Customer Reviews

Take Off Your Glasses and See: A Mind/Body Approach to Expanding Your Eyesight and Insight

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very interesting book. It shed some light on the limitation of optometry. But, it replaces with a lot of alternative advice that is inaccurate.

First, he comes up with a strange psychological theory that would explain why people's eyesight deteriorated by either becoming myopic or far-sighted. If you became myopic, it is because you became scared of the outside world through a life changing event that you did not cope well. Thus, you are refusing to look at the outside world, because you are afraid of it. If you became presbyopic, you did it because you became angry at the world through another life changing experience you did not digest well. So, you just had it with the world, and you refuse to look at any of its details close at hand. This is all bogus.

The author also did many experiment that I tried to duplicate myself, but never could. He takes a bunch of people who are really myopic and orders them to take off their glasses , and then measures their visual prescription twice within the next 24 hours. I did that, using the testing devise he offers to measure your improvement in vision. Mine did not budge, yours will not either.

In a nutshell, you can't just take off your glasses and see. This is giving you false hope. And, he should be sued for false advertisement.

So, why am I giving it a 3. Well, here are some positive valuable information I got out of it:
1) Be skeptical of your optometrist measurement of your own prescription. It is not as accurate as you think;
2) I have learned to live with "under prescribed" glasses. I now use a prescription that is weaker than one I had 11 years ago. And, I wear these 90% of the time I am wearing glasses;
3) I have learned to actually not wear any glasses when I don't need to. I probably do that 10% to 20%, when I am home eating a meal with my family.

By doing points 2) and 3) as described above, I maintain my vision at its current level, and control the speed at which myopia would accelerate for someone my age. I watch my colleagues at work rushing to get a new prescription every single year or so. And, that is nuts. If we all did that, we would end up with glasses as thick as wine bottle bottoms within 5 years. If you are doing that, stop it right now. This book will give you the confidence to stop this vicious cycle.

I have been into behavioral optometry and natural vision therapy for the last 6 months or so and I have found this book to be excellent in explaining the causitive nature and subsequent corrective techniques for the various eye disorders. I am myopic and have been wearing glasses since I was 14. After 6 months of eye exercises and relaxation techniques I have reduced my prescription by 5 dioptors (from -4.50 to -3.25). I still have a ways to go but this is exhilerating because there is hope that I need not be a visual cripple the rest of my life. For those people that want to rid themselves of their eye crutches, this book is an excellent tool in helping achieve that goal.

Liberman's an optometrist who realized the truths of vision and glasses that are obvious to anyone who takes the time to study the topic, and consequently he changed his ways of thinking about vision and about the entire being. The beginning sections of some vision improvement books can be like reviews for people who are already familiar with it, and this book is no exception, but as with other authors, he does offer valuable insights that other authors don't, and I recommend this book.

I really liked this book. He talks about "open focus" where one can look at the world more softly and openly. He also emphasizes the importance of good breathing. When I am stressed, my breath is very shallow, and now that he's brought it to my attention . . . my vision is not as clear. He states that stress is the cause of poor vision, often beginning in the school setting.

It was interesting to learn how optometrists work, basically bumping up your perscription by a quarter diopter each year. And he points out how "blindly" dependant on our glasses we become, like crutches, and how much narrower our vision is with them.

I very much enjoyed his holistic perspective on vision. That vision involves more than the eyeball. I don't know how many people will actually gain 20/20 vision from his book, but it's left me with much food for thought about alternative healing posibilities with regard to poor vision.

Dr. Liberman sounds like a caring person who believes in his untested theories. However, theories they are. His view of myopia sums up as "bad thoughts equal bad vision". I know people of all temprements, some have myopia and some don't. He seems to respect the views of W. Bates, and reprints some of his methods. In short, buy the Bates book.

The book reiterated other eye exercises and mental insights I had read previously, but there cannot be enough books out there on this subject. I practiced the techniques, and stopped my vision from getting worse. My prescription was -7.50 in both eyes, and was getting worse at about -.25 every year or so. Not only did I stop my eyes from getting worse, I reversed them, and I am now at a -7.25 prescription. I have plateaued at this level, but must admit, I have not been exercising my eyes as vigorously as when I first started. I have had problems finding an eye doctor that supports this method of treatment. In fact, when my presciption went down and I told him what I had been doing, he totally blew me off, and told me that the previous doctor must have examined my eyes wrong and given me too strong of a prescription.

It's too bad that not many people are willing to do what it takes for true health! Maybe in 10 years or so will these techniques be widely practaced. I'd like to see some sort of class or study group for this sort of thing! It's more than just eyes!

I have been wearing glasses for the past 33 years from being
nearsighted, with perfect vision close up.
Three weeks after purchasing this book my distance vision
clicked into place and I can now see clearly. Like a miracle.
But now I can't see close up. Whereas before I could see
perfectly to read, now I can hardly read at all.