Pinhole Glasses and Other Things

Most of you have seen my pinhole glasses. I swear by them.

If you haven’t seen them, just ask sometime before or after class--you can try them on and experience them for yourself! Like T’ai Chi, they engender and ask for relaxation. Trying to make them work for you will just make the job harder.

At first they feel funny, because you are not used to looking through a little hole to see things. But in short order this becomes second nature, and they are working effortlessly for you (at least that’s my experience). I find that the more I use them, the more my eye muscles relax, my vision improves and the less I require them.

People are often surprised to realize that there is no magnification and no lens. These work on a camera principle. Because the “lenses” are just a black film with a lot of holes poked in them, they do look a bit unusual. But nonetheless I do not hesitate to wear them when I work in coffee shops, at an office, or in other public spaces. Often this starts a conversation, followed by an invitation that they just give them a try, followed by amazement and a request to find out where to get them. If I have an extra pair on me I’ll pass them along.

So, by popular request, below are links to a few things that don’t easily fall into the other categories I have on this website. Vision improvement to self-massage to a great book about the history and implications, both social and physical, of The Chair.

Enjoy!


Pinhole Glasses

They are based on the camera principle--plain old basic optics. I find that when I wear them, something about the balance of things in my vision mechanism improves, and consequently, my vision improves -- even at times when I’m not wearing the glasses. I use them for reading and working on the computer, but near-sighted people have found them to help with vision distance as well. You use them when you are stationary, never for walking, driving, etc.

So many people who try these out want a pair for themselves! Because of this, I used to carry extra pairs around to give away. But I couldn’t keep up!

I like to keep at least two pair (one in my bag and another by the bed), because I start to feel a bit desperate if I can’t find them--it takes a few days for the new ones to come in the mail, so having back-ups makes me happier. Some people like to keep an extra pair in the glove compartment or by the TV or the kitchen cookbooks.

I’ve done my best to cull through the options and find links for glasses that look like the same ones I have or have tried, but things are always changing! Let me know if somehow you get a bum pair, and I’ll strike that one from the list.

There are several books on natural vision improvement; I’ve recommended some below the link to the glasses.

Link to a pinhole Glasses purchase page here (not an affiliate & you are leaving my website when you click here)


For some reason, these glasses seem to be getting more difficult to find. There are none at amazon right now except novelty glasses, which may work but which have designs or words painted on the outside for a gag. Not exactly low profile at the cafe!

One thing to check carefully: there is a type of pinhole glasses in which, instead of making actual holes, they place a film with a hole pattern on the inside of sunglasses. The advantage, they say, is that no one can tell you’re wearing pinhole glasses. I’ve tried these. They are really dark. I think they might be good if you’re reading in a bright light, such as on the beach.

Bottom line: Look for glasses that have actual holes.

A final note on the glasses: someone sells a clip-on pinhole thing to go on top of prescription glasses. This makes no sense to me: prescription glasses are designed to accommodate vision problems; pinholes are designed to help your eyes resolve or reverse the problems. How can they work together?


Natural Vision Improvement

The first book I read on the subject of natural vision improvement, which actually features a version of The Bear as one of its exercises, is:


But the classic, the book I think of as the one that started the trend to natural vision improvement, is:




Meir Schneider

I’m an admirer of Meir Schneider, who was effectively blind from birth, but now sees without glasses and helps others to do so as well. He is a very “body smart” person, and also has great books on self massage and more. Here’s a book on vision improvement and another on self-massage and healing.





Galen Cranz’s The Chair

I won’t go as far as my dear mentor, acupuncturist, T’ai Chi teacher and friend John Lang, who says, “Chairs are evil.” But, considering some of us spend many hours a day in these things, it might be good to keep our critical thinking caps on when it comes to chairs. Galen Cranz did, and here’s what she came up with: