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I haven’t been posting regularly about my vision improvement because I have come to a halt already. The problem is, I feel I need more guidance than books in order to get somewhere, and from other resources this has only been confirmed. Therefore I have been on the hunt for a course or teacher. Unfortunately these options are in the distant future or a teacher is no where near I live.

I haven’t put my glasses back on since I last posted, but I haven’t been keeping up the exercises either - apart from the blinking, not staring and making sure I sun. It has been really sunny so that has beeen helpful.

I don’t feel I have made any progress - but I definitely do not need to put my glasses back on and have had no desire to.

I have also had other issues to deal with in my life, but seeing as I am having difficulty in finding a teacher nearby I will definitely be delving back into self teaching vert soon unless that changes. I have also decided to have a few lessons in the Alexander Technique.

So I made it a month…well kind of. The first 2 weeks were quite easy for me. I found it uplifting and I felt light. I felt satisfied as opposed to full (being overstuffed and then tired). I enjoyed those 2 weeks a lot. However, the second 2 weeks were quite tough. The introduction of the munch foods made it quite hard for me, and induced cravings. Wai does say to make sure the munch food is satisfying, and it was, but it made me have more cravings as a result. Not straight away but eventually (if that makes sense). It did result in some cooked food being consumed, but overall I am not too bothered by it. When I ate the cooked food with some of the avocado salad I found it better for my stomach and mood than when I just ate a munch food on its own. I felt less greasy you could say.

My skin is really tight and nice. I feel I have a lot more energy and I just feel much better and less weighed down. I shall continue the diet, but I think I will follow a more widespread raw food diet instead of sticking strictly to Wai’s ways. I recently purchased the book Eat Smart Eat Raw: Detox Recipes for a High-Energy Diet and also a book called Baby Greens: A Live-Food Approach for Children of All Ages (as my little one is slowly moving into the world of solids. I am trying to let him lead the way which is sometimes tough!). The first book I have just received and there are a lot of recipes to try. I shall be trying them out tomorrow.

I definitely would recommend the Wai diet to anyone and everyone. It is fantastic for your skin and your overall health. It is hard work to begin with but over time it does get better. I feel a lot more focused and clear headed as well, as since having a baby I definitely have a mum brain so anything that helps is great!

If you have any questions you may email me Kelly@myecoeden.com, or just visit www.waisays.com

I received my copy of Peter Grunwald’s Eyebody yesterday and have finished reading it. It was a very interesting read and I am quite interested in the technique. However in order to test this out you have to go to a retreat (the one in the UK is in August) or private lessons (and Mr Grunwald lives in New Zealand..oh how I wish I lived there (and not so I can have eye lessons!). It is fairly expensive too and as much as I am interested in this technique, it is too far in the future currently and well I would rather attempt another way before putting my hand in my pocket for that amount of money! It has, however, made me decide that I shall be booking myself in for a lesson with a natural vision teacher and will be doing that this week. It has also made me interested in the Alexander technique too (which is what the vision teacher I have contacted integrates too).

Anyway, so what is Eyebody? The eyebody method states ‘that every single area of your visual system corresponds with an associated area in the body. Specific malfunctions of vision are linked to specific tensions and contractions in the body. By learning how to ‘direct’ our visual system, the body simultaneously follows, releasing patterns of tension”.

By directing the visual system, he gives his example of how he ‘discovered’ this technique – he noticed that by focusing on his cornea he could affect his chest. If he tried to tighten his cornea his chest would also tighten and when he relaxed it his chest would open up.

This is the basic principle behind the approach (it also stems from the Bates and Alexander techniques). The book is an introduction to this method, and gives you pointers of how to start on your vision journey, however to learn the technique you must attend a retreat or find an instructor/get private lessons, which is somewhat tricky, in my opinion.

This book includes:

• An introduction and Peter’s personal story to letting go of glasses (which you can read for free here)

• How vision works – the physiology of the visual system and explanations of common visual problems. An outline of the eyebody patterns and how a part of the visual system is reflected in part of the body.

• The two types of upper visual cortex tendency – overextended or contracted. The majority of individuals are contracted. We are all one of the other or maybe both – this does not necessarily manifest to a point of making a vision problem.

