Gene Younger Clear Vision... Naturally

Myths Of Perfect Vision And Eyesight

Myths surrounding vision and eyesight abound.

So predominant are these ideas & beliefs that we usually take them for granted, very similar to a time when we believed that the earth was flat. Everyone simply understood that the earth was flat and no one dared question that belief. Common beliefs about vision are equally as strong in the minds of most folks today.

If you were to try and discuss some of the myths found in this article with your friends or family, most will just look at you funny (over their glasses, probably!). They will smile and assume that you may be a little kooky or ‘touched in the head.’ Aside from the purely medical facts about eyesight and eye diseases, many of these myths are accepted without question. Perhaps now is the time to start doing what the popular bumper sticker says and "Question Authority".

Following are a few Myths of Perfect Vision and Eyesight. As you read, please keep an open mind and listen to your heart as you consider the possibility that they are indeed myths. In most cases, these myths will reveal their opposite truths.

Myth I: Eyesight is static and stable.

We have been led to believe that eyesight is stable and remains more or less the same all the time. We are given the impression that eyesight is static and unchanging. You may have been told that you have 20×40 distant vision and 20×100 close vision. This information is conveyed as if you have a number and the number signifies the level of your vision always, that is until it gets worse.

Notice that this 'permanent' state is not true of many systems in our body and in our world. Everything is moving at some level and many things are in a constant state of flux. You will notice that most aspects of the human body and of human nature are always moving and changing. The tide goes out and returns. Our blood pressure increases and decreases during the day, as does our heart rate and body temperature. Vision and eyesight are no different.

Have you noticed that you can see better some days than you can on others? Have you noticed that your vision worsens sometimes? Since vision always changes, what effect do artificial lens have on this process? That is a 'no-brainer!' With glasses or contacts, the eyesight is not allowed to make normal and natural changes during the day.The eyes are 'locked in' to a certain range and cannot fluxuate like other aspects of the human body. No matter how much rest you have had or how stressed you are at work or home, no matter the state of your physical health, we assume that our eyesight remains constant and unchanging.

Can you imagine for a moment a pair or glasses or contacts that adjust to being stronger or weaker based on your emotions? If you feel afraid and your eye muscles tighten up and cause a blur, the artificial lenses get stronger to compensate for the fear. Then when the negative emotion passes, the glasses or contacts return to their original refraction. Or imagine waking up very rested with little stress and your eyesight is much sharper than on other days. So your glasses or contacts adjust to a weaker level to compensate for your better vision.

The notion of self-adjusting artificial lenses sounds absurd to most of us. The idea that only the vision and eyesight is static while everything else in our bodies and our world is always moving, changing and adjusting, is equally absurd. 'Static eyesight' is a myth of perfect vision.

Myth II: We see with our eyes and not our brains.

Vision is believed to be mostly a physical and mechanical process with some mental, emotional and psychological components. We are taught that we see about 90% with our eyes and only about 10% with our mind/brain. As a result of this belief, most of the care and treatment of poor vision is confined to the eye itself. In most cases, the 'solution' to a vision problem is limited to glasses, contacts or surgery. Little attention has been focused on how we use our minds to see and how our emotions affect our eyesight.

I believe that the opposite truth prevails. Consider for the moment that we see about 90% with our mind/brain and only about 10% with our physical eyes. You might then ask, "Where does most of the work need to be done to improve and correct poor vision?" The answer: in the Mind/Brain, of course!

Myth III: Vision clarity is determined by the lenses shape and thickness only.

During nearly forty years of research, Dr. William H. Bates proved that the shape of the eyeball-- and not the shape and thickness of the lens-- determines clarity of sight. The eye is something like a camera and moves the lens closer or further away to determine where the image falls on the retina. When the eyeball is too long, the focus of the image does not quite make it to the retina, resulting in myopia or nearsightedness. When the eyeball is too short the image focuses slightly behind the retina, resulting in the condition that is commonly called farsightedness.

Bates theorized that when the eye muscles are stressed and tensed they cannot relax and make vision adjustments as necessary. When the muscles are relaxed and responsive to the Mind/Brain and the emotions of the seer, they are able to function naturally and there is no blur.

Myth IV: The condition called ‘astigmatism’ is permanent.

Just as eyesight is variable and always changing, it is a well-known fact that astigmatism comes and goes. As the muscles of the eyes relax and begin to function normally, tension on the eyeball normalizes and the eye takes its' natural shape. When the muscles are pulling unequally, the eyeball is slightly warped causing a twisting effect of the light hitting the retina. Dr. Bates said that many people can produce astigmatism at will. Astigmatism is certainly not a permanent condition.

I am living proof of this as I was diagnosed with serious astigmatism before discovering and practising the Bates Method activities and techniques. In my work with hundreds of individuals, I have noticed that without any special effort or attention, as the eyesight improves astigmatism disappears.

One of the recommendations we make is that the student asks their Optometrist to remove all or part of the astigmatism correction in their glasses or contacts. This simple process speeds up the recovery and healing of the eyes. When the eye muscles begin to function normally and naturally and you are still looking through lenses with astigmatism correction, seeing clearly is very difficult and the restoration of clear vision is slowed.

Myth V: Eyesight is inherited.

Since the incidence of people wearing glasses in this country has doubled in the last 100 years, where does the inheritance theory come into play? Some leading vision educators pose the question, "If eyesight is inherited, from whom is it inherited?" While true that we inherit most our traits from our parents, vision is actually a learned behavior.

'Behavior' is the key word. Since vision is a learned behavior, vision can be unlearned and relearned. Enter the Bates Method. Activities and techniques of the Bates Method allow us to relearn good vision habits and thus restore correct natural vision.

Myth VI: When a person ages, their eyesight deteriorates and they must get glasses.

The belief that vision deteriorates with age is so deeply ingrained in our culture that many folks rush to judgment and feel that they must get glasses when they experience the slightest blur at age 40 or 45.

That vision deteriorates with age is simply not true. If those same people would learn some simple activities and exercises they could likely preserve their vision and in many cases avoid glasses altogether.

Myth VII: If you are prescribed glasses, you must wear them or ruin your eyesight.

How many people have you heard of that actually cured their poor vision by wearing glasses? In most cases, people must keep getting stronger and stronger prescriptions as time goes on. If the glasses were truly ‘corrective’ then it stands to reason that a person would get them, wear them for some time and when the eyesight was ‘corrected,’ take them off and never have to wear them again, much like wearing crutches for a broken leg!

Myth VIII: Glasses correct vision.

Glasses, contacts or surgery do not actually address the cause or causes of poor vision at all. They merely correct the symptom and ignore the cause. The symptom is the 'blur' and artificial lenses or surgery make it possible to see clearly. There is no argument with the fact that glasses are very effective at allowing you to see clearly. But while they are helping you see clearly, they may very well be harming your vision. Oftentimes the side effects of a treatment are worse than the original problem.

In his book, 'Better eyesight Without Glasses,' Dr. Bates said:

"That glasses must injure the eye is evident from the facts given... One cannot see through them unless one produces the degree of refractive error which they are designed to correct."

Myth IX: It takes a lot of effort to correct ones' own vision.

Bates theorized that stress and mental strain were the major causes of poor vision. Think about it! If stress and mental strain are the cause of poor vision, how can you heal your vision by intense effort? I tell my students that I have one rule for correcting your vision and eyesight; 'If what you are doing to correct your vision is stressful, it will not correct your vision. It might even make it worse!'

MYTH X: Diet, exercise, physical and mental health and lifestyle are not part of vision correction.

When you take a ‘holistic’ approach you see that vision and eyesight are related to our whole person. We do not see just with our eyes and Mind/Brains: we see with our whole person. The health of our body affects the health of our eyes. A powerful example is found in the case of diabetics. Diabetes is said to quickly attack the eyes and many diabetics go blind from the effects of this disease.

Holistic means treating the whole person and not just the area of pain, complaint or dysfunction. In a holistic approach, referrals are often made to other practitioners such as acupuncturists, massage therapists, psychological counselors, naturopaths or others. All of my local private students are referred to a holistic Optometrist who practices in the Portland Metro area.

Myths of vision abound. Even though we can refute and let go of these myths in our conscious mind, sometimes that is not enough. Reprogramming our subconscious to accept the truth and let that truth rise to the surface of our consciousness is necessary for perfect vision.

Gene Younger, BA, M.Div,

Certified Vision Educator,

Advanced Bates Method Practitioner

503-708-1690

360-326-8984