KDP: Well, the term came on its own when we were discussing mindfulness and
awareness. This is all about feelings. Our entire life is led by feelings and
inspirations, and that is the role of the heart. And when we manage to listen to
the feelings and capture the inspiration that comes from within, I think we can
master our life by listening to the heart again and again. And the whole
exercise of fine-tuning the heart with the mind is through this meditation on
the heart. That is why we call this process Heartfulness meditation.
Q: What is the goal of Heartfulness meditation? Where does it lead?
KDP: I think goals are set not by the process or by God. Goals are set by
individuals. It is up to us what we set, and what we want to achieve through
whatever we do. It is not just for spirituality that we have to set goals. Even
in the material world, even when you play football, what are your goals? How do
you achieve them? When you become a doctor, what are your goals? There can be so
many kinds of specialisation.
Similarly, approaching or treading on the divine path, it is up to each one
of us. If you want peace of mind, you set your goal so that you feel peace all
the time – that is your goal. Some people say, “I would like to have much more
than that. I would like to feel liberated from within.” That is that person's
goal. Another person will say, “I would like to achieve and feel universal
consciousness.” That is that person's goal.
So I think the goal is individually driven. Even if someone says, '”Let this
be your goal,” it is still a futile establishment. I must have my own goal,
based on my heart's signals. Q: What is the origin of Heartfulness? Is it affiliated with any religious
tradition or spiritual tradition?
KDP: No, not really, it has no affiliation with anything in the world as far
as religions are concerned, though in every religion the heart plays a major
role. When I approach a particular deity or approach my own belief in a system
of any sort, my heart has to be convinced of whatever I do. Even when I play a
chess game, when I make a move, my heart has to be convinced before I make that
move. When I play music, my heart has to be convinced to play each note.
For each decision that I make, my heart has to be convinced before I make
that decision, and religion or science have nothing to do with the games of the
heart. The heart is the most mysterious thing and the most beautiful thing that
we can have.
Q: Does this mean that anybody from any tradition can practise
Heartfulness?
KDP: Surely. Q: Is there any representative or leader who is teaching this meditation in
the world?
KDP: Yes, but I would not focus on the teacher at the moment. I would focus
more on the process. Because however great a teacher may be, if the student is
not ready for it, if the heart is not ready for it, what is the use of the
teacher?
So I recommend that you proceed with this Heartfulness process, and then, if
it appeals to your heart, if you like it, if it changes your lifestyle, if it
brings you a lot of benefits, if it makes you feel good, then try to
discover who is the person behind it. Then it is important to know who this
person is.
Q: You are talking about the process. Sir, what is the process of this
meditation? How is Heartfulness actually done?
KDP: We recommend the method first and it goes like this:
Gently sit and relax with your eyes very softly closed. Think of the
presence, of the source of the light within the heart. That is all. Stay on this
one idea and go ahead with this one idea for as long as you can sit.
After a few days of practice like this on your own, if you would like to
meditate with a companion or a preceptor or a guide, or if you would like to
meditate with the help of transmission, you can make a request. Now you will be
able to see the difference between the meditation done without transmission and
meditation with transmission. You compare and you decide which is good for
you.
Q: What exactly is the transmission that you are speaking of?
KDP: Transmission is a loosely translated word from the Sanskrit word
pranahuti. Pranahuti is nothing but an essence of our prana,
pranasya pranaha [life of life], which is utilised by a yogi. This
force is transmitted. I use the word 'force', but it really has no force in it.
There is no other better word to describe this, so that is why I use the word
‘force’, but it is a forceless thing. It has to be experienced, and somehow it
touches our hearts almost like the sunlight touching our skin, and makes us feel
warm. Like that, when pranahuti touches your heart it really makes you feel very
special inside.
I would rather not feed words to you, lest the experience that you may enjoy
be tainted by my own ideas. Let it be your experience, whatever you feel. Then
it is your experience, and that is our aim. Why should I borrow someone else's
experience?
Q: How long do you think a person needs to practise Heartfulness to feel the
effects of it? What could be the possible effects?
KDP: The quickest can be the same instant that you sit. The very moment you
close your eyes, you feel the result instantly. I don't think you have to wait
for eternity or ten years or five years or after death or even the next day. The
effect will be felt instantaneously right then and there. You close your eyes
and you feel it. It is like sunlight; when you expose yourself to the sun, you
feel the warmth. When you expose yourself to this pranahuti while meditating,
you will feel the effect of pranahuti instantly. Q: Today's lifestyle is very busy and people don't have time. Heartfulness
meditation requires at least thirty minutes. So how to find the time in a day of
hectic lifestyle and stress?
KDP: If we can create a stressful lifestyle, I think we also have the choice
to create a calmer lifestyle. The choice is ours. If you want to feel peaceful,
you want to feel calm, you will have to adopt it. Even if it takes an hour to
achieve twenty-three hours of a good day, it is a good investment of time – the
choice is yours. Q: Would you share with us a little bit of your experience of this
Heartfulness meditation? How did you come to do this and what do you feel about
it?
KDP: Well I started this meditation almost like a joke actually. One of my
friends was able, at will, to dim or intensify the light and it was very
impressive. I had an inclination towards meditation, so I used to do it on my
own without any goal, without any particular process, but I was influenced by
Swami Vivekananda. So I would sit like him and devote my time silently in
brooding over things rather than in meditation, and I misunderstood that whole
process as meditation.
My friend used to observe my lifestyle. He said, “Why don't you come and
meditate using this method?” I said, “Ok, why not?” He said, “Let's go. He took
me to one elderly lady, who introduced me to this system. In the very first
meditation, I was very moved. The very first experience blew me apart. It was
the most wonderful thing I had ever felt.
Q: How can people start this practice?
KDP: You must have seen on our website, Heartfulness.org, the process is
given there how to meditate. You can meditate in a comfortable corner of your
house, and if you want to try this meditation with transmission, please send
your request via email. Someone will get back to you and say, “Okay, sit at such
and such a time at your place.” Or if there is another person who meditates in
your town, we will give you their contact details so that you can meet each
other and meditate. It is a very simple process.
Q: Are there any group activities? How many people in France follow this? Is
there a community who follow this in France?
KDP: Heartfulness meditation has been going on in France since the late
sixties, and the number keeps growing every year. Currently, we may be close to
four or five thousand members in France, and they are all family people leading
a happy family life, raising children, which is a rare thing in Europe these
days. They are not extreme, in the sense that they don't go into the material
world so much that their spiritual world suffers, and they don't go into the
spiritual world so much that their material existence suffers.
The family life advocated with Heartfulness meditation is a balanced
existence that we try to seek: balance within, balance in my surroundings,
balance in my society. We kind of breathe peace in and we exhale peace out.
Over three out of four people believe that their sight is the most important sense they have. This is probably related to the fact that about 80% of what we perceive through our senses comes in through our sight.
Good eyesight plays a crucial role in your mobility and your enjoyment of life so it would certainly make sense to optimize your eyesight as much as possible without the use of artificial and unnatural aids that will only worsen your vision with continued use.
While it is true that eyeglasses bring some people improved vision and relief from pain and discomfort, they always do more or less harm, and at their best they never improve your vision to normal.
Most people don't realize that their visual abnormalities are a dynamic process that varies regularly throughout the day due to a variety of conditions. They simply are not set in stone.
Pioneering physicians have examined 20,000 school children and found that more than half had normal eyes, with sight that was perfect at times, but not one of them had perfect sight in each eye at all times of the day. Their sight might be good in the morning and imperfect in the afternoon, or imperfect in the morning and perfect in the afternoon.
Many children could read one Snellen test card with perfect sight, while unable to see a different one perfectly. Many could also read some letters of the alphabet perfectly, while unable to distinguish other letters of the same size under similar conditions.
What was true for the children is also true for adults.
The degree of imperfect sight varied within wide limits. Its duration was also variable. Under some conditions, it might continue for only a few minutes or less, while under others it might prevent the subject from seeing the blackboard for days, weeks, or even longer.
The bottom line is you and/or your children do not have a static, unchanging visual impairment. It changes widely throughout the day.
Eyeglasses Don't Compensate for Variable Vision
One of the most foundational flaws with glasses is that they provide an unchanging consistent correction for a refractive error in your eye that is CONSTANTLY changing.
After you begin to wear glasses, in most cases, the correction has to be steadily increased in order to maintain the degree of visual acuity secured by the aid of the first pair. Your vision while wearing glasses progressively decreases with time.
A person with myopia of 20/70 who puts on glasses giving him a vision of 20/20 may find that in a week's time his unaided vision has declined to 20/200.
When people break their glasses and go without them for a week or two, they frequently observe their sight has improved. As a matter of fact the sight always improves, to a greater or lesser degree, when glasses are discarded, although many might not pay attention and appreciate this change.
The difficulty of keeping glasses clear is one of the minor discomforts of, and complaints about, glasses. On damp and rainy days, the atmosphere clouds them. On hot days, the perspiration from your body may have a similar effect. On cold days, they are often clouded by the moisture of your breath.
Every day, they are subject to contamination by dust and moisture and unintentional touch of the fingers to unavoidable handling, that it is seldom they afford an absolutely unobstructed view. Additionally, they are easy to misplace or break.
Other pitfalls include:
The cost of glasses and eye doctor appointments
They are considered unnatural and a non-holistic remedy for your vision health -- they send the wrong message to your mind and body
When used as reading glasses, they can be construed as socially embarrassing and send a social sign you are aging
They may cause you eye injury. A university study concluded an estimated 27,000 people end up in the emergency room for injuries related to wearing eyeglasses.
And if you have children, there's a growing consensus that…
Your Kids Don't Need Glasses
Now, think of all the issues I mentioned above with your eyeglasses, and apply them to your kids.I would strongly advise you to exercise extreme caution before you impose glasses on your children. It really is tragic when children are condemned to a lifetime of having to wear glasses because, of all age groups, they are the ones who best respond to natural eye improvement strategies.
A study conducted by Anglia Polytechnic University in Cambridge, England, found the very best intentions by optometrists to correct short-sightedness in a group of 94 children, in fact made the children's vision worse.
Another study published in Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavia in March 2002 (page 125) showed in hunter-gatherer populations, less than 2% of the children required glasses, unlike European or Asian populations that have up to 50% of children needing glasses.
Do you know what they call this where I live in Chicago?
A clue.
This is an astounding observation that can have a profound effect on your child's eye health.
The study of 229 hunter-gatherer societies found that refined cereals and sugars were rarely if ever consumed in these groups living in their traditional manner. But the moment they had western contact these foods rapidly became dietary staples, and the loss of the children's vision followed after that.
