NLP and Improve Your Eyesight Naturally

Just for a minute Â? take off your glasses if you wear them. Take a 3 deep breathes. (If you are reading this on the computer make it 6 because you are probably breathing rather shallowly.) Blink 10 times. Look around the room following your nose and notice what you CAN see and the intensity of colours. How are your eyes today? How do they feel? Is there any tension in the muscles around your eyes and your neck?

In the last 15 years I have organised nearly 40 of Leo AngartÂ?s  Improve Your Eyesight Naturally workshops in London and spoken with thousands of people intrigued to know Â?Is it really possible?Â?. I have found that most spend more time thinking about their teeth than their eyes. If you were to spend just a few minutes each day doing some simple eye and mind/visualisation exercises you would notice your vision improve. Vision is dynamic it changes throughout the day with your state. Think back to what your vision was like when you last had the flu or felt under the weather. What was it like when you were on holiday? If you went to have your eyes tested 4 times in a day youÂ?d be likely get 4 different measures. Vision can vary by up to 2 dioptres during the day.

When you visit the optician it is as if he takes a snapshot of your vision at one moment in time and you are fixed there. Our eyes have habits of use and donÂ?t relish change Â? thatÂ?s why if youÂ?ve ever had new glasses the optician tells you it will take time to get used to them. ChildrenÂ?s eyes donÂ?t finish developing until around the age of 12 and some experts say that that development continues until our early 20s. All the theories about vision are just that Â? theories Â? nobody knows exactly how our vision works. We do now know that vision takes place mostly in the mind!

Over 60% of the UK population is wearing glasses and by age 55 it is 96% Â? it has become the norm. Our environment, nutrition and pace of life are taking a toll on our visual systems. The eye has the highest concentration of Vitamin C of any part of the body and is affected by too much sugar in the system.

In China where the incidence of shortsightedness has reached epidemic proportions the government has instituted eyes exercises, including eye acupressure, in the school system. As they are proving a help I do wonder why other governments are not interested in following suite.

If you wear glasses to correct short sight you will always be short sighted when you take your glasses off and people generally find they need stronger and stronger glasses. No clinical studies have ever demonstrated the long term safety or effectiveness of Â?correctiveÂ? lenses. Different emotional transitions in life, birth of a sibling, changing schools, losing a best friend, being bullied, struggling with a particular subject eg maths, parentsÂ? divorce, moving house, finishing difficult exams, end of University, moving country, difficult job or using computers more, losing jobs, divorce, turning 40 or 50 etc are often the catalyst for a change in vision and a visit to the optician. I did come across one man who was so happy on his wedding day that he left off his glasses for short-sightedness because his vision improved for keeps. What happened to you?

According to Dr William Horatio Bates (1860 - 1931), an ophthalmologist and the grandfather of Natural Vision therapy, the cause of imperfect sight is staring and tension around the eyes. Try this experiment now. Stare straight ahead without blinking and stop breathing for as long as you can. Our eyes are designed to be constantly on the move, our retinas quickly tire if their visual field is kept the same for a long time: when an image becomes stable on the retina it disappears.

Do you recognise the results of that experiment as being similar to times when you are stressed or have been working at the computer for too long? This is often what happens to adults and children under test conditions. Day dreaming has a similar effect. For that reason we recommend daydreaming with your eyes closed! Keep your eyes active and curious. Imagine you have a paint brush at the end of your nose and paint around the edges of things in your sight. Change your focal distance throughout the day.

Palming is a great exercise for relaxation. Try this for 2 minutes 3 times a day or whenever your eyes are feeling tired or dry. Rub hands together briskly. Cup your hands gently over your closed eyes with the heel of the palm resting on the bone below the eye. Make sure no light can get in. Relax your shoulders and breath deeply. Then imagine the depth, texture and darkness of black velvet.

If you see white flashes or colours, this indicates that you are holding tension in the visual field. You should notice that the more you do this exercise then the colours will fade to black.

Vision fitness is as achievable as general body fitness and we can take responsibility for maintaining and even improving good sight. Anything you can do to relax your body like Yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong or meditation or even regular walks will also help your vision.

Ask your optician for a copy of your vision prescription and ask them to explain exactly what it means.

If you are a parent or a teacher you are a role model for children, they learn from your behaviour. Encourage them to eat a balanced diet and to do some of the natural vision exercises which have the added benefit of helping their memory and their creativity. (Of course this works for adults too!)

Useful website: www.vision-training.com got to the Myopia page where can download a Snellen reading chart (in 2 A4 sections)and use it as a feedback system to measure and improve your own vision. (Of course this doesnÂ?t replace regular check ups with an optometrist who can check overall eye health.) If you are a teacher, put one of these on the wall in your classroom Â? it gives the children a safe haven for their eyes when they discover new and confusing materials and their eyes go blurry they can return to this.

Angart, Leo  (4th Edition 2012) Improve Your Eyesight Naturally Crown Publishing UK  £15paperback

Professor Robert WinstonÂ?s BBC1/OU series and book on Â?The Human MindÂ?Â?, Bantam showed the power of belief and visualisation. You might also like to read Â?The Art of SeeingÂ? by Aldous Huxley (First published 1943) Flamingo (unfortunately now out of print and still available in libraries). Huxley was registered blind and regained his sight using natural vision exercises.

About the author:

I am happy to answer any questions that this article raises in your mind Katrina Patterson Â? INLPTA Certified NLP Trainer (1995) and Natural Vision Trainer

Website: http://www.vision-training.co.uk

Author: Katrina Patterson
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