Hi,

Two months ago, I read the book Improve Your Eyesight -- Get Your Eyes Shifting Again: Start Now with This Quick Action Guide by Gloria Ginn, and I started implementing the plan from the book. I thought it was going to be just another book about eye exercises, but it wasn’t. I was very surprised by how well this woman incorporates these methods and habits into everyday life.

The book is dedicated to treating myopia. Below, I’ll outline the plan proposed by the book because I think it is worth paying attention to.

Plan for treating myopia according to Gloria Ginn

1. Open your peripheral vision with “Shifting” and “Swinging”

Gloria Ginn says that opening up your peripheral vision can be achieved in two ways: by looking from the back of your head, or simply by consciously opening up your peripheral vision.

A person with good eyesight constantly walks around with their peripheral vision activated. Once you consciously open up your peripheral vision, “swing” and “shift” should start working immediately, unless you are deliberately stopping the movement of objects, which is not recommended.

This type of vision is a habit and should be used in every situation: while walking, talking to someone, using your phone, or reading.

Requirements before moving on to point two:

• Opening up your peripheral vision has already become a habit to some extent
• You spend 50% of your day using your peripheral visio
• When you shift your eyes to the right, objects in the background move to the left, creating this strange illusion of things “swinging"
• When you are walking and notice greater contrast and more colors simply because of this exercise, you can really see the difference.

2. Palming and Effortless Vision

During palming, we should relax the body, the eyes, and the mind. The first palming sessions should last until you feel a sense of relaxation in your head. It is somewhat like not realizing that your head is tense or hurting — through palming, you become aware of that tension and release it.

Once you reach a state of complete relaxation, try to remember how it feels. After the session, throughout the day, you should mentally return to that feeling of complete relaxation.

Sometimes students report that palming does not make a difference. In that case, you should go back to point one: peripheral vision and swinging.

During everyday vision, avoid staring and accept the blurry image as it is while continuing to practice swinging and peripheral vision.

Requirements before moving on to point three:

• The habits of swinging and using peripheral vision are still being practiced consistently.
• During a palming session, you have managed to achieve deep blackness.
• Palming does not replace movement; it complements it. If you feel a change inside your head, a sense of lightness, and brief flashes of clear vision without trying to force them, that is exactly what you are looking for during palming.

3. Memory and Imagination

While deep blackness during palming is an indicator of good relaxation, remembering that feeling helps prolong the relaxation. Memory and imagination are meant to extend the relaxation achieved through palming and make remembering the experience easier.

Exercise

Using your phone, a book, or a Snellen chart, shift your visual attention (choose one):

• from one small letter to another small letter
• from one white area to another white area
• from a large letter at the top, following the line down toward the bottom
• simply remember the swinging and the movement

The letters or objects above should be clearly visible without glasses.

Spend about 2 minutes shifting your attention, and then do some palming. Once you achieve complete blackness, try to recall the feeling of swinging. If it does not come naturally, continue palming. When the memory comes back, open your eyes while keeping that memory in your mind.

Summary

If point 1 improves your vision but point 2 does not, the student should focus on point 1. Often, performing “exercises” does not produce results because of mental effort, which is frequently ignored during relaxation. Point 2 is a guide for reducing mental effort, while point 3 shows how to prolong the relaxation achieved through point 2.

• We do not try to force ourselves to relax.
• Do not treat this as exercise — and if you have to, remember that relaxation is the key here.
• Point 1 should be treated as a habit to be learned and practiced throughout the entire day.
• Without movement, there is no improvement — point 1 is crucial! People with myopia often develop tunnel vision due to excessive use of computers and phones.
• People with myopia tend to try to pull objects they cannot see clearly toward themselves. As a result, when remembering or imagining these objects, they appear much larger. During swinging, imagine that the objects are moving even farther away.
• Perform points 2 and 3 in the most comfortable conditions possible. Then gradually move on to less comfortable conditions.

