Classical Stretch by Essentrics

I'd never heard of it until just last week.  It's called the "Classical Stretch by Essentrics."  The stretch is designed to straighten your spine.

Maybe I should let the site speak for itself:

Essentrics Workout

1)  A dynamic workout based on the theories of Miranda Esmonde-White that simultaneously lengthens and strengthens every muscle in the body, resulting in greater joint mobility and lean, long muscles.

2)  A full-body technique that works through the muscles chains, liberating and empowering the muscles, relieving them from tension in the process.

3)  A completely original workout that draws on the flowing movements of Tai Chi which create health and balance, the strengthening theories behind ballet create long, lean, and flexible muscles and the healing principle of physiotherapy which create a pain free body.

There are three basic types of muscle contractions and Essentrics is loosely based on the concept of eccentric muscle contractions.

Medical Definition:  Eccentric training is defined as active contraction of a muscle occurring simultaneously with lengthening of the muscle.

You can read more as to what Essentrics Stretching is about, what it is for and who it is for here.  

Cayenne Pepper, Among Many Things, Stops Heart Attacks

by Healthy Life Tricks

Did you know that cayenne pepper can prevent heart attack in a minute? So you better make sure you always have it on hand or at least in your kitchen cabinet, cause you never know when you might need this valuable ingredient.

An American herbalist, Dr. Christopher, has never lost a patient to a heart attack in his 35-year career. What he does is he gives a cup of cayenne pepper tea (a teaspoon to a cup of water) to patients who are still conscious.  These theory is scientifically proven from personal experience and not on studies done in controlled conditions. So it is even more trustworthy.

The reason why Cayenne pepper helps with heart attack is because it has at least 90,000 Scoville units, according to the Scoville Heat Units (SHU). This also includes Habanero, Thai Chi, African Bird, Jalapeño, Jamaican Hot Pepper, and Scotch Bonet. 

A combination of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and a glass of water can be given to patients who have had a heart attack, but are still conscious and breathing.

If the person is unconscious, put a few drops of cayenne pepper extract under the patient’s tongue.

This will increase the heart rate and carries blood to all parts of the body, thus balancing circulation. It has hemostatic effect, stops bleeding, and helps in heart recovery.

The remedy below is considered to be the best remedy for emergency cases of heart attacks. Just remember to use cayenne pepper and not hot pepper.

Ingredients:

• Cayenne pepper powder
• a few fresh cayenne peppers
• 50% alcohol (you can use vodka)
• glass bottle (1 litre)
• Gloves

Preparation:

1.   Put your gloves on because cayenne peppers are pretty hot.

2.   Fill a quarter of the glass bottle with cayenne pepper powder and put enough alcohol to cover the powder. If possible, do this on the first day of a New Moon.

3.   Blend a few fresh cayenne peppers, and add enough alcohol so it gets a sauce-like texture.

4.   Add the mixture to the bottle which should now be 3/4 full.

5.   Fill the bottle to the top with alcohol and close it well. Shake it several times during the day.

6.   Leave the tincture until the next New Moon (after 28 – 29 days), and strain it using a gauze. Keep it in a dark bottle.

7.   If you want to have a very strong tincture, strain it after 3 months.

8.   Close the bottle and store it in a dry and dark place. It doesn’t spoil, so you can use it as long as you want.

Dosage: 5 – 10 drops of the tincture to a conscious patient who has suffered a heart attack or a stroke. Add another 5-10 drops in 5 minutes. Repeat the treatment until the patient’s condition improves.

If the patient is unconscious, put 1-3 drops under the tongue, and start a CPR. Repeat the treatment every 5 minutes until the patient’s condition improves.

Health benefits:

• Cayenne pepper has antifungal properties which prevent the occurrence of Phomopsis and Colletotrichum
• It has a beneficial effect on the digestive system – it stimulates the production of gastric juices, and relieves gases.
• It has anticancer properties, especially for lung cancer and smokers. The capsaicin in cayenne pepper is known to prevent the development of tumors caused by tobacco, and similar results are noticed in patients diagnosed with liver cancer.
• It helps in the treatment of stomach problems, migraines, flu symptoms, allergies, obesity, redness, toothache and arthritis.

There are 26 different nutrients in cayenne pepper, like calcium, zinc, selenium, magnesium, vitamins C and A.

Prepare this remedy and always have it handy, because cayenne pepper is one of the strongest natural spices that can do miracles for the heart.

Source: HealthyFoodHouse.com

Tofu: Not So Good

I don't eat tofu or any forms of soy.  I don't drink soy milk, don't eat soy ice cream, and don't eat soy byproducts.  I don't because of the estrogen producing factors in soy.  I can't speak to how they might produce so many kidney stones in one man.  Charlotte Middlehurst, The Telegraph writer stationed in Shanghai, has the story on one man and his consumption of tofu.

Doctors in China have removed 420 kidney stones from a man's body, blaming an excessive amount of tofu in his daily diet.

Mr He from Zhejiang Province in eastern China, checked into the Dongyang People's Hospital complaining of intense pain in his abdomen last month. A CT scan revealed that his left kidney was packed full of stones, most of them tiny.

Doctors operated on Friday in an agonising procedure that lasted about two hours.

Mr He said he had a history of suffering from kidney stones. Twenty years ago he had 10 stones removed using a procedure called lithotripsy, which sends shock waves to break up stones in the kidney, bladder, or ureter until they are small enough to pass in the urine.

"I have worked as a doctor for 30 years and have never seen so many stones," said Zhou Changchun, the attending surgeon, according to state newspaper Qianjiang Evening Post.

The unusually high number of stones was attributed to the high concentration of gypsum tofu, a popular local food, in Mr He's diet. The tofu contains calcium sulphate, which cannot be expelled from the body without a sufficient intake of water.

Wei Yubin, the chief surgeon, said that the kidney would have stopped working had Mr He delayed seeking medical attention any longer, and the kidney most likely removed.

This time, the doctors used forceps to remove each stone one by one.

"We spent 45 minutes just taking out the tiny stones," said Dr Wei. "After the operation, my hands and legs were both numb."

Following the operation, Mr He took his stones home with him in a plastic bag.

The medical name for kidney stones is nephrolithiasis. If the stones cause severe pain, this is known as renal colic. Most kidney stones are small enough, between 4 to 5mm in diameter, to be passed naturally.

Kidney stones are quite common and usually affect people aged 30 to 60 years. It is estimated that renal colic affects about 10 to 20 per cent of men and three to five per cent of women, according to the NHS.

Honey: Nature's Nectar or Another Sugar Substitute?

Getting to the truth of the value of a food requires that we compare the claims on it.  How many times have you read that this food or herb heals or cures a certain ailment?  Perhaps some foods can help in alleviating symptoms.  And if some foods can heal or or cure an ailment, the real question is can it do it for me?  And can it do it more than once?  And perhaps the final question might be "What are its healing properties?" To answer these questions we really need to read comparative claims, which might only leave us with information that makes us less confident when using the food for performance.  

Case in point: honey.  I don't know how many times I have read that honey is a super food, that honey has healing properties, that it is so much better than sugar or artificial sweeteners.  Okay, on that last claim I tend to adhere to that view, but honey as a super food?  Prove it.

I mean I have heard claims of its super power to treat every ailment from arthritis to heart murmurs to brain cognitive deficits.  Here's one article titled "7 Health Benefits of Honey That Could Heal Your Whole Body." That's quite a claim.  So let's take a look at what Lizette Borreli claims honey can do.

#1: Alleviates Allergies

#2: All Natural Energy Drink

#3: Boosts Memory

#4: Cough Suppressant

#5: Sleep Aid

#6: Treats Dandruff

#7: Treats Wounds & Burns

Hmm.  I have my doubts.  But let's review the statements.  First, the allergies.  Apparently, honey produces an immune response that produces antibodies that one's body can use to fight against allergies. Okay.

Second, All Natural Energy Drink.  

Five, as a sleep aid.  Here is what Lizette Borreli claims:

Honey can be a health aid for sleepless nights. Similar to sugar, honey can cause a rise in insulin and release serotonin — a neurotransmitter that improves mood and happiness. “The body converts serotonin into melatonin, a chemical compound that regulates the length and the quality of sleep,” Rene Ficek, registered dietitian and lead dietitian nutritionist at Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating in Chicago, Ill., told Medical Daily in an email.

