Latest / NHA Today Podcast / Natural Vision Improvement: Can Eyesight Really Get Better? with Mila Casey | Ep. 160

Transcript

Natural Vision Improvement: Can Eyesight Really Get Better? with Mila Casey | Ep. 160 · NHA Today Podcast

• 1:44
  Emily Lawrence: Yay!
• 1:45
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Good morning!
• 1:47
  Emily Lawrence: Good morning, how are you?
• 1:48
  Eileen Kopsaftis: I am fabulous, thank you. How are you?
• 1:51
  Emily Lawrence: Good! You look nice! I like that shirt.
• 1:55
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yeah, I figured I'd get out of my little HLW uniform, so…
• 1:59
  Emily Lawrence: Yeah. It looks nice!
• 2:02
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Thank you.
• 2:03
  Emily Lawrence: Yeah. So, it says, Pam Popper entered the waiting room, but I don't…
• 2:11
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Oh, you know… Mila has been teaching some courses.
• 2:19
  Emily Lawrence: Oh.
• 2:19
  Eileen Kopsaftis: for Wellness Forum Health, and she may have signed in under Pam's name to teach a course, because I know I have to do that, and then I have to change my name, but I sign out, and then when I sign back into Zoom, it's me. But she might not have done that, so we can change her name, right, if she comes in?
• 2:35
  Emily Lawrence: Gotcha, yeah. Okay, perfect. I was like, I don't know who that.
• 2:39
  Eileen Kopsaftis: I know, who's this? Why would she be in here? Yeah.
• 2:41
  Emily Lawrence: Yes, I'll…
• 2:42
  Eileen Kopsaftis: I'm thinking it's me, though.
• 2:47
  Emily Lawrence: There you go.
• 2:52
  Emily Lawrence: Alright, she's joining.
• 2:59
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yep, it's Mila.
• 3:01
  Emily Lawrence: Hi!
• 3:01
  Mila Casey: Hi, Emily! Hi, Eileen!
• 3:03
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Emily was asking me, why is Pam Popper in the waiting room?
• 3:07
  Mila Casey: Ow!
• 3:09
  Mila Casey: That's funny.
• 3:11
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yeah. You must have taught a class for Wellness Forum, and didn't sign out?
• 3:14
  Mila Casey: Yep. Yeah, yeah, and it… I guess it used Pam's… I don't know.
• 3:19
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yeah, and if you don't sign out, it'll keep you under that name when you come back in, so… Emily can change your name, right, Emily?
• 3:26
  Mila Casey: I can change it.
• 3:27
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Okay.
• 3:28
  Emily Lawrence: Yeah, perfect.
• 3:30
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yeah, because I just did the diet and lifestyle class this past Wednesday.
• 3:33
  Mila Casey: Yeah, yeah.
• 3:33
  Eileen Kopsaftis: I… when I sign in… when I join the… and I do the recording, I change my name, because I don't, you know, I don't look like Pam. I know… they know I'm not her, so…
• 3:40
  Mila Casey: Yes, I change it all the time, it's…
• 3:42
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yeah, when I teach it, but I guess it's… yeah. Yeah.
• 3:46
  Mila Casey: Two, yeah, two accounts.
• 3:50
  Mila Casey: For some reason, it decided to use pants this time to connect me.
• 3:54
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yes, that's okay. So, how are you this morning?
• 3:57
  Mila Casey: Good. Well, evening, I had the whole day!
• 4:00
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Oh, that's right, I keep forgetting, you're in Istanbul, so it's a little…
• 4:03
  Mila Casey: Yes, yes. There. Your morning, my evening.
• 4:08
  Mila Casey: 8 hours.
• 4:09
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yeah.
• 4:10
  Mila Casey: I don't know where… where you are in which time zone?
• 4:14
  Emily Lawrence: I'm in Fort Collins, Colorado, so… mountain.
• 4:18
  Mila Casey: mountain.
• 4:19
  Emily Lawrence: Yep.
• 4:19
  Mila Casey: Mountain time.
• 4:21
  Emily Lawrence: Mountain time. Yes. Let me just double check…
• 4:27
  Emily Lawrence: the Zoom settings really quick before we get into it. We're already recording. I just started the recording once we joined.
• 4:34
  Mila Casey: Right.
• 4:38
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yeah, let me make sure my audio is up, because Zoom tends to turn me down sometimes. Nope, I'm good there.
• 4:44
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Video should be good, at least on my end.
• 4:50
  Emily Lawrence: Okay… Let me see here…
• 5:05
  Emily Lawrence: Info…
• 5:15
  Emily Lawrence: Okay, yeah.
• 5:17
  Emily Lawrence: dear.
• 5:22
  Emily Lawrence: Reporting…
• 5:28
  Emily Lawrence: Go ahead.
• 5:31
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Welcome, everybody, to the NHA Podcast, and I am very excited to be your host, Eileen Kapsoftis, and I am introducing someone who I have known for many years, love and admire her, and she's just brilliant, and you are going to hear some absolutely
• 5:50
  Eileen Kopsaftis: not well-known things about vision health today that should be well known, and so we're going to help to break that problem. And I want to introduce her. She is a Russian-trained ophthalmologist with almost 13 years of experience, and she immigrated to the USA, and after dealing with health issues.
