The Berne Podcast with Dr. Sam Berne

In this episode, I’m sharing part of a lecture from our practitioner training program on functional anatomy of the eye. Most of what we learn about the eye is structural — naming parts, memorizing terms — but that’s static. Vision is dynamic. It adapts to environmental demands, and it’s deeply integrated with the brain, the vestibular system, and the whole body. We walk through the eye from the outside in — eyelids, sclera, cornea, iris, pupil, lens, retina, optic nerve, and the eye muscles — but through a functional lens instead of a purely structural one. Along the way I get into: * Why sclerology (reading the white part of the eye) can reveal liver, gallbladder, and metabolic imbalances * What pupil dilation patterns tell us about nervous system stress * How color and light therapy can “wake up” a retina that’s shut down from stress or toxicity * Strabismus Syndrome — when a child’s eyes tunnel with no medical explanation * Why eye muscle surgery for strabismus often fails, and what vision therapy offers instead * The case for short-interval eye patching over long-term patching * The powerful idea that changing function can change structure — even reversing conditions like cataracts This is an excerpt from our practitioner training program, so if you’re a parent, OT, or practitioner working with vision, tracking, or learning differences, there’s a lot here to take in.  

What if an eyeglass prescription is more than an optical measurement? In this episode, Dr. Sam Berne explores the deeper meaning behind myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism through the lens of the nervous system. Learn why nearsightedness often reflects patterns of contraction, fear, and hypervigilance, why farsightedness may represent a different adaptive strategy, and how posture, primitive reflexes, trauma, and visual development are woven together. Rather than seeing vision problems as isolated eye conditions, discover how they can become valuable clues about the body’s relationship to safety, regulation, and perception. Vision isn’t just about seeing clearly. It’s about how we experience the world.

Can your vision improve through neuroplasticity? In this podcast episode, Dr. Sam Berne explores the connection between neuroplasticity, the nervous system, and visual function. Drawing from his recent Vision Sanctuary Retreat, he explains how the brain and visual system stay adaptable throughout life and how certain experiences can stimulate change. Topics include: • Neuroplasticity • The brain, eyes, and nervous system • Attention, focus, and visual performance • Fight, flight, freeze, and sensory processing • Interoception and self-awareness • Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory and vision • Clinical experiences with brain injury and special needs patients • Vision as adaptation and learning If you’ve ever wondered whether the brain and visual system can change, this episode offers an introduction to neuroplasticity and its practical implications. Learn more at www.drsamberne.com #Neuroplasticity #VisionHealth #BrainHealth #EyeClarity #DrSamBerne

Can your vision improve as you age? In this first session of the Vision Reboot Series, Dr. Sam Berne explores a holistic approach to eye health that integrates the eyes, brain, nervous system, movement, nutrition, and awareness. Topics include: ✅ Macular degeneration (dry and wet AMD) ✅ Geographic atrophy ✅ Cataracts and natural support strategies ✅ Red light therapy and mitochondrial health ✅ Eye nutrition and supplements ✅ Eye-brain differences, stress, trauma, and visual function ✅ Lymphatic drainage, palm humming, and nervous system regulation ✅ Functional and behavioral vision principles Dr. Berne also guides participants through a simple experiential practice designed to support relaxation, improve visual awareness, and enhance circulation around the eyes. This episode is ideal for anyone interested in natural vision improvement, holistic eye care, support for macular degeneration, cataract prevention, dry eye relief, and understanding the deeper connection between vision and overall wellness. Resources: 🌐 Visit:  http://www.drsamberne.com 📧 Appointments: [email protected] Hashtags: #VisionHealth #MacularDegeneration #Cataracts #NaturalVisionImprovement #EyeHealth #HolisticHealth #BehavioralOptometry #RedLightTherapy #PerceptualEcology #DrSamBern

In this episode, Dr. Sam Berne explores the timeless story of The Odyssey as a metaphor for embodiment and the journey back to ourselves. Drawing parallels between Odysseus’ temptations and today’s digital distractions, Sam reflects on why vision, perception, and direct experience matter more than ever in an age of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and constant stimulation. The second half of the episode features a live lecture on iridology—an observational practice that examines patterns, colors, and markings in the iris to reveal constitutional tendencies related to metabolism, digestion, stress resilience, personality traits, and overall health. Sam discusses: The three primary iris constitutions How the iris reflects inherited strengths and vulnerabilities Connections between eye patterns, digestion, liver health, lymphatic function, and nervous system regulation Nutritional and lifestyle strategies to support vitality Why individualized health approaches matter more than one-size-fits-all recommendations Whether you’re interested in natural health, embodiment, vision, or understanding yourself more deeply through the eyes, this episode offers a unique perspective on the relationship between perception and well-being. Links Mentioned: Clear the Fog (4-week online course)  https://www.drsamberne.com/workshop/online-clear-the-fog-a-4-week-course-for-brain-fog-focus-energy-vision/ Beyond the Eyes live workshop  https://www.drsamberne.com/workshop/beyond-the-eyes-vision-perception-the-nervous-system/ September Perceptual Ecology Retreat in Northern New Mexico  https://www.drsamberne.com/workshop/beyond-the-eyes-vision-perception-the-nervous-system-an-immersive-retreat/ #Iridology #Embodiment #PerceptualEcology #VisionHealth #NervousSystem #NaturalHealing #SomaticAwareness #HolisticHealth #DrSamBerne #TheOdyssey