Moreover, honey also contains several amino acids, including tryptophan that is commonly associated with turkey. Honey’s steady rise in insulin, according to Brennecke, causes the tryptophan in honey to enter the brain, where it’s then converted into serotonin and then into melatonin, which is a sleep aid. This hormone is responsible for regulating sleep and wake cycles.

Perhaps all of this is true in an unadulterated, 25 year old body.  But again what happens when you're using food to improve performance or restore function?  Do these claims still hold, say, in a 63 year old body?  Is honey still the miracle food in a 63 year old body?  That is the question isn't? The question being does this work for me too?  

Another article claims that honey is actually poison.  If so, the health and nutrition and the honey industry have combined to pull the proverbial wool over the eyes of many, including myself who look to honey not just as a natural sweetener but as some kind of mysterious super food produced by the pollenating bees in wonderful nature.

Without these acids and the drying, honey would readily ferment and prove unusable for the bee which must have a dependable food supply for up to eight months in some of the harsher climates. Because of these acids and dehydration, honey is impregnable to bacteria. It is rather poisonous in the human digestive tract.

As a food for us honey is woefully mineral and vitamin deficient. Humans require infinitely more food factors than bees.

While honey contains several very desirable sugars, these have been rendered toxic by the protective acids imparted to them by the bees. These acids are the bees’ preservatives. Humans do not have the enzymes to break these acids down, as have the bees, and must rob their bodies of vital base-forming minerals to neutralize the acids.

I recently ate 2 tablespoons of honey with cheese.  The results? Well, it definitely helps one to sleep, but I woke up feeling exhausted and yawning over and over.  I was also dehydrated. This effect concerned me since the night before I had a couple liters of water.

When humans eat honey, it immediately begins to reabsorb moisture from the stomach and stomach flora. It destroys our symbiotic bacterial population wholesale. Several tablespoons of honey makes most people very sick.

In humans honey, more so than cane and beet sugars, is acid-forming and decalcifying. The body draws calcium from its teeth and bones, if necessary, to neutralize the acids introduced and formed.

Manite acid of honey is a protoplasmic poison. It interacts with protein and from this, forms alcohol, ammonia and carbonic acid.

As eaten, honey is an atrocious food. It is usually added to starches and proteins as a sweetener. It readily ferments when held up in the stomach with other longer-digesting foods. The byproducts alcohol, ammonia and carbonic acid are deleterious to human health.

Honey is, therefore, neither a nutritious nor a safe food.  Life Scientists should not use honey as a part of their diet.

For me it is the dehydrating effects of the honey that cause me concern. And by dehydration I mean my organs were dry--my stomach, my muscles, my head.  It was awful.  No more honey for me. 

Mark Sisson testifies to honey's ability to relieve allergies:

But my personal opinion is that it can really work for seasonal, pollen allergies, because I’ve experienced it firsthand. On a family camping trip to Big Sur, I got a horrible case of hay fever. It was insanely windy all week, so all sorts of allergenic plant compounds were blowing around. It was like I had a tiny cloud of dust and pollen following me around, a la Pigpen from Peanuts. I’d never had it that bad – headache, stuffy nose, bleary red eyes – and it hit me about three hours after our arrival. I felt like I had the worst cold in the history of the world. I actually wanted to go home. On our second day, however, while on a hike, I came across an old guy selling raw, local wildflower honey by the side of the road. A handcrafted cardboard sign read “Good for hay fever.” I thought, “Why not?” and bought a pint. The guy was nice and enthusiastic about his product, and I always like to support small apiaries.

I took a big glug of it and continued on the hike. It was real good, not too sweet and with a raw floral quality to it. Again, I don’t eat a lot of honey, but this stuff was legit – even through my clogged nasal passages. We got back to camp, made dinner, and I went to bed soon after darkness fell. Nose was still stuffy, head was still congested, misery level was still elevated.

And then I woke up, and while things were still backed up, I could tell it was better. A thin jet of air even squeaked through my clogged right nostril, allowing me to breathe and (most importantly) taste the bacon that morning. Another glug of honey down the hatch. Overall, I’d say things were 25% better at this point. By late afternoon, I was 75% better. I kept taking hits of honey and by next morning, I was perfectly fine. Now, I suppose it’s possible that the honey acted as a placebo and my hay fever was already on its way out – I didn’t control for variables, there were no placebos involved, and I randomized absolutely nothing, so there’s no telling for sure. But I doubt it had no effect. Too many other people report similar experiences to make me dismiss my own experience as nonsense or coincidence.

I will say that if you’re going to use raw honey to fight pollen allergies, you’ll want to buy honey that comes from bees who deal with the same plants and flowers that produce the allergenic pollen in question. That means buying local, preferably wildflower honey. Unless you know for sure that your allergy is caused by a specific pollen from a specific plant, wildflower will give you the most bang for your buck by covering a large assortment of plants. So, while raw, unfiltered honey lovingly puked up by bees who subsist only on wild edelweiss growing in the Swiss Alps might taste amazing, it probably won’t do much for your allergies if you’re not allergic to edelweiss pollen.

So perhaps generalized claims about honey cannot be made; that, in fact, in order for the claims about honey to be true one must look at a particular variety or a particular brand of honey to work its magic.

5 Ways Corrective Lenses Break Down your Eyesight and How to Improve your Vision Naturally

by Marco Torres

Optometrists just like much of the medical community are fixated on short-term solutions which don't address the root cause of problems. Few optometrists will admit and the greatest majority are unaware that glasses and contacts are almost guaranteed to destroy your eyesight over time.Unfortunately, they're not trained on natural and preventative solutions that improve vision in the long-term because they simply do not understand the way the eye works. Contrary to popular belief, your vision doesn't have to decline over time. With regular exercise of the muscles that control your eye movements and visual acuity, you can reduce eyestrain and maintain or even improve your vision without any destructive correctional conventions such as laser surgery, glasses or contact lenses.

Practically everyone these days suffers from some form of refractive error. Yet we are told that for these ills, which are not only so inconvenient, but often so distressing and dangerous, there is not only no cure, and no palliatives except those optic crutches known as eyeglasses or contacts, but, under modern conditions of life, practically no prevention.

Few if any optometrists even understand the role of nutrition of even breast milk in eye development. Breast-fed children are significantly more likely to do well in measures of stereoscopic vision than are those who received formula during in infancy.

With one accord ophthalmologists tell us that the visual organ of man was never intended for the uses to which it is now put. Eons before there were any schools or printing presses, electric lights or moving pictures, its evolution was complete. In those days it served the needs of the human animal perfectly. Man was a hunter, a herdsman, a farmer, a fighter. He needed, we are told, mainly distant vision; and since the eye at rest is adjusted for distant vision, sight is supposed to have been ordinarily as passive as the perception of sound, requiring no muscular action whatever. Near vision, it is assumed, was the exception, necessitating a muscular adjustment of such short duration that it was accomplished without placing any appreciable burden upon the mechanism of accommodation.

While primitive man appears to have suffered little from defects of vision, it is safe to say that of persons over twenty-one living under civilized conditions nine out of every ten have imperfect sight, and as the age increases the proportion increases, until at forty it is almost impossible to find a person free from visual defects. Voluminous statistics are available to prove these assertions.

Roughly 2.5 billion people have perfect 20/20 vision. For the other two-thirds, more than 80% of vision problems worldwide are preventable and even curable. In developed nations, more than 90% of aging related deterioration of vision before the age of 50 is due to diet and the daily use of corrective lenses. Meaning the more people lack nutrition and the more frequent the use of glasses or contact lenses, the worse vision will become impaired.

5 WAYS CORRECTIVE LENSES BREAK DOWN YOUR EYESIGHT 

1. Corrective Lenses Don't Correct, They Distort

The fact that glasses or contact lenses cannot improve sight to normal can be very simply demonstrated by looking at any color through a strong convex or concave glass. It will be noted that the color is always less intense than when seen with the naked eye; and since the perception of form depends upon the perception of color, it follows that both color and form must be less distinctly seen with glasses than without them. Even plane glass lowers the vision both for color and form, as everyone knows who has ever looked out of a window. Women who wear glasses for minor defects of vision often observe that they are made more or less color-blind by them, and in a shop one may note that they remove them when they want to match samples. If the sight is seriously defective, the color may be seen better with glasses than without them.

2. Corrective Lenses Injure The Eye

That glasses or contact lenses must injure the eye is evident through the principal of refraction. One cannot see through them unless one produces the degree of refractive error which they are designed to correct. But refractive errors, in the eye which is left to itself, are never constant. If one secures good vision by the aid of concave, or convex, or astigmatic lenses, therefore, it means that one is maintaining constantly a degree of refractive error which otherwise would not be maintained constantly. It is only to be expected that this should make the condition worse, and it is a matter of common experience that it does. After people once begin to wear glasses their strength, in most cases, has to be steadily increased in order to maintain the degree of visual acuity secured by the aid of the first pair. Persons with presbyopia who put on glasses because they cannot read fine print too often find that after they have worn them for a time they cannot, without their aid, read the larger print that was perfectly plain to them before. A person with myopia of 20/70 who puts on glasses giving him a vision of 20/20 may find that in a week's time his unaided vision has declined to 20/200, and we have the testimony of Dr. Sidler-Huguenin, of Zurich that of the thousands of myopes treated by him the majority grew steadily worse, in spite of all the skill he could apply to the fitting of glasses for them. When people break their glasses and go without them for a week or two, they frequently observe that their sight has improved. As a matter of fact the sight always improves, to a greater or less degree, when glasses are discarded, although the fact may not always be noted.

3. Corrective Lenses Condition The Eyes To Fail

That the human eye resents glasses is a fact which no one would attempt to deny. Every oculist knows that patients have to "get used" to them, and that sometimes they never succeed in doing so. Patients with high degrees of myopia and hypermetropia have great difficulty in accustoming themselves to the full correction, and often are never able to do so. The strong concave glasses required by myopes of high degree make all objects seem much smaller than they really are, while convex glasses enlarge them. - These are unpleasantnesses that cannot be overcome. Patients with high degrees of astigmatism suffer some very disagreeable sensations when they first put on glasses, for which reason they are warned by one of the "Conservation of Vision" leaflets published by the Council on Health and Public Instruction of the American Medical Association to "get used to them at home before venturing where a misstep might cause a serious accident." Usually these difficulties are overcome, but often they are not, and it sometimes happens that those who get on fairly well with their glasses in the daytime never succeeded in getting used to them at night.

4. All Corrective Lenses Contract The Field of Vision

All glasses contract the field of vision to a greater or less degree. Even with very weak glasses patients are unable to see distinctly unless they look through the center of the lenses, with the frames at right angles to the line of vision; and not only is their vision lowered if they fail to do this, but annoying nervous symptoms, such as dizziness and headache, are sometimes produced. Therefore they are unable to turn their eyes freely in different directions. It is true that glasses are now ground in such a way that it is theoretically possible to look through them at any angle, but practically they seldom accomplish the desired result.

5. Corrective Lenses Do Not Address Acuity Improvement

It is important to note the absence of statistical correlation between refractive changes and acuity improvements, which implies that other factors besides refractive changes contributed to the observed acuity improvements. Is it not only the sharpness of the retinal focus within the eye that improves acuity. Acuity improvement is a process involving several possible physiological and cerebral mechanisms. The most striking changes occur in visual acuity. Physiological changes are largely responsible for much of these improvements and these can never be addressed by corrective lenses and hence does not address the problem. Although optometrists use refraction measurements, they do not provide enough information about whether the reductions in refractive error are due to axial, corneal, or lenticular changes.

How To Keep Your Eyes Naturally Healthy

Perhaps the single greatest reason why people in today's society suffer from chronic eyestrain and deteriorating vision is the amount of time that is spent staring at computer monitors and television screens.

Your eyes are designed to move regularly. Frequent movement of your eyes is what promotes optimal blood flow and nerve tone to your eyes and the six muscles that control your eye movements.

What follows are several simple eye exercises that you can do on a regular basis to keep your eyes and vision as healthy as possible:

Look as far to your right as possible for 3-5 seconds, then as far to your left as possible for 3-5 seconds. Rest for a few seconds, then repeat this sequence several times.

Look as far up as possible for 3-5 seconds, then look as far down as possible for 3-5 seconds. Rest for a few seconds, then repeat this sequence several times.

Slowly roll your eyes in a circle, first clockwise, then counter-clockwise. Rest for a few seconds, then repeat this sequence several times. Be sure to roll slowly - it should take at least 3 seconds for you to roll your eyes in a full circle.

