Eyesight Self Correction Instructions 2

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The document discusses five recommended steps to maximize results with the See Clearly Method exercises: minimize glasses/contact use, progressive undercorrection, emphasize specific exercises, maintain a positive attitude, and adjust diet as needed.

The five recommended steps are: 1) Minimize glasses/contact use, 2) Use progressive undercorrection, 3) Emphasize specific exercises, 4) Maintain a positive attitude, 5) Adjust diet as needed.

The tips are to wear glasses/contacts only when needed for safety and break the habit of always wearing them. Spend time without them to increase natural focusing power but always wear them for dangerous activities if vision is poor.

PART 2:

How To Maximize Your Results


With The See Clearly Method

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Maximizing Your Results With


The See Clearly Method
To accelerate your progress with the See Clearly Method,
we recommend the following:
1. Minimize your use of glasses and contact lenses,
only when it is safe to do so. (See Using Glasses
and Contact Lenses With The See Clearly
Method, page 60.)
SAFETY REMINDER: Do not remove glasses or contacts
or do eye exercises while driving a motor vehicle, using
power tools, going up or down stairs, or engaging in any other potentially dangerous activity or any other activity that requires clear
eyesight.

2. Use a technique called progressive undercorrection, which invo l ves using weaker pre s c r i p t i o n
glasses or contacts when it is safe to do so. (See
Progressive Undercorrection, page 61.)
3. Emphasize certain exercises for your particular
vision condition. (See Recommendations for Specific Vision Conditions, page 65.)
4. Maintain a positive attitude. (See The Power of
Positive Attitude, page 69.)
5 . Adjust your diet, as necessary. (See Diet and
Vision, page 70.)

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Using Glasses and Contacts


With The See Clearly Method
Although c o r re c t i ve lenses (glasses and contacts)
make things clearer by refocusing light before it enters the
eyes, they usually create dependency. If you continue to
wear your current prescription, it can interfere with the
benefits of doing the See Clearly Method exercises and
significantly slow down your progress. Therefore, we advise
you to wear them as little as possible. Use them as a tool
put them on only when you need them, and take them
off when you dont need them to see.
Always wear corrective lenses for potentially dangerous activities or any activity that requires clear
eyesight, such as driving, crossing the road, cooking,
or using power tools. When you finish the activity, take
them off, provided its safe to do so. Break the habit of
always wearing your glasses or contacts. This applies to
almost any visual problem, unless your vision is really
poor.
Spending time without corrective lenses is one of the
best ways to increase your natural focusing power. Cultivate the habit of leaving them off for longer periods of
time, and youll find there are lots of things you can do
well without them, even if your vision is not as clear as
youd like it to be. However, if your vision is so bad that
you cant see much of anything without glasses, we strongly recommend a technique called p ro g re s s i ve
undercorrection (see next page).
Determining When You Can
Go Without Glasses or Contacts
To help you determine when you might be able to not
wear your corrective lenses, take a minute to answer the
following questions:

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1. Are there activities you can do safely without glasses? Are there times when you are doing any of
these activities while wearing glasses?
2. Are there activities you can do without glasses by
adjusting your distance, e.g., from the TV, computer, reading material, etc?
Progressive Undercorrection
Progressive undercorrection is a process of making stepby-step reductions in your prescription strength as a means
of shifting toward more clear vision. This process can be
repeated until you are completely free of corrective lenses
or have obtained the maximum amount of improvement
possible. The process is the opposite of how you may have
arrived at your current prescription letting increasingly strong lenses compensate for progressively poorer vision
but usually happens faster and with fewer changes in
prescription.
You may not need to go through this process. It depends
on the severity of your vision condition and your vision
improvement goals. (See Realistic Goals and Strategies
for Using Corrective Lenses, page 62.)
If you choose to do this process, you may be able to use
weaker pairs of glasses from previous years. If not, you
will need to see an eye doctor. In order to get an undercorrected prescription, ask your eye doctor before making
an appointment if he or she is willing to give you a prescription with a visual acuity between 20/30 and 20/40
(he or she may not be familiar with the term progressive
undercorrection).
SAFETY REMINDER: Only use an undercorrected prescription when reading, watching television, or doing other
safe activities. Dont use an undercorrected prescription while driving
a motor vehicle, using power tools, going up or down stairs, or engaging in any other potentially dangerous activity that requires clear
vision.