• 6:09
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Mila Casey became a nutrition coach. And then later on, she became a health and vision educator, which you're gonna hear a lot about today, using the holistic, natural approach
• 6:22
  Eileen Kopsaftis: to helping people with their vision and their eye health. So, welcome, Mila. I'm so glad you could join us today and share your knowledge.
• 6:31
  Mila Casey: Thank you, Eileen. Yeah, really excited to share.
• 6:34
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yes, I am too. I mean, for those of you listening, I have taken Mila's vision classes, and
• 6:41
  Eileen Kopsaftis: I have seen firsthand the improvements that can be obtained, and heard from other students in the class the phenomenal successes that they had as well. And so I'm really excited to bring this
• 6:55
  Eileen Kopsaftis: knowledge, to all of you. And so, the first question I would like to ask, though, Mila, even though I did read a little bit about your background, is what drew you to the field of ophthalmology? Because, you know, there's a lot of different fields out there that you could become a doctor in, and so what drew you to that?
• 7:13
  Mila Casey: Yeah, I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but we had a good friend, a family friend, I guess acquaintance.
• 7:23
  Mila Casey: And he was a professor of ophthalmology. Very famous, very well respected, and just, like, a model for.
• 7:33
  Mila Casey: For me, always. So, he… I just went to him for his advice, and of course, he said, of course you have to come to ophthalmology. You'll love it! And he was right.
• 7:45
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yes.
• 7:46
  Mila Casey: So, that's how I ended up in ophthalmology residency for a couple of years, and I never regretted it.
• 7:54
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And you became very skilled. I mean, you actually performed surgery to people's eyes.
• 7:59
  Mila Casey: Yes, yes, it was, yeah, surgery, we, we did perform surgery, yeah, most of the time, so I, I was in residency. So my surgical experience, I, I would say, was probably around 5 years,
• 8:18
  Mila Casey: And then we… started, moving, traveling, so, yeah, and then I…
• 8:24
  Mila Casey: Switch to just a regular in-office, outpatient clinic.
• 8:30
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Right, so…
• 8:32
  Eileen Kopsaftis: We're going to be talking about natural vision improvement today, which I'm sure a lot of the audience has never heard of.
• 8:40
  Eileen Kopsaftis: It's not really mainstream knowledge, but it should be. I mean, I read a book on this by Bates 30 years ago.
• 8:47
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And I never really did a lot with it. I did see an expert in the area who was a behavioral optometrist, and I know you can touch on that as well. But he gave me exercises to do, which is kind of the opposite of what you teach.
• 9:02
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And so, I didn't really see a lot of benefit, and I sort of gave up. And so, what I'd like to ask is, how does natural vision improvement differ from conventional…
• 9:14
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Eye care. Eye health.
• 9:17
  Mila Casey: Yeah.
• 9:18
  Mila Casey: Yeah, so, the regular… in regular medical field, I guess they treat, eye diseases, and eye doctors usually prescribe,
• 9:32
  Mila Casey: medications, glasses, they recommend surgeries, right? And many people ask, actually, what is the difference between your ophthalmologist, what is, like, there is optometrist, and there is optician. So the main difference is that ophthalmologist is a medical doctor
• 9:51
  Mila Casey: who treats diseases
• 9:53
  Mila Casey: with, medications. He can prescribe, or she… they prescribe, glasses, but they also perform surgeries, any surgeries.
• 10:04
  Mila Casey: And optometrist, doctor of optometry, does everything but the surgery. And they can be really good diagnosts, and the good doctors out there, optometry doctors.
• 10:18
  Mila Casey: An optician works in the optical shop, and optician fits you with the glasses, measure… does the measurements, and, yes, so create the lenses and fit… fit with the lenses and frames.
• 10:35
  Mila Casey: That's the difference.
• 10:36
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Perfect. So… so, just to kind of put it in a nutshell, conventional eye care is really about treating things.
• 10:45
  Mila Casey: Correct, yes.
• 10:46
  Eileen Kopsaftis: But there's no real prevention.
• 10:50
  Mila Casey: Right.
• 10:51
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Strategies, or reversal of anything.
• 10:54
  Mila Casey: Absolutely, right, right. And, you… if… if you think about it, every…
• 11:02
  Mila Casey: two years or so, you go for your eye exam, right? And you… the eye doctor has to update your prescription and tweak it most of the time.
• 11:17
  Mila Casey: In majority. And why so… why would… Our vision does not improve If you…
• 11:28
  Mila Casey: If you suppo… if you go to the doctor to be… to get well, right? Why our vision does not improve, but it's the opposite.
• 11:38
  Mila Casey: And that's the question, right? So, Bates' method… so, Dr. Bates, who created Natural Vision Improvement Method, or discovered, he discovered.
• 11:50
  Mila Casey: Over 100 years ago, Dr. Bates practiced… he was an ophthalmologist in New York City, he practiced, he was a teaching, on teaching faculty in,
• 12:02
  Mila Casey: Columbia University, and, he, like, accidentally, he noticed that some of his patients, improved their vision spontaneously without any glasses, like, actually by not wearing, like, using glasses.
• 12:19
  Mila Casey: So he started his research, and he discovered that poor vision is caused by mental strain, And tension?
• 12:30
  Mila Casey: Poor vision habits, and by wearing glasses.
