TRY THIS NOW: (without glasses or contacts)

Hold your hand up near your face and focus on it, and then quickly look at something past your hand in the distance. Then look back at your hand. Out of the corner of your eye notice the same distant item. If you've got clear vision, here's what you should see: Your hand will be clearer than the distant item when you are focusing on your hand. When you're focused on the distant item, it will be clearer than your hand. However, if you're nearsighted, your hand will be clearer, even when you're looking at the distant item. And if you're farsighted, the distant item will be clearer, even when you're looking at your hand.

In other words, if you've got a vision problem, your eyes can't change focus, swiftly, easily and sharply, from far to near. Many people think there's nothing that can be done about that, perhaps even believing that it's because the eye is the wrong shape (that's another one of the 5 Vision Myths that I tear apart in The Program for Better Vision). But you can train the muscles in your eyes to focus better at different distances, and here's why:

FATTER OR FLATTER: CAN YOUR LENS MAKE THE CHANGE?

The lens in the eye changes its shape to bring objects into focus. The lens needs to be flatter to see objects that are further away more clearly. And it needs to become fatter to focus on something closer. We are always changing what we are looking at, so the lens is continually making fine adjustments in its shape. Normally, the lens changes its focus - and thus its shape - more than 100,000 times each and every day. The shape of the lens is controlled by a group of muscles that surround the lens. These muscles have to work together to change the lens into the exact shape required to bring whatever you are looking at into sharp focus.

This changing of the eye's focusing power is called Accommodation. (It's one of the 6 Critical Visual Skills you'll develop when you use The Program for Better Vision.) But if you've got a vision problem, these muscles around the lens become stuck and stiff. Some of them can't relax when they need to, while others can't stretch when they need to. If you're nearsighted, they're "stuck" for near vision and the lens has too much power. On the other hand, if you're farsighted, these muscles are “stuck” for distance vision; the lens has too little focusing power. Like any other group of muscle in the body, the muscles around the lens can be exercised. When you exercise them correctly, they can regain flexibility and tone, and they'll work the way that they're supposed to.

Here's one exercise from The Program for Better Vision that re-trains accommodation: Near-To-Far Shifting.

TRY THIS NOW: (without glasses or contacts)

1. Look at your finger, about 4-6 inches in front of your eyes.
2. Shift your focus to a distant target, at least 10 feet away.
3. Shift your focus back and forth from your finger to the distant target 10 - 20 times.
4. Repeat as many times during the day as you remember. The more the better!

Near-To-Far Shifting is one of 24 different exercises, techniques and processes that you'll find in The Program for Better Vision, a powerfully effective combination of eye exercises, muscle control techniques, brain/eye coordination and complete body, mind and eye relaxation.

You don’t have to resign yourself to poor vision and failing eyesight. Your eyes are like any other part of your body – they respond positively to exercise and relaxation. Every condition of your body can be made better with the right actions and attitudes – and that includes your eyesight.