I’m excited to introduce you to Claudia Muehlenweg, who specializes in helping people improve vision naturally. Claudia is the founder of the Naturally Clear Vision Institute – her work is fascinating because it challenges many of our assumptions about eye health and offers hope for those struggling with vision problems.

Claudia’s Personal Journey with Vision Problems

Like many professionals in her field, Claudia’s journey began with her own struggles. She got glasses at the age of three and absolutely hated them. When she started school at six, she was bullied and teased for wearing glasses. This experience of being bullied and teased motivated her to find ways to improve her vision naturally.

In her teenage years, she discovered a book on vision improvement in a bookstore. She read the book and practiced the techniques it described, which helped her get out of glasses. She remained free from glasses throughout her twenties and into her mid-30s. However, life’s challenges, including a difficult marriage, having two daughters, and moving to America, caused her vision to deteriorate again.

As a single mom in her early 40s, she noticed that every time she put her glasses on or took them off, her vision seemed worse than it was before. This realization led her to have an epiphany one night. She dug out the old book on vision improvement and started practicing the techniques again. However, at this point, she needed more help, so she hired a teacher.

Eventually, Claudia got rid of her glasses again. She became so excited about the process that she began studying the method herself and has been teaching it since 2009. This personal journey from struggling with vision problems to finding a solution and then sharing it with others is at the heart of Claudia’s work.

The Connection Between Stress and Vision Problems

One of the key insights Claudia shares is the relationship between stress and vision. She noticed that during stressful periods in her life, her vision was affected. This observation motivated her to dig deeper and challenge the notion that nothing can be done to improve vision, especially as we age. 

Claudia points out that many people assume they need glasses or contacts and that there’s nothing they can do to improve their vision. Even those who are open to holistic approaches in other areas of health often have a blind spot when it comes to vision. 

They might follow integrative approaches for other aspects of their eye health but still accept without question the conventional wisdom about eyesight. This disconnect is something Claudia is passionate about addressing.

Understanding Vision and Eye Health

To understand Claudia’s approach, it’s important to grasp some basics about how vision works. 

Claudia explains that we don’t actually see with our eyes, but rather in our brain. The eyes receive light signals, which are transformed into electrical signals by the retina and then processed by the brain. 

This understanding is crucial because it means that vision improvement isn’t just about the physical structure of the eye, but also about how our brain processes visual information.

Claudia differentiates between several types of vision problems:

1. Refractive errors: These include nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. They’re related to how light is refracted by the cornea and lens onto the retina.
2. Eye diseases: This category includes conditions like glaucoma, macular degeneration, and cataracts.
3. Binocular vision issues: These are problems related to how the two eyes work together, such as amblyopia (lazy eye) or double vision.

Claudia emphasizes that while everyone can improve their vision to some extent, the degree of improvement depends on factors like age and the severity of the condition. 

She’s worked with people who have gone from severe myopia to moderate myopia, and in some cases, people have reported that their doctor could no longer find evidence of cataracts. However, she’s careful to note that these results aren’t guaranteed for everyone.

Simple Techniques to Improve Vision

Claudia shares several simple techniques that people can start implementing right away to improve their vision:

1. Blinking: Many people, especially when looking at screens, don’t blink enough. Studies have shown that we blink only two to three times per minute when looking at screens, which is far less than normal. This can lead to dry eyes and eye strain. Blinking helps lubricate the eyes and prevents staring, which can strain the eyes.
2. Sunlight exposure: Exposing your eyes to natural light, especially early morning sunlight, can help reduce light sensitivity. Going for a morning walk without sunglasses or practicing “sunning” – facing the sun with closed eyes and gently turning your head from side to side can help gradually reduce light sensitivity.
3. Palming: This technique involves covering your closed eyes with cupped hands, creating a dark space for your eyes to rest. It’s a form of meditation for the eyes. To do this, cup your hands and place them over your closed eyes, crossing your fingers over your forehead. Make sure your shoulders are relaxed and your elbows are supported. You can palm for as little as 10-30 seconds or for up to 30 minutes if you have the time.
4. 20/20/20 rule: While Claudia finds the traditional rule (looking up every 20 minutes for 20 seconds at something 20 feet away) a bit impractical, she suggests positioning your computer in front of a window. This allows you to easily look into the distance periodically, giving your eyes a break from close-up work.
5. Ambient lighting: When using screens, ensure the room has ambient lighting rather than sitting in darkness. This helps maintain peripheral vision and reduces eye strain. When we’re in a dark room with only a screen for light, our peripheral vision really shuts down, which can be straining for the eyes.

