Natural Vision Improvement

Vision Improvement Question and Answers

Janet Goodrich Method Student Question & Answers

Welcome to the Q & A page. Below you will find a number of common questions that students of vision improvement often ask.

To protect the privacy of our students we have changed the names in all correspondence.

Hi, I live in the United States. I wanted to find out what product would be best for me. I have astigmatism in my left eye. Contacts or glasses won't help. I wear a special toric lens. My left eye vision is always blurry. Also, I'm 49 and my reading and close up vision is blurry. I wear contacts in both eyes. 2.25 plus in right eye. Also how do I figure out rates for the USA? Hi, Thanks for your email. First question is, how long have you needed reading glasses? Since early life, or since around age 40? So, just to clarify, you wear contacts in both eyes, with plus lenses for reading and a special shape in the left eye? If contact lenses don't help with the astigmatism, what is the toric lens for? I am hearing that your left eye is always blurry, even with the contact lenses? Just want to be sure I understand your situation as much as possible before making product suggestions. When ordering you do need to enter the Australian dollar price as listed on the product information, and the payment processor will convert to US dollars on your statement, if you wish to convert yourself ahead of time to find out the price in US dollars, please visit the xe.com currency converter, which will give you the most up to date conversion. best regards, Carina Hi Carina, I got glasses when I was in elementary school. I rarely wore them and then I stopped altogether. I got glasses again when I was around 23 because I'd get headaches when reading. I wore them all the time. Then I got contacts when I was 25 and have worn them everyday since. Then about fifteen years ago, optometrists started telling me I had really strong astigmatism in my left eye. They said I always had it but I didn't notice because my right eye accommodated. I held my hand in front of my left eye and discovered that my left eyesight was blurry whether I wore the contact or not. About five years ago I was given a toric lens by an optometrist. Plus 2 sphere, -2.25 cyl. I barely noticed the difference during the eye test. It's still blurry with the lens, but I think a little less because if I don't wear it, my eyes get tired easily. I started wearing reading glasses with my contacts about four years ago. I started out at plus one, now I wear a 1.75. The funny thing is, I can read without the contacts and reading glasses. If I hold the page about an inch or two from my eyes. The vision in the left eye is actually better than the right eye! It's not easy reading that way so I rarely do it. But it makes me think things are not what they seem. From your description it sounds like you are a hyperope. This is assuming that the glasses you got in elementary school were for reading, which it does sound like. If this is the case then the product for you is definitely the Personal Eyesight Training Kit. This will address both the hyperopia and the astigmatism, and the emotional elements that are very likely to play an important role in these conditions for you. This kit does touch a little bit on presbyopia so even if you would have developed a touch of this 'over-40's' reading blur, this kit will still be the one as the astigmatism, and the general vision, lifestyle and emotional aspects are very important. Transition glasses will be important for you, do you feel you may be able to go without your contacts for any periods of time? It is very interesting that you can read at such a close distance, clearly not comfortable or desirable in the long term. Astigmatism does tire your eyes as well as cause discomfort, so starting activities for relaxing your eyes would be an excellent way to go. Have you received the free audio lesson from our website email list as yet? Also the free tromboning lesson from the Kit which is on the Kit promotional video pages. You could begin with these right away. Free introductory lesson: enter your details on our home page at http://www.janetgoodrichmethod.com PET Kit video pages: http://www.janetgoodrichmethod.com/pet_video_4_cart.html Please let me know