8. Week 1 – Eye Muscles to Its Rest Position Lesson

 

Tasks and Goals keep track of your progress in a notebook – monitor your progress use the sun to force the eye muscles back to its rest position get use to seeing without your glasses get use to bright sunlight get comfortable looking far get started in looking at a small area

 

Monitor Your Progress

It is good to monitor your progress by checking the acuity of your eyes using an eye chart. Print the eye chart in the appendix or the eye charts from http://www.ahaworks.com/images/eyes/sen/eyechart.pdf, and tape it next to a window where natural light can light up the chart. Check your eyesight by reading the smallest line on the chart that you can see at different distances (4, 7 and 15 feet). Keep track of the progress in a notebook.

The entry can look like:

Date: Oct 1
4: Line 10 Note: almost make out the letters on line 7. Figure out how to relax the eyes when looking.	7: Line 20 Note: Seems clearer today.	15: Line 60 Note: sharper today than yesterday.

Date: Oct 2
4: Line 7 Note: Just barely make out the letter. Tried shift to other lines and shifting back.	7: Line 20 Note: Same as yesterday.	15: Line 60 Note: appears blurry today, trying too hard see it clearly.

…

It is important to record the progress in a notebook as it will make it easier to monitor the changes and to remember anything you may have tried or notice about your eyes.

Using Your Glasses Correctly

For most with poor vision, glasses are indispensable to help you see clearly. Glasses can help us see near object clearly or help us see far objects clearly. Glasses or contact lenses improve our vision, but it does not help to remove the strains that cause poor vision. When the strain is not removed, the eyes will continue to have poor vision. Worst, our eye adjust to the power of the lens and learn to focus based on the lens. It literally forgets how to focus on its own. The result is that our focusing ability is weakened and we become dependent on the glasses. This begin a cycle of weaker focusing ability and stronger prescription glasses to compensate.

The first step you must take to regain your good eyesight is to break free of this cycle. To do this, you must remove your glasses and use them only when it is absolutely necessary like when you are driving or when you need to read something at a distance. Otherwise, KEEP THEM OFF! Develop a habit of removing the glasses as soon as it is not needed. If you can not see something clearly if possible, move closer and avoid squinting and using your glasses.

In the beginning, you will feel uncomfortable seeing in shades of blur — your eyes will strain and you will see doubles. Each day you will have to fight the urge to put your glasses back on, but do not give in. Remind yourself that it is alright for the object to be blurry and to not force your eyes to make the image sharper. You should take deep breathes and try to let go of the need to make the image clear. It took time to get use to wearing glasses, and it will take time to adjust to seeing without them. This is the most important step to overcome, because if you cannot learn to keep them off, you will always be dependent on your glasses.

Stronger Eyes Weaker Lenses

Most of us have depended on our glasses for many years to see clearly so it is not possible to throw them out at the start of the vision training. Your eyes will slowly grow stronger each week but you will still need the glasses for sharp vision until your eyes have fully recovered. Depending on your prescription strength, you may need to change to a weaker prescription a few times as your eyes improve.

Some optometrist are sympathetic to the struggle to improve our eyesight and are willing to help with special requests. Dr. Steven Beresford suggest asking your optometrist to, “undercompensate to 20/40 monocular acuity at the distance for which the lenses are normally used.” (Beresford 1996) This just means that you can ask for a weaker prescription that allow you to see at 20/40 instead of 20/20. 20/40 means that you can read a letter 20 feet away that a person with normal vision can read at 40 feet. The prescription would be clear enough for you to drive and work, while giving you some room to improve. Progressively weakening the prescription and doing the Wynning Vision Program will help you wean off your glasses.

You should spend most of the day without wearing your glasses, but sometimes it may be necessary to use them to see clearly. In such situations, it is better to use glasses to see rather than to squint and strain which will lead to more bad habits. You should use glasses as a tool to reduce your straining habits as you train to use your eyes correctly. It is a balancing act that you must learn to manage in order to improve your eyesight.

Eye Muscles to Its Rest Position Lesson

Our eyes work best in sunlight and for distant vision. Unfortunately, most of us spend a lot of our time indoors and doing near work. Continuous abuse of our eyes cause them to cramp and keep them from returning to their rest position. You must train your eye muscles to return quickly and easily to their rest position in order to maintain good eye health and vision. This week’s lesson will use sunlight and distant vision to help the muscles return to their rest position.

Points to Note:
• You should not wear your glasses when doing the exercise
• You should practice the exercise in bright sunlight

Instructions

Step 1. Sit by the window or outside in the shade and look at the clouds (if there are no clouds, then look at the trees along the horizon). Take deep breaths using your diaphragm.

Step 2. As you look, concentrate on a specific point (pick a point formed from a corner or an edge) on the cloud or tree rather than looking at the whole cloud or tree at one time. Look from one point to another. Do this for ten minutes or longer.

Step 3. Allow the sunlight to shine on your face and onto the eyes as you look from point to point. Keep your focus on a cloud or on a tree, but allow the sunlight to caress the eyes. Do this for three minutes or longer. Do not look directly at the sun.

Step 4. To finish the exercise, rub your palms together until they are hot. Place your palms over your closed eyes without putting pressure on the eyes. Feel the soothing warmth and relaxation of the darkness as you take deep breathes. Do this for one to five minutes.