Is Eyesight Really Off Limits for Healing?
by Greg Marsh, CNVT
(originally published in Halcyon Connection, Dec 2004)
"Broken bones heal. Burns and cuts heal. Stomach aches get better. Are we to believe that eyesight, the most important sense perception we have, and one that has evolved over millions of years, is the only part of the human body that cannot heal itself?"
- From Relearning to See, by Thomas Quackenbush
I grew up thinking my extreme nearsightedness was genetic, that contact lenses were my only option to avoid those awful coke bottle glasses. Then, in my late twenties, a book about the Bates Method of eyesight improvement threw my whole belief system into turmoil. I was a skeptical engineer who believed in logic and kept a tight leash on my mind. And now, here was Dr. William H. Bates claiming that my beloved rigid mind was squeezing my eyeball into a wrong shape! It was both unsettling and exciting for me to sort through this riddle.
I did improve my eyesight. The rest of my life was impacted, too. I got into martial art and meditation to help my mind become more flexible. I became insatiably curious about nutrition and alternative health approaches. Finally, I trained to become a certified Natural Vision Teacher. Teaching classes became the perfect setting for me to delve deeper into subtleties of the Bates Method and how the mind sees. Every new class brings new revelations, as each person “gets it” and discovers their own best tools to improve their eyesight.
It is not easy to convey in writing how the Bates Method works. Many books and practitioners have tried to narrow it down to eye exercises, but Dr. Bates’ approach is vastly deeper and richer than mere calisthenics. Children can often improve their vision with “eye exercises” because of their easy faith, but adults rarely succeed without a more creative approach.
There is a unique group of adults who can change their eyesight spontaneously. Some people with multiple personalities have at least two different vision prescriptions. Optometrists have observed and tested instant changes in eyesight when a subject jumps from one personality to another. I have noticed many informal personality correlations with eyesight conditions. For instance, many people who are nearsighted confess to keeping a lot of clutter in their house or their office.
Most people reading this magazine are probably convinced that faith in one’s ability to heal is a huge part of what makes the healing possible. Eyesight is no different. It is exciting to watch people in Natural Vision Improvement classes get bursts of clearer vision. People sometimes even scream aloud with surprise and delight. Such moments come more and more easily. What was initially hope evolves into solid trust that your vision will heal.
Although Bates himself was an ophthalmologist, the Bates Method today is mainly taught as an educational class or session. You can find books and other information at amazon.com and other websites. Countless people have used the Bates Method to improve nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, “old age vision” and other conditions.
Greg Marsh is a certified Natural Vision Teacher in Fort Collins, Colorado. He offers lectures, classes, and weekend workshops to help people absorb and apply the Bates principles of natural vision improvement. Visit Greg’s website at VisionImprovementCenter.com for more information.