if you have further questions. best regards, Carina Hi Carina, I can see without contacts. But it's blurry and I can't drive. Sometimes in the morning I'll go without them for about an hour. Towards the end of the time, I get used to seeing things that way and it's kind of relaxing. It's encouraging you can go without your contacts, as I think this would be important in improving your vision. And especially that it becomes comfortable when you get used to it. Can glasses give you enough correction to drive? This would be the way to go, and to just use them when you need to, using an even weaker correction or preferably pinhole glasses (included in our kits) for most everything else. best regards, Carina I get used to being without the contacts. But I can't read anything except for big signs. I can wear my reading glasses to drive. I've driven short distances without contacts or glasses and been okay. Do people use your kit and find over time they are able to see well without contacts or glasses? On average how long does it take? How is that possible with astigmatism since, from what I know, that has to do with the shape of the eye? If I decide to get the kit, how do I figure out the conversion to US Dollars? The Kit is brand new but yes, people who do the activities find their vision improves, both with clear flashes very quickly after beginning the programme and also with gradual steady improvement over time. How long it takes depends on your situation and how often you apply the activities, also whether you attend to the lifestyle and emotional aspects. Astigmatism is a warp across the cornea, and is very changable when not locked into place with a prescription. It can change for the better as well as for the worse. Please see the FAQ page of my website and let me know if you have further questions. http://www.janetgoodrichmethod.com/vision-improvement-faq.html You can also read students comments and testimonials at: http://www.janetgoodrichmethod.com/testimonials.html If you place an order at our website with your credit card, it will automatically be converted out of US dollars. If you want to know the amount in USD prior to ordering please visit xe.com for that days exchange rates and conversion facility. Please let me know if you have further questions. best regards, Carina I'm really enjoying your book! I'm doing the four introductory exercises and I'm seeing improvement. The pinhole glasses are great too! The thing is, I sometimes wear contacts still because I got some transition reading glasses from the store and they don't work in all instances. And when I read I have to wear the contacts and reading glasses to see. Does this defeat the work I"m doing with the book? I don't know any natural vision improvement based optometrists in Chicago. What do you recommend? Thanks for your email and your comments. Its great to hear you are enjoying the book and pinholes. Your question will depend on how you are using the contacts and glasses and how you deal with the situation. If you need to use them then this will be your position of least stress, which is what we want. But as you will now know, using them will be putting strain on your visual system and reducing the amount of 'room' your eyes have to improve. So my recommendations are: -Use them as little as possible. -Do 'balancing' activities immediately afterward whenever possible such as Near-Far Swing and Palming. -Monitor them and get weaker ones as soon as possible to keep giving your eyes that room to improve. -'Allow' yourself what you need to do without it adding stress, be as relaxed as you can about using your prescriptions and -keep using good vision habits even when using them. Doing these things will hopefully mean you can do what you need with the prescriptions and still have your eyes continuing to improve. Remember that you can get very inexpensive prescriptions at the following website. This may help you to have transition glasses that suit your situation without a big oulay. http://zennioptical.com/cart/home.php I look forward to hearing how you go with this. May we use your comments in our upcoming newsletter? best regards, Carina Thanks for your advice. I'll follow it. I really like your approach. It's very friendly. You can certainly use my comments for your newsletter!