• 12:35
  Mila Casey: So, that's the basic of that, and that from that time on, he started his research along with his medical practice.
• 12:46
  Mila Casey: He was helping people to get rid of the glasses, and to improve their vision, and not only nearsightedness, farsightedness.
• 12:57
  Mila Casey: But also conditions like…
• 13:00
  Mila Casey: glaucoma, cataract, macular degeneration, strabismus, or crossed eyes. So any condition, you name it, it could be helped with this, with, with this method.
• 13:16
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Mmm.
• 13:17
  Mila Casey: So sad.
• 13:18
  Eileen Kopsaftis: So the difference is, when people are going to get their eyes checked, If they're going to conventional.
• 13:27
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Eye clinic, eye doctor. They're only going to be given things to help them navigate the world with poor vision or medical conditions of the eyes.
• 13:41
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And then this natural vision improvement is actually teaching someone strategies and things that they can do to improve the health of their eyes.
• 13:51
  Mila Casey: And to improve their vision.
• 13:53
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Without glasses as a crutch.
• 13:57
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yes. So, I'd say they're polar opposites.
• 14:01
  Mila Casey: Right.
• 14:02
  Eileen Kopsaftis: much.
• 14:02
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Kind of like, you know, we are teaching to people who are mostly whole food, plant-based, and they know that that's a much better option than medically manipulating those blood biomarkers for high blood pressure and cholesterol and all of that. So… and, you know, even in my profession, a lot of things that go on with treating pain, it's all about treating the symptoms, but not about, let's address the cause.
• 14:25
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And what he found the cause.
• 14:28
  Eileen Kopsaftis: was very different for these eye issues. So, could you explain a little bit about that so people get a general understanding of, like, why vision happens, and, you know, the vision issues?
• 14:40
  Mila Casey: Yes, yes. So… Vision can be improved naturally. If you think about it, like, everybody probably experienced
• 14:53
  Mila Casey: Better vision or worse vision at any time of the day, any time of the year, month, or,
• 15:05
  Mila Casey: stress… you know, stress, condition. During stressful times, it's… it's worse. When you have… when you have, like, rested… restful sleep in the morning, you wake up and your vision is better. So, why…
• 15:22
  Mila Casey: if vision gets better and worse during the day, and actually, it's proven that it fluctuates, vision, our vision, our eyesight, is never the same.
• 15:36
  Mila Casey: Why?
• 15:37
  Mila Casey: We can't improve it, then.
• 15:40
  Mila Casey: So, these, in a… in a state of stress or tension.
• 15:46
  Mila Casey: This translates into, tense eye muscles.
• 15:52
  Mila Casey: So… Eye muscles that move the eyeball.
• 15:57
  Mila Casey: structurally, anatomically. So, Bates proved that if you… if you use the strategies, 2…
• 16:07
  Mila Casey: Relax these eye muscles. Your vision can be improved.
• 16:12
  Mila Casey: So that's… that's the basic of it.
• 16:15
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yeah, so it's really the eye muscles under tension that's causing the problem, and… and I think that, you know, when I went and saw that behavioral optometrist, the issue was he gave me exercises. He didn't teach me how to relax the muscles of my eyes.
• 16:31
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And I do remember reading that book by Dr. Bates all those decades ago, that he shared that when he worked with children, whenever he asked them when they started to notice a problem with their vision.
• 16:42
  Mila Casey: I hope.
• 16:43
  Eileen Kopsaftis: They never told him a time, like a month ago or a year ago. They always told him an event, like when a grandparent passed away, or when they moved, or when they had to change schools. So it would make sense that they're basically relating a time where they were under extreme stress.
• 16:59
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And that's what impacted their vision. Yeah. So… and I would go so far as to say, you know, our world is a place where a lot of people are under a lot of stress.
• 17:08
  Eileen Kopsaftis: So, learning how to relax our eyes…
• 17:13
  Mila Casey: factor, absolutely, yeah. Because our eye is actually part of the brain, part of our brain. So, we say… it's proven that
• 17:25
  Mila Casey: vision is 90% mental, and only 10%, you know, anatomically, mechanical, right? So, it's… there is a lot of mental factor.
• 17:40
  Mila Casey: like,
• 17:42
  Mila Casey: to… in the… in the poor vision. Yeah, as you said, mental stress, the… any events, that's… can affect… definitely can affect, your vision. So, if…
• 17:56
  Mila Casey: I can share my experience, please. My vision got declined, and my experience with everything, with the Bates method as well, just before I found out about this method 3 years ago. And, we… I immigrated, we moved to the U.S,
• 18:15
  Mila Casey: And it was a stressful time.
• 18:18
  Mila Casey: I was leaving my profession.
• 18:21
  Mila Casey: We were settling… I was settling in new country, so although my husband is American, it's still… it's a big change for me, and our kids were…
• 18:33
  Mila Casey: Like, elementary school, age, and that was a lot, a lot to… to process.
• 18:41
  Mila Casey: So, my vision actually started
• 18:45
  Mila Casey: declining right around that time. And, so… and I found a job, part-time job, because kids were little, in an optical shop.
• 18:58
  Mila Casey: And it was very convenient, because I was fitting people with glasses, and I was explaining to them how to get used to the glasses, especially to, you know, glass… to progressive lenses, because they, as many people know, it's not easy to get used to them.
