was stopped at a light and there was a Chevrolet truck in front of me. I thought, while I'm sitting here I'm going to practice some sketching, and so I started tracing the letters on the back of his truck with my eyes. When I got to the last E I noticed that a lot of the sticker from the E had been worn off and it had very bumpy edges instead of smooth edges like all of the other letters. Moments like this make me realize how much I miss seeing things by wearing glasses because I'm too busy staring and not actually looking at things.
--January 10, 2011
I'd like to spend a few minutes and talk about time and the role it plays in vision improvement. Dr. Bates said that our vision is an illusion, and I have learned that the same idea also applies to time. Time is an illusion. Time, like blur, is something that is created in the mind and is not real. If someone is on a date with someone they enjoy being with, two hours will seem like a few minutes. If the same person is instead sitting in a boring lecture that they hate, two hours will seem like an eternity. Time seems to speed up or slow down depending on how the mind is interpreting or enjoying the present moment. Since time is not real and is not needed to cure someone this is why Dr. Bates could take someone at a -13.00 prescription and cure them in fifteen minutes. Time usually creates disease. Someone has to hold onto that fear or that staring long enough for it to manifest into blur. It takes time to do this. So when someone asks, How much time is it going to take to cure me? That becomes a rather interesting question. It is not time that is going to cure you, it is rest.
--January 18, 2011
I've been thinking of doing some flashing exercises. I think flashing is a very good vision game to practice since flashing takes time out of the equation it also takes staring out of the equation. I have to admit that I am pleased with the vision improvement that I've been getting so far, but I would like to speed things up a little bit, so I'm going to play around with those and see how it goes.
--January 24, 2011
I practiced palming and flashing with the Snellen Card today at six feet. I went from reading 6/200 to reading 6/80. Flashing definitely helps improve my vision and I think I'll get better at it with practice.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Vision Improvement
I feel like I need to explain this blog post. As most of you know I have been improving my vision with the Bates Method, and when I originally started writing this I was mainly writing it to keep track of my visual acuity progression and had no intention of it becoming such a big and wonderful project. When that happened, I thought about starting another blog for just vision improvement but decided against it because I barely have time to keep up with this blog, family, and life, let alone starting another blog, so I wanted to archive this somewhere and finally decided to just put it into one big entry on my family blog. I don't want anyone to feel like they have to read this whole entire thing, if you're not interested in the Bates Method, or eyesight improvement, then don't read it. I mainly put it here for my reference and possibly for my future students, since I would someday like to become a Bates Teacher myself.
Disclaimer: I am not an eye doctor. My journal is not meant to diagnosis or treat anyone. Please take my journal for what it is, my experiences in improving my vision.
What do the visual acuity numbers mean? I've been getting people asking that question and most of us don't know what that means unless we've had some type of exposure to optometry, so let me explain. The first number represents the number of feet you were standing away from the eye chart. The second numbers represents the lowest line you could read. Let's say, for example, that someone has a visual acuity of 20/70. That means standing 20 feet away the smallest line they could read was the 70 line. Someone standing 20 feet away from the card who can read the 20 line has 20/20, or normal vision.
--October 2009
I got back into vision improvement. My prescription in glasses is -6.50 in the left eye and a -6.75 in the right eye, and my visual acuity is 5/200 in both eyes.
--March 5, 2010
I read 5/70 on Wednesday, which was really amazing. On Thursday I read 5/70 again, but barely; then on Friday I read 5/200. I am learning that when I don't practice my vision games during the day it definitely affects my vision the next morning.
--March 6, 2010
I learned today that just sitting down and palming for five minutes really does improve my vision. I could barely read 7/200 when I checked my vision. I sat down and palmed for five minutes, then I could read 7/200 much better. I need to remember that practice makes permanent.
--March 21, 2010
Micah and I started yoga this week. I noticed that it does make my vision clearer when practicing. Yoga is really fun to do and is relaxing.
--April 13, 2010
I have learned a lot of neat things while improving my vision. One important lesson I have been learning is to live in the Now. Today I was thinking about that and how people get so caught up in the "Happy When" syndrome. I'll be happy when I have that new job, I'll be happy when I have that degree, I'll be happy when I have perfect vision. And then I realized, if I wasn't happy with blurry vision, I wouldn't be happy with clear vision. I have been learning to love my vision for what it is right Now.
--April 17, 2010
The weather has finally been getting nice, so I have been going outside and we have a swing underneath our walnut tree, and when you sit down and look up you have the most gorgeous view of the mountains. I love putting the Bicentennial Man soundtrack on my ipod and spending half an hour just sketching the mountains and resting my eyes. It's a beautiful view and I get lots of practice with sketching things in the distance. I have learned that if I keep my breathing slow and steady like I do in yoga my eyes stay more relaxed.
--April 29, 2010
Another important lesson I have been learning while improving my vision is how to handle stress properly. When I started improving my vision and went without my glasses I became aware of the fact that when I am stressed I will hold on my stress in my eyes, kind of like how people store stress or emotions in different parts of their body. I have been learning that when I become stressed to not hold onto that energy but to let it flow through me and release it. It sounds really weird or complicated, but it's not, it's a lot easier to let go of the stress than to hold it all into my body. My goal with improving my vision is not to ever have stress in life because that will inevitably happen, but to handle that stress in a positive way that won't hurt my eyes or my body. I noticed this a few months and have been getting better at practicing it.
--May 9, 2010
I have been thinking a lot over the past few weeks about how much my attitude has changed over the last year toward vision improvement. I remember last year when Dr. Pugh gave me weaker glasses I was really dragging my feet about vision improvement. I wanted clear vision, but I was so scared to go without my glasses. Vision improvement was a chore, something that needed to be checked off of life's to-do list. I remember last November I was sitting in my room sketching things, hating where I was with vision improvement, as usual, and all of a sudden I had this peaceful feeling come over me and I just finally accepted it. It was ok that my vision was really blurry, it was ok that I screwed up improving my vision as a child, it was all just ok. Vision improvement got really easy after that. In that moment, I stopped fighting the blur, stopped hating it, stopped fearing it, and just accepted it and began to enjoy where I was right now. When I look back now I think it's kind of weird that I had to accept the blur in order to change it, but I know now that that was what needed to happen. I wasn't aware at the time that I was fighting it so hard. I am completely amazed now at how vision improvement went from something that I dreaded so much to just waking up every day and being completely amazed and excited that I have a new day to practice improving my vision. I'm just so excited to have eyes and to have the opportunity to be able to improve my vision. Each day offers a new start and opportunity for learning. I love improving my vision.
--May 10, 2010
My visual acuity right now, on average, is about 7/200. In the mornings I'll usually be at about 9/200. My vision will only go down to 5/200 at this point if I've been on the computer for a few hours and haven't been practicing vision habits and haven't been looking up into the distance. As soon as I get off and palm or sketch things in the distance my vision will goes back to 7/200. My visual acuity outside is amazing! I took the Snellen Card outside one day to test my vision outside because it seemed really clear for what I normally see. My vision on average outdoors on a bright, sunny day is about 20/200. When I consciously start practicing good vision habits, especially centralizing, my vision improves to 20/100. I've learned that visual acuity and diopters don't have much correlation. For example, my visual acuity can improve dramatically outdoors, but I doubt my prescription has changed a whole lot.
--May 24, 2010
Yesterday we went up to Salt Lake for a book signing and as usual I was practicing vision games. I've been having a lot of textures come out and it's so beautiful. I am starting to realize that glasses really do make my visual world flat. I was sketching the bricks on my house one day and all of a sudden realized that I could see the bumpy texture on the bricks. I just kept sketching all of the individual bumps and grooves and noticed that not all of the bricks were exactly the same color. I think wood grains are the most beautiful things to sketch, it's so much prettier and in depth without glasses. Anyway, back to the book signing. I was sketching Micah and I realized that I could see the wrinkles and even the pores on his face. I told Micah that I was starting to see the wrinkles in his face and he said jokingly, "maybe I don't want you to have good vision." Hahaha. I'm amazed that I missed so many details when looking at people with glasses.
--May 25, 2010
Today I was practicing centralizing on the blinds and while I was practicing I kept getting these urges to try and see the whole picture clearly all at once and I had to keep reminding myself that I can only see one point clearly at a time and my vision got clearer and stayed clearer doing this. I think I'm just so used to seeing the whole picture clearly with glasses. I'm really embarrassed to say this but when I was a kid and they would give me stronger glasses I would love how I could see everything clearly all at once. I am slowly unlearning that. I've noticed that practicing The Pebble Game really helps me in this situation. I know Dr. Bates said that if central fixation is practiced correctly (The Pebble Game) your vision will immediately improve and I'm starting to notice that.