• The eyebody principles and case studies for each type of visual impairment.

• The eyebody’s application to life and first steps in incorporating the eyebody method into your life. This is very general, although the first step guidance is a bit more specific – giving help for sunning and palming in relation to whether you are a contracted or overextended type. In order to actually utilise the method you do need to find a teacher or workshop as this book will not help you do that – it is only really an introduction.

Despite being interested in this technique and wanting to learn more, I feel it is too much of a stretch right now to get involved in it, so will try my vision teacher and also look into maybe the Alexander technique separate too. It is definitely a very interesting perspective and makes a lot of sense. I shall be attending a workshop for it in May in London, so hopefully I will learn more then.

So I have been eating the Wai way for two weeks now and feel fantastic. My skin is tight and feels nice, I don’t feel groggy when I wake up in the morning, and overall feel satisfied and full of energy. However, the second week was much harder than I first anticipated. Allowing myself, and introducing a munch food didn’t do me any favours whatsoever. The first day was ok - I didn’t get any real joy out of the munch food, in the way I was from my salads, but it was a nice treat. However after this I found having the munch foods made it really hard to stay focused on the diet - my addictions to these foods grew stronger and stronger. Despite these addictions I am still loving the Wai way - it just makes me feel overall much better in every sense and I really enjoy not feeling bloated and agitated like I was missing something in my meal. Hopefully I can stay focused for the next two weeks, as those munch food cravings are horrible.

I really like how I feel though despite my cravings. I like feeling fresh and light and I love my skin.

So after spending the week doing various exercises, I have been somewhat stuck on my vision improvement. My eyes do get flashes of clear vision, but there has been no permanent improvement. As a result I feel I should seek out a vision improvement teacher. This seems to be the most appropriate route and will help me utilise the techniques I have learnt much better than I am doing so at the moment.

I am also waiting on my eyebody book to learn more of how I can aid improvement of my eyes.

This is not to say the techniques have not been useful - my centralisation is a lot better for practising it, I can relax my eyes if I get stressed and generally I feel a lot better, but that is as far as I have progressed. Although I potentially have a lot of strain and emotional tension to let go of, and don’t expect it to happen in a few weeks, I feel an natural vision teacher will help me move a further step along.

Today I have had:

• A little orange juice, melon and avocado salad.

• Banana, Bombay potatoes and salad.

• Melon and hazelnuts.

• Water.

• Orange and egg yolk.

• About to have something else but haven’t decided yet.

I have felt fantastic today and I love how my skin feels and is and I just feel good. My list looks like I haven’t eaten a lot but I still feel great. My munch food was the Bombay potatoes. I was going to try for a small jacket potato and tuna (as I love it lots) but my boyfriend convinced me to have the Bombay ones as he was making some. They were lovely but it made me crave more which was the only downside. However, I got over it quickly. I feel really good. Having a munch food was good and I don’t feel it has negatively affected me either. It didn’t make me sluggish. I guess because you have to keep under a certain amount of protein (15g) I ended up not getting really full and bloated like I would in the past – that or I just managed to eat properly. I have noticed my eating has slowed down, so maybe I chew better also. Anyway I feel good.

I have noticed today my throat has been very phlegmy. Maybe this is my body clearing out crap still, I don’t know. I also think I have shrunk a little - not retaining water anymore - because a top that was tight is now loose (and I don’t think I have lost any weight).

I won’t be posting daily anymore on this diet unless I feel I have something important to say that is going on. I will however have an update at the end of the week (so next Tuesday) until I have completed the 30 days.

Today I have had:

• pineapple, honeydew melon and an avocado salad.

• A banana and avocado salad.

• Grapes and avocado salad.

• And about to have some orange juice and egg yolk.

Not a very good day with food, but the salads filled me up a treat so didn’t find it necessary to have too much. I have felt really good still. I have had some cravings, very weak though and they have been when I have been hungry (a little too hungry). I look forward tomorrow though when I can have a munch food, but I am wondering whether I will enjoy it or not.

