Vision for Life

by Meir Schneider

  Often, however, when we work at computers, we create an “invisible strain” that we don’t really feel. This is the worst kind because if you don’t recognize the strain, you will do nothing about it. And if you are actually straining, then by the end of a day of computer use, your eyes may be red and you will be unnecessarily fatigued.

  So, what is it that actually makes you strain as you look at a computer screen? First is the weariness of looking from so close. If you look into the distance three times a day for eight minutes, it can help to alleviate this. Not everyone, however, has this amount of time, so even twice a day would suffice. This can occur before you start to work, after two hours of working, or at the end of the work day (if your eyes are not too tired). The main thing is not to strain: do not try to see the distance; instead, scan the distance. From time to time, use the obstructive lenses described in Step 8 to obstruct the eye that sees better from far away, even if the other eye sees better from near. Then take the glasses off and keep looking into the distance.

  Every hour that you use a computer, you should do something different. If you focus on the rush of information coming from your monitor for very long, it’s very easy to disregard your peripheral vision. When this happens, your central vision becomes overtaxed, a situation that may contribute to glaucoma or lead to a loss of clear vision. So it’s imperative to provide your central cells with some rest by stimulating your peripheral cells. You can accomplish this by doing the peripheral vision exercises, which will enable you to notice the periphery more: you acknowledge the floor, the wall, the ceiling, and your general work environment. When the periphery is being used, you won’t tense your eyes as much.

  Figure 3.1. It’s imperative to provide your central cells with some rest by stimulating your peripheral cells.

  The long swing can also work wonders because it gets you away from your computer terminal and forces you to do something physical with your entire body along with your eyes. Even if you have only a few minutes to do this, there will be a noticeable improvement in your vision when you return to your computer. The Melissa exercise is also wonderful to do every day for five minutes; place it anywhere in your day when your eyes are not so tired that they won’t respond to an exercise. In this way, fatigue does not accumulate. Palming for a minimum of six minutes could also be beneficial at some point in your workday, preferably after not more than an hour of sitting at your computer. If you make palming an intrinsic part of your daily routine, it will help your eyes to recover from any strain they are undergoing. And, as your day progresses, you should alternate between all of the aforementioned exercises in order to obtain the most beneficial results.

  Throughout your entire workday, you should be certain to pay attention to the periphery as well as the fact that your two eyes are looking. From time to time, as you are reading the computer screen, put a small piece of paper in front of your nose, covering the strong eye. Then wave your hand to the side of the strong eye and read with your weaker eye. Close your eyes and try to remember the last line you read, and say it to yourself twice. This helps because sometimes the brain will remember only what you read with the stronger eye, and this will force you to read with both eyes.

  While working, it’s a good practice to look away from the computer for fifteen seconds every half hour. When your day is entirely over, it’s good to finish up with a ritual of three minutes of peripheral vision exercises and one minute of doing the long swing. By doing this, the drawbacks of computer work will not affect you as much; in fact, you may even be encouraged to exercise your eyes more.

  There are basically two problems that result from using a computer. One is that we are just not meant to stare at a computer for eight hours a day. Our ancestors did not do it, and through them we have developed the kind of eyes that we currently possess. Nowadays, however, nearsightedness is increasing at an astounding rate. When Dr. Bates was devastated about schoolchildren in New York in the 1920s, it was because 6 percent of them were nearsighted. These days, we would like to return to what had already been thought of as a large percentage, because 48 percent of kids who attend school in the United States today are nearsighted. Sadly, the numbers are even higher in other places around the world: in Hong Kong, it is 62 percent; in Taiwan, it is 84 percent. Therefore, the entire world needs to start to understand these implications. And while the computer itself may not account for these results, looking from near for lengths of time at a stretch is partially responsible for them. This mode of working tempts you not to use your periphery, which is what triggers the problem in the first place.

  The other difficulty is that pixels have unique properties, and it’s harder for the eye to see them even though we don’t sense it at the time. The cumulative effect over a period of hours of computer use, however, is substantial. Hence the importance of taking our eyes away from the screen periodically. It is also essential to blink frequently yet gently as we are working. Not only will this break you away from the fixation of staring at your computer screen, which contributes to eyestrain, but it will serve to moisten your eyes and to reduce tension in the muscles around them. Burning, inflamed, or itchy eyes will eventually be alleviated by blinking.

  From time to time, especially when you feel you are not responsive to any of the exercises, just massage around the eye orbits, from the bridge of the nose to the temples and from the nose to the ears. Relax yourself, even if it means only ten strokes (about twenty seconds) of this, which could really remove the fatigue you have accumulated. Now, if you’re working on a hot day, you could end up having invisible inflammation in your eyes. So lie down once a day with a cold, damp towel around your eyes.

  You need to campaign for zero tolerance in building up unnoticed fatigue. First, you need to be aware of its existence; then you need to remove your fatigue as you progress through your day.