How Perception Can Be Altered Through Orientation and Regulation Today I am revisiting one of the presentations from the Perceptual Ecology Series. We will explore the relationship between aromatherapy, the respiratory system, immune resilience, and perception. When most people think of essential oils, they think of pleasant scents, relaxation, or natural remedies. However, from a Perceptual Ecology perspective, aromatherapy offers something deeper. The sense of smell is one of the fastest pathways into the nervous system. Unlike vision, hearing, or touch, smell bypasses many of the brain’s filtering systems and travels directly to areas associated with memory, emotion, survival, and regulation. This means that aroma has the potential to influence how we orient, how we regulate, and ultimately how we perceive ourselves and the world around us. Perception is not fixed. The way we experience ourselves and our environment is influenced by countless factors, including breathing, sensory input, stress levels, movement, and nervous system regulation. Aromatherapy offers a simple yet powerful way to enhance mental clarity, support emotional balance, and help manage stress by directly engaging our sensory and regulatory systems. By supporting orientation and regulation, essential oils may help us gain greater clarity, emotional resilience, presence in daily life, and a stronger sense of connection to ourselves and others. Thank you for joining me for Lecture 3. Thank you for being here. Enjoy the show

Join Dr. Berne in his upcoming 4 week course:Clear the Fog: A 4-Week Reset for Brain Fog, Focus, Energy & Vision https://www.drsamberne.com/workshop/online-clear-the-fog-a-4-week-course-for-brain-fog-focus-energy-vision/ Keywords Iridology, emotional health, eye health, fear, vision therapy, holistic healing, essential oils, health workshops, personal development, natural remedies Summary In this conversation, Sam Berne delves into the fascinating world of iridology, exploring how the color and structure of the eyes can reveal insights about physical health, emotional states, and personality traits. He discusses the emotional and energetic language of the eyes, the significance of different eye colors, and the Rayid Method for understanding personality. The conversation also covers practical health recommendations based on eye color, a case study demonstrating iridology in practice, and techniques for addressing fear related to vision loss. Takeaways Emotions significantly influence our vision and perception. Iridology can provide insights into physical and emotional health. Different eye colors correlate with specific health tendencies. The Rayid Method connects iris characteristics to personality traits. Blue-eyed individuals should focus on lymphatic health. Fear of vision loss can create emotional blockages. Breath and movement can help release stored fears. Living foods support lymphatic cleansing and overall health. Understanding eye health can empower personal healing journeys. Holistic approaches can enhance both physical and emotional well-being. Sound bites “The eyes are the organ of light.” “Emotional release can improve vision.” “The eyes hold unspoken stories.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Announcements 02:46 Exploring Iridology 05:21 Emotional and Energetic Language of the Eyes 08:02 Understanding Iridology and Its Applications 11:03 The Rayid Method and Personality Insights 13:44 Constitutional Types in Iridology 17:26 Health Recommendations for Blue-Eyed Individuals 20:03 Health Recommendations for Mixed Iris Individuals 23:20 Health Recommendations for Dark Brown Iris Individuals 27:04 Case Study: Iridology in Practice 33:09 Fear and Vision Reset Exercises

In this episode, Dr. Sam Berne explores the concept of Perceptual Ecology — a framework that views vision as an integrated function of the brain, nervous system, movement, posture, breath, balance, and emotional regulation. Through patient stories and personal experiences, Dr. Berne explains how symptoms like dizziness, visual overwhelm, headaches, anxiety, and balance problems may arise from disorganization in the nervous system rather than isolated eye dysfunction. This conversation dives into: • Functional vision • Peripheral awareness • Vestibular regulation • Somatic movement • Nervous system safety • Feldenkrais principles • Embodied perception • Orientation and healing A powerful discussion for anyone interested in holistic vision, nervous system health, neuroplasticity, and embodied healing. 🌐 Learn more at: www.DrSamBerne.com #PerceptualEcology #FunctionalVision #SomaticHealing #DrSamBerne #Embodiment #VestibularSystem #PeripheralVision #HolisticHealth #Neuroplasticity #MindBodyConnection

Is your vision problem really just about your eyes? In this episode, Dr. Sam Berne explores how symptoms such as double vision, vertigo, visual overwhelm, brain fog, and difficulty adapting to progressive lenses may reflect nervous system dysregulation. Through the lens of Perceptual Ecology, Dr. Berne explains the deeper relationship between vision, posture, vestibular function, peripheral awareness, breathing, movement, and sensory regulation. You’ll discover: • Why vision is more than eyesight • How stress impacts perception • The hidden effects of progressive lenses • The “Balance Triangle” of orientation and stability • Why nervous system regulation can influence visual clarity This episode offers a fresh perspective on functional vision and embodied awareness in today’s overstimulated world.

Our eyes are not broken—they are responding. In this episode, Dr. Sam Berne answers 10 common vision questions through the lens of Perceptual Ecology, exploring how stress, posture, nervous system patterns, and environment shape how we see. If you’ve ever wondered why your vision changes, why new glasses feel off, or whether eye exercises really work—this episode will give you a new perspective. 👉 Learn more: https://www.drsamberne.com/workshop/online-clear-the-fog-a-4-week-course-for-brain-fog-focus-energy-vision/ 🔖#Vision #EyeHealth #BrainHealth #Wellness #HolisticVision #PerceptualEcology

Keywords holistic eye care, vision improvement, eye health tips, behavioral optometry, Sam Berne, eye exercises, nutrition for eyes, blue light protection, workshops, private sessions summary In this engaging conversation, Dr. Sam Berne shares his insights on holistic eye care, emphasizing the importance of daily habits for maintaining eye health. He discusses the impact of nutrition, sunlight, and eye exercises, while also highlighting his workshops and private sessions aimed at personalized care. The discussion also touches on the effects of screen time on vision and the significance of blue light protection. takeaways Dr. Sam Berne is a behavioral optometrist with a holistic approach. Morning sunlight is crucial for resetting circadian rhythms. A diet rich in colorful vegetables supports eye health. Eye exercises can enhance circulation and oxygenation in the eyes. Light is essential for overall health and energy fields. Social media has expanded Dr. Berne’s reach to a global audience. Workshops are tailored to individual goals and health needs. Private sessions focus on treating the root causes of vision problems. Blue light from screens can negatively affect eye health. The Palm Hum exercise is beneficial for relaxation and eye care Sound Bites “Get some morning sunlight.” “Light is a food, don’t be afraid of it.” “Blue light can dry your eyes out.” “It’s the Palm Hum by Dr. Sam.” Chapters 00:00Introduction and Welcome Back to Kauai 01:59Understanding Holistic Eye Care 04:59Daily Habits for Eye Health 08:57Exploring Sam’s Books and Workshops 11:55Private Sessions and Personalized Care 16:00The Impact of Screens on Eye Health         Sam Berne (00:00.29) Here for my interview on KKCR, Public Radio Kauai. I was here about a year and a half ago and back again with my friend Tracy Chavarone, who’s gonna have me on and interview me. So stay tuned. to Dr. Sam Byrne. Aloha Sam. Aloha. So nice to see you in person. I know we’re face to face. We’re face to face. Eye to eye. Welcome back to Kauai. Yeah, feels great to be here. We just had 15 inches of snow in Santa Fe so nice to be in the tropics. Isn’t that kind of unusual to have that much snow this early? Well it used to be with climate change you know we’re getting that much snow but back in the 90s yeah we used to get that kind of snow end of October beginning in November what a blessing you know it lowers the fire risk and Anyway, it’s great to be here in the humidity. was mentioning I was in New Mexico in October and it was very, very dry. I definitely had to put lotion on my skin. It is a high desert environment. I have to warn people about that. It was so beautiful. Mexico is just spectacular. It really is the land of enchantment. really is and so much space there, open land, great hiking, nature, Chaco Canyon and all those magical places. Sam Berne (01:34.765) Well, and of course, kawaii has its own magic, which brings you back. I know it’s like a magnet that keeps bringing me back. So for those of you who have never met Dr. Sam Byrne, I’m going to have him like introduce himself. But he’s the author of many books and he is a holistic, I would say a holistic eye doctor. I don’t know if that’s what you would consider yourself, but. Yes, well I’m a behavioral optometrist, doctor of optometry, but I have studied many different healing modalities and my mission is to help people regain their eyesight if it’s deteriorating, improve their vision as they get older, work with kids with learning problems and the spectrum disorders, autism, the ADD, there’s a very big vision component. to it, traumatic brain injury, people that want to reduce their prescriptions. So I’ve devoted my career, you know, it’s four decades, and still going strong, helping people with their health and their vision. But you do use it well, except your holistic approaches. Yeah, well, know, when listeners, you go to the eye doctor and they give you a stronger prescription and they tell you how you have a disease and you’re going to lose your sight or drug surgery and needles. That’s the, the standard care. So just learning things like functional medicine, what do you eat to preserve your eyes? How does the sun affect your eyes? What about being on computers? You know, so there’s a lot of things that you can do to take better care of this major modality that we relate to the world with. And usually I get people where they’ve gone to the doctor and it’s, my goodness, I’m going to lose my sight or I have to get surgery. And that’s where I come in and I can… Sam Berne (03:34.797) do some interventions to help them. for people listening right now, what are some of the daily habits people can incorporate to keep their eyes as healthy as possible or even improve their eye health? Well, to keep it simple, there three main things. Number one, get some morning sunlight. The research backs that up, that when you get morning sunlight, it actually resets your circadian rhythm and it puts you into a better mood and it’s great for your eyesight and vision. Number two, eat a diet that involves the rainbow of vegetables and if we think about the red, orange, yellow, green vegetables, those feed the retina, the macula and the cornea. And so if you eat a healthy diet, low processed or no processed foods, and reduce or eliminate sugar, you have a great chance to preserve your eyesight. And number three, eye exercises work really well to improve the circulation and oxygenation in the eyes. One of my famous ones is called the palm hum exercise. That’s where you rub your hands together for a few seconds you cup your hands over your eyes and you breathe in through your nose and on the exhale you make a humming sound and you do about six or eight of those after a day on the computer and that will improve your circulation, oxygenation, lubricate your eyes and balance your nervous system. So those are three simple things that you can do to preserve your vision. And those are all totally doable. And I love the rainbow vegetables because for me I like to have a lot of colors in my food because I feel like I’m also nourishing my chakras when I eat all those colors on that more esoteric level. Yeah, well, there’s a camera that I use called a GDV camera. This measures energy fields, chakras, and acupuncture meridians. And we did research on how the chakras were impacted when we fed people Sam Berne (05:54.761) color therapy through their eyes. And we found that when they looked at different colors, overall their chakras got more balanced and more lined up and larger. So the eyes are the organ of light that transports that light throughout the entire body. Light is a food, don’t be afraid of it. And yeah, it affects our energy fields and our… our meridians and so yeah very much so. If you just tuned in I’ll speak with Dr. Sam Byrne and so Sam I’d love for you to give out your website and like any other information if you want to give out your phone number how long will you be here on Kauai? I’ll be here through next Wednesday and we have a workshop scheduled this Saturday. The registration closes tomorrow morning. So you can call me 505-9200-317. I’m also doing some private sessions. So if you want some one-on-one time, give me a call. My website is drsamberne.com. I’m also very active on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. So you can type my name in and I have thousands of free videos. a membership so if you want to go deeper with me you can do that. Lots of ways to learn about what I’m doing. you mentioned like I think every social media out there so I’m just curious what how has social media changed your ability to assist people in their lives? Well, it helps me connect to people that probably would have never heard from me or about me. And I have a international following. So people say in Germany or Australia, you know, they get to see my content and it gives them another opportunity to, you know, to help themselves. My mission is to educate and I give away my content for free. I also have a podcast. Sam Berne (08:06.933) the burn podcast and so with all of those different channels I’m able to reach people video, audio, written and it’s really been a great service to be able to connect with people on so many levels from many different locations. So once again, if you just tuned in, I’m speaking with Dr. Sam Byrne. And now I know you have authored quite a few books, and do you want to just mention some of those? Because I know you were here, was it last year, or was it this year when you were here for your latest book? It was last April, and it was a book called Vital Vision, and that’s my newest book that’s been out about a year. You can get that on Amazon, both ebook and also written. I’ve written, my first book was called Creating Your personal vision. I wrote that in 1994. I did a new edition about two, three years ago that has eye exercises in it. I also wrote a book about nutrition called Taking It In and how foods affect our vision and our brain. And then I wrote a book called I Sense, How to Play in the Field of Healing, where I talk about energy, medicine, and my research swimming with the wild dolphins on the Big Island and how that impacted people’s energy fields and chakras and did that. Our last trip was 2020 before COVID. So there’s books on my website. You just go to DrSamBurn.com and you can order them if you want. So now the workshop, the workshop on Saturday, we want to talk a little bit about what that format will be. Well, you know, people bring their individual situations to the table. And so we’re going to figure out what each person’s goals and objectives are. And then we’ll tailor the workshop to how it’s going to help people. And it could be through somatic movement. It could be through color therapy, vision, physical therapy, exercises. I also do something called iridology that’s being able to read the iris. You take a picture of the iris. Sam Berne (10:19.735) the colored part of the eye and that maps to the body so you can see what your liver health is, gallbladder, pancreas, thyroid, get to see genetic tendencies, things that maybe were in your family and nurture points. What are things that you can do to nurture your systemic health that not only improves your vision but can improve your health and wellness also. And once again, how can someone register for that? Just give me a call 505-920-0317 and we can do the registration process on the phone. Also, if you want to do a session, we can book one. I am licensed to practice optometry in Hawaii, which is an advantage. So if you need prescriptions or anything like that, I can certainly address those needs for you. And your website again? www.drsamburn.com. B-E-R-N-E. Check it out, there’s a lot of great stuff on there. Yeah, if you want to interact, just send me an email and we can talk. So you’re offering private sessions. now, I mean, know, of course, you customize those to what the people’s issues are. But is there anything in particular, things that you are always sort of working with with people? What does the private session entail? mean, do you do it, do you take an iridology picture? mean, what does that entail? Well, you know, people have problems. so listening is very important and meeting people where they are around, know, what are their symptoms? And of course we want to treat the cause, not the symptoms. So it could be anything from, for example, somebody’s prescription is too strong that they’re wearing and it gives them a headache. So how to reduce it but still allow them to see clearly, maybe giving them some eye relaxation exercises if they work on screens a lot. Sam Berne (12:25.465) or let’s say you’ve been diagnosed with cataracts or glaucoma or macular degeneration or dry eye, something that you’re tired of using pharmaceuticals or you’re facing surgery, then there could be some nutritional, herbal, aromatherapy, functional medicine things that could turn things around. One of the new research studies that’s coming out is on something called photobiomodulation. This is using red light on the eyes to increase the mitochondria function. And when you increase the mitochondria function, you reduce inflammation and oxidative stress. So there’s a way that I’ve developed red light therapy for the eyes that’s not too bright, and it allows a reversal of certain eye conditions. So Glenn Jeffries was an ophthalmologist in the UK who did a study on red light therapy and macular degeneration. You could Google that. So there’s lots of different techniques with the overall intention is to help people move out of the danger zone if things are deteriorating. Sam Berne (13:48.813) private sessions with individuals if you’re interested. He can be reached at 505-920-0317. Once again, that’s 505-920-0317 and he will be here through next Wednesday, or? Yes, that’s correct. And is there any particular area of the island where you are seeing patients just so people know? In the Princeville area. But if you contact me, I can give you directions. And it’s a nice, comfortable house. So it’s great. Just want to let people know, you’re visiting from the west side, it’s on the North Shore. Sure. We’re on the North Shore. Yeah, exactly. again your website? DrSamBurn.com. And do you have your own YouTube channel? I do DrSamBurn you can go on that we post our video podcasts we do YouTube shorts long long material so we have tons of free videos on YouTube if you want to go there just type in my name and Watch away. Watch away. So now you said you also have a podcast. where is that? Well, I do both an audio through Apple iTunes and Spotify and all the major sites. So that’s audio. Some people like to walk their dog and listen or they’re commuting in the city. And then we do a video version which we post on YouTube. So yeah, there’s a lot of different ways to reach that podcast. It’s called the burn podcast. And I’ve done hundreds of shows on a variety of different subjects. Sam Berne (16:00.783) from Port Allen tomorrow and interact. Hopefully maybe we’ll see some whales and turtles and dolphins. And then actually I brought my golf clubs so I’m going to be playing some golf and get a little morning sunlight and then probably do some hiking. it’s already been great so far. So let’s get back to eyes though. So you mentioned something about the screens, we’re on screens a lot. I know for my glasses I have one of those, what is it, that like blue thing that supposedly helps your eyes when you’re using