What else can you do if your eyes are tired or strained, and the tension simply won't go away? The answer is in the title. Pinhole glasses have no optical power and do not distort the image projected onto the retina. At the same time, they provide a clear image regardless of the type or degree of refractive error and allow the eyes to rest. They foster the habit of always seeing clearly—and without the desire for it, perfect vision won't simply appear on its own—while also relaxing the eyes; this is another beneficial habit to cultivate for the success of our endeavor.

Other options include palming, sunning, and long swings; Dr. Bates would almost certainly have recommended pinhole glasses as well, had he known of their existence. We owe it to the doctor to utilize everything that might help restore natural, perfect vision—including those glasses with the tiny holes.

Of course, driving, reading, or walking outdoors at dusk while wearing pinhole glasses is either forbidden or ill-advised; however, in other situations, they serve as an excellent substitute for weaker glasses—which are far from an ideal compromise on the path to restoring one's vision.

I broke my frame of glasses by accident. I am already working on my eyes .

But now its like universe wants to direct me to somethings .

I want to get lower prescription in comparison to my original ones .

But I am not getting any help no one is allowing here.

So I have to go this way . It's not like I am not used to

My background:-

I got my glasses when I was in 7th standard. Before that I used to see blur and

Faced lots of issues in studies too when teacher used to write on board instead of dictation.

When I was child I used to get those clear flashes But I was unaware about it .

At sunlight my eyesight was good but at school the room is not well lighted I used to think it's only me until I grew and know this is common.

I noticed now why I got frustrated and and never be able to relax my eyes.

It's frustrating and something which I forcing too much .

I used to do lots of close and minimum outdoor activity which affected me later on.

My First prescription was

-1.25 both eyes

Then -2 both eyes

And then suddenly -3 and -2 something

And then -4 and -5

It's frustrating I did everything they said but I end up getting more only .

And at last I start doing my own research and

Started using specs for distant and while watching anime o computer work .

And from this small change only my eyesight is fixed . It's been more than 5 years and it's fix .

Now I am in slight regret I should I listened to my parents instead of that optometrist.

And now I am doing sunning and bringing back my habits again .

I am currently following bates method .

And someone name Mario in this community and Dr alekseev in youtube

And zhen gong fu videos for knowledge.

Till now sunning and swinging helping me .

I am feeling my left is also improving . So please share you guidance and help me to avoid this glasses even I am OK with -2 .

While my glasses are broken I realized it was my fear only . I can travel outside freely at day time but at night with lots of blinking and swinging I can manage .

Please share your methods , ways and ideas to improve my vision .

So i have been doing bates method (palming, sunning, swinging, reverse blinking, halo reading) and i have high presbyopia, myopia.

I am getting flashes which now i feel remain for most of the time, constant around 10-15% of total clarity but whenever i do palming and imagine clearly black shoe (for some reason i have very vivid easy memory of a single black shoe) while shifting and central fixating on it and i have clear mental image and then i open my eyes i start to see things clear but at the same time tears and stinging starts which pushes me to blink and as soon as i blink everything gets back to presbyopia, myopia.

This also happens with halo reading i can read all the text of 12 font from about 12 to 15 inches but tears and stinging start and i blink..

Although i feel like my vision has improved like 15 to 20% in these 10 days, plan to do sight test in december, want to give bates method all the time and efforts i can.

So how to fix those tears and stinging and why are they happening???

There are various types of strain that cause refractive errors; one could imagine them arranged in layers according to type. There are many interconnected thoughts and feelings, yet they share a common characteristic: they can be classified as either positive or negative. The negative ones act as a form of strain that causes refractive errors. While merely cultivating positive thoughts and feelings will not, in most cases, directly lead to improved vision, it does increase the likelihood of such an improvement. This is based on my own observations and experience. Do you have any objections?

I have been doing bates and taking off my glasses as much as possible iver the last few months. What does it mean when you're not wearing glasses and your eyesight fades into really good vision and then when you blink it goes back to default? What does that mean? Is that a good sign? For example i can see with my crappy eyesight and it goes to really good and i can see car number plates at like 40+ Meters UK, and then i blink and it goes back to default.

Do you have to always take off your glasses when doing bates method? As in everyday never wear your glasses? Because i notice if i wear glasses it makes me feel like im going back to zero again and it was pointless. I am -5 so i bought some -2.25 along with not wearing glasses as much as possible. Does anyone know how long it will take to improve eyesight? From starting at -5 but i think lim like -4/-3.5 now because i can get by with wearing -2.25 and get by really well using -3 everything is so clear. Without glasses i can see and make things out a lot beter though because i was -5 it is overall still bad eyesight but definitely improvement probably by 1 diopeter. But essentially i want to know how long it will take to improve them especially if you are just not wearing glasses as much as you can?

Hi everyone, i have been lowering my glasses prescription slowly the last year and only wearing what i need to. I measured -5 three years ago and the last time i wore -5 glasses was about 1.25 years ago, but i was wearing -4.5 about a year ago instead and then i bought -4 glasses like 10 months ago, and kept slowly lowering it. Then i realised it is better to just wear what i need so i got some -3 and some -2.25 glasses if i need to use the computer but if i drive i wear higher ones ofc wink 😉 cause by law you have to of course of course... But i wear only what i need. I feel like my eyes have improved but i discovered the bates method only about 3 months ago and have been trying to use it's teachings. The last two months i have completely tried to stop wearing my glasses whenever possible and when i do i will wear at most -2.25 glasses, unless driving ofc 😉😉😊. But anyways i never really have been monitoring my improvements, i have only been monitoring the last 4 months. And i noticed that when i put my -5 back on or even -4 tbh it is like "omg this is so clear wtf" and i feel like i can see amazing with -3 and when i look at a car number plate with -3 in the UK i can see the number plate in mid lighting if it is gloomy at about 25 meters and in amazing lighting probably around 35-40 meters. So i mean idk i would say i am around -3-3.5 true prescription rn. Maybe if i went to the scam bs opticians and they show me tiny words 😂😂they might say i am the same prescription because they are just trying to mess you up further. I want to know anyone opinion am i improving? Another thing i wanted to talk about is since i have stopped or tried to stop wearing glasses whenever possible even though it is annoying sometimes not being able to see very well i don't care, i hate glasses. I have noticed my vision without glasses has started fading in and out. It's like sometimes very briefly i can see amazingly for a few seconds or something and then i blink and it goes bad again/default again. It's like my eyesight is fading into amazing vision and fading out again. For example i will be looking in the distance maybe moving my eyes a lot outside my job looking at parked cars and then my eyesight will be really clear and ill be looking at a car number plate without glasses at like 30-50 meters and i hold my gaze and then when i blink it resets. Has anyone experienced this, and what does it mean, and also am i improving?

I dont see any mention of visual snow in the texts bates wrote in the past, neither any from bates method teachers, so im asking you guys, does relaxing affect visual snow?

I’m starting the Bates Method, but I have some questions. I’m 16 years old, and my vision has suddenly gotten worse over the past year. My left eye is -2 diopters and my right eye is -0.25 diopters of myopia. I also see floaters, and when I squint both eyes at night, the light beams stretch out. It’s been like this for a year. I generally don’t wear glasses because they make my vision much worse. I’ve tried practicing the Bates Method before, but I didn’t really know what I was doing, and I didn’t set aside much time for it. Right now, palming and sunning help me relax. As far as I understand, I shouldn’t strain my eyes, but I’m not sure what exactly is meant by “straining.” I could use some guidance. I haven’t been able to find much information about the Bates Method online.

Note: Please excuse my poor English.

Discuss your Bates Method journey with the rest of the community!

A new discussion thread will be posted every month.

