Bates Method (Vision Training)

Dave Asprey's personal 20/80 to 20/15 vision improvement

Dave Asprey shares that he went from 20/80 with astigmatism to 20/15 in both eyes using eye training exercises about 14 years ago, and still maintains that vision without reading glasses.

"From a personal perspective, I went using eye training exercises from 2080 with astigmatism to 2015 in both eyes about 14 years ago. And I'm still 2015 in both eyes, and I don't need reading glasses."

Claudia's lifelong journey with the Bates Method

Claudia describes getting glasses at age 3, finding the Bates Method through a book called Visionetics as a teenager in Germany, and restoring her vision multiple times across decades after stress-related regressions.

"I found a book, literally, this is a book that was from a California woman that I found in Germany in a bookstore, the only book I ever found. And that was all about, it was called visionetics. That was all about relaxing your mind, body and eyes to see better. And I started doing these practices and it didn't take that long. And I was out of glasses."

Palming technique demo with Dave Asprey

Dave demonstrates palming technique live while Claudia corrects his hand position, explaining that crossing hands over the forehead gives the nose more space. They discuss ideal palming duration and mental relaxation.

"So I was determined as I became when I became like a teenager, I was determined to get rid of them. And I found a book, literally, this is a book that was from a California woman that I found in Germany in a bookstore, the only book I ever found. And that was all about, it was called visionetics. That was all about relaxing your mind, body and eyes to see better. And I started doing these practices and it didn't take that long. And I was out of glasses. However, then I was in high school and my exams, super stressed out, really worried. I was not a good student. I had to practice like crazy, you know, all the hours at the near point and my vision got really blurry. So I pulled the book out again and it worked again. I was no glasses in my twenties. And And then in my late 30s, I was in a very challenging marriage. I ended up getting a divorce, single mom, no sleep, super stress. You can get the story. And I was back in glasses. And then I thought like, okay, now I'm 40, you know, normal, like nothing you can do. And then I had this epiphany one day. I went to a party. I tried to date. It's Los Angeles, right? Everybody's good looking. And I felt really isolated and lonely. Got home and I took my glasses off and my vision was so blurry, like worse than it ever was before. And I was like, this does not feel right. Like it's worse than before I put the glasses on. So I pulled out that book and started doing the practices. And then eventually I found a teacher to help me restore my eyesight. And it took a little longer when I was in my 40s than it was back then as a teenager, but it works."

Meir Schneier rewired his brain around shattered retinas

Dave describes Meir Schneier, who had 200 eye surgeries and retinas like shattered mirrors, yet rewired his brain to see normally using Bates-based exercises and now has a driver's license.

"This guy's had 200 surgeries on his eyes and his retinas are like shattered mirrors. He should be legally blind, but he rewired his brain to see around all of that, and he has a driver's license and is fully functional like anyone else."

Airline pilot goes from 20/70 to 20/20 with the Bates Method

Host David Sandstrom describes how he went from 20/70 vision as a 42-year-old airline pilot to 20/20 using the Bates Method, removing the corrective lens restriction from his FAA medical certificate.

"So when I heard about the Bates Method, I signed up for the course and I did that program. And I went from 2070 to 2020 and on a good day, 2015. And I've never looked back. I'm 61 years old now and I still don't need glasses."

Carl's breakthrough clear flash while walking

Carl Vigilante describes his first major clear flash after three weeks of practicing from the Bates Method book, when everything suddenly popped into vivid clarity during a morning walk.

"And as I was walking, I noticed something was different, but I didn't know what it was. But basically, I became really present. I could notice the birds really chirping. The sky was really blue, the flowers, the colors, everything was bright. And I realized I was seeing clearly."

Relaxation breakthrough during a couples massage

David describes how after a deeply relaxing couples massage on vacation, he could suddenly read a distant channel marker that had been an unreadable green blob before, confirming the link between relaxation and clear vision.

"I got into a very relaxed state. And we're walking back to our little bungalow out there. And I looked at that same sign and I could read it crystal clear. And I said, wow, this works. There's something about this. And it's all it's about relaxation."

Carlos' first clear flash during a shifting exercise

Carlos describes his first dramatic clear flash during a Bates class while doing the shifting technique, turning his head side to side while looking at letters on a chart without glasses.

"I was basically turning my head from left to right as if I was looking at a computer screen and going from the left edge of the computer screen to the right edge of the computer screen, but not moving just my eyes. I was pointing my eyes by turning my head from side to side. And that was without my glasses, without contact lenses. And then all of a sudden, just from doing that, going back and forth, back and forth, all the letters cleared up."

Bates invented early LASIK but abandoned it

Carlos reveals that Bates performed the first radial keratotomy in 1898, the procedure that became LASIK, but stopped because he realized it did not fix the underlying problem and patients' vision would revert.

"He did the first radial keratotomy, which is what is now LASIK. He did that in 1898, but he stopped doing it because he realized he wasn't correcting the real underlying problem and that people's vision would go back to what it had been after the surgery, even though he had physically corrected what was going on."

Vision loss is not aging -- it is accumulated load

Carlos uses the straw that broke the camel's back metaphor to explain that vision decline comes from accumulated stress, not aging itself, and that squinting and straining in response to blur makes it worse.

"It's the load that a person's carrying. I usually tell people the story of the straw that broke the camel's back, of a camel being led off into the desert, and little by little it gets loaded on with more and more things on its back, misses the oasis, doesn't get any water, gets lost in the desert for a while, finally gets over to a village where just a little gust of wind lifts a piece of straw off of a hayfield, lands it on top of the camel, and the camel collapses. So the straw When we get into our 40s and 50s, we've got a career going, we've got a busy schedule, we may have kids, we may have a spouse, we may have all kinds of mental and physical loads on us. We might have had diseases or accidents, issues that cause problems with our body. We're not eating the right foods, which you know well that if you're not eating the right foods, So, as we get older, the load that's on us, and if we're not rested and at ease when we're looking at text, our vision goes imperfect. And then if we start squinting and staring and making an effort to clear things up, our vision gets worse and worse until we get glasses. And glasses do not fix the problem."

Stress and fight-or-flight drive vision decline

Claudia Muehlenweg explains that stress and chronic fight-or-flight states are fundamental drivers of vision decline, not just aging or genetics. Addressing the nervous system is key to improving eyesight naturally.

"Stress and chronic fight-or-flight states are fundamental drivers of vision decline"

How she eliminated her need for glasses

Muehlenweg shares her personal journey of improving her own eyesight and eliminating her need for glasses using natural vision practices, offering hope that vision deterioration can be reversed.

"She improved her own eyesight and eliminated her need for glasses using natural vision practices"