6 Bates Method Eye Exercises to Improve

your Vision
by TED M A S ER

1
inShare
Both my parents use glasses and so do most of the people I
know. These days for whatever reason, it seems people of all
ages are relying on glasses or contacts to see clearly. My
neighbors son who is just 8 years old, my friends who are
just turning 30, colleagues in office, elderly relatives
everyone!

I use the laptop to do my work daily, squinting at the screen

without realizing it for many hours a day; youd think it was
inevitable that Id eventually be joining this elite club of
people who view the world through a set of corrective lenses.
But then again Ive been using my laptop 10 hours a day for
8-9 years now, I've never seen an ophthalmologist and
my vision is still naturally crystal clear.
How then, have I escaped the inevitable'? The secret is that I
have been usingBates Method eye exercises for a few
years now to exercise my eyes intermittently, while I am
working and even when I'm not.
If you want to achieve better eyesight without glasses, then
learning about Bates Method eye exercises is the right way
forward. Many years ago (1920 to be exact), Dr Bates

identified the true causes of sight problems and formulated

these sure to work techniques to improve vision.
Followers of the Bates method found that they could
avoid wearing glasses and even treat visual defects
after they had occurred.

Dr Bates has listed many simple methods for achieving

natural visual correction, including diet, physical, mental and
emotional factors, habits connected to how we see things,
body posture and eye exercises etc.
Here are a few simple Bates Method eye exercises which you
can do daily to improve your vision:
Near-to-far shifting of focus: Takes 1-1.5 minutes

How to do it First you will need a photograph of anything

which you like.
As you gaze at the photograph, hold your finger 6-12 inches
in front of your face. Now focus on the minute details on your
finger and you will see an illusion of 2 photographs in the
background.
Next, in a relaxed way shift your focus to the photograph and
zero in on a small button sized portion of it. In the
foreground you will be seeing two fingers instead of one.
Purpose:

To improve your eyes' ability to change focus from near

to distant objects and vice versa (a process called
accommodation). This exercise is beneficial for both
nearsighted and farsighted people.

To improve mind-eye coordination, so that your eyes

follow directions from the mind.

To develop a balanced use of your eyes & increase your

peripheral awareness.

To regain flexibility of the muscles surrounding the

eyeball.

Over time due to bad visual habits, we might have gotten

comfortable using one eye more than the other. So you may
initially find it difficult to focus on the foreground or
background which is required in this exercise, based on your
visual habits. Continued practice of this exercise will activate
the minds use of both eyes quickly.
Corner-to-corner eyeball shifting: Takes 1 minute

How to do it
Shift/swing your eyes from right to left alternately a few
times, then stop. Repeat 5-6 times.
The purpose

To help your eyes relax and smooth out your eye

movements.

To isolate and separate eye movement from head

movement.

To reduce muscular strain and tension in your eyes, neck

and head.

To increase the ability of the eyes to focus on one point

(called central fixation).

To develop better control over the focusing mechanisms

of our eyes.
Palming: Takes 1-1.5 minutes

How to do it
Rub your palms together till they feel warm.
Cup your hands over your eyes with your fingers overlapping
and resting on your forehead.
Ensure there is no contact between your palms and your
eyelids; you should not apply pressure on them.
The Purpose

The sole aim is to completely relax and soothe your mind and
eyes.
Look out for
Seeing sparks or dots of light indicates that you are releasing
your mental strain & tension. This helps to cure eye strain,
which leads to better vision.
As your eyes relax, it will become darker and you will stop
seeing those sparks of light.
Coordinated head & eye movements: Takes 1 minute

How to do it
Imagine there is a pen pointing out from the tip of your nose.
Now imagine you are drawing by moving your head & eyes.
Draw a rectangle in a clockwise direction, then draw an X
covered at the top and bottom, next draw a rectangle in the
anti-clockwise direction and finally draw the X in the
opposite direction as well.
Follow this by moving only your eyes and create the
rectangle and the X.
Repeat 10 times.
The purpose is to achieve relaxation of your eye muscles.
Things to look out for
Are you holding your breath while doing this? If yes, it means
you are unduly straining yourself, trying to see. Keep
breathing and allow yourself to blink when you need to.
Do you feel tension in your neck/shoulders or jaws? If so, do
some head rolls to relax; remember that the intention of

these exercises is to help you relax the strained muscles and

thereby help them work better.
Do you feel an illusion of movement, thereby making you feel
the imaginary picture you are drawing is moving in the
opposite direction from your head and eyes? This indicates
that you are moving your eyes in a relaxed fashion, which is
what we want.
Eye stretches Takes 3 minutes

How to do it
First close your eyes and relax your temples, forehead, neck,
shoulders and head and breathe easily. Now imagine your
face to be a clock with your nose at the center. Stretch your
eyes all the way up and then down; then while stretching
your eyes, also rotate it in a clockwise and then in
anticlockwise direction. Repeat each position/movement 20
times. Relax.
The Purpose
To reduce the pressure in your eyes and thereby relax them.
To tone the six muscles that surround each eye and control
eyeball movement.
Eye squeezes: Takes 1 minute

How to do it
Inhalation: Squeeze all the muscles in your face by tightly
shutting your eyes while inhaling and hold your breath for a
few seconds.
Exhalation: Exhale quickly, while stretching your eyes and
mouth wide open, letting out a sigh. This releases all the
tension in your body as well.

Repeat 5 times each.

Purpose

Aimed at improving blood and oxygen supply to your

eyes and face.

To break any squinting habit and release any tension,

thus relaxing the eye muscles.
All in all, these Bates Method eye exercises take just about 810 minutes to do. You can see results after just a few days of
use, with incredible benefits occurring after a few months of
regular use. There are certain additional methods suggested
by Dr Bates to improve eyesight naturally such as the Minds
Eye Visualization, Memory Visualization and Spectrum
Visualization and Swinging, which are again simple treatment
methods you can use to achieve visual correction.
Using eye exercises is a powerful component of a whole
system of small lifestyle changes that have been shown to
improve eyesight naturally so you can throw away your
glasses or never need them in the first place. To learn about
a whole visual therapy system for improving eye health, I
highly suggest you take a look atHow To Improve Eyesight
Naturally.
Click here to visit How To Improve Eyesight Naturally
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