The evil sun will ruin your eyes. At least, that’s the message from the mainstream eye doctors. “Put on those sunglasses,” they scream. Buy ‘transition lenses’ that automatically darken in sunlight. If you followed their advice, you’d never let the light of the sun hit your eyes. Which, I believe (as do many others) to be a big mistake.

Our eyes are light receptors. They need light to see. They need light to set the iinternal clock of the body. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is cured by people sitting in front of a light box that mimics the full range of natural sunlight. John Ott, and many after him, have highlighted the health benefits of natural light, and the health risks of not getting enough natural light. (Here’s a good synopsis of Ott’s work: http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/full_spectrum_sunlight.html)

I’m not advoating staring at the sun, and sunglasses are necessary in situations of glare and intense light, but let’s not go overboard. Our bodies need sunlight to make Vitamin D (which some research indicates might be helpful in reducing nearsightedness, among its many other health benefits).

Most warnings against sunlight center around UV light. This portion of the full spectrum of light can have damaging effects (that’s why museums don’t have windows!) but we also need the UV light. For example, many plants won’t grow without it (again, read Dr. Ott). And it might even be helpful for asthma and allergies.
I suggest that people spend at least 20-30 minutes a day outside so the full range of natural sunlight can enter the body through the eyes – without glasses or contacts, because these block the UV. Also, according to at least one doctor I’ve read, it’s possible for your body to resist the negative or potentially harmful effects of UV light if you take enough anti-oxidants. According to him, 1000 mg of vitamin C and 1000 IU of vitamin E will cut down your need for sunscreen and prevent a sun burn. I’ve tried it, and it seems to work for me.

Everything can be harmful in large enough doses. But I believe that the sun is necessary for our health in sensible, moderate doses. In fact, I’ve found that sensitivity to light decreases when a person spends regular time outdoors as their eyes and body become more accustomed to the full-spectrum of light.

There are other dimensions to light that intrigue me as well: The metaphorical and spiritual dimensions of light. But I’ll leave that to another post.

All glasses are not the same. I suggest that people always use an under-corrected prescription. Usually, when you go for an eye test, the doctor puts lenses in front of your eyes until you can read the bottom line on the eye chart. Though these glasses give you the sharpest vision (20/20) in the moment, they don’t do you much good in the long run. In fact, it’s one of the main reasons why people need stronger and stronger prescriptions. Instead, I recommend the weaker glasses. These usually correct to 20/40 acuity, which is sharp enough to pass your driver’s test and drive legally and safely. Instead of reading the bottom line on the chart, with these under-corrected glasses, you’d be able to read one or two lines above the bottom. In the short run they’re not as sharp (though most people can’t see the difference), but in the long run, an under-corrected prescription could help keep your vision from getting worse, because it encourages the brain and eyes to work together.

And, if you’re using The Program for Better Vision, or another approach to improve your eyesight, an under-corrected prescription might make it easier for you to improve. And, as your natural vision gets clearer, what was once an under-correction will eventually become too strong. Then it’s time for another under-correction.

This way, you’re gradually weaning yourself from glasses as your own vision becomes clearer and clearer.

By the way, this approach also applies to people who use glasses only for reading and other close up activities.

You can find eye doctors that are sympathetic to this approach at www.bettervision.com. Click on “Find an Eye Doctor” when you get to the home page.

Eye exercises usually aren’t enough to change the way you see, except for a lucky few. They’re not really lucky, per se, it’s just that their vision problem is only on the physical level. Usually, they started wearing glasses after age 15 or so, or simply got their vision stuck by doing too much studying in school.

But for most of the rest of us, there is always an inner component to not seeing. There is a nearsighted approach to life that is reflected in the physical aspect of being nearsighted. Research proves this over and over again – nearsighted people score differently on personality tests than do non-nearsighted people. Astigmatism, eye imbalances and farsightedness also have inner – or physcological – aspects.

The Program for Better Vision contains ways to get at – and release – these inner barriers to seeing. Expanding and clearing one’s eyesight also means expanding and clearing one’s VISION and way of perceiving.

Many people I’ve worked with over the years have used a variety of other methods to release the inner barriers to seeing. The Sedona Method, EFT, deep emotional clearing, Silva Mind Control, etc. etc.

Do I have a favorite? Yes – anything that works. Depending on the nature of the inner blocks and the nature of the person, different approaches work better for different people. What works for one – even magically so – may not work for another.

That’s why the ultimate, underlying purpose of The Program for Better Vision is to strengthen that part of ourselves that says, “I Want To See”. When this part is awakened and deeply so, each of us are drawn to those experiences, circumstances and healing modalities that will work best for us. Yet, none of these approaches or methods will work unless and until there is the willingness of the person to truly SEE, in the fullest, and deepest, sense of the word.

I’m always amazed that eye doctors, optometrists and opticians are called eye care professionals. What kind of eye care do they really provide? NONE. Sure, if you go to them with an eye problem, they’ll fix it: with stronger and stronger glasses, expensive contacts, risky surgery, cataract surgery, glaucoma pills, etc. etc.

But the only promise they offer your vision is that it will get worse and worse.

That’s not real eye care, that’s eye-problem-fixing. They’re skilled at fixing any eye problem you bring, but guess what? You’ll be bringing them problem after problem, year after year, because they never teach you anything about REAL eye care.

What can you do to keep your eyes healthy? What can you do to maintain your eyesight? How do you keep yourself from needing cataract surgery? From going half blind, or worse, from macular degeneration?

These “eye care” professionals don’t have any answers for any of that. What’s even worse, they denigrate and dismiss anybody who suggests that there are answers!

Some might say that eye care professionals are just concerned about making money. I’m not sure that’s their only motivation, but let’s face it – they’re not really interested in offering REAL eye care.

We know more about how to care for our teeth than we know about how to care for our eyes. Yet, if you were faced with the choice, which would you rather lose?

Fifty or so years ago, people were faced with a similar choice. Back then, no doctor believed that proper exercise or a nutritious diet would keep you healthier. “There’s no proof,” they’d say. (That may be hard to believe nowadays, but that was their position back then.)

Well, people took matters into their own hands. They started running, doing yoga, meditating, eating right, etc. etc. They got themselves healthier by themselves. They realized that health care professionals weren’t going to get them healthy or even keep them healthy. It was only after this groundswell of individuals taking care of themselves that researchers began to study exactly how all of these activities benefited the body.

Wait for the research, wait for the proof – that might seem like the logical thing to do, but how much should your eyesight suffer while you wait?

Just because something isn’t proven yet, it doesn’t mean that it’s not effective. It just means that the health care industry has decided to not bother to research that issue.

So then, what is REAL eye care? I’ll address this in future posts.

If you want to find out more right away, read The Program for Better Vision book. It’s all in there.

Though the link is unfortunate, it’s not surprising to me. I don’t believe that it is possible to separate the health of the eyes from the health of the rest of the body. Keep the body healthy and the eyes will be healthy too. Imbalance, tension and disease in the body affects the eyes.

Do something – anything! – good for your eys and it will positively affect the rest of your body. Keep your body healthy and it will keep your eyes healthy too.

It’s always important to increase the blood flow, circulation, oxygen supply and nutrient supply to the visual system. After all, one third of the oxygen you take in feeds the visual system, and one quarter of the food you take in goes to feed the visual system.

Nourish your eyes and you’ll keep yourself free from serious medical problems. Hundreds of research papers show that the proper use of supplements can help.

Find out more about EYEMAX-plus: it’s what I recommend for the health of the eyes.

The same can be said for laser eye surgery. Our eyes are not just misshapen balls that can be cut and molded into a perfect shape. More importantly, our eyes are a reflection of our consciousness and our relationship to the world. The eyes are the windows to the soul.

Not having clear eyesight is a reflection of a need to gain greater inner clarity, to develop a sharper focus in one’s life, to see everything more clearly.

I’m here to offer people an alternative and an opportunity to do something for themselves. When a person takes that opportunity to do something for themselves, to really experience the positive power of their mind and their emotions to self-heal, and they do that with one area of themselves – their eyes – that opens up an entire realm of what’s possible, so that their vision of who they are, their vision of the capacity they have to grow expands dramatically, and that is the essence of the work that I do.

There’s more to seeing than meets the eye!

Your eyes are precious. And I’ll do everything I can to bring you the best natural approaches for helping vision problems of all kinds: Nearsightedness, Farsightedness, Presbyopia, Astigmatism, Eye Imbalances, Binocular Vision Problems, Eye Strain & Discomfort, Poor Night Vision and Computer-Related Eye Problems. I may even be able to help you with vision problems of a medical nature: Cataracts, Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration.

Since 1976, I have been offering natural solutions so people can care for, protect and improve their vision – without glasses, contacts, drugs or surgery. Over a quarter of a million people from around the world have contacted me for help.

How can I help you?
Email me at:
marty@healyourvision.com
I’ll gladly answer your questions.
I may even post your question to this blog.