--May 30, 2010
Tonight I went to the store with the family because we needed to pick up some stuff for Memorial Day tomorrow. I was helping Micah look for frozen vegetables and I suddenly realized that I could read the writing on the packages! I was so excited, so I started consciously practicing centralizing on the letters and the whole line popped out at once. Then I started practicing on lots of things and Micah got mad at me because I was taking too long. At the check stand I could do it again. If I kept my eyes relaxed and only looked at one point clearly, and it would become clearer. It was neat. Even right now my vision is still doing it. I can tell looking at the letters on the screen that I can see only one point clearly at a time and the letters are made up of dots. Yeah!
--June 10, 2010
I have been thinking a lot lately about how long it is going to take to improve my vision. When I first got into vision improvement I was really restless about it. How long is it going to take? Is my vision clear yet? I just couldn't wait to get out of the blur and have that perfect vision. Then one day it dawned on me that eyesight improvement is a lot like life, it's a journey, not a destination. It's kind of become my motto lately: Vision improvement is a journey, not a destination. Now when I say that, it doesn't mean that I don't ever want the destination of perfect sight, but that I just need to relax and enjoy where I am at on the journey now. It's been nice because it's taken a lot of pressure off, for example, I need to be seeing clearly out of these glasses by such and such date, and just enjoying my vision activities every day and realizing my vision will get clear when it is ready to get clear.
--June 15, 2010
I've been learning lately that my vision improves in a nonlinear way. When I first started improving my vision I thought I would improve the same amount all the time, for example, I thought I would improve .25 diopter ever single month until my vision became normal, but I am learning that his is not the case. I began improving my vision in October and not a whole lot happened until February. In February I improved .25 diopters and then I did the same thing again in March. Now I seem to have slowed down and haven't seen a lot going on again in dropping diopters. I have found that my vision improvement looks a lot like a jagged financial chart with a lot of ups and downs but definite improvement over time.
--June 28, 2010
I have to admit I am completely fascinated about Dr. Bates' work and I am amazed at how he figured all of this out. I've been reading in the Better Eyesight magazines and in one of the articles, "Practice Time" November 1928, Dr. Bates gives a list of the eye exercises that someone should be practicing everyday and one of the exercises he has you do is sit in a room and alternate between sketching objects and then resting. I found this absolutely fascinating because researchers have found that if you alternate between doing an activity and resting you will actually develop that skill faster than if you were to do it continuously without stopping. It actually develops the "trails" in the brain faster by alternating. Another point I found really interesting is Eckhart Tolle says something very similar. That you actually become creative and tap into a universal knowledge when you alternate between thinking about a problem and resting from it. I just find it fascinating that Dr. Bates would emphasize between resting and doing an eye exercise, this practice is sprinkled all throughout his book as well, Perfect Sight Without Glasses.
--July 6, 2010
I seem to be going through an identity crisis with glasses. I am so used to seeing myself as someone with bad vision and I sometimes have a hard time imagining myself as someone with perfect sight. I remember when I first got glasses in third grade I would hang out with some of the other kids who had glasses and we would for fun try on each other's glasses and guess who had the strongest pair? Yeah, me. I've been trying to do better at imagining myself as someone with perfect vision and not labeling myself as someone with bad vision. I've been reading in Eckhart Tolle's, The Power of Now, and there was one part in the book where he was homeless and sitting on a park bench and was just completely content and and at peace with life, and he would get people who would come up to him and ask him, "You are so peaceful. How can I become as peaceful as you are?" And he would tell them, "You already have peace, your mind is just so busy thinking that you just can't feel it." Then it dawned on me that the same idea also applied to my vision, "You already have perfect vision, you're just so busy staring that you can't see it." I could easily prove this to myself by looking at something six inches from my face, where my vision is perfect, and noting that since I don't stare or strain at that distance my vision is normal. This idea has really helped me with my identity crisis with glasses, to tell myself and imagine myself as someone who has perfect vision now, and that perfect vision isn't something that needs to be chased after, or obtained. It's something I already have I just need to stop staring to see it.
