Relearning to See: Improve Your Eyesight Naturally!
by Thomas R. Quackenbush
List Price:
Our Price: $14.88
You Save: $12.62 (46%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $11.20 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Thomas R. QuackenbushEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-01
ISBN: 1556433417
Number of pages: 552
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Accessories:
- Airborne Effervescent Health Formula, Original Orange, 10 Tablets (Pack of 3)
- RESPeRATE Blood Pressure Lowering Device
Book Reviews of Relearning to See: Improve Your Eyesight Naturally!
Book Review: Much better books had already been written!
Summary: 1 Stars
Let me hasten to say that the 1-star is for the book, not for the Bates method, which I highly recommend.
The author claimed to have written this book to clarify the Bates method. In reality, it is more like taking a couple of ideas from Bates (shifting, blinking), blowing them up out of proportion, mixing in a host of other stuff unrelated to vision, and the result is a book that contains very little useful information for its size. And the poor page design and layout give the false impression that Bates' writing is tedious and arcane when in fact, the opposite is true.
Dr. Bates' writings as contained in his Better Eyesight magazines are interesting and easy to read, and his instructions to patients are straightforward and concise. Anyone who can read doesn't need any help understanding them at all.
Worse, there is a major misconception of Bates' principle of central fixation in this book. The same misconception is also found in many websites supposedly devoted to the Bates method. Central fixation says a normal eye sees best (with maximum acuity) where it is looking. If it sounds too obvious, Bates also taught that the loss of central fixation is an invariable symptom of imperfect sight. Central fixation has nothing to do with where one looks, and Bates never said anything about the center of the visual field.
I found the easiest way to test for central fixation, especially for people with high myopia, is to look at the test card or a page with uniform print at the near point. Remove glasses and test each eye separately by covering the other eye. Hold the card or page at a distance where the letter or spot you're looking at is somewhat gray and blurred. Now notice if there is anything on the page you're not looking at that is black or blacker than what you're looking at. If so, then you see best where you're not looking and you do not have central fixation.
In this book, central fixation is replaced by centralization, which says we should always look only at the center of the visual field, where, we are told, it is clearest. Such a concept defies both logic and common sense. First, a significant portion of our natural looking is not done through the center. For example, when we look up to see something high up, look down while reading or writing, or look to the sides before crossing the street, etc. Second, we have a wide visual field in which everything within the field is equally clear. Centralization also led to the erroneous definition of peripheral vision found in the book.
If one is looking for further insight into Bates' teaching on mind-vision connection, i.e., how memory and imagination can aid vision, this book contains not a single word of it.
The bottom line? Anyone interested in the Bates method should go straight to the source and read Bates' writings directly, especially his articles contained in the Better Eyesight magazines; or at least read books that give an accurate description of his methods such as the now classic The Art of Seeing by Aldous Huxley, and Use Your Own Eyes by William MacCracken. They are infinitely more interesting to read and contain tons of useful and practical information as well.
For practical eye exercises, the book Help Yourself to Better Sight by Margaret Corbett contains a wealth of simple and useful eye exercises for people with myopia, presbyopia, as well as strabismus.
The goal of most of the eye exercises is to break the staring habit and replace it by the correct ways of using the eyes. The exercises should be treated as providing insight into how the eyes should be used correctly all day long, not just for the couple of minutes while doing the exercises. For example, the long swing (elephant swing in Corbett's book) aims at promoting the tiny but involuntary shifting of the eyes, but one can, and should, try to produce the same effect all day long by seeing things moving whenever one moves the head.
Please read my review of The Complete Magazines of W.H. Bates for additional information.
Summary of Relearning to See: Improve Your Eyesight Naturally!
In this accessible presentation of the famous Bates method, Thomas R. Quackenbush (who teaches the Bates method in California and Oregon) describes how eyesight can improve naturally, at any age and regardless of heredity. This book is a wonderful tribute to the genius of Dr. Bates, who was a pioneer in discovering how vision becomes blurred and how it restores itself naturally to clarity and acuity. Now 80 years later, his findings and teachings remain light years ahead of our contemporaries. His approach to treating vision problems was truly holistic and the theme throughout this book is very much an extension of that holistic approach. Dr. Quackenbush is to be commended for his dedication in getting the truth out and keeping the torch burning in this "bible" on vision improvement.Alternative Medicine Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Alternative Medicine Books
Complete Illustrated Guide to Massageby Stewart Mitchell
Element Books Ltd.; Published: 2002-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $71.53
Illustrated Elements of - Alexander Techniqueby Glynn Macdonald
Element Books; Published: 2002-04-02; Paperback; Book
Healing With the Voiceby James D'Angelo
Thorsons; Published: 2001-08-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $108.46
Aloe Vera: Natural Wonder Cureby Julia Lawless
Thorsons; Published: 2000-10-01; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
Aromatherapy for Your Child: Essential Oil Remedies for Children of All Agesby Valerie Ann Worwood
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd; Published: 2001-03-05; Hardcover; Book
Body, Mind, and Sport: The Mind-Body Guide to Lifelong Health, Fitness, and Your Personal Bestby John Douillard
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2001-03-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.90
Price in other shops:
The Chopra Center Herbal Handbook: Forty Natural Prescriptions for Perfect Healthby David Simon M.D., Deepak Chopra M.D.
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2000-12-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.70
Price in other shops:
Change Your Brain, Change Your Body: Use Your Brain to Get and Keep the Body You Have Always Wantedby Daniel G. Amen
Harmony Books; Published: 2010-02-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.40
Price in other shops:
A-Z Guide to Drug-Herb-Vitamin Interactions Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition: Improve Your Health and Avoid Side Effects When Using Common Medications and Natural Supplements TogetherThree Rivers Press; Published: 2006-02-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.95
Price in other shops:
Clean LP: The Revolutionary Program to Restore the Body's Natural Ability to Heal Itselfby Alejandro Junger
HarperLuxe; Published: 2009-05-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.95
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Eye Yoga - How You See is How You Thinkby Dr. Jane Rigney Battenberg, Martha Rigney
Langdon Street Press (a division of Hillcrest Publishing Group, Inc.); Published: 2010-08-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.05
Price in other shops:
Seeing Without Glasses: A Step-By-Step Approach To Improving Eyesight Naturallyby Roberto Kaplan
Atria Books/Beyond Words; Published: 2002-12-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.25
Price in other shops:
How to Improve Your Child's Eyesight Naturally: A Thoughtful Parent's Guideby Janet Goodrich Ph.D.
Healing Arts Press; Published: 2004-03-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.36
Price in other shops:
Better Eyesight: The Complete Magazines of William H. BatesNorth Atlantic Books; Published: 2001-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.95
Price in other shops:
Grafco Snellen Type Plastic Eye Chart, Non-Reflective Matte Finish With Green and Red Color BarGRAFCO; GRAFCO; Health Care
Best price: $5.97
Price in other shops:
Take Off Your Glasses and See: A Mind/ Body Approach to Expanding Your Eyesight and Insightby Jacob Liberman
Three Rivers Press; Published: 1995-11-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.32
Price in other shops:
Pin Hole Glasses Black Full Frame Kit 1 KitNatural Eyes; Natural Eyes; Health Care
Best price: $15.88
Price in other shops:
The Secret of Perfect Vision: How You Can Prevent or Reverse Nearsightednessby David De Angelis
North Atlantic Books; Published: 2008-02-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.18
Price in other shops:
The Bates Method for Better Eyesight Without Glassesby William H. Bates
Holt Paperbacks; Published: 1981-04-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Improve Your Vision Without Glasses or Contact Lensesby Steven M. Beresford, David W. Muris, Merril J. Allen, Francis A. Young
Touchstone; Published: 1996-11-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.14
Price in other shops: