By Joana Garcia-Natural Vision Educator-Bates Method

The Bates Method, a method for recovering the vision created by Dr. WH Bates in the United States almost one hundred years ago and originally called cone method “Visual Training or Natural Vision Improvement”. The ophthalmologist found that the view is not constant, ie that fluctuates with the physical and emotional state of the person. After much research, he designed an effective educational process which is actually a holistic discipline that has already helped solve visual problems of millions of people worldwide.

On which it is based?

Bates realized that people who had vision problems, eye used differently, noted especially the eyes (gaze) is not moved, had excessive strain on the extraocular muscles and also lacked centralization. The three basic principles are:

1. Movement
An eye that looks good is an eye that moves, because this is the nature of the eye. The normal eye moves continuously, making the so-called saccades, which are very rapid involuntary. They can become of the order of 60 mov / sg. If these movements ralentitzan, lose sharpness, increase the blur.
2 Relaxation
To make all these movements, the eye has to be relaxed. Are two functions that feed. No relaxation, there is not enough movement and vice versa. Today with the abusive use we make of electronic devices (computers, mobile phones, TV, etc.), the eyes are overworked and do not relax. We think that when we go to bed will relax, but it is not. We must put consciousness and will in relaxation.
3 Centralization
The eye has ability to see clearly only in a very small place in the retina, the fovea centralis. When you focus on something that is in line with the fovea, we see this thing or part thereof be clearly and is lol we call centralized view. Everything that projects outside the fovea, will blur and is what is called peripheral vision. The perception of both views, central and peripheral simultaneously is a symptom of good use of the eyes.

Practical tips for using your eyes naturally

1. Blinking: The simple fact blinking often is a great habit to keep the eyes hydrated and avoid the “fixation”. It needs to be gentle flicker, like the beating of the wings of a butterfly, so if we put the fingertips to the temples, we have to notice any movement. The flashing is produced only by the muscles of the eyelids.
2. Perception of the periphery. Whenever we are focusing on something, we can perceive this sharper than the rest thing, but equally, we are able to capture with our peripheral vision all around there though we can not see much detail. This ability of our vision is critical to keep your eyes healthy. Consists to keep in mind all of our visual field in a hierarchical manner, ie, seeing what I’m sharper focus and blur the rest.
3. Perception of the periphery in motion. It is the same principle as before, but instead of perceiving the periphery statically, perceive when we are in motion. If we are present, we can grasp like environment who moves and not us. Very easy to perceive when going by car or train, but also when we walk, or just when we make head movements. All this greatly enriches the visual perception and is attractive to look at things and details. In addition, retrains the brain to expand their visual records.
4. Relaxation: Fundamental to capture all we talked about. We always have to have relaxed eyes and relearn this requires will and perseverance. We cover the eyes with his hands and rest in darkness and warmth they provide. Do this as many times a day as you feel that your eyes need.