Dr Matt’s Newsletter August 16th – Curing sight without glasses, two gifted jazz guitarists, and three approaches to "Transcend Fear".
Supporting healthy social interactions and diversity of health choices
This newsletter features three main topics:
Curing blurred vision, near-sightedness, far-sightedness, and astigmatism, with mindful exercises and release of internalized stress and tension.
Three discussions of how we can all work on “Transcending Fear”, from Joseph Ladapo, Eckhart Tolle and RFK Jr.
In Local news the Army Ten Miler is coming on October 8th, and I am speaking September 21st at a CHD roundtable in DC that all are welcome to attend.
These discussions are interspersed with music by jazz guitarists Emily Remler and Wes Montgomery.
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Calling all runners - The Army 10 Miler is October 8th - If you can also make it please send me an email so we can coordinate. My Newsletter from December 7th discussed the benefits of exercise, including an interview with cardiologist Aseem Malhotra who will be speaking at the CHD conference in Savannah this November, information about local Yoga with Sara Vandergoot, and Holistic Health Coaching with Rian Gonzalez.
In other local news, I am speaking at a CHD Roundtable on Thursday, September 21st at 10 am in DC. I will cover two of my favorite topics: the “negative efficacy” covid vaccines and exaggerated fears of infection. It would be nice to see some familiar faces. You can RSVP to Noelle Callahan if interested and she can also put you on her email list. noelle.callahan@childrenshealthdefense.org
Please also let me know if you plan to come and join in the fun :-).
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Today’s newsletter sections include:
Music of the Week – The Newsletter on exercise from December 7th featured jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. This reminded me of two of my favorite jazz guitarists: Wes Montgomery and Emily Remler, whose spirits are still with us.
Curing blurred vision permanently and efficiently with Esther van Der Werf and Nathan Oxenfeld. Yes, you really can cure near-sightedness, far-sightedness, and astigmatism with simple eye exercises… best done with the guidance of experienced teachers like Esther and Nathan.
Three ways to Transcend Fear – My readers are familiar with Joseph Ladapo, my #1 candidate for US Surgeon General. His book, Transcend Fear, tells of how he overcame his own deep fear and trauma, and below is a link to a video interview. If the covid years taught us anything, it is the benefits of learning to handle our underlying fears, an area where I can use just as much help as everyone else. I am also sharing a talk from Eckhart Tolle and a discussion from RFK Jr about transforming inner turmoil into wisdom and compassion for others.
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Music of the Week – Two gifted Jazz guitarists, both of whom died in their prime, Wes Montgomery and Emily Remler. Their works are interspersed among the sections that follow.
Emily Remler: Softly As In A Morning Sunrise
Emily died in 1990 at the age of 32, but if she had lived another decade or two she might be as well known as Wes Montgomery. She has his natural soft rhythmic feel, and the album this tune is on was dedicated to him, called “East to Wes”. Emily has a monumentally beautiful solo, but I also love the blues influenced solo by then 70 year-old Hank Jones, and the more playful bass solo by Buster Williams.
Curing blurred vision permanently and efficiently with Esther van Der Werf and Nathan Oxenfeld.
Do you wear glasses or contacts? Are you considering Lasik surgery? Maybe you do not actually need them, because most people can improve their vision dramatically, from say 20/80 to 20/20. Improvements begin in just a few weeks of dedicated daily practice.
Sound impossible? This information would transform the vision industry, and the two vision therapists in the video linked at the bottom make this case extremely well. I am not an expert in this area, but I have known about the potential of curing eyesight for many years. In the 1980s I read a book by Meir Schneider called “Self Healing: My Life and Vision” where he tells the story of how he went from being legally blind to being able to read without glasses. However, he practiced for several hours per day – it became his mission to “see the world more clearly”. However, improvements can also be made with more modest investments of time as well as practicing off and on throughout the day, There are countless opportunities unless you keep your eyes closed 😊
Do you think you could learn how to ride a bicycle if no one helped you, and you just tried it on your own with some tips from a book and a video? Some people might succeed, but you would have a higher chance of a skinned knee and perhaps giving up, unless you had an experienced teacher at your side. This is why, if you want to improve your vision, I recommend that you consult therapists like the ones in the interview below.
I just found them a few days ago, and this slowed my newsletter production a bit. Like Meir Schneider, these two therapists emphasize that many people approach the issue incorrectly, with predictably poor results. The inner part of the approach, releasing tension, is just as significant as the outward exercises.
These two therapists discuss William Bates who wrote his classic book in 1920, and another vision specialist who wrote and taught several decades after Bates, Elliott Forrest. They have integrated the two approaches, and also learned a lot from experience after years of helping people improve their vision. They both started by healing their own vision, and Esther tells the story of how she had a very strong initial attempt, failed to improve her vision, and then many years later found new insight that allowed her to “drop the inner tension” that blocked her healing.
The focus of their talk is astigmatism, but they also treat people with the other common vision issues including nearsightedness and farsightedness. Although the video below sometimes gets very technical and detailed, you could just skip all that and contact these folks to do the therapy yourself. After all, “seeing is believing”. I included their websites and please let me know what you learn if you do choose to explore this approach.
At minute 33 in the interview is a very good discussion of how to “relax, let go and allow the focus to happen”. They also talk about tension in other parts of the body, and how mindful exercises like yoga and simple stretching can help with vision.
The Buddhist and Taoist idea of “not doing” is discussed, and that if you “try too hard” you’ll actually increase strain and tension, and likely have poor results just as Esther did the first time she tried. By becoming aware of “unconscious strain”, which is rather challenging, vision improves much more easily. Part of this release includes learning to accept some blurry vision without fighting it, and allowing the object to sit in the “blurry area” with awareness, relaxation, and non-judging.
Here are the links to their websites and interview:
Esther van der Werf’s site: www.Visionsofjoy.org
Nathan Oxenfeld’s site: www.Integraleyesight.com
Link to the video interview.
Wes Montgomery Trio - Geno
Wes started playing on a 4 string pawn-shop guitar, and was working as a welder when he got his first “real” guitar. He taught himself by listening to Charlie Christian records, and eventually took jazz guitar to a new level, inspiring future guitarists like Emily Remler. He died in 1968 at age 45.
Transcending Fear with Joe Ladapo, Eckhart Tolle, and RFK Jr.
Anxiety is something all humans live with, and we share this with other creatures, as one may notice by observing animals and insects. A Buddhists phrase that encapsulates this is “all sentient beings”, and all of us can use a bit of help managing this, including firstly myself. Fear is definitely “infectious” just like every other emotion, but becoming aware of it without letting it “take the driver’s seat” can remove its edge.
In the past two weeks I did a bit of a search on this topic and was inspired by three approaches. One is from one of my favorite public health leaders, Joseph Ladapo and his book, “Transcend Fear”. The second is a talk by one of my favorite teachers, Eckhart Tolle, and finally, one of my favorite political leaders, RFK Jr in a discussion of how he overcame addiction and how he would like to help others.
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