Challenging Common Misconceptions About Vision and Eye Health

Claudia challenges several common beliefs about vision health. 

For instance, many people find their vision gets worse when they wear glasses all the time. She suggests that people should use glasses only when necessary for safety (like driving) and try to do activities without glasses when it’s safe and comfortable to do so.

For people who wear reading glasses in their 40s or 50s, they often notice their distance vision becomes blurry when they look up from reading. This illustrates how the strength of lens needed for near vision doesn’t work for distance vision. Similarly, people who are nearsighted often wear their distance glasses all the time, even for close-up work, which can strain the eyes.

Claudia also addresses the use of sunglasses, explaining that while they have their place in certain conditions, our eyes have a natural ability to adjust to light through pupil constriction. Overuse of sunglasses can actually make our eyes more light-sensitive. Our pupils act as built-in sunglasses, constricting in bright light to limit the amount of light entering our eyes. 

While there are certainly situations where sunglasses are necessary (like after pupil dilation at the eye doctor or in extreme conditions like skiing on bright snow), for most people, allowing their eyes to adjust to natural light can be beneficial.

The Holistic Approach to Good Eye Health

Claudia emphasizes that vision health is connected to overall health and lifestyle. Factors like diet, hydration, and physical movement all play a role in maintaining healthy eyes. The eyes, particularly the retina, have more mitochondria than any other part of the body, making them extremely sensitive to overall health changes.

In fact, eye doctors can often detect signs of systemic diseases like diabetes by examining the eyes, sometimes before these conditions show up in lab results.

We need to address the root causes of vision problems, which often involve stress. Childhood experiences, major life changes, or work-related stress can all impact vision. Claudia often asks her clients what was happening in their lives a year or two before they got glasses.

Many report significant stressors like parental divorce, moving frequently, being bullied, or losing a loved one. For adults, work-related stress, like struggling with new technology or the pressure of exams in college, can also contribute to vision problems.

This connection between stress and vision isn’t just about the physical strain of close-up work. It’s also about the mental and emotional strain. For example, college students may develop myopia not just from studying, but from the stress of exams, financial worries about student loans, and other pressures. 

Understanding these connections allows for a more holistic approach to improving eyesight.

The Importance of Life Vision and Purpose

The connection between life purpose and physical vision is particularly relevant as people age. 

Claudia notes that conditions like cataracts often develop around retirement age, which can be a challenging time for many people as they lose their work-related sense of purpose. She references Louise Hay, who associated cataracts with an inability to see ahead with joy or a dark outlook on one’s future.

Claudia emphasizes the importance of having a sense of purpose at every stage of life. As we go through different life phases – from being a student to a parent to a retiree – our sense of purpose may need to evolve. She shares her own experience of transitioning from a career in graphic design and advertising to her current work in vision improvement. 

While she loved her earlier career in her 20s, she realized as she got older that she wanted something less exhausting and more fulfilling. Her work in vision improvement gives her a sense of purpose that she feels she can continue into her later years.

The Transformative Power of Vision Improvement

Claudia shares how working on vision improvement can lead to profound personal transformations. Many of her clients experience not just improvements in their eyesight, but also insights into their beliefs, emotions, and overall approach to life. The process of improving vision often involves addressing deep-seated stress and negative self-talk, leading to broader positive changes.

People often use negative language when talking about their eyes, saying things like “I’m blind as a bat” even when their prescription is relatively mild. This negative self-talk can extend to other areas of life as well. By becoming aware of these patterns and working to change them, people can experience benefits that go far beyond improved eyesight.

While quick fixes like LASIK surgery may seem appealing, they often don’t provide lasting results and can have serious side effects. Claudia mentions she has worked with many people who have had LASIK and ended up back in glasses. Instead, she advocates for a more holistic, long-term approach to vision health that considers physical, emotional, and lifestyle factors.

This approach can lead to significant improvements, even for people with more severe vision problems. Claudia has seen people reduce their level of nearsightedness, which not only improves their vision but also reduces their risk for eye diseases. 

Highly nearsighted eyes are more elongated, which puts more pressure on the retina and increases the risk for conditions like retinal detachment and macular degeneration. By reducing the level of nearsightedness, people can keep their eyes in a healthier shape.