 

Hello Carina, I have a bunch of questions that I hope that you have time for. 1)Somewhere in the information you gave me, I think that you said that you will answer questions for 3 months after I get the kit. What happens after that if I have questions? Even after three months you can still email me with questions. Sometimes I may take some time to reply if they are many or lengthy. 2)When I actually notice enough improvement in my eyes to go back to the optometrist, do they start testing from my last prescription and if so will my eyes switch back too or do I need to ask them to start from the beginning? Ask them to start from the beginning. Sometimes optometrists have been known to simply refer to the past prescription rather than completly retesting. If your OD is unsupportive it may be best to go to a new one and not give them your prescription history, just ask them to assess where you are at the time. We do want the most impartial result possible from their side, and from your side the time and atmosphere that allows you to relax and use good vision techniques during the assessment. 3)I had gotten reduced transition glasses before I got PET because of some of the research I had done, but I did not know that it was a good idea to get plastic frames so I have metal ones. Does it make that much of a difference? Is it ok to wait until the next reduced pair before I get the plastic frames? Re Metal frames, it is not ideal, but if cost is an issue it may not be too much of a problem to wait. Some people are more sensitive than others to this issue. If you visit the members area for Kit customers there is info on how to get very inexpensive transition glasses if you want to check it out. 4)If I am short on time, which activities are the most important to do or should I just rather shorten every activity to get them all in? My prescription is Right Eye: -3.75 ADD2, Left Eye: -4.50 -.50x095. This is a hard question to answer as it depends on how you respond to each activity. I would try doing it both ways ie; pick a small number and do them longer, on another day do more of them for a shorter period and see how the results feel to you. However in general, when you are starting out, I would rather you do a smaller number of activities for longer periods as you are still learning to use good vision habits (blinking, breathing, relaxed neck and shoulders etc) while doing the activities, so this is more important than cramming more activities in. In this case simply swap the activities that you do each day for different ones. Keep referring to the 'What Myopes Need' and 'What Astigmatics Need' reference sheets as you do this. When doing a shortened programme, do try to get the preparation activies in and then do a longer period of just one or two of the specific activities for myopia or astigmatism, especially in the beginning. 5) Do you need to actually "see" the magic nose pencil or paint brush or is it good enough as long as both eyes are following the nose and looking at the same spot? The Magic Nose tools are in your imagination, so do see them when you are doing it with your eyes closed, when eyes are open your attention is more with the actual visual world around you, the important thing is to retain the feeling: your eyes (visual attention) and where the tip of your paintbrush/pencil would be stay together and the movement comes from your nose (head moving). 6) If doing the near/far swing, does one need to keep doing the magic nose pencil close/distant also as another activity once they have the idea of the eyes following the nose? Once you have moved onto the Near Far Swing you may be able to do the Magic Nose Pencil less and less as part of your dedicated vision games session, HOWEVER it is good to check in with it because it helps to retain the good vision habits that maintain saccadic motion, and also the goal is to be using your eyes like this all the time. When you find yourself 'sketching' throughout your daily routine then you know you have made this technique a new habit and again, don't need to do it so much for it's own sake. 7) Will I be able to actually feel my eyes changing? I have had clear flashes, actually this from before I got the kit since I do have Thomas Quackenbush's Relearning to See. The other day, pictures from across the room were clearing up but not totally, but this kept happening for several minutes. My eyes felt a little like they do when I do magic eye pictures. You may experience different sensations with your eyes, from clear flashes to an ongoing gradual improvement. You will probably notice that your vision is even more noticably affected by how you are feeling, both physically and emotionally, with lively joyful vision on good days and tired sluggish vision on poor days.

 

Hello Carina, My 13yr old daughter Mary has stopped wearing her quite thick glasses and now only uses them to see the board at school. She uses the pinholes mostly for watching TV. We are continuing to do the eye games each day, but she is starting to get bored doing the same things - any suggestions? She tells me that at different times - sometimes whilst doing the eye games but also at other random times - she sees with clarity beyond the 12" distance where she usually has clarity but then she blinks and the blur returns. I would love to tell her that the episodes of clarity will probably get longer but I don't know that yet. Can you tell me if this is the normal pathway and whether the clarity will indeed remain for longer as she continues with her eye games? many thanks Dell Hi Dell, Thanks for your email and your patience in awaiting a reply. I am glad to hear that Mary is experiencing the benefits of doing her vision activities, and yes, she does seem to be following the normal pattern of improvement with clear flashes. Vision will improve in two ways as a student progresses, through a gradual increase in clarity (a reverse of the gradual deterioration that usually occured previously) and through clear flashes. Clear flashes are when the student experiences a 'flash' of perfect clarity which usually then goes again quite quickly. Often the student 'tenses up' in a desire to 'hold onto' the clear flash which of course helps it to go, as it usually has been acheived through a moment of relaxation. As the student progresses these clear flashes can increase in frequency and duration, and the student will learn to relax into them rather then tense up, helping to sustain them. In regards to further activities for Mary, you will find all the best vision activities for children in Janet Goodrich's book "How to Improve Your Child's Eyesight Naturally" (available from our website or Inner Traditions Publishers in the USA). Mary is at an age where she can read this book for herself as well as you reading it. You will also find further activity suggestions in the NVI book that you have. Once you have grasped the principles of an activity feel free to 'play' with the exact procedures in order to keep up Mary's interest. Bring in her favourite topics and toys, have her make suggestions of different ways of doing the activity. I hope this is helpful. Best Regards, Carina Goodrich