Eating foods low in sugar and without an excess of grains, sugars, soda and fruit juices could help keep their insulin levels in check -- the reason many children require glasses for vision correction is due to increases in free insulin-like growth factor (IGF).
Have Your Children Checked by a Specialist!
It's also very important you have your child's vision examined by the appropriate professional -- in this case, a pediatric ophthalmologist.
Why do I recommend this?
A university study conducted by Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and published in the Journal of the American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, provided striking information.
The study reported the following for children under the care of an eye professional:
Optometrists -- prescribed glasses 35% of the time
General ophthalmologists -- prescribed glasses 12% of the time
Pediatric ophthalmologists -- prescribed glasses only 2% of the time
This study clearly shows the importance of choosing the right professional eye doctor to examine your kids. Plus, the study concluded that optometrists and ophthalmologists who usually treat adults may not have as much expertise with children.
Remember, if you start your kids early with glasses you could be starting their slow vision deterioration at a very young age.
This is obviously an outcome no parent would want for their children.
Program Works Exceptionally Well for Children
Further in this report, I will discuss more specifics of a natural vision recovery program, but there is a major point you need to understand when making the decision to put glasses on your child.
Persons of all ages have been benefited by this relaxation treatment, but children usually, though not always, respond much more quickly than adults.
If they are under 12 years of age, or even under 16, and have never worn glasses, they usually improve in a few days, weeks, or months, and nearly always within a year, by reading something as simple as a Snellen test card every day.
Avoid Wasting Your Hard-earned Cash on Contacts
Next on my list of alternatives for vision improvement are contact lenses.
While contacts seem relatively benign, they certainly are not a natural solution. And there's no way you were ever designed to wear them. Believe me -- I spent over 5 years researching all forms of vision improvement to not only help you, but to solve my own vision problem as well. I am convinced that contacts can be an even worse solution than glasses.
Here are the main issues I have with contact lenses and why I recommend you avoid them… They:
Are inconvenient to use -- can be uncomfortable to you with a poor fit
Create recurring expenses for replacements, solutions, and check-ups
Can be difficult for you to keep clean and disinfected
Can potentially lead to irritation and abrasion of your cornea
May deprive your covered cornea of necessary oxygen
Dry out your eyes and may cause eye and eyelid infections
Subject you to irritation from dust, pollutants, and allergens
May interfere with your normal blinking and tearing
Potentially distort the shape of your cornea, impacting your vision
But there is an even more concerning issue with contact lenses -- the lens solutions and cleansers necessary for their use. Fungal eye infections causing potential blindness forced some companies to withdraw their cleansers from the marketplace. Well-established companies such as Bausch and Lomb and Advanced Medical Optics, to name two, faced recall issues on their lens solutions.
So, if you have any doubt about using contact lenses, this is certainly an additional serious concern. Due to injury and even death, law-suits have been filed against at least one of the cleanser producers.
Warning:LASIK May Cause You MORE Problems than Improvement
The latest laser technology can slice and dice your cornea, reshaping it through computer-driven instruments to correct refractive error. Wouldn't it be wonderful if a simple surgery could provide a simple quick fix? I know many of you have considered LASIK (Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis) surgery. The challenge is that for many, LASIK produces amazing results in the short term.
But what people fail to consider is the long-term perspective. Recent studies raised further questions on the safety and efficacy of laser surgery for improving sight.
Most patients do not even recover 20/20 vision. The long-term view is not much better.
Even for those who initially attain "perfect" 20/20 eyesight, the improvement diminishes for many after six months, requiring the use of glasses for such tasks as night driving or reading.
And the costs?
Most insurance companies still do not cover the procedure. Here are a few examples of the pricing and option complexities you face:
$2,105 for all laser-based vision correction procedures in which a single price is quoted.
$1,662 for non-customized LASIK using a bladed instrument (microkeratome) and excimer lasers not guided by wavefront analysis.
$2,341 for wavefront-guided LASIK using IntraLase.
Even more troubling is your risk of complications and side effects from botched or problematic LASIK surgery -- many of which have been downplayed to the general public.
Even though the FDA is supportive of LASIK surgery, their own website on LASIK surgery raises the following risks you should be aware of:
Some patients lose vision -- Some patients lose lines of vision on the vision chart that cannot be corrected with glasses, contact lenses, or surgery as a result of treatment
Some patients develop debilitating visual symptoms -- Some patients develop glare, halos, and/or double vision that can seriously affect nighttime vision
You may be under-treated or over-treated -- Onlya certain percent of patients achieve 20/20 vision without glasses or contacts. You may require additional treatment, but additional treatment may not be possible
Some patients may develop severe dry eye syndrome -- Asa result of surgery, your eye may not be able to produce enough tears to keep the eye moist and comfortable. This condition may be permanent
Results are generally not as good in patients with very large refractive errors of any type -- You should discuss your expectations with your doctor and realize that you may still require glasses or contacts after the surgery
For some farsighted patients, results may diminish with age -- The level of improved vision you experience after surgery for farsightedness may decrease with age
Long-term data are not available -- LASIK is a relatively new technology. Therefore, the long-term safety and effectiveness of LASIK surgery is not known
Are you ready to give it a try? I would not recommend it.
Remember, as I'm driven to find a natural, holistic approach for both of us, this certainly does not come close.
What About Eye Muscle Exercises?
