Health & Healing

28 THEOPTIMIST.COM FALL 2015 PHOTOGRAPH: BELINDA PRETORIUS/SHUTTERSTOCK Nobody needs these

Is it possible to train your eyes to see clearly without your glasses or contacts? BY ELLEKE BAL

FALL 2015 THEOPTIMIST.COM 29 ALMOST PUT RICE IN MY COFFEE Influence your eyesight? I think about are using the Bates Method. By learning maker. It feels very odd, going through it. It’s so hard to believe no optometrist has how to relax their eye muscles, people can my morning routine without my con- ever mentioned it to me. I have been wear- improve their eyesight. When you think tact lenses. With a prescription of –3.0 ing contact lenses and glasses for ten years about it, it’s unbelievable that Bates’ ap- Iin both eyes, I’m fne around the house, real- now, and have never enjoyed it. The glasses proach hasn’t become more widely used. ly. But the packs of coffee and rice on the top slide off my nose and get smudged all the Lately, though, his ideas have been re- shelf of my cupboard are dangerously simi- time, and the contacts irritate me and dry out ceiving corroboration from an unexpect- lar. The world is covered by a veil of fog. my eyes. Could I stop wearing them? ed quarter: scientists who are studying “First thing, leave your contact lenses out For now, my effort to live without con- neuroplasticity—a new branch of neurosci- for a few hours in the morning for a while,” tacts is leading to some awkwardness, but I ence that is developing from an understand- Kim van der Hoeven advised me. I had gone also notice this: My eyes feel relaxed, they ing that the brain is capable of much more to see her to talk about learning to see clearly are moving freely and easily, and I really self-repair and healing than we ever thought without contact lenses or glasses. Van der don’t want to put my lenses back in. It gives possible. They’ve discovered many instan- Hoeven is a vision educator for people who me a whole new sense of freedom. ces of the brain’s being able to develop new want to improve their eyesight with natural William Horatio Bates would prob- patterns through learning experiences. methods. She is convinced you can decrease ably have recommended that I never put Consider this for one moment: you see the strength of your prescription. She herself my glasses on again. He called them “eye with your brain. The brain processes the once wore glasses with an Rx of –7.0 and crutches” and saw them as an obstacle to signals from your retinas and your optic now has brought it down to –2.0. restoring vision. Nearly 100 years ago, this nerve to supply an image to your conscious Van der Hoeven, a young woman in the American ophthalmologist argued that most self. This could be the key to explaining the Westland region in the southwestern Nether- vision problems can be improved if you theories that Bates developed. lands, tells me in a down-to-earth way how learn to relax your eye muscles. The effort Psychiatrist Norman Doidge, neuroplas- she reduced the strength of her prescription. you put into seeing better makes your vision ticity-expert, writes: “The natural vision As we sit at her kitchen table, she tells how deteriorate, went his theory. principles behind what [Bates] did can be it all began when a friend gave her a maga- At the time, this was a highly contro- applied far more widely than is done now, ine article two years ago. “That was the frst versial idea, and to be honest, it still is. from the milder problems of those who have time I read that you can do things to infu- Mainstream optometrists and eye doctors blurry vision to more serious ones, and to ence your eyesight,” says Van der Hoeven. disapprove. But tens of thousands of people prevent future vision problems.” They can see clearly now Two tales of regaining natural vision.

NORA URANGA want anybody to touch my eyes. So I decided to off when I wanted to. I bought glasses with –4, pharmacist in San Sebastián, Spain go for a Bates Method training weekend in Ma- and then later –3 and –2. After a few months, I drid. As soon as I started the course, they asked noticed I had started wearing the glasses less. “I WAS 6 YEARS OLD WHEN I STARTED me to take out my contact lenses, which had a One day, I just forgot to put them on. And now wearing glasses. I wore them alternately with strength of –5. I felt like I was almost blind after I only wear glasses with –2 when I drive; other- contact lenses for almost 35 years. For most doing that, it was really difficult. But the next wise, I go without glasses. And I’m fine! of my life, my eyes were simply there; I didn’t day I started recognizing what I was able to see, Taking off the glasses has changed my life. consider them a special part of my body. But instead of what I couldn’t see. I could recognize For me, the capacity to see is related to my suddenly my eyes got tired; I started having shapes, colors and movement. I was still able to ability to relax and to let go. Eyes are part of the difficulties with wearing lenses. One day, a friend see things that were close to me. body, and if there is a constant strain on them, told me about the Bates Method. I couldn’t So I took the decision to leave out my your body needs to make a constant effort to let believe it. I was skeptical. lenses for the first few hours of every morning. them work. Letting go of this tension and strain Everyone told me I should go for a laser sur- I stopped wearing contact lenses and started is very valuable. What you gain is much more gery, but that was not an option for me—I didn’t using glasses, because I could easily take those than just being able to live without glasses.”

30 THEOPTIMIST.COM FALL 2015 But let’s take a closer look at the problem. opia, research published in The Lancet The World Health Organization estimates shows. In the United States and Europe, the “It was [Bates’] that 246 million people have “low vision,” number of nearsighted people has doubled which means they are not blind (as 39 mil- in the past 50 years, the BHVI states. misfortune to have lion others are) but they have serious visual Researchers say it is because we are look- impairment, even with corrections like eye- ing at screens more often and are not out- discovered the use of glasses. This includes myopia (nearsight- doors as much as we used to be. That’s bad edness), hypermetropia (farsightedness), for your eyes, because looking into the dis- mental experience to astigmatism (also known as “cylinder”), and tance is what gives them a chance to relax. presbyopia (farsightedness caused by loss So imagine what happens when you spend train aspects of vision in of elasticity of the lens of the eye). What’s most of your day staring at a small screen, as more, these numbers are considered to be on we habitually do these days. an era before the conservative side. Nearsightedness drives a lot of busi- In recent decades, we’ve seen a dramatic ness—eyeglasses, contacts and laser treat- mainstream medicine increase in nearsightedness. According to ments are all readily available. And once Australia’s Brien Holden Vision Institute you’ve started wearing glasses or contacts, accepted (BHVI), known for its international eye care you’ll have to keep buying new ones all your research, myopia “affects many school-aged life. Now that is a sustainable proft model! neuroplasticity.” children and is fast becoming a major public But if our vision is getting so much worse health issue of our time.” The institute es- because of how we are using our eyes, NORMAN DOIDGE, PSYCHIATRIST timates the current number of people with wouldn’t it be logical that we could recover myopia at 1.45 billion, and expects the con- by learning to use your eyes in a better way? dition to grow to 2.5 billion by 2020. China is experiencing a major epidemic STHER VAN DER WERF BECAME of myopia. Sixty years ago, only 10 to 20 nearsighted when she was 1. At frst percent of the population was nearsighted; Eshe had a positive feeling about wear- now, up to 90 percent of high school gradu- ing glasses. “I thought, Maybe they’ll make ates in major Asian cities suffer from my- me look more intelligent,” she says with a

GIOVANNELLA PATTAVINA gave me a lot of stress, and all the time I M.D., in a rehabilitation center, Treviso, Italy thought I wasn’t practicing hard enough. Two years ago, I reread the Bates book “IN MEDICAL SCHOOL, I’D ALREADY again, this time in English. I contacted Bates started looking up books in the library about teacher Esther van der Werf and I took some holistic ways to treat the eyes. I was wearing lessons with her over e-mail. Only at that glasses with a strength of –3, and I wanted to point did I understand that I had some bad get rid of them. I found an Italian book about eye habits and that I had to replace them with the Bates Method and I started doing some good habits. Most important, I had to learn of the exercises, but I was distracted and to relax my eye muscles. I learned that I had stopped. to become friends with the blur and release A few years later, I discovered that I tension. couldn’t see the colors of the traffic lights Right now, I don’t wear glasses anymore; anymore. I was shocked and started reading clear vision comes to me in a natural way. Last about the Bates Method again. I found a Bates year I renewed my driver’s license and discov- teacher in Italy, and I started doing exercises, ered that I don’t have a prescription anymore. but I think I was trying too hard. The exercises I’m free.” | INTERVIEWED BY ELLEKE BAL

FALL 2015 THEOPTIMIST.COM 31 laugh when I speak to her on Skype from Perfect Sight Without Glasses (1920) is well- studied patients who suffered from cataracts her home in Ojai, California. The story of known, but he also wrote about his work in and had had their lenses removed and re- her eyeglasses is a short one. “I took them Better Eyesight, a monthly magazine pub- placed with an infexible lens some of these off again very soon,” she says. “They made lished throughout the 1920s. Van der Werf people, he found, were still able to focus. me feel as if I wasn’t participating in the recommends that everyone reads those texts, Bates replicated elmholt’s experi- world anymore. I was an observer, not a as they provide the best explanation of the ments, testing the eyes of fsh, dogs, cats and participant.” For 16 years, she stubbornly method. The magazines are sold together rabbits, and discovered that the entire eye navigated the world with hazy vision, until as a bundle on various websites, and some- changes shape when focusing. Six different she reached a point where she couldn’t read times you can read a single edition for free. muscles in the eye play an important role, traffc signs well anymore. er vision was The Bates Method is primarily successful and according to Bates these external mus- measured as –1 and –1.25 then. “So I knew with functional problems such as nearsight- cles that surround the eyes change the focus something had to be done.” edness, farsightedness, astigmatism and stra- by lengthening or shortening the eyeball. e By coincidence, she then attended a bismus. Eye diseases such as cataracts and found that when he cut these muscles in ani- health expo where she ran into Tom Quack- macular degeneration are a different mat- mals, they could no longer focus. enbush, who was there to publicize his book ter, says Van der Werf. She says the Bates Later, other researchers confirmed that Relearning to See: Improve Your Eyesight method will likely be helpful for people with the length of the eyeball can be an indica- Naturally. “I asked him the stupidest ques- these problems, and Bates had some great tor of poor eyesight. For example, myopia tion you can ask an author: ‘Does it really successes with curing eye diseases, but the is correlated with a slightly elongated eye- work?’ Quackenbush held up his book and results are less sure certain and require more ball, which means that the lens focuses light answered, ou will fnd out if you read it.’” than just visual relaxation. from distant objects slightly in front of the o she did. is book had relaxation tech- As far as Bates was concerned, all people retina, rather than directly on it. But theor- niques, like palming, which is a way to give with nearsightedness or farsightedness ies vary regarding why our eyeballs differ your eyes a rest by using your hands to block should take off their glasses, sooner rather in length. According to Bates, the muscles out all light, and sunning, which entails clos- than later. “Every time you put on glasses, tense in a certain way, causing the eye to ing your eyes, facing the sun and swaying that perfectly compensate your problem, you change shape. Mainstream eye doctors say your head from left to right. are reinforcing the problem,” says Van der the eye changes shape mainly due to genetic “Once I understood that it is all about Werf. In our modern world, it is quite dif- differences, or because of a malformation relaxing the eyes, I had 20/20 vision again fcult to just discard your glasses. “We have that cannot be undone. within two weeks,” she tells me. That was to work and be able to drive a car, of course. Bates developed a series of relaxation 15 years ago, and now Van der Werf her- What you can do is slowly step down, each techniques for the eye muscles. e said it self is a renowned expert and teacher of the time choosing glasses with a slightly lower was crucial to move the eyes in the correct Bates Method. She wrote the book Read Rx than the ones you are currently wearing.” way. e quickly garnered an international Without Glasses at Any Age: The Natural Van der Werf also warns that the refract- following and started training people. But Method to Near Vision Clarity. ive error is not static as eyeglasses are; vi- optometrists and eye doctors in the United Talking to an der Werf, you quickly fnd sion acuity fluctuates all day, sometimes States called him a charlatan and made him out that not everyone has the same ideas focusing a bit better, other times somewhat resign from his work at the New York Post- about what the Bates Method encompasses. worse. Glasses give you the same constant raduate Medical chool. owever, his She says people often incorrectly assume compensation all day long, she explains, ideas continue to resonate and fnd follow- that the method is “a set of eye exercises.” and that’s hard on your eyes. They lose the ers, and they yield surprising results. “It is definitely not a regimen of eye freedom to adapt to each situation—another “It was his misfortune to have discovered exercises,” she proclaims. It’s a bad idea to reason why glasses create eyestrain. the use of mental experience to train as- focus only on eye exercises, she says, be- To understand all of this, it is important pects of vision in an era before mainstream cause “every time you try harder and make to know how Bates saw the eye. Bates was medicine accepted neuroplasticity,” Nor- an effort to see better, you are increasing the one of the first to disagree with the estab- man Doidge says about Bates. The Canadian tension on your eyes. While actually you lishment’s perception of the eye. In his day, psychiatrist on the faculties of both the Uni- should be letting go of tension.” Eye exer- erman eye doctor ermann von elmholt versity of Toronto and Columbia University, cises are forced movements, she says, while was the main authority in this area. elm- has written a number of popular books and relaxation is the key to vision improvement. holtz proposed that the eye is able to focus is known as a worldwide expert in the feld Bates developed several techniques that can on different distances because the lens chan- of neuroplasticity. help you relax your eyes. ges shape. is theory was that the eye is able In his most recent book, The Brain’s When Bates developed his method, to change because a small muscle, the cili- Way of Healing, Doidge recounts the story he had no idea what he should call it, Van ary muscle around the lens contracts. This of David Webber, who had almost lost his der Werf tells me. e was just promoting theory is widely accepted as a fact today. vision because of an autoimmune disease the natural way of seeing. e wrote all his But Bates didn’t think that focusing de- called uveitis, but by using the Bates Meth- fndings down in various texts. is book, pends only on the lens changing shape. e od and other techniques, such as visualiza-

32 THEOPTIMIST.COM FALL 2015 tion and the Feldenkrais Method of somatic spending peering at screens. “Their per- education, he can now see again. He learned ipheral vision is being underused. The un- how to use his eyes, brain and body in a new intended consequence of such devices, and different way, regained his vision and which don’t take our biology into account, astounded his physicians. is to take us further from the principles of Doidge credits the restoration of Web- natural vision necessary to preserve good ber’s sight to “the plasticity of the visual sys- eyesight.” tem.” Neuroplasticity assumes that the brain Ironically enough, various computer is not a static mass—as once was thought— games are being developed to improve eye- but rather that new links are constantly be- sight and train the brain, and they make use ing made, due to changes in behavior, neural of the concept of neuroplasticity. Last year, processes, thinking and emotions. Doidge UltimEyes, a game-based app that works on admits that neuroplasticity research is in its the brain’s visual cortex, was released onto early stages, but so far it seems to indicate the market. The game invites your eyes to that mind and body are far more connected work in ways they don’t in everyday life, than we thought. and scientifc research with baseball players Take visualization, for example, a fun- as research subjects has shown that the game damental part of the Bates Method. Bates works. According to a study published in the would ask students to create a perfect im- journal Current Biology, “Players reported age of a familiar object in their minds, be- seeing the ball better, greater peripheral vi- fore looking at that object. If you do that, sion and an ability to distinguish lower-con- he theorized, your eyes relax, because your trast objects.” brain already has a perfect image of the ob- ject, and there is no need to strain it. Bates … E… C… D…I SQUINT MY EYES often made use of the ways in which the and try as hard as I can to read the let- eyes are connected to the brain in his relaxa- Pters on the line. “Take a deep breath tion techniques. and move your attention to the back of your Doidge is convinced that Bates made a head,” Van der Hoeven advises me. That very valuable contribution to the way we helps. Relaxation clears up those letters bet- look at the eye, he writes in his book. He ter than strain does. also writes that he is concerned about how Van der Hoeven does some tests with me children today are learning to use their eyes, frst so that she’ll be able to tell me if I can and especially the amount of time they are improve my eyesight. In the past year, she

Tips when visiting the optometrist

WHEN YOU DO NEED A NEW PAIR OF GLASSES OR CONTACT This will keep your eyes more relaxed. lenses, you usually get your eyes measured first by an optometrist. It is important that the prescription not be too strong. Talk with the The situation during these eye tests is often not optimal, says Kim van optometrist about this, and make sure that you will get a prescription der Hoeven, a Bates Method teacher. It is important to get your eyes that is not stronger than it needs to be. measured properly, though, so that you don’t get a prescription that is Try to avoid having your eyes measured in stressful periods. Stress too strong. When your glasses or contacts are too strong, it puts stress creates tension, including in your eye muscles. on your eye muscles. While examining your eyes, they will ask you to place your chin on a chin rest. Pay attention to keeping your neck straight so that there is These are Van der Hoeven’s tips when visiting the optometrist: no bend in your neck. This ensures better circulation. The best time of day to have your eyes measured is in the morning. Keep blinking and shifting your eyes and make sure your breathing is Your eyes are still rested from a good night’s sleep. even and calm during the measurement. Don’t wear your glasses in the hours before your measurement—in sofar as this is possible and safe with your level of vision, of course. Source (Dutch only): detoekomstvoorogen.nl PHOTOGRAPH: VARUNA/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTOGRAPH:

FALL 2015 THEOPTIMIST.COM 33 followed a course in natural vision at the niques, like “sunning.” and optometrists have little patience with College of Vision Education in London. We In the end, I’ll need to teach myself good the Bates Method. “I worked with a girl to are looking at the Snellen visual chart—the eye care habits, says an der oeven, like straighten her strabismic eye, and when she classic eye test—from 6 meters (20 feet) going outside more often to give my eyes visited her eye doctor again she was told she away. When someone can read the line of sunlight. Every time your eyes are in the no longer needed to come back for check- letters from a certain distance, eyesight is sun, the photoreceptors necessary for good ups as her eye was now consistently straight. considered 20/20. sight are stimulated. In addition, your pu- The girl’s mother wanted to explain what With my contact lenses in, I can read pils narrow, which is important for keeping had helped, but the doctor had no interest practically the whole chart. Only the last line the eye healthy. Blinking and moving your in hearing about it. I always wonder: Aren’t is diffcult. an der oeven concludes that eyes, instead of staring, is also very import- they curious about what happened?” with contacts in, I can read from 6 meters ant. Blinking improves the condition of your Ultimately, Van der Werf hopes that more what a person with healthy eyes can read eye, by activating the tear ducts, among people will become aware of the Bates from 4 meters. Conclusion: my lenses are other things. As long as you keep your eyes Method. “It’s not natural to walk around too strong. This happens often, says Van open, your brain gets information to process. with glasses your whole life,” she says. But der oeven. pticians want to help you so “A healthy eye blinks approximately 22 we have been taught we have no control much that they fit you with contact lenses times per minute,” she tells me; “when you over our eyesight. Glasses are culturally ac- that are too strong. That’s bad news, says are sitting at a computer, that goes down to cepted. But it’s the same as breaking your an der oeven, because it means my eye 7 times, while during reading it’s about 10 leg and using crutches the rest of your life.” muscles are working too hard every day to times.” I’m going to continue spending a few match the strong lenses. This creates even She thinks it’s quite likely I can improve hours without lenses every morning. You more tension in my eyes. my eyesight. But it’s a personal process for have to learn to accept the blur, Van der Werf Together with an der oeven, I practice each person who does this, she says. “Seeing has told me. We want perfect vision all the a few relaxation techniques that I will be is actually receiving, without making an ef- time, but as a result we’re losing touch with able to start doing at home. One of the most fort,” she says at the end of our conversation. our natural vision. important techniques in the Bates Method In the days after my visit with van der o- “That blur,” she says, “you have to be- is palming—the eye muscle need this per- even, new questions keep popping up in my come friends with it. Think of it as a friendly iod of rest to be able to see better afterwards, head. If this Bates Method works so well, reminder for you to relax.” he discovered. Just closing your eyes with- how is it possible that it’s not better known, out cupping your hands over your eyes is and that I, and millions of people like me, ELLEKE BAL decided to continue doing eye usually not as effective, he said, because it have been repeatedly fooled into going to exercises to improve her sight. Why don’t still allows light to flter through your eye- the optometrist to be prescribed eyeglasses you join her for the next three months? lids. an der oeven explains how palming or contact lenses? I ask Esther van der Werf. Share your experience at Facebook.com/ works, and ten minutes later my eyes feel “It is still often seen as quackery,” she groups/optimisteyes. Look for an update in very calm. We also practice some other tech- says. She knows that regular eye doctors our next issue.

Improve your eyesight naturally ONLINE COURSE With Esther van der Werf

Would you like to see clearly, without glasses or contact lenses? Join this course and learn how. About 100 years ago, the American ophthalmologist William Horatio Bates argued that most vision problems can be improved if you learn to relax your eye muscles. Thousands of people all over the world used his method to regain their vision. In this 4-session course with Esther van der Werf, a renowned expert and teacher of the Bates Method, you will become familiar with this method and learn how to improve your eyesight naturally. It could be the start of a process that will help you to eventually go through life without glasses or contact lenses.

Dates: January, 29 & February 5, 12, 19, 2016 Find out more: theoptimist.com

34 THEOPTIMIST.COM FALL 2015