The first step to better vision begins with the inner desire that says, "I want to see!"

Four Ways to Release Inner Barriers to Seeing

1. RELAX INTO YOUR VISION. Take off your glasses/contacts and look around at your world. Notice what you can see. Release the limiting thoughts that say, "I can't see" or "Everything is blurry." Don't just glance from one thing to another, slow your vision down and take the time to look at what you are seeing. Relax your body, breathe deeply and fully and don't strain to make things clearer. Just let the images of the world enter your eyes and mind and accept it all. Look carefully for differences in what you see: differences in color, form, texture and clarity.

The more time you can spend relaxing into your vision, the better. It's common for people to see their vision change - for the images to fluctuate, often becoming clearer, even if only for brief moments.

Be aware of how you feel. Your feelings are the doorway to release because how you feel not seeing now (threatened, anxious, safe in the blur) is how you were feeling during your Vision Transition Period. These feelings reflect back to you the choices that you made about not seeing at that time.

As you become more aware of these feelings, practice how to "looking openly" (below).

2. LOOK OPENLY. Remember, nothing goes away, even if we try to pretend not to see it or avoid it.

Look directly at whatever you may be avoiding - not only the superficial things like getting the car checked or your teeth cleaned - but, more importantly, the deeper issues: relationships that need healing, people who need forgiving, difficult choices that need making, self judgments that need releasing.

3. OPEN YOUR PERIPHERY. Most nearsighted people have tunnel vision - they are over-aware of what they are directly looking at, and not very aware of their periphery - and are not opening to their total field of vision.

Take a walk without your glasses/contacts and practice being aware of your total field of vision. Feel what it's like to take in everything in all at once – everything around you and everything directly in front of you.

Many spiritual thinkers believe that we receive our intuition and inner wisdom through our peripheral awareness. Over time, the more conscious you are of your periphery, and the fuller your focus becomes, the more you'll start to open up to these inner pathways. You'll also gain a greater sense of space and of depth perception in your visual field.

4. USE THE RIGHT PRESCRIPTION. Most eye doctors prescribe glasses or contacts that are too strong, which often leads to stronger and stronger prescriptions.

I, along with many forward thinking eye doctors, recommend a slightly weaker, under-corrected prescription, which serves two purposes: it helps stop the decline of vision and it allows your eyesight to improve as you take steps to better your vision.

(Visit www.bettervision.com to locate an eye doctor in your area who practices this approach.)

Once you have the awareness of the relationship between inner vision and outer sight, you can begin to open your eyes to more of what’s around you. Not only will your world get sharper and you will see more comfortably, but you will also perceive your world with more clarity, openness and honesty.