A number of programs are available for improving vision that promote vision correction through eye exercises.
Even though this approach is closer to the natural solution, strengthening, toning, and conditioning your six eye muscles to keep them in perfect working order is quite simply not the right answer.
Why is that?
Most people don't understand that the primary reason you can't see clearly is your eye muscles have too much strain, tightness, and contraction. Exercises can't correct this, and, in fact they can actually worsen your vision.
Eye muscle exercises could lead you further down the path of strain -- the exact opposite of the direction you need to go to achieve true vision improvement.
What your eyes really need is to re-learn how to let go, to RELAX, and to somehow naturally reclaim the perfect unstrained vision that a young, healthy child has.
You may temporarily improve your sight with exercise, but you cannot improve it to normal, and if the effort is allowed to become continuous, your sight will steadily deteriorate and may eventually be destroyed.
Very seldom is the impairment or destruction of your vision due to any fault in the construction of your eye. Of two equally good pairs of eyes, one will retain perfect sight to the end of life, and the other will lose it in kindergarten, simply because one looks at things without effort and the other does not.
An eye with normal sight never struggles to see; it just happens effortlessly.
If for any reason, such as dim light, or the distance of the object, a normal eye cannot see a particular point, it shifts to another point. A normal eye never tries to bring out the point by staring at it, as the abnormal eye with imperfect sight is constantly doing.
Whenever your eye tries to see, it, at once, ceases to have normal vision. You may look at the stars with normal vision, but if you try to count the stars in any particular constellation you will probably become myopic, because the attempt to do these things usually results in an effort to see.
It obviously requires a strain to fail to see at the distance because the eye at rest is adjusted for distant vision. If one does anything when one wants to see at the distance, one must do the wrong thing.
The shape of your eyeball cannot be altered during distant vision without strain. It is equally a strain to fail to see at close up because when your muscles respond to your mind's desire they do it without strain.
Could it Really be this Simple? Amazingly, the Answer is "Yes"
Your mind is the source of all stress from outside sources brought to bear upon your eye. Every thought of effort in your mind, of whatever sort, transmits a motor impulse to your eye; and every such impulse causes a deviation from the normal in the shape of the eyeball and lessens the sensitiveness of the center of sight.
If you want to have perfect vision, therefore, you must minimize stress in your mind. Mental strain of any kind always produces conscious or unconscious eyestrain and if the strain takes the form of an effort to see, an error of refraction is always produced.
Mental strain may produce many different kinds of eyestrain. While there are many types of strains, there is only one cure for all of them -- namely -- relaxation.
The health of your eye depends upon your blood, and circulation is very largely influenced by your thoughts. When your thoughts are normal -- that is, not attended by any excitement or strain -- the circulation in your brain is normal, the supply of blood to your optic nerve and your visual centers are normal, and your vision is perfect.
When your thoughts are abnormal your circulation is disturbed, the supply of blood to your optic nerve and visual centers is altered, and your vision lowered.
You can consciously think thoughts that disturb your circulation and lower your visual power; you can also consciously think thoughts that will restore normal circulation, and thereby improve not only all errors of refraction, but many other abnormal conditions of your eyes.
You cannot by any amount of effort make yourself see, but by learning to control your thoughts you can accomplish that end indirectly.
When a disturbing thought is replaced by one that relaxes, your squint disappears, the double vision and the errors of refraction are corrected; and this is as true of abnormalities of long-standing, as of those produced voluntarily.
No matter how long your eyes have been impaired an improvement is accomplished just as soon as you are able to secure mental control. The cause of any error of refraction, of a squint, or of any other functional disturbance of your eye is simply a thought -- a wrong thought -- and the improvement is as quick as the thought that relaxes.
In a fraction of a second, the highest degrees of refractive error may be corrected, a squint may disappear, or the blindness of amblyopia may be relieved.
If the relaxation is only momentary, the correction is momentary. When it becomes permanent, the correction is permanent.
This relaxation cannot, however, be obtained by any sort of effort. It is fundamental that you understand this; for so long as you think, consciously or unconsciously, that relief from strain may be obtained by another strain your improvement will be delayed.
That is why RELAXING your eyes and addressing the stressors that contribute to the stress are keys to helping you recover your vision.
Why Making Sound Dietary and Emotional Choices are Key Vision Enhancers
Temporary conditions may contribute to the strain to see that results in poor eyesight, but its foundation lies in the wrong habits of your thought.
Very seldom is the impairment or destruction of vision due to any fault in the construction of your eye. Of two equally good pairs of eyes, one will retain perfect sight to the end of life, and the other will lose it in kindergarten simply because one looks at things without effort and the other does not.
In addition to optimizing blood flow by relaxing and controlling your thoughts, you can also directly improve the nutrients your central nervous system and eye receive by focusing on high quality nutrition.
Here are the dietary guidelines I follow to support eyesight:
Eat plenty of foods containing lutein -- spinach, broccoli, zucchini, and peas
Increase your intake of omega-3s -- krill oil is a great choice
Eat nutritious raw egg yolks -- they contain zeaxanthin and lutein
Consume plenty of raw vegetables and fruits -- particularly dark berries
Avoid processed foods, especially those containing trans fats
And now, for the rest of my cruise story…
The Two Words that Helped Improve my Vision
Despite my own dedication to a healthy diet and getting plenty of sunlight, I still needed to use glasses to read the small print on a menu.