screens, I forget what it’s called. Yeah, it’s called a blue protection lens or a blue filter or something, you know, depends on the company. So basically what’s coming off screens these days is chaotic blue light. And over time, this blue light can dry your eyes out, can create inflammation and eye strain, dryness. So the blue light is definitely, in some circles they’ll say it’s actually even like a neurotoxin. So by doing blue protection on the lenses, you can actually get a screen protector as well on your phone or your tablet or your computer. It’s really important to take frequent breaks on the computer and after 6 p.m. when you’re on the screens, the blue light tricks the pineal gland to reduce melatonin, which is our sleep hormone. So it’s a little more difficult to go to sleep if you’re on your screens before bed. I would stop using your digital one hour before you go to sleep, allow yourself to get away from all that chaotic screen time. do those things and then get out in the natural sunlight, look out into the distance, you know, then you have a good chance to reduce eye strain and dryness. so there three main things just to keep it simple. Number one, get morning natural sunlight about 30 minutes a day, studies of Sam Berne (18:22.707) that when you get that morning sunlight it resets your circadian rhythm and puts you in a better mood so your serotonin dopamine levels in the brain start start firing and it also improves your eyesight. Number two Eliminate processed foods, eat a rainbow diet of vegetables. I’d probably add berries. That’s a really great food for night vision. So the red, orange, yellow, green vegetables are really, really important and that feeds the macula and the retina. And then number three, my exercise called the palm hum. You could Google it and you can watch a demo. Basically you rub your hands together for a few seconds, palm your eyes. You’re breathing in through the nose on the exhale. you do a hum and you do about six humps and that’s going to bring more oxygenation, circulation and relaxation to your eyes and your nervous system. If do those things, you’re going to preserve your eyesight. Well, I love all three of those and they’re so doable. And just thinking about that, know, palming your eyes and humming, because I know, you know, there’s, of course, there’s all, you know, sound therapy and stuff, but when I think of humming, it’s sort of like your whole body kind of vibrates. it seems like, you know, would just help with your parasympathetic nervous system. You know, in so many ways it could be beneficial. Parasympathetic nervous system, nitric oxide, which is an ingredient as a natural vasodilator. And your hands are like tuning forks. So when you’re humming and you get that vibration, that sound is going into the compressed tissue of the eyes. Sound is one of the best ways to release compressed tissue, whether you’re basically doing your own sound bath. I like that. I love sound baths too. they’re great. loved by other people as well. So this is more of a self-produced sound bath that you can direct and regulate which is wonderful. And it’s the Palm Hum by Dr. Sam It’s the Palm Hum, yes. So Dr. Sam Byrne, thank you so much. Once again I’d love for you to give out your website and your phone number. Sure, website drsambyrne.com and my number is 505-920-0317. Sam Berne (20:39.56) Dr. Byrne is on island through next Wednesday. He is seeing private clients, having private sessions as well as offering a one-day workshop this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and all that information is on website? Is that on your Facebook page too? yeah, so it’s a lot of different places, but you can just give me a call and we can talk about it. So Tracy, thank you so much for having me on and best wishes to you. Well thank you Sam, it’s so good to see you again and I know I’ll see you in the course of the week. So, Aloha!         Set up a free discovery call with Dr. Berne to learn more about his practitioenr’s training: [email protected] Practitioner’s Program Link: https://www.drsamberne.com/practition… For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ Then the show notes, then the transcript then Website: https://www.drsamberne.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamBerneOD/?… Instagram: / samberneod Twitter: / drsamberne LinkedIn: / drsamberne   Dr. Sam Berne has been in private practice in New Mexico for over 35 years and where he works with patients to improve their vision and overall wellness through holistic methods. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University, Doctor of Optometry from Pennsylvania College, and did his postdoctoral work at the Gesell Institute in collaboration with Yale University. He has been awarded The Special Awards for Service from the Behavioral Optometrists in Mexico for his innovative and holistic work with children.   His protocols take a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to health and wellness. He understands and treats the body as one integrated system rather than a collection of independent organs in order to identify and address the root causes of disease. His whole health protocols improve vision and wellness by healing the mind-body-spirit through nutritional protocols, vision therapy, and self-care techniques. This views each person as genetically and biochemically unique and enables the individual to make lifelong improvements to their well-being.

Keywords podcasting, community building, content creation, social media, email marketing, online criticism, business funding, personal branding, authenticity, audience engagement Summary In this conversation, Sam Berne shares insights on starting and growing a podcast, emphasizing the importance of community engagement, time management, and authenticity. He discusses various strategies for content creation, including leveraging social media and email marketing, while also addressing common concerns about costs and equipment. Sam provides practical advice on handling online criticism and navigating business partnerships, ultimately encouraging listeners to be patient and authentic in their branding efforts. Takeaways You don’t need fancy audio equipment to start a podcast. Building a community through podcasting can enhance your reach. Posting excerpts on social media can increase podcast downloads. Time management is crucial for consistent content creation. Utilizing platforms like Upwork can help find freelance talent. Artificial intelligence can assist in content generation. Diversifying content across platforms can attract more followers. Starting a podcast can be done with free services. Quality is less important than authenticity in podcasting. Being authentic helps in building a strong personal brand. Titles The Art of Podcasting: Building Community Maximizing Engagement Through Social Media Sound bites “You can find great talent on Upwork.” “You can start a podcast for free.” “Be authentic to build your brand.” Chapters 00:00 Starting a Podcast: The Basics 02:53 Building Your Audience Through Collaboration 05:28 Time Management for Content Creation 08:43 Utilizing Social Media for Engagement 11:28 Navigating Podcasting Costs and Equipment 14:15 Leveraging Email Marketing for Sales 17:04 Handling Online Criticism and Feedback 19:54 Exploring Funding Options for Technology 22:54 Creating Content Without Video 25:37 Authenticity in Personal Branding 28:25 Final Thoughts on Building a Brand       Sam Berne (00:00.822) One of the things I was interested in was having a podcast and my content was created by asking the community to send me their questions. Now, there are a lot of apps available where you can record right on your phone and upload to your podcast page. That’s what I did at the very beginning. You don’t need fancy audio equipment. You don’t need, you know, the the high-end things. I wouldn’t recommend that. But by starting a podcast, there’s so many different ways that you can go. You could have say in Santa Fe, your business was restaurants rest your restaurant owner. What you could do is you could actually invite other people in the industry to come on your show and that would help you cross-pollinate. They get to know about you. You’d get to know about them again. It’s part of that giving where you’re not asking the guests for anything, but you let them talk about themselves and so they have their audience. have your audience and this is how you start building the podcast and at this point I’ve got a very large download monthly download. You can get analytics from it and a very high retention rate where people want to listen to the entire podcast. So I’ve had some interest interesting guests on I’ve done a lot of Q &A podcasts and then you can also look to be on other people’s podcasts as well. So there’s a lot of different advantages to being to having a podcast because it’s that audio channel and it’s another funnel for you to start to get followers. One of the things I do with my podcasts is I sometimes they’re very short. They’re five minutes or they’re three minutes and I say, hey everybody is doctor Sam and I clarity podcast. And you know, I have this great idea blah blah blah, and I’ll talk about it for a few minutes. Well, that’s our show for today. Thanks for tuning in until next time. So I’m posting maybe four to six podcasts a week. And also another thing that you can do is you can take excerpts from the entire podcast and you can post those on your social media site. So I do that all the time. I just did a interview with a doctor and we took the Sam Berne (02:29.144) the podcast and we split it up into maybe 30 second sound bites and we posted those on Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn and it doubled the amount of people who actually ended up downloading the entire podcast. So there are different techniques that you can use. You can even record a pre-recorded intro and an outtake at the very end, you know, something like if you have questions, you can text me. Or you can send me an email or here’s my upcoming online workshop. So there are ways again that you can use the podcast the audio channel as a simple free way to start building your community. Another thing you can do is you can go on Facebook or Instagram or tick-tock or YouTube and you can do a live show Q &A and this is amazing. When you start doing this on a regular basis, you will get you will get interactions with other people and they will get to know you and this is another great way to develop your brand. Looks like there’s Q &A. We’ve got a few questions. So let me let me start with this one. I’m intrigued by the idea of four to eight content pieces per day, but can’t imagine how to do that and still have time. To do my other work. How do you budget time for that? Well, I would start off with maybe pick one of the social media sites that you know, you’re most attracted to you maybe can look at where you think most of your customers are and Maybe post one a day or two a day. I think it’s going to take some time management organization. You know, I always say if you’re really passionate in what you’re doing, you will find the time to post maybe again, you can get one of these scheduling content programs and you can take all of your pieces and put it in the Sam Berne (04:45.761) the scheduling program and you can do it that way but pick one of the social media sites that you like and just maybe post one a day or if you can do two a day and see how that goes for a while and then you know, you might then at that point if you’ve got the the the budget, maybe you hire somebody to help you in the posting. I mean at this point I do have employees that are doing my editing and posting, but I’m making enough money now that I can do that when I started out. I was doing everything and I was full-time in my practice, but I knew that this was the ticket for me to be able to create a brand and it would create a legacy for me that I could then maybe let go of some of the other things that I didn’t like doing because I so enjoyed the creative process. So start slow. and just see what happens. All right. Can you recommend who to find someone to help with Google and updating a blog or blog? Okay, so there are two sources that I use that I tap to great get great talent. The first is Craigslist. The second is a platform called Upwork and Upwork is a platform that where there are a lot of freelance people and you can actually create a post on Upwork. It won’t cost you anything and I have gotten some of my best talent. got my bookkeeper. got my website. People that are that are managing my website my web store manager my person who organizes my posts so Upwork.com would be a great place for you to look. If you can’t find anybody on Craigslist, but my goodness, there’s so many writers out there. Maybe you can find somebody at one of the at the community college and that way you won’t have to pay as much maybe a student somebody who’s a good writer. So there are ways that you can figure this out writing is is hard for me. And one of the things I’ve started to use now is an artificial intelligence platform. Sam Berne (07:14.442) or actually tell the artificial intelligence. This is what I’m interested in. Tell me about this process in my, you know, in my industry and they will they will come back with some outline and you know, it’s pretty good. And so then I just fill in the pieces and make it more personal artificial intelligence is definitely increasing in impinging on our lives whether we like it or not. But that’s a way that sometimes if I need to do a quick blog, I’ll do it that way. But there are lot of avenues there. Try those and that should help you. Okay, next question. My business is focused on city management and municipal government. I have been writing monthly newsletters on LinkedIn and in one year have 315 subscribers. Some mayors and city managers are on LinkedIn. However, City Councilors tend to be on Twitter and I’m hesitant to join. What’s your experience with Twitter? Can I direct people on Twitter to my website where I can repost my 25 articles from LinkedIn? Well, you know, Elon Musk is really wreaking havoc with Twitter right now and there there’s all kinds of things going on with Twitter that I can really understand where a lot of people have mixed feelings about it. I post every day on Twitter. I probably do five to seven posts on Twitter. You can interact with people. It’s a great way to have conversations with people in your industry. You know, you could actually spend time looking up say in your situation, mayors and city councilor city managers who are on Twitter and you could engage with them. And then maybe at that point, once you engage with them, if there’s some communication back and forth, you can definitely direct them away from Twitter towards your website. But I I would say this that the more you diversify your content. The more followers you’re going to get and you know, the same goes with LinkedIn where if you can interact. Sam Berne (09:40.767) with