So I have made it through one week of this diet and have found it to be quite enlightening. I know that I can listen to when my body needs food and I know that the food I have been eating is satisfying, more so than I have ever felt with food. Thus, I know that I am getting all the right nutrients. Despite only being a week into this diet, I do feel already this is something I will stick to on a long term basis, of course with munch food every so often. But before I decide on that I have to get through 3 more weeks ?.

Today I have had

• An orange, mango/banana/orange smoothie, egg yolk with orange juice

• Mango/banana/orange smoothie and avocado salad (consisting of red onions, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado and extra virgin olive oil).

• 2 bananas, pineapple and avocado salad.

• raspberry/blackberry/orange smoothie and avocado salad.

Today I have felt a bit weak. I took a run this morning before I had eaten and on top of this then eating the egg yolk, I don’t think it set me up very well for the day. Having to wait 2 and half hous after the egg yolk was quite tough because I was busy. I think I should stick to having the egg yolk in the evening instead. Apart from this I feel really good and no cravings. I have been quite hungry at times but this is because I have been a bit slow getting food to my mouth (busy day!). I think this is reflected in what I have eaten today though. I may have some fruit and nuts this evening as well.

My journey so far has been somewhat slow. I have been mostly reading and after reading Sassi’s Blog recently I decided to purchase the eyebody book to learn more. Sassi has had great results with this approach (for more information visit Eye Body) and I now want to know more!

I have been quite unorganised on the exercises but I do still incorporate blinking, moving and centralization into my day. I have found that if I am looking at my bub I am actually centralizing! It seems whenever I look else where I have more trouble doing so and have to just imagine that I am or convince myself.

My eyesight is much clearer than it was 6 weeks ago and my eyes have become less sensitive to sunlight. I used to go out and really have a hard time even slightly having my eyes open, but now I have them fully open. There is still some sensitivity but it is so much better than before. My breathing has still remained how I have wanted. I really need to work on blinking, moving and centralizing a bit more aggressively now and I feel I am ready to start a proper practise and have the time to do so! Also today we had a sunny day, which hopefully means no more cold rainy days. This means I can go do thenning technique with palming which I have wanted to do but haven’t really had the opportunity to in this weather. I know some people use an artificial light for sunning, but I have read several times you should only use sunlight.

So tomorrow I shall be starting and this is what I shall do in the morning and before bed:

• From the natural vision improvement kit I will follow the relaxation part. Releasing tension of my muscles through exercises (I will be starting this after a morning run so that should help too)

• 2 sets of 50 long swings (this requires swaying body left to right, allowing your head and nose to swing softly around the room).

• 50 infinity swings (this is a variation of the long swing but you put your fingers in front of you and follow one hand to right and the other to left in a figure of 8 )

• centralization using 2 pencils.

• Palming again for 10 minutes (in the morning this will be done with sunning so for a little bit longer).

I don’t think this is too much to do on a daily basis and so I should be able to easily stick to it. By next Sunday I should hopefully be able to see some improvement or what these exercises give to me. Before I do this though, I will be working out actually how decent my eyesight is, using the eyesight chart I have, so I can see if there is an improvement in this in a week. I will still also be incorporating throughout the day blinking and moving as much as possible. I seem to struggle now and then with the blinking and lately have been spacing out (I have a lot on my mind!). I catch myself and rectify it though and if I can’t then I usually shut my eyes. I also think my diet is going to help me stay more focused as well. It has given me a surge of energy I have needed and I seem to procrastinate less on tasks.

Today I have had

• 3 bananas and hazelnuts.

• some water

• a smoothie of raspberries, blackberries, bananas, some orange juice and some hazlenuts.

• a smoothie of raspberries, blackberries, bananas, some orange juice and some hazelnuts

• 2 bananas and an avocado salad (consisting of red onion, lettuce, avocado, tomatoes and cucumbers wit lots of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil on top)

• Orange juice and egg yolk.

I had a really good day again today and had no cravings. Nothing new really to report.

For those who would be interested in this for acne (although I am not on the strict diet) my skin seems to have tightened up, and my pores are smaller. I really like the condition of my skin and it seems to be improving.