• 19:18
  Mila Casey: And it was convenient for… for me, because my vision was…
• 19:23
  Mila Casey: worsening, so they fit me with the progressive lenses, so I… it took me a long time to get used to it. It was very difficult. And yeah, that was… that was the time, and I…
• 19:38
  Mila Casey: I guess I was using these glasses for at least 10 years before I found out about this Bates method.
• 19:46
  Mila Casey: And I decided… I was very skeptical when I learned about that.
• 19:53
  Mila Casey: But when I… Found out that Dr. Bates was an ophthalmologist, just like me.
• 19:59
  Mila Casey: I was thinking, well, he can be wrong, he couldn't be wrong. Let me check it and test it on myself. So, I… I found a natural vision educator, experienced teacher, and I worked, with her. She's my mentor,
• 20:18
  Mila Casey: For, like, 3 to 4 months, and…
• 20:21
  Mila Casey: I stopped using glasses, and .
• 20:25
  Eileen Kopsaftis: In just 3 to 4 months.
• 20:26
  Mila Casey: Yes.
• 20:27
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And your vision had gotten to the point where you needed progressive lenses, which means you needed…
• 20:31
  Mila Casey: Glasses to help you with distance and reading. And reading, yeah. First, my reading, my reading vision was declining, as usual. It's like an old age.
• 20:42
  Mila Casey: We call it presbyopia, old age farsightedness, when you have to push your, your text away, right? You don't see well close up.
• 20:53
  Mila Casey: And then, it's a rule, then your far vision usually goes next.
• 21:01
  Mila Casey: And that's what happened to me, so I had breast myopia and also, nearsightedness.
• 21:08
  Mila Casey: slight nearsightedness that I stopped… Seeing well far.
• 21:15
  Mila Casey: I needed both correction.
• 21:16
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yeah, yeah. And so.
• 21:19
  Eileen Kopsaftis: you did this training for 3 to 4 months, you no longer needed glasses, and then that's what led you to start wanting to teach it, I'm thinking.
• 21:30
  Mila Casey: Yeah, and I was thinking, okay, that is just amazing, and I wanted to share it with other people, so I was thinking, okay, my experience is perfect, and I can explain much more
• 21:45
  Mila Casey: And, you know, anybody can learn Bates Method, but with my background, it's even more valuable for other people, so I just jumped into it, and I, yes, I was… I started teaching right away, and the first, you know.
• 22:04
  Mila Casey: first time we talked about it at the, academy, at your academy, with your, on your platform, that's when I started.
• 22:15
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yes, I remember asking you to
• 22:18
  Eileen Kopsaftis: To the students in my academy, and…
• 22:20
  Mila Casey: Yeah.
• 22:20
  Eileen Kopsaftis: A lot of people signed up for the class, and I was hearing lots of great comments on how their vision was improving. I remember one of the students saying how she could go to Motor Vehicle and not have to wear glasses when she renewed her license, because she passed the eye exam. She was very excited. So, so…
• 22:41
  Eileen Kopsaftis: I think it would really be helpful, because I always want to teach people, you know, that you want to make an informed decision, so we want to know what our risks and our benefits are. So, are there any risks to the Bates method, to learning this natural vision improvement?
• 22:58
  Mila Casey: Yes.
• 22:59
  Mila Casey: There are risks. There are risks and the positive ones.
• 23:03
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Positive one!
• 23:05
  Mila Casey: off.
• 23:05
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Okay, so good side effects.
• 23:07
  Mila Casey: Losing your blurry vision.
• 23:10
  Mila Casey: And improve… your… you know, your eyesight improves, you lose the mental strain or tension, you stop squinting, and you… you actually lose your eyeglasses, unfortunately.
• 23:27
  Mila Casey: Yes, you lose money. If you spend, like, thousands for… on… on eyeglasses, yes, you unfortunately, unfortunately, you have to, like, put them aside or donate them, and that's a lot of money. Yes. So…
• 23:43
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yes.
• 23:44
  Mila Casey: Only positive side effects.
• 23:46
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yeah. Sort of like when people switch over to a healthy diet, and now they've lost the constipation, and the high blood pressure, and the joint pain, and the… Yeah. So, awesome, I love it. So,
• 24:01
  Eileen Kopsaftis: I know a lot of the times people want to know, because, I mean, I'm a data person. I like to confirm things with data, although I like to say people aren't data, so we have to sort of keep it in perspective.
• 24:12
  Eileen Kopsaftis: But is there any data, any science behind this that shows that it works? Because I know one of the books that you recommended that I read, they talked about how, a lot of the people who were promoting Dr. Bates' work had sort of changed it, had modified it.
• 24:29
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And then it was less effective, and so the field of vision, healthcare.
• 24:36
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Sort of didn't really get impressed by it at that point.
• 24:40
  Eileen Kopsaftis: So, you know, data is important. Is there… is there proof?
• 24:44
  Mila Casey: Yeah, yeah. So, first scientific studies and… or experiments, they were, they were done by Dr. Bates himself in early 1900s, and by his colleagues, who are actually
• 25:02
  Mila Casey: who… who saw… who improved their own vision, and saw the results, and started teaching the same study, helping people. So, Bates… when Bates left, he was expelled from Columbia University by teaching his residents.
• 25:20
  Mila Casey: how to, you know, how they can help people to get rid of the glasses. So that, you know, they didn't like that. So, when Dr. Bates left the, university, he, he went independently, and he studied… he started his…
• 25:39
  Mila Casey: science experiments, and he proved that muscle tension, eye muscle tension, he… he did experiments on the rabbits.
• 25:51
  Mila Casey: Then. So, he saw that muscle tension
• 25:57
  Mila Casey: Definitely causes the, refractive errors, or, like, nearsightedness and farsightedness.
• 26:04
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Hmm.
• 26:05
  Mila Casey: And by relaxing, like, reattaching this muscle, he… muscles, he… he saw that, the focal distance can improve, you know, change, and…
• 26:16
  Mila Casey: it's definitely, was proven. And that was the earlier, earlier studies. I have to say that the recent studies, I was, at the, at the recent, recent, holistic.
• 26:31
  Mila Casey: Holistic Vision Conference that now takes place yearly, or every two years, international conference.
• 26:40
  Mila Casey: They started, studies among…
• 26:46
  Mila Casey: people who are using Bates Method, and there are, like, preliminary first results of the study of 150 people, around 150 in Mexico, and they showed the results of improvement, definitely, and that was the
• 27:04
  Mila Casey: first presentation that I, I, I saw by this, one of the, doctors.
• 27:11
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Beautiful, yeah. You know, it's interesting, because whenever a medical professional or a healthcare professional goes against the grain.
• 27:19
  Mila Casey: When they're the first one that does it.
• 27:21
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yeah, I mean, how long ago was it where doctors were called quacks if they washed their hands before they did surgery or delivered a baby? Because that was considered quackery? Or doctors who got in trouble even 50 years ago for recommending vitamins to their patient?
• 27:37
  Eileen Kopsaftis: You know, change… changes.
• 27:39
  Mila Casey: So…
• 27:39
  Eileen Kopsaftis: in some professions, and I think it's just wonderful that he stuck to his guns, and he continued to do work that he saw was powerful and life-changing. So, I know I've got a drawer full of eyeglasses that are useless to me now, so…
• 27:55
  Mila Casey: Yes, yes, you can…
• 27:57
  Eileen Kopsaftis: I liked… I bought all these different colors, you know? So… so, the only side effects are positive.
• 28:03
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And there is proof, and they're doing more and more research now, so they're doing some good clinical studies that will be published, which is awesome. You said it was only about 3 to 4 months for you to improve your vision, and you had both nearsightedness and farsightedness, to say it in lay terms.
• 28:20
  Eileen Kopsaftis: how long does it take the average person, and have you seen that there is a difference between what they're dealing with? Because there's a lot of different eye health issues.
• 28:30
  Mila Casey: Of course.
• 28:31
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Have you seen if somebody has, you know, glaucoma, or, you know, any of those other things, cataracts, those kind of things? Yeah. And it's interesting because…
• 28:43
  Eileen Kopsaftis: I'm a big one on teaching how, you know, you can age really well, and most of the decline that we've been led to believe in the mainstream narrative that's supposed to happen because of our age is really not true. It's activity-related, lifestyle-related, diet-related.
• 28:58
  Eileen Kopsaftis: It's the same thing with eyes, isn't it?
• 29:01
  Mila Casey: Correct? Yes. Our body has the ability to just,
• 29:08
  Mila Casey: you know, they recover, right? Why not? I is part of our body, it's definitely happening, but everybody's different, of course.
• 29:20
  Mila Casey: So, for some people, it takes… it takes, for, you know, a week, a month, several months. For some people, it's years. And it depends how well the person understands
• 29:35
  Mila Casey: understands the approach, the practices, the application, and of course, it depends on the condition that the person has. So, for cataracts.
• 29:48
  Mila Casey: We've seen… we've seen the beginning, the first, second stage, and, like, between second and third stage of cataracts.
• 29:57
  Mila Casey: They, they were improving from, like, second stage to the first stage, but in advanced, cases of cataracts, like, after 3 and, like, close to 4,
• 30:11
  Mila Casey: That's… we have not seen that improvement, so…
• 30:17
  Mila Casey: We are thankful for Western medicine.
• 30:21
  Mila Casey: that we have options, and I'm not, you know, I don't want to eliminate these options, because they're there.
• 30:33
  Mila Casey: There could be emergency situations. It could be trauma. It could be, you know, retinal detachment requires the emergency surgery.
• 30:44
  Mila Casey: Cataracts. Cataracts, yes, it can be…
• 30:50
  Mila Casey: it can be getting to the point where a person cannot function, and cannot see well, and it was advanced cataract. Yes, in this case, person has… has the surgery. But even people who had cataract surgery, and they have implants.
• 31:09
  Mila Casey: They come to vision classes, and they still have
• 31:14
  Mila Casey: This, option of maintaining the eye health, eye health and wellness.
• 31:20
  Mila Casey: And maybe… mostly… after most cataract surgery.
• 31:27
  Mila Casey: People, require either, you know, glasses for near or for fur.