people by having conversations with them communications with them. This is another way that I’ve I have developed my LinkedIn LinkedIn following. It takes time, but I wouldn’t give up on Twitter. I think that again, you can use it for the highest good for yourself and you can direct people away from it so that you then put them into an environment where you’re more in control. and they’re going to be more interested in what you’re writing about. All right. Next question. Don’t podcasts require paying for service and editing ability? Well, the answer to that is it depends on the service. It depends on how many podcasts you are posting. But if you start at the very beginning, you can get the free part of the service. Now, in my case, because I’m posting so much at this point. I pay about $40 a month. Okay, it’s not a lot, but that’s what I pay and editing again. You could get on GarageBand and you could have that audio file on GarageBand. I actually hired somebody to help me learn how to cut, know where I said or or you know, if there was, you know space in there that I didn’t like and within five minutes I could edit on GarageBand. I uploaded it to Dropbox. I now had a link that I could then send it off to my my podcast service. So there are ways to do it. Maybe you find somebody that you hire just maybe one or two times to show you how to do it. But it’s so easy to do off your phone. If you look at apps where you can do the podcast and you know Again, you don’t have to over overproduce or over edit it. Okay, don’t worry about that. I know somebody who’s an actress who she spent $1,000 on one video and I said, what are you doing? She says, well, it has to be perfect. I need to get the script. You know, I need direction. I need production. That’s the wrong way to go in my view in my Sam Berne (12:05.086) my posting the more rod is actually the more views I get because I’m authentic. I’m not making some stuff up where I’m, you know, creating something that that’s not who I am. So in your audio podcast, we just want to hear what you have to say and you can figure out a way to use a service at the beginning where you don’t have to pay for it or it’s a minimal fee. All right, next question. Do you take videos with your phone without a microphone wondering whether the quality is acceptable for Instagram and YouTube most definitely. So this video that went viral on Tik Tok 300,000 views. I had no microphone. My microphone was my phone. I basically press play. I put the camera in front of my face. I had a great background of the snow and the microphone I used was the phone’s microphone. I put it up on TikTok and there you go. So the quality will be acceptable. You know, again, if it’s really windy or it’s really loud, you might consider again, okay, I don’t want a lot of sirens going on in the background. Now. I will say at this point in my sophistication. I do have wireless microphones right now. I’m simulcasting this and I’m recording this on my phone and I have a wireless microphone that I use. That’s excellent and I have other microphones also as well, but I’ve been at this six years. I’m making money. I can do it. I want to invest back into my business. But the short answer is just start recording. Don’t worry about it. You can play it back. If you can hear it, it’s going to work fine for your social media posting. Okay, how do you set up a podcast page? Do you have to pay a service? What are the podcast? page options. Well again, depending on how many podcasts you do the answer to that is you could actually have the podcast set up in a way where you don’t have to pay for service. That kind of just depends on how many podcasts you’re going to do again. If you don’t know how to do this, you can go to Google and Google will show you how to set up a podcast page. Sam Berne (14:30.526) And you could just do Apple or Spotify or Amazon. It’s so easy. And once you have, know, the podcast name and you have maybe a picture of yourself, it’s really easy to upload. There’s nothing to it. So I would go on Google and figure out, okay, how do I set up a podcast page? And then you can look at the different options again, start slow. You don’t have to do what I’m doing, but just start putting the podcast out and then you could put the link say on Facebook and say, hey, here’s my podcast or on Instagram or LinkedIn or whatever. And that’s a way you can start getting traffic to people to listen to your podcast. Okay, I have an Android phone. Does the Apple podcast site work for Android phones? I don’t know that answer, but I’m sure the doctor Google could help you with that again. My feeling is because so many people have Android phones. I think that the podcast services will work based on the app you’re using to record the podcast. If you have a son of kind of like a voice memo or some kind of an audio recording app. I think it’s very universal at this point because so many people are doing podcasts. Do you use your email list to make product offerings or is that only social media itself? No, I actually use my email list to make my product offerings and the way I do it is I create a newsletter where part of it is education. Part of it is I’m, you know, uploading like my blogs or my latest videos maybe that relate to the product and then I send that out as an email blast. and digest watch the sales come in. It’s amazing. It works so well. Now you have to be careful that you don’t send too many emails out and sometimes I’ll send a newsletter out where I’m not selling any products or I’m just educating people and I use two newsletter services. One is MailChimp and the other is one called Clavio. You might not have heard of it. Sam Berne (16:52.394) Clavio is a little more sophisticated. It’s allowing me to receive text messages for Q &A. It also gives me a little more analytics and it’s expensive, you know, both of those probably run about $500 a month for each, but the return on investment on that is probably 50x. So when I do an email, I know that I’m going to make several thousands of dollars during a weekend sale and I’ll you know, give a discount. But even with the discount because of the volume, I’m making really good money from that. How do you handle hostile responses online? I rarely get this on my business page, but that is a contained group so far. I do encounter it in bigger groups. Okay, I get this a lot. So there are always people, know, they what they do is I think about their life must be really miserable for them to take the time to be judgmental. of me. Okay. And so I, I definitely have compassion for them and either I might engage them and give them an answer if they’re, you know, asking a legitimate question. Otherwise, I just delete and block them and the social media sites. Now at this point are very, very protective of people and it’s very easy for you to delete and block those people. Now, if you’re in a group situation, you need to talk to the facilitator and let them know what’s going on because I know in my groups, usually the people that are in my groups, they love me. They’re not going to badmouth me. I’ve never had that happen. But if you’re in say a mixed group, if that’s going on, sometimes I just say, I don’t want to be part of the group, but you as the influencer have the ability to block anybody And you should not take any grief from anybody. You just delete them block them don’t engage them and move on. That’s the best thing to do. I in my experience. Okay. Another question using your method when product is a technology