Professor Bates' Eye Gymnastics - World's Best Practices for Improving Your Vision

Many people have to deal with vision problems. These can be various diseases or disorders (astigmatism, myopia, nyctalopia, etc.). And if the patient has been diagnosed with an eye pathology, then he, accordingly, tries to get rid of it immediately. Some people suggest that vision restoration is nothing more than a myth, but in fact it is quite possible. There are many methods, including eye exercises, medication and various procedures that help improve blood circulation in the periocular muscles. The Bates method for restoring vision will help you look at the world in a new way .

Bates method for restoring good vision

Causes of visual impairment

William Bates, an American ophthalmologist, conducted many different experiments during his medical practice, during which he was able to find out the reason for the decrease in visual acuity. After this, the doctor began to develop a new method. The main reason is the mental stress that arises when trying to examine an object more clearly .

Bates believed that the main cause of visual impairment is mental stress

As a result, various eye diseases can occur, including:

• astigmatism;
• strabismus;
• age-related decrease in visual acuity;
• farsightedness;
• myopia.

With the development of at least one of these diseases, the patient may experience moral discomfort. This is due to the fact that he can no longer see the bottom lines on the TV monitor, the inscriptions on billboards and everything that he could previously read without any difficulty.

Causes of decreased visual acuity

Who is William Horatio Bates?

The creator of this technique, which at one time excited the public and the scientific world, was born back in 1860 in the American city of Newark, on the east coast of the country. Today, by the way, it is the largest settlement in the state of New Jersey.

After successfully completing medical school and obtaining his doctorate, he began practicing in New York City as an ophthalmologist and otolaryngologist. At the same time, he teaches a basic course in ophthalmology. In 1896 he left practice for personal experiments, after which he worked in various clinics in the USA and Europe (in particular, London's Charing Cross).

Eye exercises using the Bates method Exercises

Eye exercises to improve vision with myopia Exercises

Eye exercises according to Zhdanov Exercises

He returned to New York in 1910, joining the Harlem Hospital, where he spent the next 12 years of practice. Around this time, he began collaborating with a well-known entrepreneur in the city and part-time publisher of the then popular magazine “Physical Culture” Bernard McFadden.

Bates and his partner used the magazine as a platform for advertisements. They offered paid classes on a unique non-surgical system for vision restoration. This is how the history of the method began, which today has hundreds of thousands of followers around the world, but is still not recognized by official science.

What is the connection between vision and muscles?

The eye muscles are completely relaxed if everything is fine with vision. Since human eyes have a spherical shape, the image is located correctly on the retina. When viewing objects at close range, the transverse muscles are activated. At this moment, the longitudinal muscles are at rest. But when a person tries to look at objects that are far from him, the transverse muscles relax.

Vision, according to Bates, depends on the eye muscles

This discovery led doctors to the conclusion that farsightedness is a consequence of tension in the longitudinal muscles, and myopia is a consequence of tension in the transverse muscles . This is the connection between the eye muscles and vision. This is confirmed by the system of specialists from the USA, according to which strengthening one muscle group provokes relaxation of another.

Extrinsic eye muscles

Bates Method Complex

All exercises, regardless of whether a person wears glasses or contact lenses, must be done in their absence. All manipulations performed by the organ of vision must be smooth. Before you start doing the exercises, you need to tune in to them, remove all unnecessary thoughts from your head and blink your eyes (this will further lubricate them).

"Bow"

1. A person first raises his eyes up and then lowers them down.
2. The head remains motionless.
3. As your eyes drop down, you need to blink them to relax the tense muscles again.
4. Repeat 5 times.

"Left right"

1. We looked with our eyes first to the left and then to the right.
2. We repeated this procedure several times.
3. Finally, they blinked their eyes.

"Diagonal"

1. The head remains motionless, only the eyes work.
2. First you need to lift them up to the right and then lower them down to the left.
3. Blink your eyes intensely.
4. You need to do the reverse procedure, that is, up to the left and down to the right.
5. Blink your eyes again.

"Rectangle"

1. You need to mentally draw a rectangle with your eyes.
2. First we draw in one direction, and then in the opposite.
3. Carry out the procedure of relaxing your eyes by blinking them.

"Watch"

1. You need to mentally imagine a large watch dial.
2. Then make rotational movements with your eyes, first clockwise and then counterclockwise.
3. Need to blink again.
4. The head should remain motionless.

“Snake”

1. This exercise is based on mentally drawing a snake.
2. You need to move your eyes to the side and do the following complex: first draw from left to right, and then from right to left, continue this procedure from top to bottom and bottom to top.
3. Upon completion of the procedure, the eyes must be relaxed (blinking).

These simple exercises help strengthen the muscles of the eyeball if used regularly.

Features of the Bates technique

As noted earlier, Bates argued that overexertion of the muscles around the eyes leads to refractive error. But modern ophthalmologists refute this theory, believing that vision deterioration occurs due to deformation of the eye lens and apple. Despite this, patients actively use this method of vision restoration, which has managed to help many people.

Dr. Bates

The peculiarity of the method is periodic relaxation and relaxation. This will avoid psychological stress, which results in various vision problems. Over time, the exercises for restoring vision created by Bates were adopted and improved. In the CIS countries, this method is promoted by Vladimir Georgievich Zhdanov, an outstanding professor and public figure. He promotes special gymnastics to improve vision, based on the Bates method.

Zhdanov V. G.

Development and implementation of the methodology

More than a century has already passed since this technique appeared. It is aimed at restoring vision with the following indicators: myopia, astigmatism and farsightedness. This development is based on performing different sets of exercises depending on the disease. Each situation has its own method that will give results.

They are built on the work of the muscles of the eyeball, which, due to their strong tension or, conversely, weakening, cause the development of diseases that are associated with vision.

Methods for restoring vision according to Bates

There are two ways to relax the eyes - dynamic and passive. And if the first is characteristic during the period of physical and visual activity, then the second, on the contrary, during the period of rest (relative inactivity of the visual organs). In addition, the recovery method involves not only performing classical exercises, but also some psychological presets. Let's consider each method separately.

Dynamic recovery method

The peculiarity of this method is to increase the motor activity of the eyes with the help of special exercises. Below are instructions with recommendations for their implementation.

Table. Review of effective dynamic exercises.

On a note! The Bates method requires you to stop wearing glasses, since the lenses do not allow the eye muscles to relax (they are always in a motionless state). But at the same time, tension gradually increases, so you need to try to look so that your eyes do not strain too much.

Bates method

Passive recovery method

Bates created a special set of passive exercises, including:

• mental representation . Its essence is to present an object that you have already seen before. It can be anything, even a white sheet of paper. Try to mentally imagine how you write on this sheet, and put a dot at the end. The point should become the center of your attention;
• palming - This is perhaps the most common exercise used when you feel tired eyes. You can perform this exercise many times throughout the day. To perform it, close your eyes with your palms folded in the shape of a house. Make sure that no light penetrates through your fingers, but that you are comfortable. The eyes themselves also need to be closed. Before starting the procedure, your hands should be warmed up (just rub your palms together);

  
  Palming

• memory . This exercise should be performed as a complement to palming. Bates argued that poor vision can only be restored with a completely relaxed psyche. This can be achieved through memories, but they must be pleasant. If possible, think of something green or black, as these colors have a positive effect on the eyes, having a relaxing effect. The main condition for this exercise is positive memories. Only through this attitude can you achieve the desired result.

On a note! Almost all exercises to restore vision include palming. This is not without reason, because only with the help of this procedure can the eye muscles be well relaxed.

Exercises to improve vision

Special diet

In parallel with performing special exercises to improve vision, you must follow a diet. This will improve the effectiveness of treatment. It consists of regularly consuming foods containing vitamins E, C and A. Foods rich in antioxidants actively fight many pathological processes that negatively affect the entire body.

Diet to restore vision

Vitamin A is considered the most beneficial for eye health . It is able to fight diseases such as night blindness or nyctalopia (a disease in which a person has difficulty seeing in the dark). A deficiency of this element in the body can trigger the symptom of dry eye. The most vitamin A is found in peaches, fish, carrots, butter, milk and liver.