• 31:35
  Mila Casey: As you know, unless it's… they implanted, like, multiple,
• 31:41
  Mila Casey: multifocal, intraocular lens. But most of the time, it's single vision lens, and you either need
• 31:49
  Mila Casey: reading glasses, you choose, or, you know, distance glasses. So that condition, we've seen, you know, you can avoid having these as well after cataract surgery, because our eye can
• 32:05
  Mila Casey: change the shape, And that, by releasing the tension of the eye muscles.
• 32:13
  Mila Casey: And at the same time, and that will lead the changing of the focal distance, and that's how it will improve, the distance or the reading.
• 32:23
  Eileen Kopsaftis: So even after surgery.
• 32:25
  Mila Casey: After Nath.
• 32:25
  Eileen Kopsaftis: They can still improve their eye health to the point where they may not need glasses.
• 32:30
  Mila Casey: Yes.
• 32:30
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Right. But that's if they're doing their homework, and if they understand the homework, and they're consistent. Okay. Well, what about other things, like age-related macular degeneration? And of course, again, they say that's age-related, but…
• 32:41
  Eileen Kopsaftis: a lot of what I've learned is it's kind of a diet-related thing as well. So I would love for you to mention the nutrition while we're talking about that one, and how that impacts our eyes.
• 32:53
  Mila Casey: Yeah. Nutrition is… plays a huge role. Even… so, diabetics, we see… we see that diabetics have, like, prone, they develop…
• 33:06
  Mila Casey: cataracts much faster in advanced stages. And there is… there was actually a medical doctor in 40s and 50s who discovered
• 33:19
  Mila Casey: That then, already, that cataracts, people with cataracts, cataracts develop in people who
• 33:27
  Mila Casey: Eat processed foods, and sug… like, a lot of sugar and processed food, and that was amazing that he… that was, you know, written in his book,
• 33:39
  Mila Casey: So, but no studies. It's just, like, observational. Observational, his own study when he was, treating the patients.
• 33:49
  Mila Casey: So macular degeneration is definitely the impaired circulation, and the proper nutrition is essential, so what's good for our heart is also good for
• 34:05
  Mila Casey: Any… any other organ.
• 34:07
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Right? For brain…
• 34:09
  Mila Casey: for eyes as well, because eyes are part of our brain. So, we say there are certain, nutrients that
• 34:20
  Mila Casey: very important and essential for our eyes, and these are… they're discovered and well-known in the medical world. They are antioxidants, lutein and zeaxanthin, and they're called… they're found in our macula, in the central part of the retina,
• 34:39
  Mila Casey: And they're so important, they can be obtained from natural food.
• 34:47
  Mila Casey: As well. And the highest concentration of lutein and zeaxanthin, is in kale.
• 34:54
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Hmm.
• 34:55
  Mila Casey: Leafy green…
• 34:56
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Kale smoothies is a good idea, or kale salad, yes.
• 34:59
  Mila Casey: Yes.
• 35:01
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Perfect. So… So…
• 35:06
  Eileen Kopsaftis: So, say someone is, like, you know, they're hearing this talk, and they're saying, okay, well, I have…
• 35:13
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And, you know, name the issue. And, of course, I'm not an eye expert, so I can't think off the top of my head all the different issues that people would have. You know, can this method help my vision? So, if you could, maybe off the top of your head, just sort of list
• 35:28
  Eileen Kopsaftis: You know, the issues that people have with their eye health.
• 35:31
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And say yes or no, would this method help them?
• 35:36
  Mila Casey: I would say…
• 35:38
  Mila Casey: to any condition, yes. And I want to, I want to answer with the same answer that Dr. Bates was given… giving, to his patients, and he was… he was writing it in his, publications. So he was saying that
• 35:58
  Mila Casey: Unless your eyeball is removed for some reason.
• 36:05
  Mila Casey: As far as you have your eyeball.
• 36:08
  Mila Casey: It's possible to improve your vision.
• 36:11
  Mila Casey: Even with the, you know, with the light, just… even if a person sees only light perception.
• 36:20
  Mila Casey: It can be improved.
• 36:23
  Mila Casey: So, with really advanced conditions, and I've seen it just in a, like, within the course. I took the course, of, web…
• 36:35
  Mila Casey: the teacher was… was given the examples, and we were working with the people with a really low vision, and I saw it within 3 days, their vision would improve.
• 36:49
  Eileen Kopsaftis: As in the course of working with them.
• 36:52
  Mila Casey: So, it's anything. After that, I… I saw that anything is possible, any condition.
• 36:59
  Mila Casey: And refractive errors are not diseases, like myopia.
• 37:05
  Mila Casey: Or nearsightedness, farsightedness, these are not
• 37:10
  Mila Casey: Like, medical conditions. They… they are… it's not pathology.
• 37:16
  Mila Casey: It's not pathology.
• 37:18
  Eileen Kopsaftis: not a disease.
• 37:19
  Mila Casey: It's functional, it's not a disease. It's a functional,
• 37:24
  Mila Casey: functional, like, mistake, functional dis… it's… it is… dysfunction of your eye muscles. That's… yeah, I'm trying to say… trying to find this, terminology.
• 37:37
  Mila Casey: Yeah. So it's all corrected, definitely can be corrected.
• 37:41
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yeah.
• 37:42
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Sounds wonderful. So, I'm thinking that everybody listening to this would love some examples of the vision practices. Like, maybe 2 or 3 things that they could even learn right now to kind of dip their toe in the water and test this, and check this out, and make them want to learn more.
• 37:59
  Mila Casey: Yeah. So, the simplest would be, like, I would give a couple of examples.
• 38:05
  Mila Casey: So, it's very common, we're all now staring at the screens, right? We're all watching and working and giving interviews, so we work a lot with the computers, and while we work at the computer, we tend to blink less.
• 38:24
  Mila Casey: And blinking is so essential. Like, I would invite everybody who is watching us to try not to blink and stare for some time.
• 38:36
  Mila Casey: And probably within, like, 15, seconds or so, you'll notice the discomfort. Extreme discomfort.
• 38:46
  Mila Casey: So, blinking is so important, and it lubricates the eyes, it cleans the eyes, it…
• 38:53
  Mila Casey: actually impairs the visual acuity if… if our eye… if we have dry eye syndrome. And this is such a common condition that I… in my… I've seen it in my practice, every other person
• 39:08
  Mila Casey: would have the symptoms, and what…
• 39:10
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Dry eye syndrome is actually because people aren't blinking.
• 39:14
  Mila Casey: It is… yes!
• 39:15
  Eileen Kopsaftis: It's not a medical condition.
• 39:17
  Mila Casey: It's not unlike…
• 39:18
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Created by habit.
• 39:19
  Mila Casey: very few, yes, a small percentage is connected with the autoimmune disease, the Sjogren's disease.
• 39:29
  Mila Casey: And that's the only condition.
• 39:31
  Mila Casey: But the more…
• 39:32
  Eileen Kopsaftis: For anyone else, they just need to learn to blink.
• 39:35
  Mila Casey: Yes, so blinking more, and you can experiment, you can do, like, rapid blinking for 30 seconds, and the effect is immediate.
• 39:45
  Eileen Kopsaftis: So, blinking more is…
• 39:48
  Mila Casey: one of the.
• 39:48
  Eileen Kopsaftis: I remember learning that, and just in case anybody listening is kind of Type A like me.
• 39:53
  Eileen Kopsaftis: I was very glad that you said that when I blink rapidly, to not squeeze my eyes. It wasn't… it wasn't about forcing your eyes closed. It was about just making sure that you could blink them without forcing anything, because I would have if you hadn't told me that, so… Yes, yes, yes.
• 40:09
  Mila Casey: Like a butterfly, butterfly, like, blinks.
• 40:14
  Mila Casey: And it's still… it's still actually… it… it's… it's a micro-massage of our eyelids.
• 40:20
  Mila Casey: And our eyelids have this special glands called meibomian glands, which produce this lipid lay of the tear.
• 40:31
  Mila Casey: And when we blink, when we… when these meibomian glands are clogged, we don't get enough of this secretion, and that's why our tear evaporates much faster.
• 40:44
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Mmm.
• 40:45
  Mila Casey: And actually, tearing, you know, the… a lot of tears is one of the signs of the dry eyes.
• 40:52
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Because the eye's trying to make up for the lack of that gland doing its job.
• 40:57
  Mila Casey: It's a compensation, yeah, of tear production.
• 41:00
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Oh, wow.
• 41:01
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yeah, yeah.
• 41:03
  Mila Casey: And that's important.
• 41:03
  Eileen Kopsaftis: So that's the first one.
• 41:05
  Mila Casey: Yeah, yeah, that's the first one. And the second one, I would say, definitely, like, palming.
• 41:14
  Mila Casey: When you're… when your eyes are… you feel like your eyes are strained, you're tired, you can just rub your palms.
• 41:23
  Mila Casey: And, lean… and close your… cup your, eyes like this, and lean on the table, and, just spend, like, 2 or 3 minutes in a total darkness. Let your eyes relax.
• 41:39
  Mila Casey: And it's…
• 41:40
  Mila Casey: Very important to give it to our eyes, because darkness, that's when our, you know, the relaxation happens.
• 41:51
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yeah, and I would like to personally say that I've used that a lot, and that… and I'm always doing research, creating content, I'll have 12 windows open, looking at data, and I realize, oh, I just need to give my eyes a rest, and so I do that palming.
• 42:06
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And it's phenomenal at how it works, because you just feel the warmth.
• 42:12
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And you just feel that relaxation. Now, because I'm kind of a Type A, I have to set my phone so that I'll do it for, like, 3 minutes, because to me, 30 seconds feels like it's been 3 minutes. So I'll set my phone to give me the 3 minutes, but it's…
• 42:26
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Oh, I highly encourage everyone to do that, and even before you go to bed, if you do that, it just relaxes you. Even more. It helps you to sleep better.
• 42:35
  Mila Casey: And I've noticed that my vision improves when I do that.
• 42:38
  Eileen Kopsaftis: If I'm looking out the window, when I do the palming, and I look out, I can see better.
• 42:43
  Mila Casey: Yep.
• 42:44
  Eileen Kopsaftis: It's amazing.
• 42:45
  Mila Casey: Definitely works. Yes. So these couple may… people may start using.
• 42:51
  Eileen Kopsaftis: No potential harm, only potential benefit. Yes.
• 42:54
  Mila Casey: Correct.
• 42:54
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yes.
• 42:55
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Alright, and then what's one other thing that we can… we can share?
• 42:58
  Mila Casey: These two, so blinking and palming.
• 43:01
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Right.
• 43:02
  Mila Casey: And, also, I would say they maybe transition from your sunglasses, and that's very important, because our eyes are organ of light.
• 43:18
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yes. Now, we're taught that the sun is a danger to us.
• 43:21
  Mila Casey: Correct.
• 43:23
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And so you're saying that the sun is actually good for your eyes.
• 43:27
  Mila Casey: Beneficial for all…
• 43:28
  Eileen Kopsaftis: I think that's really important for people to hear that, so would you mind, before we close, taking a couple minutes to explain that? Because people need to understand that, for sure.
• 43:36
  Mila Casey: Sure, sure. So,
• 43:39
  Mila Casey: the sunlight is good for our body, right? For our health, because it produces vitamin D. And vitamin D, it's a… not a vitamin, a hormone, so…
• 43:54
  Mila Casey: we… so sunlight is really good because on the… for the different reason. So, when we wear sunglasses.
• 44:04
  Mila Casey: we… our eye, our sphincter muscle, our sphincter muscle is, like, stays dilated, because you know that your pupil dilates in the dark and constricts, in the light. It's actually… speaking of light, let me turn on the light quickly.
• 44:23
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yes, and I know that when I get up, you know, I was up at 4 o'clock this morning, and when I turned the light on, I had to look away for a moment and give my eyes a chance to close the sphincter, yes.
• 44:32
  Mila Casey: Right. So… so when it's light, our pupil constricts. So this muscle, the pupillary sphincter muscle, works as a camera in our eye.
• 44:46
  Mila Casey: And it depends if this muscle works well, we have sharp vision.
• 44:54
  Mila Casey: It works as a camera. Our eye is like a mini camera.
• 44:58
  Mila Casey: So, when we wear sunglasses, this muscle stays dilated. Pupil stays dilated, and this muscle… becomes weak.
• 45:11
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Hmm, because it doesn't have to get used.
• 45:12
  Mila Casey: Permanently, yes, pupil becomes permanently, you know, it's rigid. This muscle becomes rigid, and it doesn't work well. So that's why we develop light sensitivity, first of all.
• 45:26
  Mila Casey: But second of all, we can't focus correctly, so we… our vision actually declines because of that.
• 45:34
  Mila Casey: So I would recommend to people… so we don't have to… there is a practice called sunning, and you can just stay in the sun without any protection.
• 45:47
  Mila Casey: or without looking at the sun, but being in the sun without sunglasses. Maybe wear a hat. Hat is better, or a cap.
• 45:56
  Mila Casey: If you're light sensitive. But it took me a couple weeks
• 46:02
  Mila Casey: to transition from sunglasses, because I used to wear sunglasses even in the overcast weather.
• 46:09
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Mmm.
• 46:10
  Mila Casey: So, and my vision… I… I think…
• 46:14
  Mila Casey: Due to that, my vision also improved. I believe that.
• 46:18
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yeah, well, it makes sense, because the… those muscles are working again.
• 46:22
  Mila Casey: Yes.
• 46:23
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Because they have to constrict and dilate and constrict and dilate, which is… which is working. So…
• 46:30
  Mila Casey: Got it.
• 46:31
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Well, this has been fascinating. I really, really hope that everybody listening
• 46:37
  Eileen Kopsaftis: learned a lot, and they are really wanting to learn more. You do teach a vision improvement, natural vision improvement course online, and it's very extensive. You give lots of education, you teach lots of things that people can do.
• 46:53
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And you also answer lots of questions, no matter what's going on with people in their eye and vision health. So, I highly recommend it, I've taken it, so… and I know you've got an advanced one coming up, and I'm looking at my schedule, hoping I can make that one, too. So, I want to thank you so much for being here, and
• 47:13
  Eileen Kopsaftis: I think… I do want to share one thing, because there's a lot of books out there about vision improvement. If there's one book that you recommended for people to read, what would it be?
• 47:24
  Mila Casey: I… I still love… I have a preference of this Optimal Eyesight by Esther Joy van der Werf.
• 47:31
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Okay. And Esther was my mentor.
• 47:34
  Mila Casey: She, unfortunately, she died, last year in January, but this is such a great Great.
• 47:44
  Eileen Kopsaftis: And that's the one that I read, and it is very thorough, lots of history, and very accurate.
• 47:49
  Mila Casey: I still go back to that a lot, and yeah, I think…
• 47:54
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Optimal Eyesight by Esther…
• 47:56
  Mila Casey: Esther Joy van der Werf.
• 47:59
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Okay, perfect. Thank you.
• 48:00
  Mila Casey: Yeah.
• 48:01
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Alright, and thank you for being here today, and I hope everyone really enjoyed.
• 48:07
  Mila Casey: Thank you, my pleasure, Eileen. Very happy to share. And I'm not giving medical advice.
• 48:13
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yes, that's true.
• 48:14
  Mila Casey: Information. Although I have a medical degree, yes, I'm a health coach.
• 48:21
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Yes.
• 48:22
  Mila Casey: I'm a vision coach. Yes. Yes.
• 48:24
  Eileen Kopsaftis: Okay, thank you.
• 48:26
  Mila Casey: Welcome. Bye.