Hold a pen in front of you, about an arm's length away. Focus your vision on the tip of your pen for 3-5 seconds, then shift the focus of your vision to an object that is farther away for 3-5 seconds. The greater the distance between your pen and the distant object, the better. If you are indoors, look out a window to find a distant object to focus your vision on. Repeat this sequence of going back and forth between your pen and a distant object several times.

Just for interest's sake, this exercise is used by some professional baseball players to optimize visual acuity, which is essential for the hand-eye coordination that is needed to play pro ball.

Please note that all of these exercises should be done with your eyes, not your head and neck. With this in mind, keep your head and neck still while you take your eyes through the movements described above.

Relearning to See: Improve Your Eyesight - Naturally! is an outstanding book that offers a comprehensive array of exercises and information that can help you support your vision. And if you wear eyeglasses or contacts, following the guidance provided in this book may actually help you do away with your prescription eye wear or at the very least, help prevent deterioration of your visual acuity as you age.

Beyond doing the exercises described above on a regular basis, another way to reduce eyestrain and promote your best vision is to use your fingers to apply gentle pressure to three acupressure points that can help promote healthy blood flow to your eyes and the muscles that surround your eyes.

Keep Blinking

Frequent and gentle blinking is essential to maintaining healthy eyes and optimal vision because it allows your eyelids to keep your eyes coated with three beneficial layers of tears:

The first layer of tears lies right up against the whites of your eyes, and provides an even coat of protein-rich moisture for the second layer to adhere to.

The middle watery layer helps to wash away foreign debris. It also nourishes the cornea of your eyes with minerals, a variety of proteins, and moisture.

The third outer layer of tears is somewhat oily. It serves to prevent the middle watery layer from evaporating quickly, and provides needed lubrication between your eyes and your eyelids.

If your eyes are not regularly coated with the three layers of tears described above, they will be deprived of ongoing nourishment and cleansing, and they will be unnecessarily strained.

One of the reasons why many of us don't blink as often as we should is that we don't see frequent blinking in mainstream media. Actors and anchor-people are typically trained to blink as infrequently as possible, so when we take in most forms of media, our subconscious minds learn that it isn't normal to blink frequently.

To optimally support your eyes and vision, it's best to blink softly every two to four seconds, which translates to about fifteen to thirty blinks per minute. By consciously making an effort to softly blink at this rate, over time, your body will turn your conscious efforts into a subconscious habit.

If you're thinking that such frequent blinking will make reading a book or viewing a movie uncomfortable, give it a try and you'll see right away that it doesn't take away from these experiences at all.

Here are some notes on blinking to promote optimal eye health and vision:

A soft and natural blink should occur like the light flap of the wings of a butterfly - this is a good image to visualize as you make an effort to blink softly every two to four seconds.

You should blink regularly during all activities, including reading, working on the computer, and viewing a TV program or film.

Contact lenses can discourage frequent blinking because the back side of your eyelids is not designed to rub over an artificial surface. This is one of several good reasons why contact lenses should be avoided whenever possible.

Some yoga and meditation instructors suggest doing exercises that involve fixating your vision on one object - such as the flame of a candle - and doing your best not to blink. Frequent blinking while doing this type of exercise doesn't take away from the ability to experience inner stillness.

More Visual Training

The following techniques, then, are based on these premises: First, that the art of seeing-like other fundamental skills such as talking, walking, and using one's hands-is acquired. Second, this skill is normally learned through unconscious self-instruction in childhood. Third, for many of us in today's pressure-packed world, the only way to keep perfect sight is to practice techniques of conscious eye relaxation. Finally, if the exercises are performed correctly for a sufficient length of time-in conjunction with a proper diet and a physical conditioning program-eyesight will show permanent improvement. (The corollary to this is that the stronger the lenses you wear now-and the longer the time that you've worn them-the more time and effort you'll have to put forth to achieve better vision.)

It's best to "palm" while sitting or lying on the floor, with your elbows propped on a cushioned surface. Close your eyes and then cover them with the palms of your hands, crossing the fingers of one hand over those of the other on your forehead. Don't, however, apply any pressure on the lids with your palms. Ideally, you'll "see" a field of intense blackness, which indicates a state of perfect relaxation. If instead you witness illusions of light, bright color, or patches of gray, you're tense to some degree. However, don't concentrate on trying to "see" blackness, as the effort itself will produce strain. Rather, passively visualize a pleasant memory-one that helps ease your mind-while keeping your shoulders and neck relaxed. The more frequent and lengthy the periods of palming, the more likely you are to school your eyes to reduce muscle tension, with subsequent benefit to your sight.

Pinhole Glasses

Pinhole glasses, also known as stenopeic glasses, are eyeglasses with a series of pinhole-sized perforations filling an opaque sheet of plastic in place of each lens. Similar to the workings of a pinhole camera, each perforation allows only a very narrow beam of light to enter the eye which reduces the size of the circle of confusion on the retina and increases depth of field. In eyes with refractive error, the result is claimed to be a clearer image.

Unlike conventional prescription glasses, pinhole glasses produce an image without the pincushion effect around the edges (which makes straight lines appear curved).

After prolonged use, the plastic grating should become easy to ignore. With certain eye exercises such as those below, pinhole glasses can permanently improve eyesight. Skeptics argue that no scientific evidence has been found to support them. Due to a lack of formal clinical studies to substantiate this type of claim by companies selling pinhole glasses, this type of claim is no longer allowed to be made in the United States under the terms of a legal settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, however empirical evidence suggests they do work.

Swinging

This whole-body exercise improves vision, relieves fatigue and stress, and increases the mobility of the eyes. Stand looking straight ahead, with your feet positioned about 12 inches apart. Now, rotate your body-head, trunk, and all-to the left, throwing your weight onto your left foot while you allow your right heel to rise from the floor. Keep your shoulders and neck straight. When you swing to the opposite side, shifting your weight to your other foot, your eyes will cover a 180 degree arc.

Absolutely no attempt should be made to focus your sight on anything. Just maintain an attitude of passive relaxation, making about 30 of these "arcs" per minute. You should do this exercise twice daily, completing the swing from side to side 100 times. By doing your swings right before bedtime, you'll prevent eyestrain from occurring during sleep.

Sunning

Although there's no scientific evidence available to prove that sunning helps vision, many people who have tried it testify to its benefits, particularly those whose eyes have become oversensitive to light.

All sunning should be done with the eyes closed. Sit or stand in the sunlight, face relaxed, and let the rays of the sun penetrate and ease the tension in your eyelids. This is a good way to start off the day, and even a few minutes will help. To avoid possible strain on your eyes, rotate your head slightly from side to side or move it as if you were using your nose to draw a circle around the sun . . . breathe deeply and don't squint.

Central Fixation

Central fixation refers to the fact that-since the central portion of the retina is the point of most acute vision-the eye sees only one small part of any object sharply, with all the other areas being slightly blurred. When you look at a thing, your eye shifts very rapidly over it to achieve the illusion of clearly seeing the entire object at once. To demonstrate this fact, look at an object, focusing on its topmost part. Without actually moving your focus downward, try to "see" the bottom of the object. You'll find that its lower details don't appear to be sharp.

A problem-free eye shifts quite rapidly and unconsciously while it is observing. People with imperfect vision often try to see a large part of the visual field at once, all areas equally well simultaneously, without moving their eyes. This puts considerable strain on the eye . . . and also on the brain, the organ that actually has to integrate what you see.

To correct this tendency, it's important to develop your central fixation by teaching your eyes that it's "acceptable" to see only one point clearly at a time. The orbs must learn to move and refocus rapidly, rather than straining to see an entire object at one sighting. You can do this by studying an eye chart, training yourself to look at the top of a letter on the chart while "accepting" an unfocused image of its bottom (and vice versa). When you can accomplish this easily, your eyes will be relaxed, and your vision will be improved.

Most of us rely on our vision to supply 80% to 90% of the information we process about the world. Our sight affects the way that we think and, in addition, the way we think affects our sight. (If you don't believe the latter statement, just remember that you actually see the world upside down...but your mind "inverts" the images so that they make sense!) Taking good care of this dominant sense organ, then, is obviously important. Will a regimen of eye-training exercises help you do that...and even improve defective vision? There's only one way to answer that question for yourself.

Sources:

iblindness.org

motherearthnews.com

drbenkim.com

strong-eyes.com

Marco Torres is a research specialist, writer and consumer advocate for healthy lifestyles. He holds degrees in Public Health and Environmental Science and is a professional speaker on topics such as disease prevention, environmental toxins and health policy. This article appeared in Prevent Disease