  The detrimental thing about reading from a computer screen is that we have incorrectly learned to read only the document in front of us, and not to pay attention to our eyes. If we have bloodshot eyes, we go to an ophthalmologist and get eye drops, thinking that fatigue does not affect the eyes adversely. But once it begins to accumulate, nothing will go right with your vision. And this could be prevented by managing that fatigue. It’s very important to take a day off sometimes. During that day, don’t use a computer; instead, do some eye exercises. It is also beneficial to take time off during each day and not look at a computer screen; designate times for using your computer and times when you won’t be using it. Naturally, this will vary with the individual, and whereas some people prefer to enjoy their day, using their computers only at nighttime, others will prefer just the opposite. Once you have decided on the hours you will not be working, you can revive yourself from use of the computer by doing other things and by paying more attention to everything it kept you from using, like your peripheral vision or your weaker eye. Otherwise, by looking from near you can strain one eye; looking from far, you can strain the other.

  In conclusion, value your eyes as much as you value the material with which you are working. Similarly, value your breath just as much as you value your project. The moment you make these decisions, the computer will never harm your eyes. If your decision is to ignore them, however, the computer can harm your eyes big time. And never believe people who tell you that a computer can’t damage your eyes, for their advice alone can damage you as well.

  Chapter 4

  Improving and Correcting Errors of Refraction

  In this chapter you will find specific exercise programs I recommend for the treatment and, at times, the reversal of vision problems related to errors of refraction. These include myopia, hyperopia, presbyopia, and astigmatism. Although this chapter specifically focuses on errors of refraction, the exercises discussed here will aid in the treatment of many conditions discussed in Chapters 5 and 6. These include cross-sightedness, cataracts, diabetes, glaucoma, optic neuritis, detached retinas, vitreous detachment, macular degeneration, and retinitis pigmen
tosa.

  If you are currently under the care of a physician who is open to a holistic approach to healing, I encourage you to share this information with him. Together you will be able to monitor your progress and adapt my suggestions to your particular condition. These exercises are intended to work in conjunction with whatever else you are doing to heal and maintain your vision.

  As I mentioned in the preface of this book, many doctors are quick to prescribe chemicals and even surgery to correct all problems including vision problems, and they will often discourage you from believing that your condition can ever return to normal, regardless of whatever efforts you might be willing to make.

  What, after all, is the definition of healing? Healing does not always mean an instantaneous cure, a total reversal of every ailment. Sometimes that happens, but more often, true healing comes in small steps. True healing is simply an improvement, however minor, within the parameters of what is possible given the circumstances of your life. It is important to make comparisons only with yourself. If you can improve, however slightly, from where you are today, give yourself the validation of acknowledging that small success. Build upon it and celebrate it. Celebrate every small accomplishment along the way, and remember where you started.

  I cannot stress enough how much faith I have in people’s ability to heal themselves through the diligent practice of these programs. My personal experience of working with myself, with my children, and with thousands of patients and students has taught me that improvement is possible and that the benefits of these exercises are tangible and well within your reach.

  Suggestions for Using This Part of the Book

  First, make sure you have familiarized yourself with the basic exercises explained in the earlier sections of this book. I will refer back to them again and again. Now turn to the section in this chapter that addresses your particular vision condition. Follow the exercises I recommend for at least the time periods I suggest in each section. Most important, make a commitment to incorporate these exercises into every aspect of your daily routine. I may recommend six minutes of palming or ten minutes of sunning, but this is only a starting point: the bare minimum. Ideally, instead of setting aside one part of your day to do these exercises, you will find moments throughout your day to exercise so that the improvement of your vision is always at the forefront of your mind. Don’t stop being conscious of your eyes and the ways in which they function throughout the day. Never stop looking at details.

  Think of this part of the book as a starting point. As with muscular exercise, the best program is not simply to work out thirty minutes a day, three times a week, while being sedentary the rest of the time. The best idea is to incorporate movement and physical exercise into every aspect of your life. Walk throughout the day. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Do push-ups and sit-ups whenever you have a few minutes to spare. Stretch. This way, you are always exercising and always aware of your physical condition.

  The same principle is important here. Start with my recommended time periods for these exercises, but learn to always find time throughout your day to palm, to sun, and to look at details. Accordingly, awareness of your vision will become ubiquitous and will be a priority to you no matter what else you are engaged in throughout the days and weeks of your normal life.

  Make a long-term commitment to the program and take time out to measure your progress regularly. Do not give up. Do not set unrealistic expectations of instantaneous healing. Take every success, no matter how small, and build upon it. Keep a journal of your progress and your feelings along the way.

  If, at any point, you feel as though the exercises are taking you in the wrong direction or are not creating the benefits you desire, it is possible you could benefit from additional therapy. There are classes all the time at my School for Self-Healing in San Francisco (www.self-healing.org), and I also offer off-campus lectures and therapy sessions around the world. I encourage you to research possible opportunities to work with me or with one of my trained practitioners if you believe it could benefit you in your quest for better vision.

  Where Do Corrective Lenses Fit into These Exercises?

  Ideally, as long as it doesn’t cause you stress or strain, you will practice improving your vision without wearing your lenses, at least part of the time. Once you are a month into doing your exercises, go to a friendly optometrist that does not oppose your working on your eyes, and ask for a pair of glasses that corrects them to 20/40, which is 80 percent of 20/20. When your eyes see better with those new lenses, go back and get a new pair with an even lower prescription. Getting used to the lower prescriptions will build your eyesight.

  Some people with very severe myopia (nearsightedness), of 20/500 or lesser vision, should have three different pairs of lenses: 20/20 glasses to drive with safely on foggy nights; 20/40 glasses to walk around with in the daytime; and 20/80 glasses with which to challenge themselves while walking around in a familiar environment. In most cases, after two months of this, you will be able to see 20/20 through the 20/40 glasses. Then you can return to the optometrist and change back to the 20/40 prescription once again, which will be the new 20/40. The idea is to reduce the strength of your current eyeglasses in increments until no glasses are needed at all. We expect you to reduce two diopters a year and to see better all the time. Of course, the rate of progress will vary from person to person.

  At a certain point, when you feel comfortable walking outdoors without glasses, we suggest you get a pair of pinhole glasses and put them in your pocket. Look at people’s faces and signs up close without glasses. When you are at a distance at which the signs or faces are not as clear, however, put on the pinhole glasses and use them to read signs or recognize faces.

  Figure 4.1. Pinhole glasses.

  Also, you can use the pinhole glasses while reading. First, look far into the distance for a few minutes to rest your eyes; just look without trying to see anything in particular. Then read without glasses for fifteen or twenty minutes and look into the distance again. Next, read with pinholes for a half hour and look into the distance again. Finally, read with your regular prescription. This exercise is not perfect for everyone, but it can be adjusted to fit your situation. What should never be compromised is that you should never strain your eyes to read.

  Pay attention to your individual abilities; if you can hold on longer with the pinholes, that is fine. What you want is simple: to gradually transition out of the continuous use of your glasses.

  If your myopia is not severe (i.e., if you see 20/200 or better), my suggestion is to walk everywhere without glasses, unless you drive or have a specific safety reason that requires you to wear glasses. Meanwhile, keep the pinhole glasses in your pocket. When you see a sign that you can read, but with difficulties, or that you can hardly read but can follow some of the shapes, put on the pinhole glasses and look at the sign again. Often, the pinhole glasses will help a person see the sign better. Pinhole glasses work with two-thirds of people, but not with everyone. Pinhole glasses also work with most of my students, but they do not work with me. They either work for you, or they don’t. Since they are not expensive, however, it is worth your while to try them and find out.

  Correcting Myopia and Hyperopia

  Imagine that you are using a projector to show a film. If you have placed the screen too far away from the projector, farther than the focal point of the lens, the image will be blurry. To someone with myopia, this is how the world looks. Things nearby are clear, but things faraway are fuzzy. With hyperopia, it is as if the screen has been placed too close to the projector. Things close by are fuzzy, but things farther away are clear. With presbyopia, the lens is too stiff, so nothing can be clear from nearby because light is not being allowed in correctly.

  Myopia

  Myopia is a vision disorder in which a person can clearly see nearby objects while objects in the distance appear blurry. Also called nearsightedness, myopia occurs when the eyeball has become too elongated, and light enterin
g the eye isn’t focused correctly; this is what causes distant objects to appear blurry.

  High myopia is an extreme case of nearsightedness requiring more than eight diopters of correction, and it progresses consistently. Though you see well with correction, the eyeball continues to become longer and longer, which causes the retina to become thin, thus risking detachment. This detachment deprives the photoreceptors of vital nutrients and can lead to blindness. There are many other severe problems besides retinal detachment, such as glaucoma and macular degeneration, which can occur if your vision does not improve without glasses. As your vision improves, the eyeball regains its normal round shape.

  We can see how one problem leads to another if we don’t take care all the time to improve our eyes.

  Beneficial exercises for correcting myopia include shifting, palming, peripheral exercises, reading with pinhole glasses, and night walking. Devote at least one hour a day to these exercises, and remember not to pack the entire hour into just one part of the day. Find time throughout the day to work on your vision. Try a session of night walking once a week. If you live in an environment where it is not safe to night walk, you may wish to substitute walking around and moving in a dark room for forty-five minutes; this can wake up the rods through movement, although there is really no perfect substitute for walking outdoors at night.

  Once you begin to experience improvement, you may want to increase the recommended time periods for each exercise. This is a good idea and can lead to even more improvement in your vision. In truth, my recommended hour of exercise should be considered a minimum starting point. If you have very severe myopia, you may want to start with an hour a day, and as you experience improvement, you can move up to two hours a day or more. An hour one day might seem extensive if you are busy, but on another day it may not be a big deal to spend several hours!