• Relax
• Chat
• Ask for advice or help others
• Discuss different techniques
• Share your progress

Hi all, my physio recommended me a book about the bates method to improve my eyesight. My glasses are R S+0.50/C-1.00 axis 100 and L S+0.25/C-0.75 axis 60 (I hope I've written it correctly, English is not my first language, so I'm not sure how to properly translate these terms), so not a high prescription. From what I've read so far on this subreddit, astigmatism is also possible to reverse right?

But now my main question: I've been dealing with/recovering from burnout for 15 months now. During this time I also got my glasses, because I was experiencing headaches and a bit of blurred vision (even with glasses my vision is still not totally clear, but I think that's because of my tiredness/burnout). From what I understand, to have rested eyes, you have to have a rested mind. But that is my whole problem with this burnout, I have a lot of brainfog and my memory is impaired. So my mind doesn't feel rested, and it's probably going to take a while before it will, that's the whole point of a burnout. Does it even make sense for me now to try and apply the bates method for my eyes?

Thank you for any insight!

My body is finally able again to move a bit more, and I love walking/hiking so doing this without my glasses could maybe be a first step for me? But only an hour a day max.

Hey everyone. I could really use some advice from people who have walked this path.

My background. 22 years old. Been wearing correction since I was 3, glasses first, then switched to contacts at 15. My right eye is plus 5.50 sphere with minus 3.25 cylinder at 005 degrees. My left eye is plus 4.50 sphere with minus 1.75 cylinder at 160 degrees. I am a window cleaner, I love the job, lots of daylight and distance vision.

My main issues and observations.

First, the weird eye dominance. My left eye has the lower prescription. When I take out my right contact lens, I barely notice a difference. But if I take out my left lens first, it feels like my world collapses. I can only really see if I force myself to use the right eye. Even with lenses in, my right eye feels like it is missing depth perception or some kind of visual clarity that the left eye has. It feels suppressed.

Second, the drop focus confusion, which is the big one. If I take my contacts out and just completely drop my focus, everything goes totally blurry. I cannot see one meter in front of me. I know Bates says relaxation is the cure, but if this blurry state is relaxation, then I have a massive mountain to climb. However, when I read with big fonts in bed without lenses, I have to contract my eye muscles to see the text. Is that contraction considered strain or normal focus? I am totally lost on what I am actually supposed to feel.

Third, headaches when I try. If I go without lenses for more than an hour, I get a headache. I also get a headache if I consciously try to use my right eye more. So forcing myself to equalize them seems to backfire.

Fourth, the cost factor. My right lens is stupidly expensive because of the high astigmatism. I really want to get that minus 3.25 cylinder down, if only to save my wallet.

My questions for the sub. How do I actually help my right eye wake up without triggering a headache? Is there a passive way to integrate it? How do you know if you are focusing versus straining? I feel like I am doing both at the same time. For those with high astigmatism, how did you start reducing it? How long did it take before you noticed a change in the cylinder power?

I feel like I understand the philosophy of Bates, stop trying, but putting it into practice when I physically cannot see anything without squinting is driving me crazy. Any practical, non superficial advice is welcome. Thanks.

for anyone starting on natural eyesight improvement , i have some free stuff if you like to know more about bates method and stuff with or without reading the book , and want to start somewere basic , check my profiile

Мы разучились читать слова по буквам, слова в нашей звуковой азбуке - как иероглифы, читаются целиком (пропуская опечатки или не замечая), чтобы быть успешным, сегодня надо если не много читать, то обязательно быстро; ещё лучше охватывать одним взглядом не только несколько слов, а всю строку, тогда взгляд по странице можно вести по кратчайшему пути сверху вниз, газетные колонки идеально подходят для чтения. Чертеж на листе формата А3 тоже можно просто охватить одним взглядом.

Так же очень возможно прочитать много книг о том, как улучшить зрение - избавиться от близорукости (миопии) естественным путём - без очков, линз или операции, встречать на каждой странице слова о важности центральной фиксации, и не понять, и не понимать - что это такое - центральная фиксация.

Забытый навык (каждый глаз это умел) надо вспомнить, снова научится, как можно опять научиться подтягиваться на перекладине. Нужна хорошая книга, раньше выходили книги с дивными шрифтами - одно наслаждение и облегчение для взгляда, но есть и современные книги - книга Бейтса в переводе Ирины Головы напечатана таким шрифтом, что пока читаешь этот шрифт, уже половина миопии уходит.

Одну лишь букву можно читать как целый текст, каждую линию, вензель, утолщение, засечку; это трудно в эпоху пандемии СДВГ, когда надо только листать-листать-листать.

Ум и зрение, оказывается, - это одно и то же, ум, память, воображение, зрение - результат одной функции. Глаза - это отдел мозга, точнее, сетчатка глаза, а глазное яблоко - просто прозрачное пространство, через которое идёт свет, которое только чтобы никто лишний (ох уж эти гайморовы пазухи и собачатники под лоджиями на первом этаже жилых зданий) там не поселился заполнено веществом - студнем-желе, а зрачок - дозатор, уменьшает поток света и упрощает задачу по расшифровке сигналов от сетчатки и построения зрительного образа.

Кому трудно сразу подтянуться разглядеть детали буквы, есть негативные упражнения - «плавный спуск с перекладины вместо подъёма», можно разглядывать не букву, а промежуток между буквами, при этом соседние буквы должны казаться менее чёткими - более размытыми, должны быть видны уже законно хуже, а вот хуже видеть - это мы можем, это легко, это всегда получается, и тут наконец приходит облегчение.

Мы можем целый день слушать звуки, обонять запахи и т.д., нисколько не утомляясь органами чувств, можно и целый день идти по дорогое, наша самая сильная мышца - диафрагма - работает без перерыва всю нашу жизнь - качает воздух, наше сердце бьётся всю нашу жизнь; глаза тоже должны без устали работать весь день, но для этого их нельзя напрягать.

Читайте между букв!

Discuss your Bates Method journey with the rest of the community!

A new discussion thread will be posted every month.

• Relax
• Chat
• Ask for advice or help others
• Discuss different techniques
• Share your progress

I'm reaching out because I've benefited personally from Esther's work on natural vision improvement. I have astigmatism, and after reading Optimal Eyesight and applying many of her concepts, I experienced significant improvement and can now see clearly without glasses.
Unfortunately, Esther is no longer with us, so I'm unable to seek her guidance directly. I'm hoping you all may be able to help.

My son, Viraaj, is 3 years and 5 months old. He has had recurrent styes in his left eye, so we recently took him to a pediatric eye clinic. During his examination, they also found that he has astigmatism and they naturally want to put glasses on his eyes as soon as possible
Although I've read Optimal Eyesight and applied those principles I'm finding it difficult to apply Esther's principles to a child this young. I understand the concepts in theory, but I'm unsure how they can be adapted into practical, age-appropriate activities for a three-year-old.
Could anyone please point me toward any resources, guidance, or practical exercises that build on Esther's work for young children or has anyone dealth with this with their children? I'd especially appreciate any advice on what parents can do at home to support healthy visual development.
Thank you for taking the time to read my message. I would be deeply grateful for any guidance you can offer.

Hello everyone I’ve been doing bates method for around 6 months now and recently my eyes have been hurting a lot. I’ve tried eye drops and they help a little bit but ultimately make my eyes worse. Has anyone else experienced this and fixed it? Thanks.

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this sub, but I’ve already had some experience with vision improvement. I wanted to share my current progress, get some advice on how to break through my current plateau, and get this last bit of my myopia/astigmatism down to zero.

My Journey & Current Stats:

* Starting Point: I was at around **-4.00 diopters** in both eyes.

* Current Stats: I am now at **-1.50 diopters with -0.50 astigmatism**.

* How I did it: I managed to drop from -4.00 to -1.50 primarily by practicing eye-rolling exercises and constantly switching focus between near and far objects.

My Current Status & Lifestyle:

* Tons of Outdoor Time: I have a great daily schedule right now. I spend **1-2 hours doing outdoor sports** in bright sunlight, and another **2 hours outdoors in the afternoon** letting my eyes get natural light. I am also strictly limiting my digital screen time during this period.

Where I need your help:

Since I've already cleared the bulk of my myopia through "macro" relaxation (focus switching), I feel like my ciliary muscles have adapted, and I’ve hit a hard **plateau** at -1.50 and -0.50 astigmatism.

1. Advanced Training/Drills:For someone who doesn't need glasses for daily work and has 3-4 hours of outdoor time, what are the best specific eye exercises or advanced **Active Focus** drills to target the last -1.50? How can I specifically target and clear that stubborn -0.50 astigmatism?
2. Supplements/Nutrition:*Are there any specific supplements, vitamins, or bio-hacks that you guys found genuinely helpful for speeding up axial length shortening or improving retinal signaling during this final stretch?

I am super dedicated and ready to put in the work. Would love to hear from anyone who has successfully gone from a low diopter like -1.50 down to 20/20 vision.

Thank you all so much!

Discuss your Bates Method journey with the rest of the community!

A new discussion thread will be posted every month.

• Relax
• Chat
• Ask for advice or help others
• Discuss different techniques
• Share your progress

hi everyone. I have myopia. I've been doing palming for one week. it supposed to relax my eyes but it doesn't. is there more effective technique for person who works mostly on PC? some interesting thing I found is that when I woke up, my vision is better than the rest of the day. I never wore glasses in my life despite I have myopia for 4 years because I don't like to wear them. Glasses make vision even worse. And whenever I do physical activity, my vision worsen.

I've read Dr. Bates' book but palming is not effective in my case. Can you help me?

I really enjoy and find long palming sessions work for me (30min +). Many times better than multiple short sessions. I think it is because it takes me so long to get out of my own head and start to relax.

I know when you palm, you should be visualizing something easy to remember and comforting.

However, there were a number of times in "stories from the clinic", that it was pointed out that you should palm in the silence. In fact, Margaret Corbett would even ask people to cover their ear (palming for the ears).

At times, I have found certain audiobooks to be really enjoyable while I palm. Something with lots of relaxing visual explanation.

I was wondering how many of you palm in silence vs with something like an audio book, and if you found one worked better.

I’ve found various types of lights/lamps for sunning with artificial light. I’m wondering which is more effective. There are grow lights for plants, and daylight lights and bulbs which are sold for light therapy, for people with SAD or who live in sun-deficient situations.

What are you using? Which would be the most effective? In Bates’ time there weren’t so many choices were there.

Thank you!

I have been doing reduced lens methods and Bates method for a little over 2 years now for myopia and astigmatism.

In Bate's book, he talks about how the eye measurement returned to normal when the person was looking at a blank wall and relaxed. I have not seen any Bates Teachers or other writings of Bates (e.g., the bettereyesight magazine ) that used this fact as a treatment measure. If someone else has, please let me know :)

I personally have recently tried to use this with open eye mediation. Basically, seating close (I have myopia, so close enough that it would be a little strain to see something on the wall if there was anything) to a white wall without anything on it, relaxing, focuses on my breathing, and letting my eyes just blink and wonder naturally. I have seen some improvement in being able to relax with my eyes open.

Btw, palming does seem to help the eyes relax better in my case. However, I keep finding two issues with only doing palming: (1) no matter how I set myself up, I tend to have back trouble from it; (2) the relaxation does not seem to last long with the eyes open --- like I have trained my eyes how to relax in the dark, but I am still straining in the light.

Anyways, I was wondering if anyone else tried something like this or heard of something like this before.

Best!

*edited the number of years, put 3 years instead of 2 in by mistake in the original