 

Hello: I am wondering if you have any suggestions regarding a problem I have with my lower eyelid. The eyelid turns in on itself and rubs against my eye, which causes a lot of irritation and discomfort. My doctor says this is a result of a loose lower lid and has recommended surgery, which would involve cutting the tendon below the eye and removing a piece of it, then sewing it back together. I would prefer to avoid surgery but the discomfort is a big problem for me. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your help. Best regards, Anne Hi Anne, Thanks for your email and your patience in awaiting a reply. The only suggestion I could offer would be researching ways of exercising the specific muscles involved to see if the tone of the under eye muscles can be improved. I have seen a book from many decades ago called "The Joyce Lee Method of Scientific Facial Exercises" which demonstrated how to tone very specific facial muscles. In some ways this is similiar to 'natural face lift' exercises occasionally written about in health and beauty magazines. Specialist beauticians may also be helpful in this regard. Other than this I do not have any information on the topic at this time, but you may find a Vision Educator with more information about this subject at the Association of Vision Educators list: www.visioneducators.org Best regards, Carina Goodrich

 

Hi, my name is Bill (other personal information withheld) I ordered your NVI kit and have started to use it and have a few questions.  I have reading glasses only with +1,25 and +2.00 magnifications.  The right eye can basically read without any correction (slight blurriness only) and the left eye (the +2.00 eye) can't read very well.  The right eye (the +1.25 eye) is not so great in the distance while the left eye (the +2.00 eye) see almost perfectly in the distance.  My question is when tromboning with the left eye only, I feel some eye strain after I am finished.  I suspect this is to be expected and means that something is working,  I have only been at this for 2 weeks and haven't seen any results with the left eye which is my main concern (the left eye is the concern, not the fact that there is no improvement at this early stage).  I know it will probably take much longer for the left eye to improve for reading. Is the eye strain to be expected?  Any special recommendations for having one eye that sees relatively clearly for reading but not for distance and the other eye the opposite. Thanks in advance for your help. Bill Hi Bill, We do often feel some sensation in the eye muscles after doing tromboning.  If you feel it as a 'strain' rather than 'active' or 'relaxed' sensation then do your tromboning more slowly.  Really make sure you are breathing deeply and keeping your body relaxed.  Ensure you are doing the activity with your eyes closed and visualising the movement of the object, also while staying relaxed!  It sounds like your brain may have chosen to use mostly the right eye for reading and the left eye for distance...this can lead to further deterioration in the vision in each eye in its respective blur zone, and loss or reduction in fusion (the ability of the two eyes to work together), if allowed to continue and intensify.  The goal now is to bring the acuity of the two eyes into balance in all distances, and to bring the two eyes working together with the brain. Sooo... ususally I would say do more tromboning with the eye that has more blur up close.  However we want this to be comfortable for that eye.  Do as much as is comfortable as above, then do some palming immediately.  If the eye feels up to it, do a bit more tromboning followed again by palming.  See if you can increase over time so that you are doing almost twice as much tromboning with the left eye as with the right. Extend this principles to the other important reading activities such as the White Glow.   Then monitor with the reading card and decrease again into balance as the vision in the left eye catches up with the right for up close.  In the meantime I would suggest doing near far swing with both eyes together and with the right eye alone.  You also need lots of fusion activity.  First ensure you have fusion with the gate, then do as much as you can stand on the fusion chart.  When you are finding this really easy (or before) find some 'Magic Eye' pictures to practice on.  Do fusion activities daily if possible, for a few minutes here and there, and especially right after the activities where you are doing different times with each eye.  Remember your eyes are 'tight' not 'weak'.  To bring improvement we need to nurture them into relaxing and moving easily and comfortably.  So again you may feel a feeling of having 'worked' the eye after tromboning but get back to me if you are experiencing discomfort or what you would really identify as stress or strain. I hope this has been helpful, best regards, Carina Goodrich