That day back in 2005 on the Caribbean cruise, when I broke my glasses and met Dr. Larry Clapp, was a major turning point in my long search for natural vision improvement.
And the two words Dr. Clapp shared with me that day were: Bates Method.
The Bates Method is a 100-year-old approach that has helped tens of thousands of people recover their vision naturally -- including me!
Dr. Bates was in many ways a renegade just like me. He was a traditionally trained ophthalmologist at Cornell University. He practiced for over 30 years and his experience with tens of thousands of patients showed him there were serious flaws in the conventional views of eye science at the turn of the 20th century.
Rather than use the conventional cumbersome and relatively inaccurate Snellen eye charts (which are still used today) he used a far more accurate retinoscope to assess his patient's visual acuity.
The retinoscope is an instrument used to measure the refraction of the eye by throwing a beam of light into the pupil by reflection from a mirror, the light being either outside the instrument -- above and behind the subject -- or arranged within it by means of an electric battery.
Squinting at road signs? Now that's trouble waiting to happen!
At 65 mph, just three seconds spent trying to read a sign means you'll travel the length of a football field without watching what's happening in front of you!
Poor sight can affect your driving depth perception as well. Just imagine the potentially horrific consequences if you misjudge the distance of approaching cars when making a left turn... mishandle a sharp curve on the road... or even overshoot or undershoot a stop sign, intersection, or driveway.
That's why some states like Florida are considering making seniors take an annual vision test to review their driver's license. Fail the test and your driving privileges will be revoked on the spot! With the AARP backing this kind of testing, you can expect more and more states to jump on the bandwagon.
Will your eyesight be up to the challenge today, five years from now, and five years after that?
For 30 years, Dr. Bates used the retinoscope to examine under a wide variety of clinical settings the eyes of thousands of school children, infants, and animals, including cats, dogs, rabbits, horses, cows, birds, turtles, reptiles and fish.
His persistent research allowed him to uncover some basic strategies in helping tens of thousands of people recover their vision without the use of glasses or surgery.
So Dr. Bates boldly told the entire eye community in the early 1900s that based on his observations over 30 years it was his belief that what they had been teaching for the last century was simply wrong and they were actually causing more harm than good.
His alternative approach was so effective and such a threat to the traditional eye community, that leading eye specialists in the 1900s manipulated New York politicians into making it illegal. They simply could not tolerate the competition from his new approach.
And, interestingly, to this day the Bates Method for naturally recovering your vision remains illegal in the state of New York.
I learned a powerful secret from Dr. Clapp that day on the cruise.
Remarkably, 20 years after Dr. Clapp discovered these simple but powerful techniques of natural vision correction, his vision still remained perfectly clear -- as were the others he'd shared the Bates Method with.
You see, Dr Bates was a radical pioneer far ahead of his time, even in today's medical views. He was a maverick physician who dedicated his life to learning why people develop problems with their eyesight -- problems like nearsightedness, farsightedness, presbyopia, and astigmatism.
Sadly, Dr. Clapp passed away a few years ago, but until his death he still didn't need glasses, and he serves as a tremendous model that you can live a full natural life without ever requiring the use of reading glasses.
Now I'm ready to share this natural vision correction method with you.
Discover these 100-Year-Old Secrets
To discover the techniques and methods that helped me restore my own vision, I flew out to California to train with a leading instructor in this unique method.
It cost me thousands of dollars (and as you will soon see, something you won't have to worry about). But it was more than worth the investment of my time and money to regain my vision without the use of glasses or contacts.
It flat-out worked -- I virtually never use my reading glasses. About the only time I require them are under very low-light settings, or to read very tiny print (3 point font) in poor light. But given enough light I simply do not require the use of glasses anymore.
My own results impressed me so much and with all the in-depth research my team and I did on the history and success of the Bates Method -- I decided to simplify this powerful natural vision improvement training for you.
How to Restore Your Vision Naturally
When your mind is under a strain your eye usually goes more or less blind. Your center of sight goes blind first, partially or completely, according to the degree of the strain, and if the strain is great enough the whole or the greater part of your retina may be involved.
When your eye possesses central fixation it not only possesses perfect sight, but it is perfectly at rest and can be used indefinitely without fatigue. It is open and quiet; no nervous movements are seen. In other words, there are no muscular insufficiencies.
This fact is not generally known.
The muscles of your face and of your whole body are also at rest, and when the condition is habitual there are no wrinkles or dark circles around your eyes.
All the methods used in the improvement of poor vision are simply different ways of obtaining relaxation, and the fundamental principle is as follows:
Do you read imperfectly?
Can you observe then that when you look at the first word, or the first letter, of a sentence you do not see best where you are looking; that you see other words, or other letters, just as well as or better than the one you are looking at?
Do you observe also that the harder you try to see the worse you see?
Now close your eyes and rest them, remembering some color, like black or white that you can remember perfectly. Keep them closed until they feel rested, or until the feeling of strain has been completely relieved. Now open them and look at the first word or letter of a sentence for a fraction of a second.
If you have been able to relax, partially or completely, you will have a flash of improved or clear vision, and the area seen best will be smaller.
After opening your eyes for this fraction of a second, close them again quickly, still remembering the color, and keep them closed until they again feel rested. Then open them again for a fraction of a second.
Continue this alternate resting of the eyes and flashing of the letters for a time, and you may soon find that you can keep your eyes open longer than a fraction of a second without losing the improved vision.
If your trouble is with distant instead of near vision, use the same method with distant letters. In this way, you can demonstrate for yourself the fundamental principle of the cure of imperfect sight by treatment without glasses.
More Tips to Help You Recover Your Vision
Remember that relaxation, NOT exercising your eye muscles, is the answer to recovering your vision. The strain to see is a strain of your mind, and, as in all cases in which there is a strain of your mind, there is a loss of mental control. So strategies designed to eliminate the mental strain that underlies the imperfect functioning of your eyes are the key to recovering your vision.
It is also important to understand that sleep is not relaxation.
Most people, when told that rest or relaxation will improve their eye troubles ask why sleep does not do so. This is because your eyes are rarely, if ever, completely relaxed in sleep, and if they are under a strain while you are awake, that strain will certainly be continued while you sleep, to a greater or lesser degree, just as a strain of other parts of your body continues.
The fact is that when your mind is at rest, nothing can tire your eyes, and when your mind is under a strain nothing can rest them.
A very common habit that many people wind up doing is squinting when they want to see more clearly. This does work initially but it actually worsens your vision over time as it will cause chronic contraction of the muscles around your eyes, which is precisely why you start to lose your near vision when you age.
So one of the KEY strategies you can use to recover your vision is simply to notice when you are squinting, and stop. What you can do as an alternative to squinting to improve your sight is to blink a few times.
Simply blinking rapidly a few times will help you see more clearly and is a long term solution that will improve your vision, unlike squinting which will actually worsen your vision over time.
Another key strategy is viewing documents on your computer. While it is very easy to adjust the font of your documents to larger sizes, your best bet is to avoid doing this.
I myself noticed that I would change the size of Word documents from 100% to 150% which clearly made it easier to read but at the same time leads to a progressive worsening of your vision. So if you want to improve your vision, read in the smallest font possible on your screen.
Avoid Sunglasses Like the Plague
Another powerful, simple, and inexpensive strategy is to ditch your sunglasses. Most people don't understand that there are more than 1500 wavelengths of light that you need to nourish your eyes.
When you deprive your eyes of these wavelengths they will become progressively more malnourished and worsen your eyesight.
There are some conditions where sunglasses make sense, but they are under extreme and short-term circumstances, such as skiing down a mountain or boating on a bright sunny day, where the snow or water greatly magnifies the sunlight to unusual and potentially harmful circumstances.
But otherwise, wear a cap and keep the sun out of your eyes that way, as the hat will not block any of the sunshine from nourishing your eye.
How a Simple Technique Can be One of the Most Relaxing Things for Your Eyes
Here's an example of one of the Bates Method techniques to help you relax and sharpen your vision. It's called "palming."
Palming technique for YOUR vision enhancement:
It turns out that "palming" is one of the most relaxing things you can do for your eyes. And relaxation is a cornerstone of improving your vision naturally.
Try this simple version of palming:
Rest your elbows comfortably on a table or desk.
Cover your eyes with your cupped palms as shown.
Add a pillow under your elbows if more height is needed to keep your back relaxed and straight.
Breathe deeply while you palm for a few minutes.
The technique of palming to rest the eyes from all light stimulation was an integral part of Dr. Bates' approach.
He concluded from his study and treatment of thousands of eyes that tight muscles actually contort the eyes and restrict circulation. He found that palming helps those muscles relax and let go.
Palming just a few minutes in the morning, at night, or while at work can be very restful. Many people report clearer vision and a reduction of symptoms such as headaches and dry eyes with regular palming.
The palming technique has been used successfully for years. It's one of the most relaxing things you can do for your eyes.
Relaxation is a key element in naturally enhancing your vision. I'm definitely a testament to this amazing technique.
You Don't Have to Fly across the Country and Spend Thousands of Dollars to Recover Your Vision
While I was absolutely delighted to recover my vision and have no regrets at all in investing thousands of dollars to learn this technique, it was obvious to me that most people would not do this, so I started my journey to find a less expensive and equally effective alternative.
That is why I compiled this extensive page with audio clips to aid you and your family's journey in helping you recover your vision. These techniques alone have helped many people recover their vision.
However, if you need additional coaching I put together a training program for you.
The program is called Reclaim Your Eyesight Naturally.
With this complete holistic program, you'll discover the safe and proven approach to help you eliminate your eyesight problems.
With Reclaim Your Eyesight Naturally, you can...
Discover how to throw away your glasses for good
Get rid of your messy and irritating contact lenses
Avoid the risks and costs of LASIK eye surgery
Improve your vision in just minutes a day
Free yourself from eyestrain and neck strain
And save thousands of dollars on your lifetime vision care costs!
Natural Vision Training and YOU
You may be wondering if this natural eyesight improvement program is right for you. Well, let's take a closer look.
First of all, you need to know this technique is not a quick fix. Although results in a few days or weeks are not uncommon, your natural vision improvement will take time, commitment, practice, and patience on your part.
According to Dr. Bates' teachings, common vision problems are reversible -- and are not necessarily the result of genetics.
For example, he believed blurred vision is functional rather than structural -- it results from chronic tension in some or all of your six extrinsic eye muscles.
The Reclaim Your Eyesight Naturally program focuses on retraining the external muscles of your eyes and could be helpful to you if...
You're nearsighted or farsighted and use glasses or contact lenses
You've been told you have astigmatism
You have presbyopia or "aging eyesight," and use reading glasses to see close-up
You're just starting to notice problems with your eyesight. Your vision isn't as clear as it used to be and you're concerned that it may be worsening
You're considering LASIK eye surgery, but have concerns or fears about the risks
You're tired of dealing with the hassles and expense of glasses or contact lenses
You suffer from eye strain, muscle tension headaches or tight muscles in the neck and upper back from reading, watching TV, or using your computer.
You've already had LASIK, but your vision is starting to worsen again.
If you are looking for a quick fix, Dr. Bates' approach is clearly not for you.
The time required to effect a permanent improvement varies greatly with everyone. In some cases five, 10, or 15 minutes is sufficient. However, it is often necessary to continue the treatment for weeks and months.
While I personally experienced rapid improvement in my eyesight, vision improvement commonly occurs gradually over time. If you take the typical Western approach and believe in a quick fix, take a pill for every health solution, then go no further, as this program will require time on your part to help you recover your lost vision.
When improvement is complete, it is always permanent, but complete improvement, which does not mean the attainment of what is ordinarily called normal sight, but of a measure of near and far vision, are very rare. Even in these cases the treatment can be continued with benefit, for it is impossible to place limits to the visual powers of man, and no matter how good your sight, it is always possible to improve it.
However, if you are like me, and want your health for the LONG-TERM and are not interested in quick solutions that will harm you more later, then I don't know of a better approach.
The daily practice of training is necessary to prevent visual lapses to which every eye is prone, no matter how good your sight may be. No system will provide an absolute safeguard against such lapses in all circumstances. However, the daily reading of small, distant, familiar letters will do much to lessen the tendency to produce eye strain that changed your vision when disturbing life circumstances arise.
Generally, persons who have never worn glasses are more easily improved than those who have, and glasses should be discarded at the beginning of the treatment.
When this cannot be done without too great discomfort, or when you need to continue your work during the treatment and cannot do so without glasses, the use of glasses can be permitted for a time, but this always delays the improvement.
So, if you are unable to make this commitment at this time, then it would likely be best for you to delay this course until you can. Here is a summary of my recommended checklist to help you improve the overall health of your eyesight:
Eat a healthy diet of unprocessed foods rich in omega-3s, lutein, and zeaxanthin
Avoid all trans fat and make sure you get a source of high-quality omega-3 fats
Get plenty of natural sunlight
The advantage you have is you can try the Reclaim Your Eyesight Naturally at a lower cost than a new set of glasses or contacts, and certainly far less than LASIK surgery.
You really have nothing to lose. You can try this natural program that worked for me -- and look to shed your own glasses or contacts for good.
So, why not at least check this out for yourself? You have nothing to lose and dramatically improved eyesight to gain.
Think of my story. You can be next natural vision success story!
While many go to great lengths to
avoid it, sweating actually has many important health- and beauty-related
benefits. Your skin is the largest organ of your body, and serves important
roles just like any other bodily organ.
For example, sweating helps your
body:
Maintain proper temperature and
keep you from overheating
Clean the pores, which will help
eliminate blackheads and acne
Expel toxins, which supports
proper immune function and helps prevent diseases related to toxic overload
Helps improve blood circulation
Kill viruses and bacteria that
cannot survive in temperatures above 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit
Helps relieve stress and promote
relaxation
All of these benefits promote
general health, and recent research has even shown that regular Yoga practice* correlates to a reduced risk of death from any
cause, including lethal cardiovascular events.
Men who are with Yoga practice cut
their risk of death from fatal heart problems in half, compared to those who were
not doing this practice.
One mechanism for this beneficial
effect is thought to be related to the fact that Yoga therapy places stress on
your heart and body similar to that of exercise.
Sweating
as a Barometer of Your Fitness Level
In fact, the concept of "hyperthermic conditioning," or acclimating
yourself to heat independent of aerobic physical activity through sauna use,
has been shown to boost exercise endurance.
It does this by inducing adaptations
in your body that make it easier for you to perform when your body temperature
is elevated. Stated another way: as your body is subjected to heat stress, it
gradually becomes acclimated to the heat, prompting a number of beneficial changes
and adaptations.
These adaptations include:
Increased plasma volume
Increased blood flow to your heart
and muscles (boosting athletic endurance)
Increased muscle mass due to greater
levels of heat-shock proteins and human growth hormone (HGH)
Yoga lead to even greater,
synergistic increases in HGH as well as brain-derived neurotrophic factor
(BDNF), which can prompt the generation of new brain cells. A study6 published in 2010 added corroborating evidence to the link
between sweating and improved fitness, finding that fitter people tend to sweat
more profusely in response to exercise compared to unfit people.
They also begin perspiring much
quicker during exercise. According to Time Magazine:7
“[Professor of internal medicine,
Dr. Craig] Crandall says the differences between fit and unfit people has to do
with each person’s capacity for heat generation.
‘A high fitness level allows you to
exercise at a higher workload, which generates more heat, which in turn leads
to more sweat,’ he explains.
He says men tend to sweat more than
women for the same reason overweight or obese adults often sweat more than thin
people: Their bodies are larger, which leads to greater heat generation during
activity.”
Different
Kinds of Sweating
Not all perspiration is in response
to heat or exercise, however. Most people are probably familiar with the
experience of sweating when nervous or anxious for example. You actually have
two different types of sweat glands:8
·Eccrine sweat glands, which are
distributed over your entire body
·Apocrine sweat glands, located
primarily in your armpits and genital area
Your palms and the soles of your
feet have a higher density of eccrine glands than other parts of your body, and
while the “why” is still unknown, these two areas tend to be primarily
activated by emotional stimuli.
The glands in your armpits are
stimulated by both heat generation and emotions, while most other body areas
are primarily brought to sweat by heat. The International Hyperhydrosis Society9 has the following to say about the biological imperatives
behind emotional sweating:
“Emotional sweating is thought to be
an atavistic function that was important when hunting animals or fighting
enemies. Physiologic amounts of sweat on the palms and soles can improve
friction by controlling the humidity of the stratum corneum, leading to an
improved grip.
Generalized sweating cools the body
when intense physical activity is expected. In addition, increased eccrine
sweat output in the axillae [armpit]
produced by emotional stimuli will allow natural odors from prior apocrine
gland secretion to aerosolize and function as pheromone signals.”
The
Importance of Sweating for Detoxification
Your skin is a major organ of
elimination, but many people do not sweat on a regular basis. This is why
repeated Yoga practice slowly restores skin elimination, which can help reduce
your toxic load quite significantly.
The use of sweating as a form of
detoxification is downplayed by modern medicine, yet it has been valued as a
form of cleansing since ancient times. Traditional examples include Roman baths,
Aboriginal sweat lodges, Scandinavian saunas, and Turkish baths.
According to a systematic review10 published in the Journal of Environmental and Public
Health, an array of toxins are excreted in sweat, including arsenic,
cadmium, lead, mercury, flame retardant chemicals, and bisphenol-A (BPA). The
authors concluded that:
·Sweat may be an important route for
excretion of cadmium when an individual is exposed to high levels
Sweat-inducing
provide a therapeutic method to increase elimination of toxic trace metals ·
Sweating should be the initial and
preferred treatment of patients with elevated mercury urine levels11
Detoxing can also be of particular
benefit if you have thyroid issues. As mentioned earlier, lack of sweating is a
strong indication of an underactive thyroid. Hypothyroid
people tend to feel cold much of the time, and are slow to warm up even in a
sauna, and don't sweat with mild exercise.
They are also constipated, lethargic, and have dry skin. Halides such as
bromine, found in baked goods, soft drinks, pesticides, and fire retardants,
just to name a few sources, compete for the same receptors used in the thyroid
gland to capture iodine.
This inhibits thyroid hormone
production resulting in a low thyroid state. The more you can free your body of
toxic halides, the more iodine your body will be able to hang on to, and the
better your thyroid will function. This includes removing fluoride from your
water, which also impairs your thyroid. Soy can also impair thyroid function.
Of course, you’ll also want to get your thyroid hormone levels checked if you
suspect you may suffer from thyroid dysfunction.
Boosting
Your Health with the Yoga Practice
Yoga Practiceis
a great way to sweat out toxins your body accumulates through contaminated
food, water, pollution, and other environmental exposures and also help kill
off viruses and other disease-promoting microbes in your body.
As a general rule, viruses and
toxin-laden cells are weaker than normal cells and have poor tolerance to heat.
As a result, raising your body temperature can help heal infections more
quickly.
It heats your tissues several inches
deep, which can enhance your natural metabolic processes, enhances circulation,
and helps oxygenate your tissues, but perhaps most importantly; it can help
restructure the water in your cells.
Our body consists of over 99 percent water molecules, but as explained by Dr.
Gerald Pollack, the water in your cells is not just regular water, but highly structured water with special properties. Yoga
Practicewill help structure the water in your body and may be one of
the reasons why regular use has been associated with decreased cardiac deaths.
Structured water is more viscous,
dense, and has a negative charge. It can hold energy, much like a battery, and
deliver energy too. A key ingredient to create this highly structured water is
infrared light. One reason why infrared saunas make you feel so good is
because your body’s cells are deeply penetrated by infrared energy, which
builds and stores structured water. The same goes for light therapy, spending
time in the sun, and laser therapy.
Virtually everyone is exposed to
heavy metals and toxic chemicals today Yoga Practicecan
be a helpful method to promote detoxification. Its dry, warming energy is
highly compatible with the human body, and by heating your tissues several
inches deep, it helps enhance cellular energy production and facilitate
healing. Furthermore, viruses and toxin-laden cells are weaker than normal
cells and tolerate heat poorly, so raising your body temperature helps heal
infections quicker.
A major organ of elimination, most
people’s skin is very inactive. Many simply do not sweat enough. Yoga
Practiceslowly restores your body’s ability to eliminate toxins
through your skin. Just be sure to select a good yoga teacher to attain better
results.
Also remember that Yoga
Practicework best when integrated into a comprehensive healthy
lifestyle program, which includes eating a healthy diet — ideally organic
and/or locally grown without pesticides — exercising, and avoiding toxic
exposures.
Yoga*- refers to yoga for body
(Hatha Yoga) and for Mind. Yoga of mind is possible through Simple meditation
practice. Please follow the link given below for more details.
Meditating with someone who has the capacity of yogic transmission can
help you explore the Heartfulness practice more deeply. There are no
charges for this, and we invite you to experience the unique benefits of
this transmission.
Posts
At 65 mph, just three seconds spent trying to read a sign means you'll travel the length of a football field without watching what's happening in front of you! 
