3 Steps to Better Eyesight

by Irena Castle

There's a prevailing misconception that the quality of our senses is beyond our control — that they cannot be refined, honed, or restored once diminished. Eyesight is no exception.

Yet more and more people are now trying to do just that. According to NCCIH, over 34% of Americans actively engage in complementary and alternative healthcare practices to optimize all aspects of their well-being from traditional exercise to yoga, meditation, and yes, vision improvement. 

If your vision is worsening, if you wear glasses, contact lenses or are thinking of undergoing a corrective vision surgery, the below alternative may serve you well. Its power to bring vision back comes to life in three steps. 

Step 1: QUESTION STATUS QUO

Let’s put it this way. Our bodies have a miraculous ability to heal, to recover from injuries, to revamp their motoric system when unfortunate situations happen. They can restore mental health, fight infections and illnesses. So do you think that it is likely for the body to be completely powerless when it comes to the protection of a sense that allows it to properly function in the environment that it was put in? I would argue that the answer is a no.

You have probably noticed that you do not always see the same. There are moments throughout the day when your vision is clear (or clearer) and other times when it worsens. There are many reasons for this variability in your vision, such as the weather, your emotional state, how tired you are overall, how much strain your eyes experience, etc. Would you then agree that if we promote the factors that make our vision better it may stay better, and vice versa? Can it mean that we do have control over the state of our eyesight and that if we learn the skill of recognizing and promoting these favorable factors while eliminating the non favorable factors, we will learn the skill of  better seeing?

The fact that eyesight is a skill, that it is variable, that it can be improved or even fully restored used to be a taboo, especially among medical practitioners. However, the times are changing and the truth is slowly but surely starting to penetrate even the mainstream eye health approaches. Associations of many kinds, like the COVD, are forming around the country and around the world with one sole purpose - to explore how to incorporate techniques of vision therapy, approaches that have been known to us for over a hundred years, into a traditional ophthalmology practice.  

So, at least for the duration of your reading this blog, open up your mind and allow the possibility that eyesight, just as any other bodily function, can be developed, restored or compensated for naturally by the body itself. If you can do that, then you have made the first step, a leap really, towards better seeing.

Step 2: USE YOUR EYES WELL

Using anything in a way that conforms to its design is how we get the results we want out of it. Doing the opposite may cause breakage, faster wear and tear or other suboptimal experience. It is true for cars, appliances, devices, software, and … your eyes. Unfortunately, and in contrast to the cars, devices and software, your eyes did not come with a user’s manual. Proper eye care is also not taught in schools, nor is it discussed in your physician’s office during your annual check up. So it is no wonder you don’t know what to do. The good news for you is that it is about to change.

Habits and the way you use your visual system are the most important factors contributing to the quality of your eyesight. In order to protect your vision, you need to use your eyes in line with the way they were designed. It is not rocket science, but depending on how long you have been dealing with imperfect eyesight and what visual habits have led to your current state of vision, smaller or bigger adjustments will need to take place. 

Is habit adjustment a scary concept? Think about it this way. Just as you can decide to sit with your spine straight or to hunch over your desk throughout the day, you can decide how you use your eyes. Dr. William Bates, an ophthalmologist from New York, is known to say that you have the same amount of time in the day to use your eyes well as you have to use them badly. It is that simple. Your eyes. Your decision.

Understand your eyes’ daily rhythm, synchronize the movements of your eyes with the rest of your body, ensure that you are using your eyes fully and give your eyes the freedom to look without effort and obstacles. If you don’t know how, feel free to grab this free Vision Habits Guide and get started. It is a user’s manual for your eyes - simple, highly actionable and does not take a ton of time to implement.

Step 3:   RELEARN TO SEE

We have already established the idea that eyesight is variable, it can change throughout the day and over time, and that in order to adjust it for the better we need to know and master the skills of promoting the favorable conditions under which clear seeing happens. These skills come naturally to those with healthy and well functioning eyes, but need to be regained by those whose vision has been impaired in any way. 

Just as there is a process to learning how to play an instrument, how to speak a new language, or how to master a sport, there is a process to relearning to see. You may choose to call it natural vision improvement, eye yoga, or natural vision therapy. The name does not matter, the content does.

An effective process of vision learning (relearning/development) is based on the relaxation of the visual system, re-balancing of the ocular muscles and re-connection of the eyes with the visual cortex in the brain. It includes a full activation of the eyes, the practice of selected skill-training techniques, the development of visual memory, imagination and a few other steps. It teaches you how to see near and far with clarity, how to improve your awareness of what is around you (that impacts the safety of your driving), how to see better at night, how to see in 3D, but also how to lower your light sensitivity and dependency on sunglasses and at the end how to live without eyeglasses altogether.

The process is effective for everyone, no matter what vision condition they are dealing with (i.e. nearsightedness, farsightedness, old age eyesight, suppressed eyes, double vision), no matter for how long they have had the condition or how old they are today - adults or children equally.

When choosing a program for yourself or those you care about, look for a full scope class that is well structured and that goes beyond what is known as eye exercises.

If you are not sure where to start, check out Clarity Unleashed. It may be just what you have been looking for.

With the right approach, improvements in your vision can be experienced fast, sometimes in the very first session. When it happens, the clarity of your vision will be only one of the many rewards. Seeing the world broader, brighter and more colorful will become your new reality. Positive emotional changes may come your way, such as the growth of self confidence, disappearance of fear or the ability to welcome new opportunities. So don’t wait. The world awaits you.

At Overbound, we are deeply passionate about helping people to see. We have built our programs on a combination of a century-old approach to vision improvement coupled with much more recent techniques for sports vision development and other modalities. This combination brings fun elements into the learning process. The more fun you have the more likely and the easier you succeed.

May your eyesight be boundless.

IC
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