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With the undercorrected prescription, objects will appear


slightly blurred at first. Over time, however, as you work
with the See Clearly Method you will probably notice
objects becoming clearer with your undercorrected lenses.
You may then be ready to reduce your prescription further.
If you wear contact lenses, consider using disposables.
The cost of changing prescriptions will be much less.
If your doctor isnt familiar with behavioral aspects of
vision care (natural vision therapies), you could find resistance to your requests for weaker lenses, since this is
not the traditional optometric practice. Your doctor is
expert at examining your eyes, prescribing corrective
lenses, and checking for signs of eye disease. However he
or she may not be familiar with the principles and techniques of the See Clearly Method, and you may need to
be persistent in order to get what you need.
If you have difficulty finding an eye doctor willing to give
you an undercorrected prescription, look for a local optometrist who offers vision therapy or visual training.
We may be able to refer you to an eye doctor, willing to
give you an undercorrected prescription, in your area; call
a See Clearly Method consultant at (toll free) 877-2323598 Monday Friday, 9 am 5 pm Central time.
Realistic Goals and Strategies for
Using Corrective Lenses
If your sight has just started to deteriorate:
You may be able to return to normal and avoid or delay
the need for corrective lenses for many years.
If youve just started wearing corrective lenses:
Spend as much time as possible without them. As long as

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your vision does not get worse, you will not need to do
progressive undercorrection.
If your prescription is weak:
Spend as much time as possible without them. As long as
your vision does not get worse, you will not need to do
progressive undercorrection.
If your corrective lenses are medium or strong:
You can probably gain a substantial amount of freedom
from them, and may eventually get rid of them altogether. Taking the route of progressive undercorrection could
significantly accelerate your progress when combined with
the See Clearly Method exercises. You should also try to
spend as much time as possible without corrective lenses.
For example, if youre nearsighted, try to do all your reading
and computer work without corrective lenses, even if it
means getting slightly closer than usual.
If you wear bifocals:
If you have trouble seeing things close up and wear bifocals but can pass the state drivers vision test (i.e., your
visual acuity is 20/40 or better), try to go back to single
vision lenses and wear them as little as possible. If you
cant go back to single vision lenses, consult with your optometrist to get a pair of glasses with reduced powers in
both sections of the glasses.
If you want to prevent your vision from getting worse:
Stabilizing your vision and avoiding the expense of a
stronger prescription usually takes a month or so and may
be the best course of action if you have poor eyesight or
dont want to spend much time exercising your eyes. Although stabilization may not sound very exciting, many

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people with poor eyesight are worried about their vision


getting even worse and are happy just to stop the downward spiral into stronger prescriptions. If this is your goal,
you can continue to use your current prescription as long
as your vision stays the same.
If your goal is to reduce or eliminate your need for corrective lenses:
Wearing your current prescription may make achieving
this goal more difficult, so minimize your use of corrective lenses, as explained earlier. Also, if you have a medium
to strong prescription, do progressive undercorrection.

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Recommendations for
Specific Vision Conditions
Usually, most people with poor vision have one or more
of the following conditions: eyestrain, nearsightedness,
farsightedness, presbyopia, or astigmatism. The following advice for your condition will be useful in maximizing
results. Please note that you should practice ALL the exercises and techniques, but do more of those recommended
for your specific condition.
Nearsightedness (Myopia)
Nearsightedness is a condition in which a person sees
near objects better than distant objects.
Develop the habit of breaking up long sessions of
reading or computer work by looking away every few
minutes at a distant object, or doing some extra Blinking, Pumping, Palming, or Acupressure. Remember
to follow the 20/20 rule do 20 seconds of an exercise every 20 minutes.
Avoid using your full prescription glasses or contacts
for reading or computer work. Do this even if it means
holding the page slightly closer than usual or getting
a little closer to the screen. (However, reading too
close or working too close to the computer screen can
hinder your progress by creating new stresses. The
same goes for TV viewing and video games.)
If your vision is so bad that you just cant read or work
at a computer without glasses, use the weakest pair
you can get by with.
Emphasize these exercises: Pumping (page 9); Clock
Rotations (page 13); Eye Rolls (page 15); Fast Blinking (page 17); Slow Blinking (page 18); Squeeze
Blinking (page 18); Blur Zoning (page 19), and these
Relaxation Techniques: Palming (page 35), Acupressure (page 29), Light Therapy (page 34), and
Hydrotherapy (page 36).