--July 12, 2010
Tomorrow I'm going to Dr. Pugh's to get my weaker glasses. I'm so nervous. What if I totally screw it up? What if my vision really hasn't improved and I'm just imagining it? So I went and tested my vision in the 20/30 glasses that Dr. Pugh gave me last July. I can see 20/20 in them now, and I can pick out some of the 20/15 line. I know my vision has improved at least half a diopter, If I'm lucky I will have improved three fourths but I'm doubting it. I'm just worried that when I get into his office to get my vision tested I will be so nervous that I'll screw up any amount of improvement I've made. Then I started thinking about it. Ok, I'm not improving my vision to prove to my eye doctor that the Bates Method works. I'm doing this for me and not for him and regardless of the outcome tomorrow I will still continue on my eyesight improvement journey. I have already proved to the most important person that my vision can improve and that's myself.
--July 13, 2010
Today I went Dr. Pugh's to get my reduced pair of glasses. I listened to my favorite soundtrack on the way over and palmed in the car before going in and that seemed to help calm my nerves. I went in and since I was the first appointment I went right in. Dr. Pugh went through the usual stuff like if my health history had changed, etc. Then he asked me if I had had any improvement in my vision. I told him yes. He had my put my glasses on and read the card, which I did perfectly. He then put the vision machine in front of me with my glasses on. He said doing this would be a more accurate way of testing my vision. He explained that since the machine is further away from the eyes than what glasses would be you have a different prescription for the machine than for glasses. After he tested my vision he said, "Jennifer, you've improved 3 powers. That is completely unheard of." He said in all his years of practicing optometry he had never seen someone's vision improve that much. Then he had one of his workers come in and he was telling his assistant that my vision had improved. They were both really impressed and kept making a big fuss about how much my vision had improved. Dr. Pugh was saying that he had been meaning to go to one of Troy's classes but had never done it and maybe now he should. He was telling his assistant that he should go to the class too and they kept talking about a girl, I'm guessing his daughter, who they wanted to have cured. Dr. Pugh's assistant was asking me what I had done to improve my vision. It was so fun to have them interested and in awe over my vision improving, and I let them. I loved it. Dr. Pugh gave me weaker glasses but he only put me half a diopter weaker again because I missed one letter on the line. I was bummed about that. I had improved 3/4 a diopter in a year and he was still only dropping me a half. Grrr. I do have to admit that he was a lot more willing to give me weaker glasses this year than he was last year. I think last year he thought I was crazy for wanting to improve my vision from a -6.75. All right, here are the results:
July 2009: -6.50 left eye, -6.75 right eye, visual acuity, 5/200, both eyes.
July 2010: -5.75 left eye, -6.00 right eye, visual acuity, 7/200, both eyes on average.
Dr. Pugh gave me new glasses at -5.25 left eye, -5.50 right eye. If I get to seeing 20/20 out of them before next July, which I am definitely planning on, I do have my old -4.50 lenses I can resort to and I should be legal in them at that point. I am very pleased with my results today. My goal for next year is to be seeing 20/20 out of my -4.50 glasses, which means I need to not skip practicing, which I do more than I'd like to admit.
--July 15, 2010
My vision has been a lot clearer over the last few days. I think going to Dr. Pugh's and realizing that my vision has really improved has made me stop doubting myself. I'm starting to realize how important my attitude is in improving my vision.
--July 16, 2010
One thing that has really been helping me with improving my vision has been reading Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now. I find it interesting as I interact with other people who are improving their vision that we all end up finding our own unique ways and methods that help us. I know Sorrissiblue, my friend on the internet who has been improving her vision from a -8.00 is really into autogenics and the Alexander Technique. I haven't really found those interesting or helpful but I have found Tolle's work to be extremely helpful. I think we all know subconsciously where we are weak and are naturally drawn to the things that will help us. So back to Eckhart Tolle, he was saying in his book that thinking is unnatural, it is a strain on the mind to think and I have found that so fascinating because Dr. Bates taught that same idea. All forms of thinking are a strain on the mind and produce an error of refraction. Eckhart said to think of your mind as a tool, you use it when you need to do a job and then you set it down. It's ok to think when there is a problem to solve, but most people spend all day worrying or thinking about the same problems over and over when they can do nothing to fix it. So part of my eyesight improvement has been to learn to stop thinking. I do it sometimes when I palm. I practice not thinking and have been learning to live more in the Now and I have had wonderful results with it. I have become aware that I think too much and not thinking has been very relaxing to my mind. It has really been helping to relieve mental strain. Eckhart was also saying that when we don't think we actually increase our energy field, so that is something I have been learning to do and have found it very enjoyable.
