Improving my eyesight

My latest project is improving my nearsighted vision naturally.  Near-point stress--caused by overpowered glasses for the distance--is giving me headaches.  I came across a link about a kit that improves vision enough that glasses are no longer needed.  The kit was a total ripoff at $200, but there was enough teaser information to get the gist.  Some of it I knew already.  After some more Googling, I found the source of this trend: The Bates Method for Better Eyesight without Glasses.  This book was written in the 1920's, and its validity is questionable at best.  I would buy this book only because it may have some long, lost practical tips, and it comes with an eye chart for self tests.

The first tip was to do eye stretches everyday.  My Sivandanda Yoga book explains how to do those exercises.  Look up.  Look down.  Repeat several times.  Look left. Look right.  Repeat.  Look up and left.  Look down and right.  Repeat.  Look up and right.  Look down and left.  Repeat.  Then do several rounds of eye rolls as though you are watching someone on a Ferris wheel at the edge of your vision.  Repeat going the other way.  Don't forget to blink!  Finish off the stretching exercises by rubbing your palms together to warm up and cup them over your eyes for half a minute.  While your eyes are closed, pretend you are looking really far away on a really dark night.  This is a good exercise to break up the monotony of long hours of reading.

The other important piece of advice was to stop wearing my glasses when I don't need them.  I am near-sighted, and I have always worn my glasses at my computer.  If I don't wear my glasses, I have to hunch and get my face really close to the screen.  It finally occurred to me to zoom in on the programs I use.  I use Google Chrome browser and with that all I have to do is press Ctrl-+ a few times to be able to read from a comfortable position.  Ctrl-0 (that's 'zero;, not 'oh') returns the browser to normal if I need to use my glasses again.  I have to intentionally sit back far enough to keep the text right at fuzzy so that my eyes have to work a little at reading.  At first, blurred reading hurt my eyes, but with the font a little bigger, I don't have to squint and crouch as much, so I don't give up so easily and put my glasses back on.  I find now that I am less distracted when I read because I have to focus on such a narrow area to read.  My attention doesn't get stolen by every attractive keyword on the page.  I used my computer all day today with no headache because I did not use my glasses when reading the screen.  Usually I go home from work with a headache caused by prolonged near-point stress.

I have no idea if these exercises will do any good in the long run, but it has been nice relearning to use what natural vision I have left.  I don't believe that trying to read slightly blurry pages all day is any worse than wearing overpowered lenses at the computer for several hours straight.  If I can prevent my eyesight from getting any worse, then I will consider this experiment a success.  If my vision actually improves, I will be pleasantly surprised.  I might even spend ten dollars on the Bate's Method book.