 

Dear Carina, thank you so much for all the materials for improving my eyesight. Now I have to put all the knowledge in an action I would like to ask you 2 more questions.. Is it possible to wear contacts (of course as little as possible) and still work successfully on natural vision improvement?  What is your opinion on using hydrotherapy as part of NVI? Particularly cold water eye baths or contrast (hot-cold) water compresses over the eyes?  God bless you and your family! You must be very happy woman because you give other people such a great chance of real happiness!  I admire your profession, and I admire you!  Betty Hi Betty, I hope you are well. In regards to your questions. Contacts are not recommended when improving eyesight for a couple of reasons; Because they are a more difficult to remove you tend to wear them even when you don’t really need to - with glasses you can wear them just for a task, them remove them immediately. The less time you are behind a prescription the more room your eyes have to improve. Depending on the type, contacts can also deprive the front of the eye of oxygen (less with modern contacts), and cause irritation. The eyes are sensitive and although they do become accustomed to having a foreign object constantly on their surface it may interfere with their ability to completely relax. I don't know a lot about hydrotherapy but it sounds good.  Any complementary practices that increase the health of the eye and brain will benefit the eyesight. Thanks for your patience in awaiting a reply.  I wish you all the best! Regards, Carina

 

Hi Carina, I have worked with two vision teachers and have certainly made progress. However, my vision prescription is -10 plus astigmatism. Do you really think there is hope with this kind of prescription? I have put a lot of time, energy and money into this journey and just want a good sense of what is realistic for me. Warm wishes Sandra Hi Sandra, Thanks for your email. Yes, I do believe there is hope for your situation. And yes, that it is a long journey with many parts. Janet completely got rid of her visual blur, and though she started at about -5.50, it could be looked at that your situation is equally changable, just a matter of the degree. Remember that emotional resolution will play a major role in such high refractive error. Along with your management of transition glasses and daily stress. I wish you all the best and look forward to hearing from you if there is some way we can assist. Best Regards, Carina Thanks for this. Please could you let me know how would you help with the emotional resolution aspect? Transition glasses I have always found to be my stumbling block. I currently have ones which are 20/40 by having reduced the myopic correction but maintained the astigmatism correction. However, although I go about my daily life without glasses (including cycling around town, much to people's amazement!) and experience short and extended flashes of clarity, when it comes to wearing glasses for driving or computer use or running workshops etc, I have no improvement in my vision WITH the glasses. A year on, they are still 20/40, when I had hoped I would shift to seeing 20/20 through them and then reduce again etc. It therefore feels like I'm not making progress. Can you shed any light on this? I'm getting married in a few weeks and have put some sessions with you on my 'possibilities for September' list :) Your responses will hopefully turn this into a 'probability' ! With thanks Sandra Hi Sandra, You have an interesting situation.  It's fantastic that you are having so much success with going without glasses and with flashes of clarity.  Perhaps your visual system is seperating out it's areas of improvement; that it puts it's energy into clarity when you go without glasses, as you are able to do it so much, and when you put your glasses on it conforms to that status quo, rather than putting energy into creating improvement despite the stress of having to work through the prescription. I hope this makes sense.   How are you determining that you have no change with your T-glasses? Are you doing self-assessment or going to an OD?   I do a form of emotional healing work in person, which includes deep relaxation, potentially memory regression, what I call 'inner world' therapy, changing the structures of your emotional makeup and releasing old stresses, creating new pathways for positive emotions to flow and a variety of other methods depending on what is called for.    My very best wishes for your wedding and married life.   Best Regards, Carina

 

 

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