Vitamin A content in some foods

The main source of vitamin E is oil, which nutritionists recommend using for preparing various salads. The vitamin is also found in spinach, kale, almonds, dried apricots or even barley. With vitamin C, everything is much more complicated, because it is not able to accumulate in the human body “for a rainy day.” Therefore, you need to take care of the availability of sources of vitamin C. It is found in fruits and vegetables, which must be eaten daily. In winter, when fresh fruit is hard to come by, you can take special vitamin complexes. They already contain all the necessary vitamins and minerals for the body.

What foods contain vitamin E?

Blueberries and blueberries contain many antioxidants that are so beneficial for the eyes. It’s not for nothing that many eye medicines contain extracts of these berries. Proper exercise combined with a special diet will help improve eye health and restore vision. This is the only way you can gain a fresh perspective on the world around you.

Restoring vision

Methods for correcting astigmatism

Source: newsroom.su
The most common and well-known method of treating astigmatism is glasses. This fully applies to diseases such as farsightedness and myopia (nearsightedness), including in childhood.

Astigmatism is corrected by using special cylindrical lenses, which make it possible to correct defects in the optical system.

As practice shows, quite often there are patients who have a very high degree of astigmatism and at the same time cannot tolerate glasses at all. They may complain of pain in the eye area and dizziness.

Important!

In such cases, it is necessary to regularly visit an ophthalmologist, since after some time, the glasses need to be changed to stronger ones or, vice versa, to weaker ones.

It is worth considering that cylindrical lenses used to correct astigmatism and disease - myopia of the eye can be combined with lenses that are used to correct farsightedness or myopia.

But due to the complexity of making such glasses, their cost is quite high.

Currently, contact lenses are becoming increasingly popular, allowing for effective correction of astigmatism, and if previously only hard contact lenses were used, today various soft toric lenses are increasingly common.

The selection of contact lenses and glasses should be carried out through a thorough diagnostic examination and strictly individually.

Are there any contraindications

Despite all the advantages of the technique, it still has several contraindications. First of all, it is not suitable for those patients who have pathologies such as presbyopia, astigmatism, farsightedness and myopia . If you start restoring vision using the Bates method and stop wearing glasses, the results will not take long to arrive.

For exercises using the Bates method, glasses must be removed.

If the above exercises do not help to completely restore visual acuity, then they will at least stop the process of deterioration. It is also not recommended to perform exercises using the Bates method in the postoperative period. Experts recommend abstaining from activities for at least 6 months from the date of surgery. The possibility of retinal detachment is another reason to refrain from performing procedures according to the American doctor’s method.

Contraindications

Performing Bates gymnastics

Physical exercise

It is recommended to perform the exercises while standing, no earlier than an hour after eating, without glasses or contact lenses. Make eye movements slowly and calmly, with measured breathing. When performing gymnastics, do not blink and do the entire set of exercises, without breaking it into parts.

Important!

Systematic implementation of these exercises allows you to increase blood circulation and restore normal tone of the eye muscles, which will make it possible to completely abandon the use of glasses or contact lenses.

What is farsightedness

Farsighted people, according to Bates, are people whose work of the transverse muscles of the eye is weakened, while the longitudinal muscles, on the contrary, are capable of holding the eye in a single position. As a result, the weakened muscles are not able to pull the eyeball forward and the person begins to see poorly at close range. The person begins to worry about his vision, he begins to get nervous, and this aggravates the symptoms.

Bates believes that there is no need to wear glasses, since the already weakened muscles will stop working altogether; the glass in the glasses is convex in shape, which does not require the eye to work.

The concept and essence of myopia

Due to the development of various life situations that are associated with visual overstrain, during the course of injuries received by a person, it may happen that the transverse muscles of the eye, straining, are pulled forward, squeezing the eyeball. As a result, it becomes deformed, acquiring an elongated shape.

The muscles do not contract back, and the eye is constantly in a bulging state.

Bates called people with this shape of the eyeball myopic.

Exercises

Palming

1.You should look at some letter of a large inscription from a distance. After this, you need to sit down, relax and close your eyes with your hands. Try to remember the letter and its shade. In your thoughts, change its color a little to a blacker one. Open your eyes and look at this letter again. It will seem blacker. Repeat this exercise several times. You will achieve the fact that this letter will stand out more clearly in black and you will quickly snatch it from the image. You will begin to see her better.

2. Before closing your eyes, imagine all the colors in order from lighter to darker. Don't try to keep the shade on for long. A second is enough. The colors should flicker and change quickly. A couple of minutes for this exercise will be enough.

Then try to imagine a piece of white chalk on a black background. The sharp contrast will make it difficult to imagine anything blacker than this background.

Memory

1. Recall a rose in your memories. But you shouldn't try to detail it. Instead, try to imagine an object on it. For example, an ant or some kind of bug. Here it crawls along the stem, quickly moves onto a leaf, and returns back. Now it's already in bud. And in a similar spirit.

You will notice that during the process, although you tried to imagine one object, you did not experience much tension. A moving object was a little distracting and scattered attention, making the memory easy.

For the second part of the exercise you will need Sivtsev’s table

2. Hang Sivtsev’s table with letter symbols at a decent distance, 3-6 meters. Look at a letter and try to imagine it. At the same time, in your imagination, make the black part even blacker, and the light part whiter. In this case, the idea is superimposed on the memory. Open your eyes and look at this letter. After repeating it a couple of times, you will be able to see this letter more clearly. Gradually, you can try to imagine a whole line, or maybe even two.

Solarization

1.Close your eyes and turn your face to the sun. Slowly rotate your head in different directions. Continue for about 5 minutes. Open your eyes for a brief moment, continuing to rotate your head. Don't try to look at the sun, but rather at the area next to it. As you get used to it, you can look closer to the sun.

2. Sit facing the sun. Relax as much as possible. Close your eyes and look towards the sun. Smoothly turn your head from side to side. Under no circumstances should you open your eyes completely. Continue for a couple of minutes.

Moving and swinging

1. Moving your head left and right, turn your gaze in the same direction. A little later, without moving your head, try to look in different directions. You should feel tension in your eye muscles

2.Close your eyes and swing your head like a pendulum. You will be surprised, but your eyeballs will also move in time with your head.

3.Walk with your body swaying. One step and shake your head, your eyes should follow the same movement. Then the next step. And so 15-20 times.

4. Hold the book in front of your eyes and move it. Follow her movement with your eyes.

Blinks and glimpses

1.The exercise should be performed in front of a mirror. Look at your right eye. Blink. Repeat for the other one. 15 times will be enough for each eye.

2. Hang a test card with letters at a distance of 2 meters and try to examine the smallest lines. Look at them for 5-7 minutes. The main condition of the exercise is to blink after reading each letter.

3. When walking, try to blink every time your foot touches the ground. It is recommended to do the exercise for at least 10 minutes.

4. You can arrange a good activity with a ball. You need to quickly, quickly throw it from hand to hand and at the same time blink as soon as the ball flies somewhere.

5. Pick up a book printed in small print. Look only at the white spaces between the lines. Blink at each light stripe. Soon you will notice that the words become clearer and no longer blend together as much. This exercise is an excellent prevention against rapid eye fatigue.

Video: Experience of vision restoration using the Bates method

Do gymnastics 15 minutes a day and your vision will noticeably improve

This eye exercise is very simple and takes minimal time. If you want to achieve results faster, do it several times a day. Even if you have good eyesight, but you begin to notice that your eyes get tired quickly, then do a couple of exercises for prevention. And you will notice how your eyes relax, tension goes away and you begin to feel better.

For people with serious eye diseases, Dr. Bates' method has become a panacea for problems. It helps to completely restore vision and get rid of daily wearing glasses. You will finally get a taste for life.

But it is worth remembering that like any gymnastics, this set of exercises requires time and willpower. You shouldn’t give it up after a couple of weeks, even if you feel an improvement and decide that this is enough for you. You can restore your vision to maximum frequency! The experience of thousands of people who have tried this eye exercise can confirm the effectiveness of the method. And its simplicity is amazing!