Claudia’s approach is not about promising miracle cures or guaranteeing that everyone will be able to throw away their glasses. Instead, it’s about empowering people with knowledge and techniques they can use to support their vision health throughout their lives. 

The Importance of Regular Practice

Claudia stresses that improving vision naturally is not a quick fix but requires consistent practice. She encourages her clients to incorporate vision exercises into their daily routines, much like brushing teeth or exercising. This consistent practice helps retrain the eyes and brain to work together more efficiently.

She also emphasizes the importance of patience and persistence. Just as it takes time for vision to deteriorate, it also takes time to improve. However, many people start noticing small improvements within a few weeks of consistent practice, which can be very motivating.

Our modern lifestyles often contribute to vision problems. The increased use of digital devices, for example, has led to a rise in what’s known as “computer vision syndrome.” This includes symptoms like eye strain, headaches, and blurred vision.

Claudia challenges the common belief that deteriorating vision is an inevitable part of aging. While it’s true that our eyes change as we get older, she believes that many age-related vision problems can be prevented or minimized through proper care and exercises.

In many traditional cultures, where people maintain active, outdoor lifestyles well into old age, vision problems are much less common. This suggests that our modern, indoor-focused lifestyles may be contributing to vision decline as we age.

While Claudia’s primary focus is on vision exercises and stress reduction, she also acknowledges the important role that nutrition plays in eye health. She recommends a diet rich in colorful fruits and vegetables, which provide important nutrients for eye health like lutein and zeaxanthin.

It is also very important to stay hydrated, as dehydration can contribute to dry eyes and other vision problems. Overall, she advocates for a holistic approach to health that supports not just the eyes, but the entire body.

Conclusion and Invitation to Learn More

I’m thrilled that Claudia has shared these insights with us today. Her approach to vision health is a perfect example of how we can take control of our health in ways we might not have realized were possible. It’s a reminder that our bodies, including our eyes, are not static machines that inevitably break down as we age, but dynamic systems capable of healing and improvement when given the right support.

For those interested in learning more, I encourage you to check out Claudia’s free online classes, including the five-day program “See Better in Just Five Days.” You can sign up here.

You can sign up for her Naturally Clear Vision Webinar here. And learn more about her Naturally Clear Vision Program here. 

You can also find her on Instagram @holisticvisioncoach and Facebook @Claudia Muehlenweg – My Holistic Vision She also has a YouTube channel called Naturally Clear Vision.

Whether you’re currently struggling with vision problems or simply want to maintain healthy eyesight as you age, A natural approach offers valuable insights and practical techniques you can start using right away.

I am living proof that it is possible to heal holistically and naturally. It’s possible to improve your vision, heal from migraines, not to feel pain while having hypermobility, clear HPV and reverse abnormal cells, andeliminate the effects of stress, trauma, anxiety and depression. It’s possible to reset our stress hormones and help our body and mind to recover. I help patients with to do this in my practice every day – by phone and zoom, anywhere in the world. You can set up a one-on-one appointment here.

Good Eye Health is a Part of Good Overall Health

To learn more about my approach to healing from all of this using my Stress Recovery Protocol which involves optimizing cortisol and adrenaline levels to heal the adrenals, as well as neurotransmitters, using nutrients, herbs and C.A.R.E.™ – my proprietary program to support clean eating, adequate sleep, stress recovery and exercise – I encourage you to read all about it in my latest book Master Your Stress Reset Your Health.

If you would like to learn how to do a detox to improve your overall health and wellness – including your eye health – I definitely encourage you to check out my 14-Day Detox Program. This program includes two protein shakes per day with 18 grams of protein, and two meals per day with a meal plan that I created based on making sure you get at least 20 grams of protein in each meal. I also teach you how to eat mindfully and how to detox gently but effectively without feeling worse. This can all be done without pushing yourself too hard and stressing you out, and while carrying on with your daily activities and routine. 

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Remember, when it comes to our health, we have more control than we often realize. By taking small steps every day, like practicing conscious blinking, giving our eyes regular rest through palming, and being mindful of our overall stress levels, we can make a significant difference in our vision and overall well-being.

Thank you, Claudia, for sharing your knowledge and experience with us today. Your work is a powerful reminder that it’s never too late to improve our health and that sometimes, the solutions we’re seeking are simpler and more accessible than we might have thought. Here’s to clearer vision and a brighter outlook on life!

And thank you all for listening in. Please make sure you subscribe to join me for the next episode of How Humans Heal.

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