When my son Ian was 9 years old, the pediatric ophthalmologist told him that he was nearsighted and needed glasses. Ian was heartbreaking as he didn’t like the idea of wearing glasses. He thought he’d be teased, and worse, he couldn’t play his favorite sports anymore. I experienced both health and career challenges that year. He must have felt the stress and tension.
I decided to help my son improve his eyesight naturally without glasses. I did extensive research on PubMed, read medical books, asked doctors, family, friends, and vision coaches who give hope. Now Ian’s eyesight is good, and he also excelled both in academic studies and in sports.
From this experience, I developed five pillars of Natural Vision Improvement and Holistic Vision Care. These five pillars include:
- Belief. Most people believe that nearsightedness, aka myopia can only worsen but can’t be improved, and they are right. But if you are reading this post, I want to empower you to believe that you can do something beneficial for your eyes. As Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t—you’re right.” Dr. Ellen Langer is a professor of psychology at Harvard University, and the first woman ever to be tenured in psychology at Harvard in 1981. In one of her vision studies, she instructed students to become “pilots” by flying a flight simulator. She found out that by simply believing that pilots have a good vision was enough to sharpen the volunteer-pilots’ eyesight. Her series of vision studies all found psychology trumped biology. As reported in the journal of Psychological Science, Dr. Langer’s experimental results suggest that our vision may be compromised, at least in part, by our mindless beliefs. I encourage you to have empowering thoughts and beliefs from now on.
- Body. Eat nutritious non-processed whole foods, foods rich in Omega-3 healthy fat, and a variety of rainbow-colored fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Avoid processed food, white sugar, white flour, and vegetable oils that are extracted at high temperatures as these foods cause inflammation. Do body exercises and eye exercises. Get enough and high-quality sleep. Have a good posture. Reduce near work time, especially the time staring at small or big screens (the blue light harms your retina cells, disrupts melatonin production, and causes eye strains). Relax your eyes often by following 20–20–20 rule. Give your eyes lots of love and appreciation. Be grateful for your eyesight.
- Mind. Dr. William Bates, the pioneer of natural vision improvement believed vision problems are 90 percent mental and only 10 percent physical. Our past and present emotions can affect our vision. Learn to reduced stress levels and relax your mind. Study and improve emotional intelligence, which is the ability to identify, use, understand, and manage emotions in an effective and positive way. Try yoga, meditation, breath work if you like.
- Environment. Spend a couple of hours every day outdoors in nature or under the sun. The ultraviolet B rays (UVB) triggers the production of vitamin D, which supports the function of the smooth muscle tissue around the eyes. The outdoor light lets the retina cells release dopamine, an important neurotransmitter in the eye and brain. Dopamine is a global eye growth regulator, and it can suppress eye growth. Study after study, including cross-sectional, longitudinal, and interventional studies, shows that increasing time spent outdoors can protect people against myopia development.
- Habit. Make vision care habitual. Form good morning routine, daily routine, and evening routine for eye care.
Check out my book, an eight-month Amazon bestseller Habits for Better Vision: 20 Scientifically Proven Ways to Improve Your Eyesight Naturally.