--July 17, 2010
Did some palming this evening and read 14/200 afterwards. That is very exciting.
--July 21, 2010
I have been reading 9/200 a lot more on the card lately. I am not reading 9/200 all the time yet but it is lasting longer and coming more frequently.
--July 27, 2010
I was thinking today while I was palming about how far I've come in vision improvement since I started last October. It used to bother me when Dr. Bates would tell his patients to sit down and palm for half an hour or longer. Half an hour? That seems like an eternity. What will I think about? I have so many other things to do. My mind will get so bored. Now I am to the point where that doesn't bother me anymore. I enjoy the rest, the mental silence. Time seems to go by very fast or not exist at all when I palm like that, and it's very nice.
--July 30, 2010
It has been really neat to look over these entries today and see how far I've come. It has been a wonderful journey.
Disclaimer: I am not an eye doctor. My journal is not meant to diagnosis or treat anyone. Please take my journal for what it is, my experiences in improving my vision.
What do the visual acuity numbers mean? I've been getting people asking that question and most of us don't know what that means unless we've had some type of exposure to optometry, so let me explain. The first number represents the number of feet you were standing away from the eye chart. The second numbers represents the lowest line you could read. Let's say, for example, that someone has a visual acuity of 20/70. That means standing 20 feet away the smallest line they could read was the 70 line. Someone standing 20 feet away from the card who can read the 20 line has 20/20, or normal vision.
--October 2009
I got back into vision improvement. My prescription in glasses is -6.50 in the left eye and a -6.75 in the right eye, and my visual acuity is 5/200 in both eyes.
--March 5, 2010
I read 5/70 on Wednesday, which was really amazing. On Thursday I read 5/70 again, but barely; then on Friday I read 5/200. I am learning that when I don't practice my vision games during the day it definitely affects my vision the next morning.
--March 6, 2010
I learned today that just sitting down and palming for five minutes really does improve my vision. I could barely read 7/200 when I checked my vision. I sat down and palmed for five minutes, then I could read 7/200 much better. I need to remember that practice makes permanent.
--March 21, 2010
Micah and I started yoga this week. I noticed that it does make my vision clearer when practicing. Yoga is really fun to do and is relaxing.
--April 13, 2010
I have learned a lot of neat things while improving my vision. One important lesson I have been learning is to live in the Now. Today I was thinking about that and how people get so caught up in the "Happy When" syndrome. I'll be happy when I have that new job, I'll be happy when I have that degree, I'll be happy when I have perfect vision. And then I realized, if I wasn't happy with blurry vision, I wouldn't be happy with clear vision. I have been learning to love my vision for what it is right Now.
--April 17, 2010
The weather has finally been getting nice, so I have been going outside and we have a swing underneath our walnut tree, and when you sit down and look up you have the most gorgeous view of the mountains. I love putting the Bicentennial Man soundtrack on my ipod and spending half an hour just sketching the mountains and resting my eyes. It's a beautiful view and I get lots of practice with sketching things in the distance. I have learned that if I keep my breathing slow and steady like I do in yoga my eyes stay more relaxed.
--April 29, 2010
Another important lesson I have been learning while improving my vision is how to handle stress properly. When I started improving my vision and went without my glasses I became aware of the fact that when I am stressed I will hold on my stress in my eyes, kind of like how people store stress or emotions in different parts of their body. I have been learning that when I become stressed to not hold onto that energy but to let it flow through me and release it. It sounds really weird or complicated, but it's not, it's a lot easier to let go of the stress than to hold it all into my body. My goal with improving my vision is not to ever have stress in life because that will inevitably happen, but to handle that stress in a positive way that won't hurt my eyes or my body. I noticed this a few months and have been getting better at practicing it.
--May 9, 2010
I have been thinking a lot over the past few weeks about how much my attitude has changed over the last year toward vision improvement. I remember last year when Dr. Pugh gave me weaker glasses I was really dragging my feet about vision improvement. I wanted clear vision, but I was so scared to go without my glasses. Vision improvement was a chore, something that needed to be checked off of life's to-do list. I remember last November I was sitting in my room sketching things, hating where I was with vision improvement, as usual, and all of a sudden I had this peaceful feeling come over me and I just finally accepted it. It was ok that my vision was really blurry, it was ok that I screwed up improving my vision as a child, it was all just ok. Vision improvement got really easy after that. In that moment, I stopped fighting the blur, stopped hating it, stopped fearing it, and just accepted it and began to enjoy where I was right now. When I look back now I think it's kind of weird that I had to accept the blur in order to change it, but I know now that that was what needed to happen. I wasn't aware at the time that I was fighting it so hard. I am completely amazed now at how vision improvement went from something that I dreaded so much to just waking up every day and being completely amazed and excited that I have a new day to practice improving my vision. I'm just so excited to have eyes and to have the opportunity to be able to improve my vision. Each day offers a new start and opportunity for learning. I love improving my vision.
--May 10, 2010
My visual acuity right now, on average, is about 7/200. In the mornings I'll usually be at about 9/200. My vision will only go down to 5/200 at this point if I've been on the computer for a few hours and haven't been practicing vision habits and haven't been looking up into the distance. As soon as I get off and palm or sketch things in the distance my vision will goes back to 7/200. My visual acuity outside is amazing! I took the Snellen Card outside one day to test my vision outside because it seemed really clear for what I normally see. My vision on average outdoors on a bright, sunny day is about 20/200. When I consciously start practicing good vision habits, especially centralizing, my vision improves to 20/100. I've learned that visual acuity and diopters don't have much correlation. For example, my visual acuity can improve dramatically outdoors, but I doubt my prescription has changed a whole lot.
--May 24, 2010
Yesterday we went up to Salt Lake for a book signing and as usual I was practicing vision games. I've been having a lot of textures come out and it's so beautiful. I am starting to realize that glasses really do make my visual world flat. I was sketching the bricks on my house one day and all of a sudden realized that I could see the bumpy texture on the bricks. I just kept sketching all of the individual bumps and grooves and noticed that not all of the bricks were exactly the same color. I think wood grains are the most beautiful things to sketch, it's so much prettier and in depth without glasses. Anyway, back to the book signing. I was sketching Micah and I realized that I could see the wrinkles and even the pores on his face. I told Micah that I was starting to see the wrinkles in his face and he said jokingly, "maybe I don't want you to have good vision." Hahaha. I'm amazed that I missed so many details when looking at people with glasses.
--May 25, 2010
Today I was practicing centralizing on the blinds and while I was practicing I kept getting these urges to try and see the whole picture clearly all at once and I had to keep reminding myself that I can only see one point clearly at a time and my vision got clearer and stayed clearer doing this. I think I'm just so used to seeing the whole picture clearly with glasses. I'm really embarrassed to say this but when I was a kid and they would give me stronger glasses I would love how I could see everything clearly all at once. I am slowly unlearning that. I've noticed that practicing The Pebble Game really helps me in this situation. I know Dr. Bates said that if central fixation is practiced correctly (The Pebble Game) your vision will immediately improve and I'm starting to notice that.
--May 30, 2010
Tonight I went to the store with the family because we needed to pick up some stuff for Memorial Day tomorrow. I was helping Micah look for frozen vegetables and I suddenly realized that I could read the writing on the packages! I was so excited, so I started consciously practicing centralizing on the letters and the whole line popped out at once. Then I started practicing on lots of things and Micah got mad at me because I was taking too long. At the check stand I could do it again. If I kept my eyes relaxed and only looked at one point clearly, and it would become clearer. It was neat. Even right now my vision is still doing it. I can tell looking at the letters on the screen that I can see only one point clearly at a time and the letters are made up of dots. Yeah!
--June 10, 2010
I have been thinking a lot lately about how long it is going to take to improve my vision. When I first got into vision improvement I was really restless about it. How long is it going to take? Is my vision clear yet? I just couldn't wait to get out of the blur and have that perfect vision. Then one day it dawned on me that eyesight improvement is a lot like life, it's a journey, not a destination. It's kind of become my motto lately: Vision improvement is a journey, not a destination. Now when I say that, it doesn't mean that I don't ever want the destination of perfect sight, but that I just need to relax and enjoy where I am at on the journey now. It's been nice because it's taken a lot of pressure off, for example, I need to be seeing clearly out of these glasses by such and such date, and just enjoying my vision activities every day and realizing my vision will get clear when it is ready to get clear.
--June 15, 2010
I've been learning lately that my vision improves in a nonlinear way. When I first started improving my vision I thought I would improve the same amount all the time, for example, I thought I would improve .25 diopter ever single month until my vision became normal, but I am learning that his is not the case. I began improving my vision in October and not a whole lot happened until February. In February I improved .25 diopters and then I did the same thing again in March. Now I seem to have slowed down and haven't seen a lot going on again in dropping diopters. I have found that my vision improvement looks a lot like a jagged financial chart with a lot of ups and downs but definite improvement over time.
--June 28, 2010
I have to admit I am completely fascinated about Dr. Bates' work and I am amazed at how he figured all of this out. I've been reading in the Better Eyesight magazines and in one of the articles, "Practice Time" November 1928, Dr. Bates gives a list of the eye exercises that someone should be practicing everyday and one of the exercises he has you do is sit in a room and alternate between sketching objects and then resting. I found this absolutely fascinating because researchers have found that if you alternate between doing an activity and resting you will actually develop that skill faster than if you were to do it continuously without stopping. It actually develops the "trails" in the brain faster by alternating. Another point I found really interesting is Eckhart Tolle says something very similar. That you actually become creative and tap into a universal knowledge when you alternate between thinking about a problem and resting from it. I just find it fascinating that Dr. Bates would emphasize between resting and doing an eye exercise, this practice is sprinkled all throughout his book as well, Perfect Sight Without Glasses.
--July 6, 2010
I seem to be going through an identity crisis with glasses. I am so used to seeing myself as someone with bad vision and I sometimes have a hard time imagining myself as someone with perfect sight. I remember when I first got glasses in third grade I would hang out with some of the other kids who had glasses and we would for fun try on each other's glasses and guess who had the strongest pair? Yeah, me. I've been trying to do better at imagining myself as someone with perfect vision and not labeling myself as someone with bad vision. I've been reading in Eckhart Tolle's, The Power of Now, and there was one part in the book where he was homeless and sitting on a park bench and was just completely content and and at peace with life, and he would get people who would come up to him and ask him, "You are so peaceful. How can I become as peaceful as you are?" And he would tell them, "You already have peace, your mind is just so busy thinking that you just can't feel it." Then it dawned on me that the same idea also applied to my vision, "You already have perfect vision, you're just so busy staring that you can't see it." I could easily prove this to myself by looking at something six inches from my face, where my vision is perfect, and noting that since I don't stare or strain at that distance my vision is normal. This idea has really helped me with my identity crisis with glasses, to tell myself and imagine myself as someone who has perfect vision now, and that perfect vision isn't something that needs to be chased after, or obtained. It's something I already have I just need to stop staring to see it.
--July 12, 2010
Tomorrow I'm going to Dr. Pugh's to get my weaker glasses. I'm so nervous. What if I totally screw it up? What if my vision really hasn't improved and I'm just imagining it? So I went and tested my vision in the 20/30 glasses that Dr. Pugh gave me last July. I can see 20/20 in them now, and I can pick out some of the 20/15 line. I know my vision has improved at least half a diopter, If I'm lucky I will have improved three fourths but I'm doubting it. I'm just worried that when I get into his office to get my vision tested I will be so nervous that I'll screw up any amount of improvement I've made. Then I started thinking about it. Ok, I'm not improving my vision to prove to my eye doctor that the Bates Method works. I'm doing this for me and not for him and regardless of the outcome tomorrow I will still continue on my eyesight improvement journey. I have already proved to the most important person that my vision can improve and that's myself.
--July 13, 2010
Today I went Dr. Pugh's to get my reduced pair of glasses. I listened to my favorite soundtrack on the way over and palmed in the car before going in and that seemed to help calm my nerves. I went in and since I was the first appointment I went right in. Dr. Pugh went through the usual stuff like if my health history had changed, etc. Then he asked me if I had had any improvement in my vision. I told him yes. He had my put my glasses on and read the card, which I did perfectly. He then put the vision machine in front of me with my glasses on. He said doing this would be a more accurate way of testing my vision. He explained that since the machine is further away from the eyes than what glasses would be you have a different prescription for the machine than for glasses. After he tested my vision he said, "Jennifer, you've improved 3 powers. That is completely unheard of." He said in all his years of practicing optometry he had never seen someone's vision improve that much. Then he had one of his workers come in and he was telling his assistant that my vision had improved. They were both really impressed and kept making a big fuss about how much my vision had improved. Dr. Pugh was saying that he had been meaning to go to one of Troy's classes but had never done it and maybe now he should. He was telling his assistant that he should go to the class too and they kept talking about a girl, I'm guessing his daughter, who they wanted to have cured. Dr. Pugh's assistant was asking me what I had done to improve my vision. It was so fun to have them interested and in awe over my vision improving, and I let them. I loved it. Dr. Pugh gave me weaker glasses but he only put me half a diopter weaker again because I missed one letter on the line. I was bummed about that. I had improved 3/4 a diopter in a year and he was still only dropping me a half. Grrr. I do have to admit that he was a lot more willing to give me weaker glasses this year than he was last year. I think last year he thought I was crazy for wanting to improve my vision from a -6.75. All right, here are the results:
July 2009: -6.50 left eye, -6.75 right eye, visual acuity, 5/200, both eyes.
July 2010: -5.75 left eye, -6.00 right eye, visual acuity, 7/200, both eyes on average.
Dr. Pugh gave me new glasses at -5.25 left eye, -5.50 right eye. If I get to seeing 20/20 out of them before next July, which I am definitely planning on, I do have my old -4.50 lenses I can resort to and I should be legal in them at that point. I am very pleased with my results today. My goal for next year is to be seeing 20/20 out of my -4.50 glasses, which means I need to not skip practicing, which I do more than I'd like to admit.
--July 15, 2010
My vision has been a lot clearer over the last few days. I think going to Dr. Pugh's and realizing that my vision has really improved has made me stop doubting myself. I'm starting to realize how important my attitude is in improving my vision.
--July 16, 2010
One thing that has really been helping me with improving my vision has been reading Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now. I find it interesting as I interact with other people who are improving their vision that we all end up finding our own unique ways and methods that help us. I know Sorrissiblue, my friend on the internet who has been improving her vision from a -8.00 is really into autogenics and the Alexander Technique. I haven't really found those interesting or helpful but I have found Tolle's work to be extremely helpful. I think we all know subconsciously where we are weak and are naturally drawn to the things that will help us. So back to Eckhart Tolle, he was saying in his book that thinking is unnatural, it is a strain on the mind to think and I have found that so fascinating because Dr. Bates taught that same idea. All forms of thinking are a strain on the mind and produce an error of refraction. Eckhart said to think of your mind as a tool, you use it when you need to do a job and then you set it down. It's ok to think when there is a problem to solve, but most people spend all day worrying or thinking about the same problems over and over when they can do nothing to fix it. So part of my eyesight improvement has been to learn to stop thinking. I do it sometimes when I palm. I practice not thinking and have been learning to live more in the Now and I have had wonderful results with it. I have become aware that I think too much and not thinking has been very relaxing to my mind. It has really been helping to relieve mental strain. Eckhart was also saying that when we don't think we actually increase our energy field, so that is something I have been learning to do and have found it very enjoyable.
--July 17, 2010
Did some palming this evening and read 14/200 afterwards. That is very exciting.
--July 21, 2010
I have been reading 9/200 a lot more on the card lately. I am not reading 9/200 all the time yet but it is lasting longer and coming more frequently.
--July 27, 2010
I was thinking today while I was palming about how far I've come in vision improvement since I started last October. It used to bother me when Dr. Bates would tell his patients to sit down and palm for half an hour or longer. Half an hour? That seems like an eternity. What will I think about? I have so many other things to do. My mind will get so bored. Now I am to the point where that doesn't bother me anymore. I enjoy the rest, the mental silence. Time seems to go by very fast or not exist at all when I palm like that, and it's very nice.
--July 30, 2010
It has been really neat to look over these entries today and see how far I've come. It has been a wonderful journey.
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