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Farsightedness and Presbyopia


Farsightedness and presbyopia are conditions in which
a person has difficulty focusing on near objects.
Presbyopia is primarily associated with people over
the age of 40 and is thought to be related to the aging
process.
Try to read without glassesor use the weakest pair
you can see with.
Emphasize these exercises: Pumping (page 9); Tromboning (page 11); Clock Rotations (page 13); Eye
Rolls (page 15); Fast Blinking (page 17); Squeeze
Blinking (page 18), and these Relaxation Techniques:
Palming (page 35), Acupressure (page 29), Light
Therapy (page 34), and Hydrotherapy (page 36).
Astigmatism
Astigmatism is a condition in which images appear
blurred and distorted, usually at all distances, because
of uneven focusing of light inside the eye. It is usually
caused by asymmetric demands on vision, that is,
using the eyes unequally or unevenly, and not in all
directions.
Doing the See Clearly Method exercises, and Clock
Rotations (page 13) and Eye Rolls (page 15) in particular, will help develop free and easy eye movements
in all directions. This reduces the amount of head
scanning you do (moving your head instead of
your eyes when you shift your focus from one object
to another).
Try to do a similar amount of vertical (up and down)
and horizontal (left and right) scanning during the
day. For example, if you are an accountant who checks
columns of numbers, you should do some of the
checking by moving your eyes side to side and an
equal amount going up and down.

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Have as much of your visual work placed directly in


front of you so that you are not working off to one
side too much of the time.
Emphasize these exercises: Clock Rotations (page 13);
Eye Rolls (page 15); Pumping (page 9). With Clock
Rotations, practice going between the 12 oclock and
6 oclock positions, and then 9 and 3. Do the relaxation techniques like Palming if your eyes become
sore; then resume doing exercises when the soreness goes away.
Computer Eyestrain and Vision-Related Headaches
Modify your work routine to break up long sessions of reading or computer work and pre ve n t
nearpoint stress from building up. When working
on the computer, take periodic breaks, look away
every few minutes at a distant object, or do one or
more eye exercises (e.g., Slow Blinking, Palming, or
Acupressure). Remember the 20/20 rule do 20
seconds of an exercise every 20 minutes.
Do a Slow Blink every few minutes, and set a goal of
doing 100 Slow Blinks per day. It may be helpful to
keep a written re c o rd using the bars and gates
method, as illustrated below. Add a bar to the gate
for each slow blink.

Emphasize these exercises: Pumping (page 9); Clock


Rotations (page 13); Eye Rolls (page 15); Fast Blinking (page 17); Slow Blinking (page 17); Squeeze
Blinking (page 18); and Blur Zoning (page 19),
Palming (page 35), and Acupressure (page 29).

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NOTE:
Due to FDA regulations, we are
unable to provide
you with an eye
p a t ch. How e ve r,
you can get one
from your local
drugstore.

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Using an Eye Patch for Specific Vision Conditions


There are several ways you can use an eye patch to enhance
the results of the See Clearly Method. Wearing an eye
patch while doing focusing exercises can be a powerful
technique because it encourages each eye to work separately.
SAFETY REMINDER. Dont wear an eye patch when
driving, crossing a road, going up or down stairs, using
power tools, cooking, or doing other potentially dangerous activities or activities that require depth perception or clear vision.

