DRAFT

My Experience With The Bates Method

An experience in driver's education was the first indication to me that I was nearsighted because my instructor had pointed out that I was squinting to see the street signs. She recommended I get my eyes checked and in a short time, I was fitted with corrective lenses and eventually relied on them to see permanently. I had wondered what could have caused my eyes to become myopic because I had good vision until then. Both my older sisters and brother had corrective lenses as well as my mother so I figured it was out of my control. Years later, I lost my glasses and went a week without them until I could get an appointment to fit lenses. It was stressful to go throughout the day with poor vision especially in college where it was necessary for me to sit in front to see the white board. After my trip to the optometrist, I was fitted with a powerful and uneven set of lenses for compound myopic astigmatism I believe. The right being much stronger than the left. Etched in my memory is the optometrist's remark that I would not survive as a neanderthal with my poor vision. Regardless of the absurdity of that statement, he was correct and I kept wearing those lenses every day for the next three years.

Over those three years I took a semester off school and transferred to Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. It was during the last two months of my sophomore year that I decided to relinquish my glasses and revivify my eyesight. I remember taking off my pair of glasses after playing guitar and realizing how blurry my vision was. This was not a pleasing experience for me and I do not think it is for many. Optimum health has always been of great importance to me and I feel that it is so inaccessible, even in what people call a “first world” country. Errors of refraction in the ocular system certainly cannot be a sign of health. Money was also another consideration for me because higher prescription meant new glasses, which meant more money. My reliance on glasses was wearing on me and I thought of a life-threatening situation whereby my lenses were destroyed and I was left blind and essentially helpless. This did not seem like paranoia to me and regardless, I thought it would just be awesome to be able to say I cured my nearsightedness.

I read Dr. William H. Bates work, The Cure of Imperfect Sight by Treatment Without Glasses. I didn't really understand a lot of the vernacular he used at first. He talked about strain being the cause of errors of refraction and I felt that relaxation blurred my vision, but once I tried the methods of improving eyesight, I realized that the feeling was unique and something that I must not be familiar with. I didn't know what relaxation felt like because my eyes were in a constant state of strain looking through my glasses. It took a mindful practice of the Bates Method for me to discover that because when my vision cleared up, I had feeling of relaxation and settling in my eyes that was unlike when my vision blurred voluntarily. Swinging, is the technique that first helped unfreeze my thought patterns of bad seeing habits. I sat in my chair and gently swayed focusing on the slightly blurry top of my laptop screen. As my focus shifted from the background of a mesh fabric backboard on my desk to my laptop, they swung against one another and began to become so distinct. I noticed the depth between the laptop and the desk and marveled at how vividly I could see at any distance without my glasses. The improvement was minor but it convinced me that there was something to the Bates Method. I practiced as much as I could for the next couple weeks until I felt comfortable going to classes without my lenses. Looking in the distance became a habit for me very quickly and often replaced the subtle urge to squint, which was easy for me to stop doing since it never helped my me see anything anyway. I spent the last month of that semester without lenses. Since then, I had only put them on a couple time to see what they were like and all I remember is that it felt uncomfortable to look through them.

It seems appropriate to introduce the Bates Method and its founder. Ophthalmologist William H. Bates became curious in the cause of errors of refraction and sought alternative ways of treating imperfect eyesight. He developed ways of describing to individuals how to think about seeing and relieve their ocular tension and thus, over time, cure their errors of refraction. It is through his studies that I have almost completely relieved myself of nearsightedness.

The method consists of variations and different applications of certain principles of seeing influenced by the psychology of the observer. Movement is essential to seeing clearly so many of the methods are based on the perception of movement. Centralization of attention is also important because it helps centralize the eye itself, which is an act of movement. Other important key methods are palming, and sunning, which are direct ways of gaining relaxation. Swinging is essentially the act of perceiving motion to relax the eyes, like what I did when I was swaying at my desk. Palming is the simplest and can be the most beneficial way to relax the eyes and it consists of gently covering the closed eyes with cupped and usually crossed palms. The observer then waits faithfully for their visual field to turn completely black and rests into it. Sunning is when the observer allows the sun to glaze over their closed (very important) eyes. This is a very simple overview of a few techniques. A more in depth view can be found all over the internet but www.seeing.org is a great resource to learn more about the variations on the method.

What I want to address now is my initial belief that my eyesight was not treatable and that errors of refraction are not curable. What it was based on and why that notion is so prevalent. Textbooks are filled with different theories on how the eye see and what actually happens when accommodation, or focal distance adjustment, takes place. It is important to note that no theory on this subject, like many others, has satisfactorily explained all of the facts. Nevertheless, the public seems to think that the final word has been made and that the world we live in is hopeless for the eyes as the rate of nearsightedess is rising rapidly and glasses are now even accepted as fashionable. There was a time when wearing glasses was not as normal as people accept it to be now but with the rise of economic conquest comes the displacing of values towards financial gain rather than holistic and natural ways of improving upon society. Eyesight would not be a societal issue if there was not an industry founded upon the dangerous principle that lenses should be relied on and promoted to relieve people of their poor eyesight. The danger of this principle comes with the primary assumption that lenses, surgery or some artificial manipulation of the eye will help the illness subside or cease but this is rarely the case. In most, the vision deteriorates and the patient is left getting stronger and stronger lenses. This is a profitable advantage to companies, who are required to make gains to remain in operation. Going back to theories, Dr. Bates discovered an important part of how the eye sees at different distances.

By doing experiments on dogs, cats, fish, rabbits and humans, he discovered that the activity of the external muscles of the eye actually played a role in accommodation. Before going to much into his theory I want to give an overview of the eyes structure. The exterior, white part of the eye is called the sclera and it is actually made of essentially the same material that the cornea or the front-most part of the lens is made of. The difference that creates the transparency in the cornea is that the fibers of the sclera are less organized and spaced than the fibers in the cornea, which are latticed together to allow light to pass through. Inside the front of the eye a fluid separates the cornea from the crystalline, oval-shaped, capsule-like lens, which is attached to the inside of the eyeball by a tendon. Another jelly-like liquid fills the inside of the rest of the eyeball and the outward pressure of this fluid helps sustain the shape of the eye. The colored part of the eye is the iris and it is furnished with a diaphragm that changes the size of the pupil, which determines the amount of light that can enter into the eye.

The light hits the back of the eye on the retina, a structure that is thinner than paper but consists of ten different cell layers that help process the impressions of light rays. The endings of these cell layers contain rod-like and conical structures that translate electrical signals into chemical signals. Both have distinct primary functions and distributed differently throughout the outer region of the retina, macula lutea and fovea centralis. The rod-like structures are more numerous and sensitive than the cones. They primarily sense movement so they are important for our peripheral and night vision. What they do not do well is detect color so they are not as densely packed near the center of the retina where the fovea centralis is. The macula lutea is the elevation near the center of the retina where visual acuity begins to increase dramatically. Rods and cones in this region are more evenly distributed and in the fovea centralis, only cones are present. The fovea centralis is responsible for the most acute vision but is essentially blind at night. The conical bodies are divided into red, green, and blue response types. The most numerous are red cones (65%), then green (33%), then blue (2%). Blue cones are the most sensitive of the conical bodies and are typically located outside of the fovea. The rods and cones are essentially neurons, or brain tissue that send electrical signals that have been translated from light rays to the brain where (about 90%) are processed in the visual cortex and the others take pathways to centers that deal with balance, audio-spatial reasoning, and the position of the head. Other important parts of the eye are the extrinsic eye muscles, which are primarily used for moving the eyeball's focal direction. There are six for each eye. The recti muscles are the complementary, vertically and horizontally positioned muscles called superior, inferior, interior and exterior. The two oblique muscles wrap around the eye in a belt-like fashion and according to Dr. Bates are responsible for accommodation.

Moving on to the actual phenomenon of vision, the image seen by the observer would not be complete without the inclusion of the brain's processes. A very interesting and helpful aspect I found to understanding vision came from a talk by neuroscientist Wai H. Tsang about how neuroscience, psychology and cosmology relate to each other. Tsang states that an image detected by the retina of the human eye is actually static and looks something like a 16-bit representation from a Super Nintendo game. How can we see such detail in objects then? The simple answer is that the eyes vibrate quickly and the brain ends up integrating many images to create one. Each shift is a different representation of the image and when these are all combined, the result is the appearance of detail. Every second about seventy shifts happen to help facilitate or create create a clearer image. This quick, jittery shifts are called saccades or saccatic movements. When the light rays hit ganglion cells layered above the rods and cones of the retina, it appears as though the stimuli must constantly change or “bleach out” in order to maintain responsiveness. Constant stimulation makes the ganglion cells unresponsive so the more the eyes move, the more changes occur in the light rays, thus distributing stimuli more equally over the cells. This means that the eye in a state of stillness does not sense light rays as readily as a constantly moving eye. This is one reason why staring is strongly discouraged by the Bates Method. If a point is of enough interest to hold a gaze, it must be examined and explored to avoid eye strain, otherwise the eye will stall and the image will appear blurry.

Another aspect of the seeing process is the act of accommodation. Accommodation refers to the process that occurs when the eye focuses at different distances. This process and the mechanism behind it is typically the reason for people's dismissal or contingency with the Bates Method. Many assume that the problem of even slight errors of refraction are due to a congenital cause, mainly because their optometrist or mentors tell them. What I have noticed is that there is an incompleteness or outright dogma for any explanation I've been given. For example, one of the primary dismissals of Dr. Bates' Method comes from the theory that the lens and ciliary muscle are the only factors in accommodation. This theory was based on claims made by Dr. Heimholtz who stated himself that it was simply an idea and not a proven fact. He died in 1894 and even before his death, he never got around to positively asserting the validity of his theory. Another problematic fact that many experienced ophthalmologists will observe is that accommodation is still possible in an aphakic (lens removed, usually to relieve cataracts) eye. This could not be possible if the action of the lens was the only factor of accommodation. What Dr. Bates discovered through electrical experiments with the extrinsic muscles of various animal's eyes and his own experiments done with the retinoscope was that the extrinsic muscles change the shape of the eye in order to accommodate at different distances. He did not arrive at this conclusion through simple conjecture as Dr. Heimholtz did. This conclusion was forced upon Dr. Bates through his own research. He realized that the only possible way the eye could accommodate and change shape was through the extrinsic muscles of the eye, so it made sense to him to focus on the manipulation in his patient's eye muscles, as well as the various animals. The oblique muscles (mentioned earlier, the belt-like muscles) in fishes, cats, rabbits, and dogs were cut. As undesirable as this act may seem, it helped to prove that without those oblique muscles, the eye could not accommodate in any of these animals. Dr. Bates had no choice but to assume that the oblique muscles are a factor in accommodation.

Now the mechanism of vision is beginning to look a bit complicated. By now, it should be obvious that many factors are involved the process of seeing and if any of them are out of balance, an error of refraction will be produced. Dr. Bates noted that the eye is configured for distant vision when the extrinsic muscles of the eye are completely relaxed. This allows the eyeball to be more spherical so the light rays can come to a point on the center of the retina rather than in front of or behind it. The relaxed muscles also allow the eye to make the saccadic movements necessary to perceive detail and gain a clear image of what is observed. Along with these muscle movements comes the way the shape and of the actual eyeball is changed and how different errors of refraction are produced. A normal eye changes focal length precisely, easily, readily and quickly as the attention moves from object to object. Errors of refraction are usually produced when seeing becomes a struggle and effort is utilized towards a negative visual habit. Along with is, daydreaming (perhaps having a daymare), worrying, squinting, straining, and lack of breathing along with many other things can produce errors of refraction.

An important component in eyesight recovery, especially at higher degrees of refractive error, is nutrition. That was one of my first considerations in regaining my vision because I've grown up with the the idea that food I eat should be my medicine and any illness present was simply of lack of resources or nutrition for my body to overcome it. Eating healthy was not an issue for me as I was primarily living off of rice, beans, spinach, pumpkin seeds, fruit, and really any raw food I had an appetite for. I still lacked the integrity of a truly nutritional lifestyle however and neglected to completely remove processed foods out of my diet. Nevertheless, the reason eating healthy did not revivify my vision while wearing my glasses was simply because my eyes were not in the process of healing as they were constantly straining to see through the lenses. My body and brain saw no need to heal them because the visual information was registering clearly in my mind but really my eyes were in a state of strain. This prevented my ocular system from learning the different muscle configurations needed to see near and far and a crucial missing component was my mind's intention. It was not until I stopped wearing my glasses altogether that my eyes began to heal.

When I say healing, I mean the relearning of how to use my eyes the way they were specifically designed to be used. Seeing as a skill is unique from person to person because there a certain principles that must be present from the eye to function properly, but each principle can be applied in different ways and different orders. Each person has their own idea of what is relaxing or helping their vision but the end result is typically relaxation and smooth, precise movement of the eyes. So the healing process includes the practice, however it may be performed, of good vision, nutrition and healthy ways of living. Going outside on a hike can be a healing activity for the eyes, or not if you don't like the idea of that. Maybe reading a book on computer is relaxing to somebody. That person could use reading as a way to incorporate good seeing habits into their life. After all, a good portion of the reading process requires you to see clearly and your intention to centralize will influence the way your eyes move along the letters. Allow precise movement to happen, do not force it.

Going back to nutrition, I want to talk about what foods are healthy for the eyes and the brain so that you can have the necessary nutrients to facilitate the rebuilding of your ocular system. Antioxidants (go figure) such as Vitamin A, E, and C are necessary in proper retinal function. Vitamin A can be found in the form of beta-carotene in carrots, spinach, sweet potatoes, basically any fruit that is orange and vegetables that are green, like kale. Dark green, leafy vegetables are also high in Vitamin C as are citrus fruits. The short way of presenting this would be to say, “eat foods that contain high amounts of diverse nutrients like antioxidants, fatty acids, fiber, and minerals”. These are present in most unprocessed and raw foods, which is why diet is such an important component in the curing of disease. If your body does not have enough nutrients it does not function at it's highest performance. I would suggest consulting my sources or others for more information on eye nutritional health because it is a dense topic.

What I'm doing nowadays to save money and still get the necessary nutrients for my eyes to be healthy is sprouting brown rice (cooked), green lentils (raw), and combining them with leafy greens, carrots, olive or coconut oil, turmeric, Himalayan Pink Salt (diverse in mineral content), beans, salmon, etc. Sprouted brown rice cooks faster (10 – 15 min) and has a higher nutritional content than brown rice that is simply dried. It has 475% more antioxidants, 964% more vitamin E, 614% more magnesium and 120% more fiber than regular white rice. Sprouted Green Lentils are a good source of Vitamin C This means less is required to provide the same amount of nutrients. The taste is also better in my opinion. I try to keep my diet diverse but steadily nutritious. I've also added a thrice-a-day tonic of apple cider vinegar, turmeric and water, sometimes with minced garlic. This helps maintain a variety of health benefits such as lowered blood sugar and pressure, healthier skin, better digestion, detoxification, more energy, and the preventing of common illness. Vitamin supplements I have found helpful but not nearly as effective as vitamins from food. When I first began my practice, I was able to afford these two types of dried algae called Chlorella and Spirulina. These are considered “superfoods that are highly rich in basically every nutrient according Mike Adams AKA the health ranger. They're in a capsule, powder or pressed form typically and are taken as food would be eaten. Adams insists they are a complete food, which is really convenient when you think about it. So I took 3-6 of both kinds 3 times a day during the first three months of my practice. This, I believe, was a large factor of my rapid improvement in eyesight and understanding the Bates Method.

I found the easiest and most practical way to practice the Bates Method is by incorporating it into my subconscious daily habits. Besides the science of the eye and the nutrition necessary to facilitate healthy eyes is the actual practice and ways of thinking about seeing. The healing will most likely not begin unless good habits of seeing are practiced and bad habits are relinquished. Walking down the street, sitting in a waiting room, driving, every single daily activity is a chance to explore more of what you can see. It took me three months to go from being terribly nearsighted to having functional eyesight, granted my daily life did not require much distant vision so I usually did not have a reason to strain. I also took whatever opportunity I could to practice good sight. These days, I do not strain to see and have a much higher degree of visual acuity than I did before. The one thing I have not done is see an optometrist about my eyesight and I most likely will not until I feel I have perfect vision. I am confident that my vision is improving and I believe that renders the optometrist's main job – prescribing glasses – moot. 

ENTRY #9

• Audience: Since I am imagining writing for a website such as Natural News or Better Eyesight Now, the audience will most likely have an interest in alternative answers to health issues thus implying a higher level of interest in questioning established paradigms. Some of the information presented to the reader could be new but likely they know at least enough to learn something from the article. This audience also tends to value scientific thinking along with the creative pushing of boundaries.
• Genre: I've had trouble finding a specific article that reflects the genre I'm going for and I think that is because it's a rare genre of writing that aims to cohesively say a lot with few words. I would say it's an expository and persuasive hybrid because it will not assume the reader's bias, but it will offer challenges to a certain viewpoint but only to explain reasons, not necessarily convince the reader that they are proven outright. I will mostly be about my experience and explanation of the Bates Method, which will offer quick solutions to errors of refraction and present specific ways of integrating the Bates Method into everyday life.
• Purpose: My purpose is to help provide a single article that creates a clear, integrated picture of the Bates Method so the reader understands how and why to make the method habitual. I want to write the explanation down because it is my sworn duty as a person who practices the Bates Method to encourage people to use their eyes naturally so they don't get worn out with age and eventually stop working. I also learned much clearer ways of explaining why it works through this project.
• Growth: What I want to learn through writing this paper is how to present a diversified and large amount of information clearly with integrity. Some of my writing habits need a bit of mindful tending to as well. The beginnings of my sentences are sometimes indistinguishable from one another so I am going to experiment with different ways of beginning sentences... and maybe ending them too. I think that will help to distract from the technicality of the information. 

ENTRY #8 2 audiences into one genre

http://higherperspective.com/2014/10/quit-smoking.html?utm_source=MAM


Purpose:  To influence changes in perception and consequently behavior through informing the reader. The information seems to be inspirational.

Content:  Lists changes in the human body following the decision to stop smoking.

Sources: American Cancer Society, reputable and well-known.

Style:  Casual, and straightforward. Short sentences with emotional appeal

Language:  Informal but without slang.  For the laity.

The purpose seems to be very typical of articles like these.  A short, inspiring paragraph followed by source information supporting the inspiration.  The way the purpose, content, language and style interact creates a less intimidating approach to perceptive changes or the learning of this new information.  I feel, as a member of what I am assuming is part of the target audience of this article, that the information presented is easy to understand and seems realistic.  The information is presented in chronological order so it was nice to be able to see the progression of quitting smoking laid out clearly that way.  Very casual read but not exactly the length I would go for in my research writing  The feeling of ease and clarity I want to preserve in my writing, but with a more rigorous approach to the information presented. This presents what and not how, I would like to present how like the Bates article here does.


"The Radical Cure of Errors of Refraction" Through Central Fixation Dr. W.H. Bates, M.D. 1915

Purpose:  To scientifically challenge established assumptions about errors of refraction and how they are produced and treated.

Content:  Dr. Bates describes his experience of his experiments.  Fact-based.

Sources:  Primary, observed source of information from the author's experiments

Style:  Scientific, slightly formalized, lengthy.  Not a casual read.

Language: Formal, dry and full of jargon.  Clear and thorough descriptions of the experiments.

This article is geared towards people who read medical journals. It's safe to assume that they're well-educated, probably do not need to use the dictionary to read this article and lived in 1915.  The content is stated in simple fact and presented as a typical journal entry is but formatted to fit a scientific journal.  This is a good primary source for fact-based research and information on the alternative treatment of errors of refraction.

The article I write should meet somewhere in the middle of these two articles.  I want the content to be personal, scientific, thorough but concise and easy to understand. Along with challenging views and informing the reader, I want to provide a sort of schematic way of looking at vision improvement.  This is something that I have yet to find in a short article that is easy to understand, so I'm gonna write it.

Bibliography

Bibliography

- http://www.allaboutvision.com/resources/anatomy.htm

- http://www.dcavm.org/12junenotes.pdf

- http://www.aoa.org/optometrists/education-and-training/clinical-care/vision-a-collaboration-of-eyes-and-brain?sso=y

- http://www.tedmontgomery.com/the_eye/indexeom.html

- Fractal Minds and the Sacred Cosmology, presentation by Wai H. Tsang

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement

- Ophthalmology Secrets in Color 3rd ed. - J. Vander, et. al., (Mosby, 2007) BBS, Elsevier Inc

- The Cure of Imperfect Sight By Treatment Without Glasses, WIlliam H. Bates, Central Fixation Publishing 1920

- The Secrets of Regaining Your Vision, Greg Marsh 6 CD set

- Various pages from http://www.seeing.org/ for testimonials

- The Significance of Sturm's Interval in Refraction, Avery Deh Prangen, M.D. Trans Am Ophthalmological Soc. 1940; 38: 242–258.

- "How the Brain Controls What The Eyes See" http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071120195651.htm

- Esther van der Werf from "Visions of Joy" website

- Eye Nutrition

http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/nutrition-world-3/foods-eye-health

This list will be more specific as the article comes to completion.

ENTRY #7

To answer this question, my audience must be clarified.  I mainly want to appeal to the laity or average person reading a Natural Health magazine or article on a website related to holistic living or "life hacks".  Something that explains what the method is, how the method works, how somebody can integrate it into their life, and other important and related information to know, such as nutritional aspects and emotional aspects.  I want to do this through the use of many different aspects of the Bates Method, from personal testimonials to scientific theory.  The information should have variety because I find too often that the explanations for a life-changing practice like the Bates Method do not include many aspects of the method.  The article will most likely be over 3 pages and hopefully under 6 depending on how pithy, concise, and organized I am about writing it. This reminds me of an outline...

A.  Introduction to the Bates Method
    1. Origins
    2, Bates' Model
    3. Studies
B.  Bates Method
    1. Palming
    2. Swinging
    3. Shifting
    4. Centralization
C.  Science
    1.  Eyeball structure
    2.  Seeing and the brain
    3.  Nutrition for the eyes
D.  Integration
    1. Practicing the Bates Method for life
    2. Levels of skill
    3. "perfect vision"
E.  Conclusion

"There is a prevalent impression in the public mind that when any difficulty in seeing becomes apparent, there is no other help available but wearing of artificial lenses. This vague consciousness might be spoken of as a belief. But it is not a belief that is founded on any knowledge of the subject. The public mind knows very little of the factors or the mechanism of vision; it asks no questions, and it does not even consider the plain facts which are generally known. Just a little consideration of the many simple, established, obvious aspects of this most vital question arouses an astonishing reaction to a situation which is of national importance."

-Esther van der Werf  from "Visions of Joy" another source of info for my research.

She addresses the prevalent attitude towards poor vision very well.  She also addresses the damage our capitalist economy has on the cure of imperfect vision by stating:

"Whatever may be the belief of those who have glasses to sell; or whatever may be the individual attitude toward the question of wearing or not wearing spectacles, there still remains a problem which has a most vital public interest. Those who are concerned in the future of the United States will do well to analyze the situation. Every thoughtful American should consider the promise there is in this avowed purpose to make every citizen of his country helpless without a pair of artificial lenses on his face. It is certain that the longer glasses are worn the more helpless the wearer becomes if he is obliged to see without them. The vast number who are already in that condition is not so serious a
question as is the fact that in recent years this number has been increasing at a rate which multiplies itself each year. The strange and ironical and dangerous aspect of this subject which has a tremendous national interest, is that if  and when the eye is taught to be itself, the salvation of the eye will involve an interference with the merciless greed of commercialism."

One cannot deny the various forms of damage done to this entire planet through the greed of green paper and ultimately power.  One thing I avoid at all costs is the relinquishing of my life's vision in exchange for paper.  I understand that some people just need to use their glasses because their job requires clear vision and I cannot expect people to begin living without making money but even when I was driving at night after ditching my glasses,  I would only use them if I felt extremely uncomfortable.  All my effort was put towards the calming of my nervous system rather than trying to see because the more I relaxed, the more clear my vision became.  Some, including myself would call me crazy for going 3 months without using glasses. I was practically blind but it was that blindness that forced me to relax.  Nothing else mattered because I couldn't see anyway! I found myself being so grateful that I could ditch my glasses for good and tend to my eyes because my priority is my health... not money.  Once I began noticing results and being able to read most of what was on the chalk board at school... yes they still have chalk boards at my school... I realized that my efforts were bringing results!

Within 5 months my vision was back to functionality and I could be comfortable with the decision never to rely on my glasses again.  At first it was difficult to accept that what I was doing to myself was for the best.  Nowadays, relaxation comes naturally to me and I hardly have any problems with my vision.  Soon I will make the higher degrees of visual acuity a habit, which is the main idea.  Once you figure out what improves your vision at all, do it over and over and over until seeing poorly is automatically recognized and fixed by the mind.  I theorize that the decision to look at something begins a subconscious mental process that can be refined and quickened.  William Bates said it can be as quick as thinking differently.  I believe that people with perfect vision have refined that mental process so well and never lost it because they never got in the way of the natural process of seeing.

Interesting that the Bates Method was founded in America but seems only to have prevalence in Europe.  Way to go America... enjoying that fluoride in your water too?

http://www.visionsofjoy.org/ another great website and source of info.

ENTRY #6 Source List

Sources:
- Ophthalmology Secrets in Color 3rd ed. - J. Vander, et. al., (Mosby, 2007) BBS, Elsevier Inc
- The Cure of Imperfect Sight By Treatment Without Glasses,  WIlliam H. Bates, Central Fixation        Publishing 1920
- The Secrets of Regaining Your Vision, Greg Marsh 6 CD set
- Various pages from http://www.seeing.org/ for testimonials
- The Significance of Sturm's Interval in Refraction, Avery Deh Prangen, M.D.  Trans Am                         Ophthalmological Soc. 1940; 38: 242–258.
- "How the Brain Controls What The Eyes See"   http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071120195651.htm
- Esther van der Werf  from "Visions of Joy" website
- Eye Nutrition
   http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/nutrition-world-3/foods-eye-health
- http://wholegrainscouncil.org/files/ValleySelectGABA.pdf, Nutritional properties of sprouted brown rice

 

Rhys Gerwin

Research Writing

Mid Term Self-Evaluation

My strength in this whole project seems to be my confidence with what I am writing about. Since I have personal experience with part of what I am researching, it comes very naturally to me to talk and write about it. I have also come up with a lot of speculation and conjecture, mainly in Dr. Bates' language, to explain to myself what is actually happening between me and the Bates Method for Natural Eyesight Improvement. What I think I need to work more on is gathering the crucial information for the main point that I want to make, which is that the Bates Method could potentially improve the reader's quality of living as it has done for so many others.

What I was originally attempting to address was not only a question of physiology, but also neurology, psychology, biology and many other areas of study that I will not understand on such short notice. I decided that I want my focus to be testimonial based research. People's personal account and explanation of the Bates Method, which may not be scientific, but it is still a reality to some people. I still want to use some scientific research to explain in low detail some of the theory behind the Bates Method but I want to make it clear that it's not meant to be a scientific research paper.

This brings up another point, since I have chosen an audience of the laity, I want to keep the language simple, understandable and still interesting. A lot of scientific writing can get boring and dry. I want to inspire people to take control of their visual habits, not tell them what Sturm's conoid is. I'm not quite sure how I am doing at that.

These are some thoughts I wrote about my own experience with the Bates Method.  I named it the following:

Practicing The Integrative Integrity of Eyesight from Nearsightedness

Font is intended to be small because more relaxation is required to read it

During my practice of self-taught and self-performed vision therapy, I often thought of ways I could passively utilize the methods of good eyesight by integrating them into my everyday thought patterns. I realized that many of the identified methods of eyesight improvement are simply the habits of people with good eyesight. “The eye must travel to see” is a reference to bit of graffiti I saw on the side of a clothes store in Seattle as I walked past. Nothing spoke more truth to me in that moment. Another realization had hit me; learning to move efficiently and easily is of the utmost importance when improving one's eyesight without corrective lenses. This is a personal exploration and documentation of the Bates Method eyesight improvement learning process.

Eyesight is a learned skill. Babies do not come into this world with perfect vision, they develop it. When reading “Evolve Your Brain: The Science of Changing Your Mind”, I realized the importance of being unconsciously skilled when practicing the Bates Method, which is the fourth level of the learning process. One is at first unconsciously unskilled, discovers the possibility of learning a new skill becoming consciously unskilled, practices the methods of the skill becoming consciously skilled and finally refines them resulting in unconscious skill. This applies more to natural vision improvement from an older age. The four core principles of vision improvement are Relaxation, Centralization, Blinking and Movement. This procedure is the crux of the unconscious skill of clear, lifelong eyesight.

Swinging is one of the most efficient methods to integrate into everyday movement. Swinging can be performed in many mundane settings and situations on many different levels. For example, a simple and subtle moving of the head is actually a very vivid experience of movement for the eye and mind with good sight. In order to practice this method efficiently, the conscious, decision making mind must be disciplined. A high quality of attention is of the utmost importance. The object should be thought of as a thing to explore regardless of the clarity. This mindset is essential to humbling the conscious mind to the translation of the fundamental and most subtle vibrations of reality. I am referring to our perception of what we call atoms.

When performing a swing for the nearsighted, pick the smallest point close up that your attention can handle without strain. Once focused upon enough to see (absolute clarity and definite centralization comes with time if it is not currently present), gently move the body while applying the core principles. The movement of the attention should be limited to a very specific area and not just one point to stare at. Tiny shifts in small areas are crucial for centralization. Once swinging and focused, notice the peripherals moving against the focused object. This alone should be a relaxing experience, eventually becoming habitual and personally very enjoyable.

Walking, running, dancing, and even just a shift of the eye will create a visual effect of movement. There are few movements the body makes that will not create this effect. One may ask, well if it's so simple like that then why don't some people who walk down the street or move at all have good vision? My answer to that question would be in the form of another question. What are they thinking about when walking down the street and are they being mindful of what they're seeing or not seeing? From childhood, we are inundated with all kinds of mental banter that frankly is useless a lot of the time. Insecurities, sick fantasies, dark ruminations, and plain old negative thought are all a strain of the mind. These thought processes can be destructive and since the mind and brain are designed to process our attention, the results can vary from face muscle strain, hunching, hunkering, squinting and much more. Try to let your entire body melt onto an invisible axis.

Shifting is crucial when centralizing. When a small point is regarded, the eye is never fixed completely and stagnantly on that point. It is performing many tiny shifts in quarters of seconds. The practice of shifting is related to the practice of swinging because the fine movements of centralization work in tandem with the gross movements of swinging. Shifting can be practiced in stillness of the body and with movements of the eyes. If one sees a fly in the room, they may be inclined to observe the flight patterns or movements. It is encouraged that they do with a sense of ease and discovery. The more smoothly and clearly the movements can be seen, the more acute the vision will become. Not only is the constant movement necessary to see anything at all, the imagination plays a crucial role in perceiving color. Bates often wrote about perfect imagination being related to what people call perfect vision. He used a black period as an example of something to remember when improving upon tiny shifts. This helps quiet the mind and get the eyes fixed on what they see within the mind, which is where most of the visual integrity comes from. To practice remembering a black period, simply look at one in a book, article or anywhere there is one and see it perfectly round (or square in some cases) and black. The nearness should be at a comfortable place and the memory should be focused on each visual change. The most important but difficult to understand principle that I had to familiarize myself with was not trying to see. Weakness has nothing to do with poor vision in terms of muscular activity. Quite the opposite actually. The only thing that should be strengthened is our quality of attention. The stronger this becomes the less distracted the mind will be from seeing things for what they are in the collective consciousness.

Reading and working at the near point can be a strain for anybody, even for those with good eyesight. In order to relieve this strain, central fixation must be utilized to its fullest potential. Ask yourself when beginning a sentence, do you see the first letter or word perfectly clear and better than all of the others? If not, look steadily at the word or letter and allow your attention to be immersed in it. You may notice changes in how you see it but remain focused and calm. Once seen clearly, read the sentence and interpret it. The perception of this process after much practice will practically disappear and reading will actually be more relaxing, as it was meant to be.

Walking has proven to be the most relaxing activity for my vision. I would often go on walks specifically to watch the world pass by. When walking by a tree, building, sign or anything else that catches the attention, I keep my attention with interest, shift, blink, and let go of the inevitable movement of that object. The 3D experience of movement is one of the most relaxing occurrences in my mind. Often, I would look as straight forward and far as possible with good posture and experience the “zooming in” of objects as well. Not only did this direct my attention towards the subtle processes of the mind, it quieted any internal monologue or dialogue that was occurring – useful or not. Anxiety, depression, anger, frustration, impatience and many more distracting emotions can be quieted with focus of attention and centralization. Think of how much moving is done throughout the day and apply good eyesight habits to that.

Practicing music was one of my deeply seeded habits of bodily, and mental strain. I recall a moment after practicing guitar. After playing whatever I was playing – most likely a rambling of notes and rhythms that had nothing to do with my inner ear – I looked through my glasses and realized my blurred vision. Of all experiences that frightened me most, this was the most substantial. To think that the way I practiced my life's ambition was detrimental to my health was the determining factor in my decision to break my relationship with my glasses completely. In order to make practice more relaxing and less stressful, I constantly posed myself properly - not leaning into the guitar, not staring at the fretboard until my eyes glazed over, and breathing regularly. These are just a few examples of behavior that needed attention that apparently affected my vision negatively. If I felt I had to look at the fretboard, I would follow the smooth movement of my fingers along whatever musical idea I wanted to practice. Now I keep my eyes away in the distance as I play musical ideas as this is more practical in performing situations anyway.

Looking through this Ophthalmology Secrets in Color e-book I found is highly informative.  Secret number 5 states that "The goal of refractive correction is to place the circle of least confusion into the retina."  I ask myself what the circle of least confusion is.  After reading the technical explanation, which is: "The circle of least confusion is the circular cross-section of Sturm’s conoid, dioptrically midway between the two focal lines."  Okay, so what's Sturm's conoid? Come to find out that it is simply a name for the midpoint of the vertical and horizontal focal planes in an astigmatic system.  So when light passes through an astigmatic lens, which is essentially distorted in shape so that the vertical and horizontal focal distances are different, it theoretically behaves similar to the way described by Sturm's conoid.  Instead of a clear image being produced, the source of light  is perceived through many distorted images where one is closer to clarity than the others.  The source closest to clarity is where the circle of least confusion resides.  The diagram according to Avery Deh Prangen, M.D. is not the best visual for understanding the various problems that arise from astigmatism.

Since my prescription was for astigmatism, I found it useful to know what it really is.  Simply put, it is a kind of wrinkle in the lens of the eyeball according to Greg Marsh, a natural vision coach and chemical engineer college graduate.  The extraocular muscles of the eyeballs become so asymmetrically constricted that the cornea distorts as well producing astigmatism.  Dr. Bates was very curious about voluntary errors of refraction and was able to turn hyperopes into myopes.  In other words, people who were farsighted could voluntarily become nearsighted through the instruction of Dr. Bates.  He found that many of his patient's errors of refraction would change throughout the day - sometimes their vision was good or decent and sometimes poor or practically dysfunctional.  He spent much of his time during his practice studying the effect that the mind has on the eye.

While understanding the mechanics of astigmatism can be interesting and helpful, much of the information is superfluous when it comes to the Bates Method.  It's almost like trying to make music from a purely theoretical standpoint.  It may sound organized and well-thought out but the emotional effect it has on people is likely to be weak.  The Bates Method must be experienced and practiced. No amount of complex thought is going to give you any more power over your eyesight.  If anything, complex thoughts are likely to produce strain, which tends to cause errors of refraction.  Another reason why I feel as if testimonial research is more practical for this particular project.  I cannot become an ophthalmology expert on such short notice.  Testimonial research will present a more human approach to improving eyesight.  It will consist of people's explanations of how they thought about the Bates Method and what emotions, which is important, they experienced as well.  Try to convince me that you're emotionally content when you cannot see well... I doubt you will.  Emotions as we all know can and often very easily cause strain.  The good news is that they can undo it as well.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1315872/?page=1

Personal accounts from individuals using the Bates Method:

http://www.seeing.org/visiontd/casehist/index.html

That whole website is actually is very good source of info on the Bates Method.

I'm beginning to lean towards testimonial-based research in order to support the more specific point I want to make, which is that healing your eyesight is not only possible but it's also gratifying, and obviously life-changing.  I really want to go deep into the attitudes of people who have had success and those who have had failure. What about their attitude hindered, halted, or improved their use of the Bates Method?  There is a very common theme of children being more successful with the Method not necessarily because of their young bodies but their playful attitude is what helps them figure out how to relax.  Each individual has a unique strain which can be addressed through various techniques that ultimately lead to relaxation.

ENTRY #5 + #4

The Bates Method is my choice of a topic to research.  The mechanics of the method to be more specific.  How the eye is affected by the activities in the mind, and how the eyes see anything at all are a couple questions I will be addressing.  I think those are important questions because the answers will help elaborate on the credibility of the method.  I will also be discussing some seemingly inherent assumptions behind optometry and the eyes. There seems to be a belief that certain parts of the body, such as the eyes, are irreparable and doomed to whatever mother nature decides for them. What I will be attempting to dispel in a pithy but credible sort of way is the assumption that poor vision is a congenital and constantly degrading trait of the eyes. Vision is an ever-changing and delicate psychological process.

Ideally I will be using not only William Bates' own research but Frans Donders' and other prestigious ophthalmologists as well. 
The actual act of the Bates Method may involve swaying from side to side on your feet or just a simple covering of the eyes with your palms.  The importance lies in how you are thinking about what you are seeing.  Open and receptive thinking helps create a healthier relationship between your brain and your eyes. The Bates Method is meant to retrain your mind allow your eyes too see rather than try to make them see, which usually causes strain.  A lot of the practice is a crafting of "tricks" to relax your eyes so that when done frequently enough, it becomes habitual.

Since the subject is a bit recondite yet controversial, I'm guessing that Dr. Bates' research will be one of my primary sources. I'm going to try my best to include research from others that either supports or contradicts the Bates Method but since I have had personal success with the method I feel as if it's more accommodating to the reader. The purpose of this research writing is for personal reassurance, thought provocation, and a way of supporting something that could benefit many people's lives.

Since I have personally used the Bates Method, I feel an emotional connection to it. My musical practice and whole life has been affected in positive ways through using this method and I hope that the outcome of this project will encourage people to use natural methods to improve their eyesight instead of glasses or contacts. Glasses and contacts are commonly attributed to the further degradation of the vision and this is something that my peers and I have personally experienced. Another potential outcome of this project will hopefully be a renewed perception of how the reader uses their eyes.

This subject relates to anybody really. Even if the reader has 20/20 vision, they can still learn something about the eyes and how to prolong their clear eyesight. I imagine this article being in a holistic living, or naturopathic magazine for ages 20 and up but I would hope that the information, which has existed since yoga has, would spread as far as possible. The method is not limited to any age group, or eye condition which comes as the biggest surprise to most people.

Question List:

• How does the eye function?
• How the do our thoughts affect how our eyes behave?
• How does strain affect the eyes?
• How do glasses affect the eyes?
• What methods can be used to relax the eyes?
• Why do people and professionals assume that their vision is unchangeable?
• Are the orthodox theories behind the structure and function of the eye outdated?

ENTRY #3

            Out of the possible research options, I'm leaning towards the Bates Method, how sound effects matter, or Crystals.  Since I am personally connected through my own practice of the Bates Method, it will most likely be my choice for the topic to research.  My life has been changed in positive ways from practicing the Bates Method and I feel it my honor to present the possibilities to others because it has improved my quality of life so drastically.  The most interesting aspect of the Bates method is how simple but effective it is for improving eyesight.  Why spend money on glasses only to further degrade our vision by wearing them constantly?  Why deal with the rain on the lenses or the itching of contact lenses when you can practice good vision?  I hope that my research on that topic will inspire people to practice natural vision improvement.

            If I were to research how sound effects matter I would probably begin with Cymatics, the study of how sound creates patterns in matter.  I would then hopefully find a way to link it to music and our system of tuning and how that effects us.  My main intention would be to find out how our biology is affected by sound and the music we listen to.

             Another area of greater interest to me is a deeper look at the formation, use and structure of crystals.  This is an area I am least familiar with and think it's a good choice for me since I think crystals are mysterious and beautiful.  For this topic I would probably begin with how they are used and then take a deeper look into the structure.  Then I would hopefully have gained some knowledge to further specify what it is about crystals I can write about that would be informative and interesting.

               My main goal is to be informative and interesting.  To write a pithy article that's also thorough and only slightly technical to appeal to a more well-educated crowd as well.  The pithiness should draw in those who are simply interested or perhaps researching the topic and need a tertiary source.

        

ENTRY #2

Subjects to research:
- Bates Method, how does it work?
                 Method for eyesight improvement developed by William H Bates, an Ophthalmologist in            the early twentieth century.  He was a respected eye surgeon who was displeased with the trend          he was seeing in his patients who would get glasses for a small correction but end up needing              higher prescriptions over time.  He spent decades studying various eye conditions and                          discovered that the one thing that would seem to help the most was relaxing the extra-ocular
         muscles and the mind of the patients.  The Bates Method is simply a way of relaxing the eyes              and the mind
- Crystals, what are they and what can they do?
                 What exactly is a crystal?  What are they used for?  How are they formed? What can they             be used for?
- Electromagnetic sensitivity
                 What would support or contradict the existence of this condition?  A condition where the            sufferer's mood, health and overall well-being is significantly affected by the presence of                    electromagnetic waves.
- "Chemtrails"
                  Are said to be trails of various fibers, heavy metals, and toxic compounds that differ from           condensation trails.  There is much controversy as to what exactly these trails are.
- Sound's effects on matter (Cymatics)
                   How does matter effect sound?  How does sound effect matter?  How does this relate to             music? How can this knowledge be used?

ENTRY #1

The primary question that arises when I think of a semester-long research project is, "How is this going to relate to my art and my education?".  What I want is to research something that is going to help integrate my studies from one department at Cornish to another.  Some topics I've thought about include the therapeutic effects of music on the body and mind, the history and role of equal temperament tuning, or other cultural music such as Indian or Turkish music.  Less musically related would be questions such as how crystal structures interact with subtle vibrations of matter, what relationship does the Mathematical Fingerprint of God have with mathematical areas of study, what is the torus and how does this pattern represent stability, and how does the Bates Method of Natural Vision Improvement work?  Most of these questions are recondite so an explanation would obviously be necessary.  I wouldn't want to make the paper dry either but I might actually use MLA format for citations just to be thorough. Since I'm interested in tons of different subjects, it will be good for me to focus on one and really wrap my mind around it. I'm really geared towards studying the Bates Method because it has a personal connection to myself and my experience but researching other worldly music would be related to my World Music Traditions class and it would be nice if I could somehow kill two birds with one stone in terms of homework or projects.