062: Bates Fundamentals and Procedures with Dr. Ray Gottlieb

The Naked Eye Podcast: Exploring Natural Alternatives to Glasses, Contacts, and Surgeries

In this episode, Certified Bates Method Teacher, Nathan Oxenfeld is joined by Dr. Ray Gottlieb as they review some key parts of his Bates Fundamentals & Procedures document, which you can download at https://integraleyesight.com/raygottlieb

0:00 - 13:00 - Nathan's Introduction 14:14 - Find the PDF on Ray's website www.raygottlieb.com 14:56 - Dr. Ray Gottlieb's introduction 15:35 - Ray's vision history 16:00 - Yoga, Tai Chi, Meditation, and Bates in 1970 17:00 - Self-Taught Bates System leads to first clear flash 18:00 - Central Fixation at an optometry meeting 19:00 - Comparing learning eyesight improvement to learning piano 20:00 - On-demand clarity 21:00 - Curiosity and dedication help get through plateaus 23:00 - Using self-massage techniques on face and neck to relax eyes 24:00 - Being patient with the process to fizzle out frustration 26:00 - Any form of relaxation counts 27:00 - Everything in the Bates Method is about relaxing the eyes 28:00 - Story of the Presbyopia Reduction Chart 30:00 - Vision habits showing up in everyday life, practicing all the time 32:00 - Make an appointment with yourself, and show up 33:00 - Palming without the palms, maintaining visualization 34:00 - Become aware, remember to be aware, prolong attention span for the awareness, maintain awareness in demanding situations 37:00 - Blink and Breathe Now! Signs 39:00 - Breathing well changes pH of blood and increases threshold of when fight/flight response takes place 40:30 - Current research backs up Bates' practice of "Dodging" 44:00 - Bates wants us to maintain good vision habits for life 45:00 - Palming Visualization Practices 46:00 - Extending attention span for breathing 47:00 - Five Finger Exercise 51:00 - The Big Squeeze 56:00 - The Light Touch 58:00 - The Alexander Technique 59:00 - Visualizing Letters and Numbers 1:00:00 - Body Posture and Vision 1:02:00 - Love Trust and Gratitude 1:08:00 - Visualizing the Color Black 1:09:00 - Using the Star Charts for Central Fixation 1:16:00 - Convergence and Divergence on the Star Charts 1:18:00 - Building depth perception by touching the tip of a pointer to the center of a star one eye at a time 1:20:00 - Deepening the breath with breathing games 1:25:00 - The Bates Method is about the eye-mind connection, bringing more attention to where you are looking 1:28:00 - What is your #1 tip for getting started? 1:29:00 - Toning and vibration cleans your brain 1:32:00 - Brahmari Pranayama 1:33:00 - Don't try too hard to visualize 1:35:00 - Breathe 100 times, Call for the letters 1:39:00 - Go to https://raygottlieb.com/ for more information