1. If one of your eyes is noticeably weaker than the


other, do the focusing exercises (see page 43) with
the strong eye patched part of the time.
2. If one eye is nearsighted and the other is farsighted, do the focusing exercises with one eye patched,
then the other. You will do an exercise differently
depending on which eye is patched. When the
nearsighted eye is patched and you are exercising
the farsighted eye, the object you look at during
the exercise will be close to you; when farsighted
eye is patched, the object you look at will be further away.
If you use an eye patch, we recommend always doing the
focusing exercises without the eye patch part of the time,
because you want to develop the eyes ability to work
together.

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The Power of Positive Attitude


Modern medical science acknowledges that the mind
exerts a tremendous influence on the body. It has been
demonstrated time and again that our expectations and
desires actually affect the bodys ability to overcome illness
and heal itself that positive thoughts and expectations
can support the bodys natural ability to heal itself. In our
experience, one of the most powerful predictors of a persons
success with the See Clearly Method is their attitude. That
is, if youre optimistic and open to new ideas youre more
likely to achieve success with the program.
One way to maintain a positive attitude as you do the See
Clearly Method is to set realistic goals and track your
progress as we have described in the Daily Progress Journal.
The sense of accomplishment that comes from accomplishing goals and seeing that your vision is improving
will help you stay inspired and motivated.
Another way to harness this natural power and apply it
toward better visual health is to repeat an affirmation, i.e.,
a positive statement that embodies your vision improvement goals. Select one or more of the affirmations
below, and say it aloud or think it to yourself as often as
possible during the day. You can also make up your own
affirmations. It helps to write your affirmations on slips
of paper or post-its and place them where you cant miss
them at home and at work, until you are able to internalize and think of them automatically.
I am seeing better each day.
I can see without my glasses.
My eyes feel comfortable and relaxed.
I can see objects in the distance more clearly.
I feel positive changes in my vision taking place.
I can see clearly now, the strain is gone.

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Diet and Vision


Not surprisingly, good nutrition plays an import a n t
role in the health of the eyes. A poor diet decreases your
overall ability to effectively respond to stress. Different
types of nutrition problems can lead to an array of conditions that may set the stage for chronic, debilitating
visual conditions, including cataract and macular degeneration.
It has been shown that a diet consisting of too much sugar
intake can result in a decrease in the range and flexibility of the visual mechanism of accommodation. The visual
mechanism of accommodation is what you use to change
your focus from distance to near and back again. When
this mechanism loses range and flexibility, more effort is
required of the visual system when performing close-up
tasks for sustained periods of time. This extra effort can
trigger processes that lead to eye elongation and the
type of nearsightedness that can be very difficult to either
slow down, stop, or reverse at all. But a balanced, sensible diet helps enable your eyes to get the nourishment
they need to perform properly.
Avoiding junk food is a good way to cut down on empty
calories and excess sugar. Following dietary guidelines
such as those of the American Cancer Society and National Institutes of Health is a good way to ensure that
you are receiving proper nutrition. Their recommendations are as follows:
Eat less fat.
Eat less sugar.
Drink plenty of fluids.
Do not add salt to your food.
Eat whole grain cereals.

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Do not use alcohol or tobacco.


Eat fresh fruits and vegetables.
In addition, various herbs, vitamins and minerals are considered to have beneficial effects.

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Frequently Asked Questions: Part 2


Vision Conditions
Q. What should I do if I have a question about how to
address a specific vision problem or condition?
A. Were not in a position to answer questions about specific visual problems or conditions. If you have any
such questions, you should contact an eye doctor licensed
in your state. If you want a referral to an eye doctor in
your area, call our See Clearly Method consultants
toll-free at 877-232-3598, Monday-Friday, 9 am 5 pm
Central time.
The See Clearly Method is designed to help people with
common visual problems like eyestrain, nearsightedness,
farsightedness, pre s byopia, and astigmatism. If yo u
have one or more of these problems, we recommend you
do Exercise Sessions and New Visual Habits on a daily
basis (see What Youll Do Each Day page 42). You
can also do more of those exercises recommended for your
specific condition (see page 64).
Q. Can the See Clearly Method help eye diseases such as
glaucoma, cataract, or macular degeneration?
A. The See Clearly Method was not conceived as a treatment of these conditions. You should be under the care
of an eye care practitioner for these conditions. We recommend working with an optometrist familiar with
behavioral approaches to vision care. Ask them when and
how you might work with the See Clearly Method.

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Q. Both my parents are nearsighted. Does this mean my


nearsightedness is inherited?
A. Although nearsightedness seems to run in families, it
is not known to what degree myopia is actually inherited
or to what degree the lifestyle of the myopic parents is
reinforced in their children. However, if you could see
well as a child, its likely that you were born with normal,
healthy eyes.
Q. What causes myopia?
A. In most cases, myopia (nearsightedness) is caused by
stress on the focusing mechanism of the eyes resulting
from extended periods of reading, working at a computer, or other close-up visual activity. It is often accompanied
by a poor diet. Over time these factors may trigger
physiological processes which can result in changes in the
physical structure of the eyes.
Q. I wear really thick glasses. Will the exercises help me?
A. Yes, but if youve been wearing glasses for decades and
have a strong prescription, dont expect to get rid of them
entirely. A more realistic goal is to be able to function well
with a significantly reduced prescription.
Q. Can these exercises help a lazy eye or crossed eyes?
A. The See Clearly Method was not conceived as a treatment for these conditions. You should be under the care
of an optometrist who offer vision therapy and who understands the developmental and behavioral aspects of
vision. You can ask the optometrist when and how you
might work with the See Clearly Method.

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Use of Eyeglasses/Undercorrection
Q. What does my prescription mean?
A. In general, the larger the number, the worse yo u r
eyesight. A plus sign in front of the number means farsighted or presbyopic. A minus sign in front of the number
means nearsighted (myopic). If a second decimal number,
an x, and another number follow in sequence after the
first number, you have astigmatism.
Q: How can weaker prescriptions be used to improve your
eyesight?
A: One technique we recommend for strengthening the
eyes is called progressive undercorrection. This is the
process of adapting to weaker glasses or contact prescriptions as your eyes become stronger and need less
assistance. Done properly, the newly prescribed lenses
should give you no worse than 20/40 acuity in each eye.
The process is the opposite of how you arrived at your
current prescription letting increasingly strong lenses
compensate for progressively poorer vision. For your
safety, you should never drive, use power tools, go
up or down stairs, or engage in any other potentially
dangerous activity using a weaker prescription. Use
an undercorrected prescription only when reading, watching television, or doing other safe activities. Do not use a
weaker prescription unless your doctor confirms that you
can see well enough to do so safely.
If your eye doctor isnt familiar with the developmental
and behavioral aspects of vision care, you could find resistance to your requests for a weaker prescription, since
this is contrary to the usual pattern of prescribing stronger
lenses. If you have difficulty finding a supportive eye
doctor, look for a local optometrist who offers vision

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therapy or visual training. We may be able to refer you


to a supportive eye doctor in your area; call the See Clearly
Method referral network at (toll free in US/Canada) 877232-3598 Monday-Friday, 9 am 5 pm Central time.
For more information on progressive undercorrection,
see page 61.
Q. What is the best way to use corrective lenses glasses
and contact lenses - in conjunction with the See Clearly
Method?
A. Although corrective lenses make things clearer by refocusing light before it enters the eyes, they usually create
d e p e n d e n c y. For this reason, we advise you to we a r
c o r re c t i ve lenses as little as possible. Always we a r
them for potentially dangerous activities or any other activity where you must have clear vision, such as driving,
crossing the road, cooking, using power tools, etc. When
you finish the activity, take them off, provided its safe
to do so. Break the habit of just leaving your glasses or
contacts on all the time. For more on the use of corrective lenses, see page 60.
Q: As my vision improves, will I have to keep getting
weaker and weaker prescriptions?
A: If you follow the See Clearly Method as directed, chances
are good that youll soon improve your vision to the point
where either you dont need your glasses or contacts or
you need a weaker prescription. If you need a weaker prescription, we strongly recommend doing pro g re s s i ve
undercorrection. For an explanation of progressive undercorrection, see page 61.

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