Myopia (short-sightedness) is an increasingly common issue—especially in our screen-heavy, indoor lifestyles.

The Bates Method has been debunked, as we now know that it’s the lens, not the entire eyeball, that changes shape to focus. Vision problems like myopia arise from structural changes in the eye, not from muscle tension. Bates believed the lens was inactive, but science shows that accommodation (our ability to focus at different distances) depends on the lens changing shape, controlled by the ciliary muscle inside the eye.

You’re more likely to develop myopia if you:

Went to school from a young age

Spend a lot of time reading

Use smartphones frequently

Work in a job involving close-up tasks (like jewellery making or coding)

Our eyes function like a camera:

For distance, the lens becomes flat.

For near vision, it becomes thicker or more curved.

In nature, we weren’t meant to spend all day indoors looking at books or screens. When our eyes focus mostly on close-up objects, the lens loses its flexibility—and struggles to return to its flattened, distance-seeing state.

Glasses prescribed for myopia use minus lenses, which act like a crutch. They keep your eyes stuck in near-vision mode, often worsening the condition over time. This is why people often need stronger prescriptions as the years go by.

However, some people have improved or stabilized their vision by training the eyes to regain that distance flexibility. One way is by practicing visual hormesis—holding a book or phone just at the edge between blur and clarity. This mild visual challenge stimulates the eye to adapt and strengthen its focusing ability.

Think about it: if you’ve read most of your life and developed moderate myopia, but only wear glasses when legally required (e.g. for driving), you’re less likely to end up with age-related presbyopia (difficulty seeing up close). Nearsightedness and farsightedness are often two sides of the same coin—loss of lens flexibility in opposite directions.

The body has an incredible ability to adapt and heal. But how quickly that happens depends on how long the strain or damage has been present