See Better

An Excerpt from the Book . . . .

HEALTHY VISION

Vision is about the eye. It is all about what you see, or how well you see. Healthy vision gives you sensation, perception, and conception. Your life depends on your eyes. In short, healthy vision gives you all the raw materials for living for life.

Vision is seeing, which involves not just the eyes, but also the mind, and the brain as well.

Healthy vision requires healthy eyes with healthy light-sensing cells to receive and process visual information.

Healthy vision requires a health mind so that it can selectively see the visual data presented before the eyes. Healthy eyes do not see everything, nor do they attempt to see everything.

AWARENESS: See only selectively! Never STRAIN your eyes to see! A blurry image is OK!

Healthy vision requires a healthy brain to interpret correctly the visual data selectively collected by the eye.

Therefore, healthy vision is a complex interaction between the eye, the mind, and the brain. The physical body (specifically, the physical and physiological health) and the environment (such as lighting) can positively or negatively influence this complex interaction between the eye, the mind, and the brain. In other words, vision health is holistic health. Accordingly, vision self-healing cannot address only the human eye alone; as a matter of fact, vision self-healing begins with the mind first, and then the eye, and the body.

To conclude, healthy vision is a balance and correlation of physical eyesight, emotional seeing, and inner vision.

How to Have Better Visual Images

Good lighting to stimulate the light-sensing cells of your eyes (millions of light-sensing cells in the retina)

Relaxed ciliary muscles to hold the lens in its proper place

Relaxed eyeballs to retain their shape

A relaxed macula (near the center of the retina) to prevent intense use of central vision, or staring, causing eyestrain

A relaxed mind to correctly interpret and process the visual data received
Good vision is all about relaxation.

POOR VISION

Poor vision is lack of clarity when seeing near or far away. Poor vision creates vision problems, such as nearsightedness (typical in younger people) and farsightedness (typical in older people).

Both of these weak or impaired eye conditions are due to mental stress and eye muscle fatigue.

Nearsightedness

Nearsightedness (also known as myopia) is the inability to see distant objects clearly. This eye condition tends to develop in younger people, especially young children.

Nearsightedness in children may be due to the following:

Initial fascination with wearing eyeglasses

Boredom with learning (a blurry mind leading to blurry vision-an example of how the mind can affect vision)

Too many near-focusing tasks or activities (e.g. computer vision syndrome or video games)

Formation of bad vision habits

Nearsightedness may have many adverse complications. Once myopia (nearsightedness) worsens, more serious eye problems and disorders can potentially develop, including the following:

Cataracts (cloudy lenses)

Detached retina (loosening of the light receptive layer at the back of the eye)

Glaucoma (increased pressure stressing the optic nerve)

Macular degeneration (impaired central vision due to disease or aging)

Farsightedness

Farsightedness (also known as hyperopia) is the inability to see close objects clearly. This condition tends to develop in older people in their forties and fifties due to the following:

Mental stress (divorces, relationship problems, financial stress, retirement etc.)

Years of lifestyle abuse (e.g. drugs, drinking, and smoking)

Accumulation of bad vision habits over the years

How Vision Deteriorates

Conventional curative eye-care is damaging to the eye because it focuses on prescribing corrective eyeglasses or contacts for artificially clear sight. Unfortunately, at worst, eyeglasses or contacts do more harm to the eye; at best, they never improve vision to normal.

The explanation is that constantly wearing corrective lenses will constantly maintain the eye’s refractive error, and thus leading to the steady increase of the strength of the corrective lenses in order to maintain the same visual acuity. In other words, wearing eyeglasses or contacts only makes vision worse, and not better, because it makes you subconsciously crave for clear vision. In order to see better, you strain your eyes, and eyestrain only leads to further vision deterioration. Before long, you need another pair of corrective eyeglasses with a stronger prescription. This is how your vision goes from bad to worse. Ask yourself how many pairs of eyeglasses you have obtained for yourself over the years, with each pair having a stronger prescription than the previous one.

The truth of the matter” corrective lenses only perpetuate the eye’s refractive errors.
They are only “crutches” for artificially clear eyesight; they do not correct poor vision.

They do not accurately reflect your eye conditions, which change constantly, from moment to moment, according to the physical environment and your mental conditions.

They do not let your eyes adapt naturally to the mind; in other words, they disconnect the eye from the mind.

They perpetuate the refractive error of your eyes, leading to more eyestrain and ultimately stronger prescriptions.

AWARENESS: No need to go for perfect vision! Never strain your eyes in order to see better!

Poor vision leads to further vision loss and impairment, resulting in legal blindness (20 percent or less vision), which is defined as 20/200, that is, the capability of seeing within 20 feet what a person with normal vision can see within 200 feet. Legal blindness occurs to more than 10 percent of population aged between 50 to 69, and more than 70 percent aged 70 and over.

Wearing contact lenses is not any better than wearing eyeglasses. As a matter of fact, wearing contacts may have many other less-than-desirable side effects:

Distortion of the cornea

Drying out of the eye

Eye infection and inflammation

Irritation of the eye and eyelids

Oxygen deprivation

Pain and dizziness

Vision Loss

Laser eye clinics are touting the risks of laser eye surgery as minimal, and testimonials of those who have undergone such a surgery attest to the success of this virtually risk-free procedure. The fact of the matter is that 10 percent of laser eye surgeries have complications, and, more importantly, the long-term consequences of the surgery still remain relatively unknown because it is a fairly new procedure on the eye.

The good news is that poor vision loss does not have to be an inevitable consequence of aging. You can successfully improve your vision at any age.

SOME COMMON EYE DISORDERS

Eye disorders, like any disease, often start at the cellular level in which oxidation occurs. Cells make up your organs. When cells die, your organs fail and heath deteriorates, and you age and die. The cell of an organ can be destroyed during the process of oxidation in which unpaired electrons, known as free radicals, are produced. Free radicals occur naturally as byproducts of oxidation, such as during respiration and other chemical processes; for example, during breathing, while life-giving oxygen is produced, harmful carbon dioxide is also released.

Likewise, eye disorders are related to free radicals and oxidation. According to research studies, oxidation is involved in the development of most eye disorders, including cataracts, retinal disease, and glaucoma.

Macular Degeneration

Often called AMD or ARMD (age-related macular degeneration), macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss and blindness in Americans aged 65 and older.

AMD is a degenerative condition of the macula, the part of the retina responsible for the sharp, central vision needed to read or drive. Because AMD affects the macula, you may lose your central vision or reading vision.

The risk factors

The risk factors for macular degeneration are:

Age over 65 with risk increasing proportionately with age

A smoker with 2.5 times increased risk than a non-smoker

Having blue eyes instead of brown eyes (blue eyes enabling the blue-violet sunrays to penetrate deeper into the eye tissues of the retina, and hence a greater chance of developing macular degeneration)

A sun worshiper spending much time outdoors

Given that macular degeneration begins much earlier, from youth through the age of 30 years, deterioration accelerates as aging progresses.

The symptoms

Macular degeneration symptoms include the following:

Outlines of objects becoming blurry and wavy

Straight lines becoming crooked; shapes of objects becoming indistinct and steamy
Much slower reading speed

A prolonged period of time to adapt when going indoors from a bright outdoor environment

Eye examination indicating many solar-aging spots on the retina

The treatment

There is little or no cure once the onset of macular degeneration begins. You can retard it, but there is no cure. Prevention is better than no cure. The key to retina health is to keep the retinal blood vessels open, to avoid buildup of cholesterol, blood clots, and calcification.

Laser treatment can arrest the fast-progressing form of macular degeneration, but does not improve vision or preserve eyesight. Therefore, prevention is always the best option.

Eye nutrition can protect the retina from further damage or deterioration.

Vitamins A, C, and E, and beta carotene, which is a precursor for vitamin A, can reduce the risk of developing macular degeneration. It is therefore important that as you grow older you need mega-doses of nutrients because of poor absorption due to inadequate digestive juices for digestion and absorption.

Zinc can retard the loss of protective melanin pigment of the retina against sunlight damage. In addition, zinc helps the release of vitamin A from the liver. Zinc is an important co-factor in getting vitamin A to the retina. However, it must be understood that zinc in excess of 25 milligrams may lead to deficiency of copper, elevation of LDL (bad cholesterol) levels, cholesterol imbalance-all these may cause further damage to the retina. Adequate zinc, but not too much, enhances the retina health.

Glutathione is another powerful antioxidant to protect retinal cells from ultra-violet-A and ultra-violet-B damage. Selenium and riboflavin stimulate the production of glutathione.

Omega-3 fats can improve vision. However, because they can also cause lipid peroxidation (that is, they turn rancid on exposure to sunlight), you need more antioxidants.

Nutrition should also include bioflavonoids, which are plant pigments with protective properties against sunlight damage. Foods that are rich in bioflavonoids include red onions, red grapes, cherries, and citrus fruits.

In short, your diet plays a pivotal role in retina health, and hence the prevention of macular degeneration.

In addition to diet, give up nicotine totally. Reduce your daily intake of caffeine-if you must drink coffee-because it not only interrupts with retinal blood flow but also increases blood pressure, which is bad for the retina.

Aspirin is a blood thinner. It may benefit blood vessel diseases and prevents blockages of oxygen to the brain. However, too much aspirin may also cause retinal bleeding, which impairs retinal health.

Macular degeneration is an eye disease that can be prevented-or at least deferred if you live a healthy lifestyle. Aging is not the cause of degeneration. Retinal disease is a result of accumulative damage to the retina due to neglect, or abuse, or both.

Glaucoma

Glaucoma, another major cause of blindness, is a condition due to increased eye pressure. In conventional medicine, most eye doctors would recommend surgeries and eye drops to relieve high ocular pressure in the eye.

However, there is one problem: surgeries and eye drops would also create a chronic condition, ironically enough, leading to ultimate blindness. The use of eye drops may have adverse long-term effects, one of which is the falling off of pieces of iris, causing blockage, and thereby instrumental in increasing eye pressure over the long haul, instead of reducing the eye pressure.

Dr. Leslie Salov, M.D., O.D. Ph.D., in his book Secrets for Better Vision, states that most glaucoma patients are highly intelligent professionals who lead very stressful, busy lives. This finding led Dr. Salov to believe that to improve vision or eye health, you need to improve the health of your entire person simultaneously because your body is a set of interlocking systems that affect one another. Given that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, your eyes are only a small part of your whole person. Accordingly, to heal the eyes, you must heal the body first. It is just that simple!

To have healthy vision, even as you age, you must employ not only the sciences of physiology, biology, and chemistry, but also the healing powers of philosophy and even spirituality. This is no exception when it comes to treating glaucoma. In other words, to treat glaucoma, you need to examine not just your eyes, but also every aspect of your life, including your emotional and spiritual health.

The methods of glaucoma treatment recommended by Dr. Salov include the following:

Visualization is the use of guided imagery to direct blood, oxygen, and leukocytes (immunity cells) to the eye through a mental image of a healthy eye. Essentially, your conscious mind controls the involuntary processes that occur automatically inside your body. Specifically, visualization relaxes the muscles in the walls of your canal of Schlemm (circular channel in the eye that collects watery substance between the lens and the cornea). By relaxing these muscles, extra fluid can be excreted to relieve the glaucoma pressure. Without using eye drops with chemicals, visualization can naturally relax eye muscles so that your pupils become small enough to open up the canal of Schlemm to excrete the fluid for eye pressure relief.

However, it must be pointed out that visualization works only when you use it with dedication and consistency. In other words, you have to practice visualization daily and diligently.

Meditation is the art of thinking of nothing to remove everyday stresses and worries. When you are under stress, you body produces chemical changes within your body, which decrease blood flow and oxygen level to your eye. Practice meditation to de-stress yourself.

Cataracts

About 50 percent of Americans aged 65 and over develop cataracts.

In the normal eye, light passes through the clear lens and is focused on the retina of the eye. In cataracts, the lens becomes cloudy, resulting in opacity that distorts the light rays or prevents the light from focusing on the retina.

The causes
Cataracts are due to the following:

The lens has become less resilient. The fibers in the lens become compressed and consequently rigid.

The lens has become less transparent due to the aging process. The lens, made up of protein and water, becomes cloudy due to the coagulation of eye protein.

The lens has become thicker. The accumulation of deposits of calcium and cholesterol in the lens becomes denser, especially in the center of the lens.

The development of cataracts has nothing to do with the overuse of the eye. Rather, it has to do with the following:

Alcohol consumption

Nicotine

Heredity
Health problems, such as diabetes

Medications, such as corticosteroids

Long-term sun exposure (ultraviolet-A and ultraviolet-B rays)

Eye injuries

The symptoms

Initially, cataracts do not affect vision much. Then, slowly and gradually, symptoms begin to emerge:

Blurry vision

Distorted visual images

Double vision
I
Increasing nearsightedness

Poor night vision

Uncomfortable glare from sunlight or bright light

The treatments

Cataract surgery is removing cataracts and replacing a substitute lens. However, a cataract surgery does not have to be performed immediately, nor is the procedure absolutely necessary, depending on the quality of the vision.

Eye drops may be used to dilate the pupils to allow greater transmission of light to the retina.

Stronger lighting may have to be employed for close work. Positioning lighting directly over reading material and using frosted light bulbs to reduce glare are some of the practical measures to improve poor vision due to cataracts.

Reading point by point may help preventing cataracts from deteriorating. Seeing details is done through the macula, which is the center point of the retina. But the macula can see only a small portion of the visual field at a time. Therefore, constantly shifting the eye can enhance the macula, while straining to take in the entire visual field all at once can weaken the macula. Accordingly, reading point by point, although it may be slower, helps strengthening the macula, and hence instrumental in maintaining detailed vision.

Practice the elephant swing exercise to increase your detailed vision and make shifting automatic. When you shift your eyes automatically and constantly, you are efficiently using your macula.

VISION SELF-HEALING SELF-HELP