license licensing opportunity. For example, we are finalizing a technology and are in need of funding. So Sam Berne (19:22.954) This is an interesting thing because in 2018, I actually got a financial partner. needed some capital because we were going to do some products and it was a nightmare for me because I lost leverage in the brand and so we ended up dissolving our partnership, but it’s it’s a very interesting thing to start to want to get funding and then what is the relationship and you need to be very careful that you’re keeping control of the brand because you don’t want to lose leverage like what are the strings attached because if you get involved in a partnership and somebody is giving you money, they’re going to want results. They’re going to want, know, probably some of the profit and so you have to be very clear if you’re going to go that route. Now in Technology, you do need a lot of money. There’s no question about it. And this is where perhaps your score mentors can direct you in places where you might be able to get funding, but you can get it in a way where you don’t lose control or leverage of the brand of what the product you’re trying to put out. It’s not an easy road, but you can do it. And sometimes the upside is really amazing. So that’s how I would answer that. If I’m not comfortable with video content, what are some of the options beyond blogging that utilize written word content? Well, one of the things that you could do is you could either speak into your phone or or talk into your phone and you can get a transcript of what you have said and you can edit it. And you can use that as your written blog. And I really get it. A lot of people that I work with, they don’t want to do video. It’s hard and they even don’t want to do audio. They’re shy. So there are ways that you can get these programs where you can actually get a transcript and then you can post it that way. One of them that I use is called Otter.ai. That’s a good one for Sam Berne (21:49.231) transcription and so that way you can stay away from the video and the audio and you can just do your blogs that way. If you want to dive into artificial intelligence, you can actually go on some free artificial artificial intelligence websites and you can say, okay, tell me how to bake a cake and the AI will come up with a written narrative. which then if that’s your interest or that’s your brand you could take that AI information and then you could make it your own. So that would be another way that you could get ideas for your blogs. Another question you mentioned programs for scheduling your social media postings. What would I recommend? Will they allow you to post across multiple platforms? So second question first definitely they will allow you to post across multiple platforms. I haven’t used them in about three years. So the one that I used, I’m not sure I would recommend for you. Again, that’s something that I would Google and then they have great customer service. So you could, you know, inquire what would be the best social media scheduling program for you based on what platforms you’re using when you want to post. What are the duration of the of the of the post and things like that. So that’s readily available on Google and the support system the support team there will be able to help you figure out what’s the best way to go. You’re very welcome. Your audience is 55 plus. What platforms do you recommend all of them Facebook Instagram LinkedIn? TikTok now some people will say TikTok is just for kids. I got to tell you I am so surprised with the TikTok response that I’m getting there are people that are 55 and over that are now on TikTok. Sam Berne (23:59.877) Twitter is another one as well. So I would do all of them all of them and I would create a podcast as well and target those 55 plus is it mostly women is it mostly men what what a geographical location are they living in? You know, do you want to start reaching people in an international level? I would say yes. So learn your audience learn who’s interested. You know, in my audience is about 70 % women 30 % men and again, some of my biggest followers are in Australia, Germany, India, the UK and so it you know, it’s very surprising to me, but you can get analytics from that and then you can target your advertising based on those locations and the socioeconomics. and the type of person listening and watching. Next question. Does your wireless microphone connect to your cell phone? Yes. And the type of wireless is called the Rode Rode. I love it. I actually did an interview in a restaurant that was super loud and it was amazing how that microphone worked on my phone. The person was videoing me and the other thing is I’ll hike in the in the mountains and I’ll put my tripod out and I’ll be say, you know 75 feet away and I’ll be walking towards my phone and that microphone is great. So it’s called the road wireless microphone. I highly recommend it. It’s maybe three or $400. It’s great from your experience. What should you not do in social media marketing or via podcasts? Talk about yourself and brag and make everything about you. I wouldn’t do any of that stuff. I would make it about how can I serve and create value for my audience? How can I educate? How can I document and create stories that will inspire them to want to come back for more and I wouldn’t ask them for anything at the very beginning, you know, you’re dating them. Sam Berne (26:25.337) You’re just getting to know them and they may be shy. So you have to prove yourself and the way to do that is by offering really good value and that kept my community coming back coming back coming back. They tell other people. Wow. This guy is like he’s giving us really good information. That’s how you do it. Okay, next question. I’m concerned about mixing my personal and professional life. If I did a video my feeling is that I would need to be dressed in formal attire that does not fit with sharing a daily story during my real life. Well look as long as you’re authentic and you do what feels comfortable to you. One of the things that when I do personal posting I Get to control what I am talking about. So for example, my family is off-limits. There is no social media that includes my family. That’s private. Some other things that I’m doing are also private, but there’s some things that I’m really excited about might be activities. It might be interest you get to choose and I got to tell you when you mix the personal with the professional. You’re going to get a wider audience of people who are then maybe interested in your professional life, but you get to choose that and in terms of dressing formally. Well, look, I’m a doctor and all of my posts. I’m not wearing a white coat. Okay, because that’s not who I am. I gave up that white coat many years ago. In fact, I did I found a a picture of myself in my white coat when I was doing my internships and I’m actually giving a lecture to some of the residents and I have these very funny glasses on and I have a beard and it was kind of funny. You know, people love that. So I don’t use a white coat. I don’t wear a tie. I’m out there and when I’m hiking Dr. Sam and you know, I’m on my morning walk. I’m wearing a sweatshirt. I’m wearing a baseball hat. So Sam Berne (28:51.769) The thing is is that you decide what you’re comfortable with and just be authentic with yourself. The more authentic you can be the better your brand is going to go. That’s how I would say it. All right next question. Do you have an easy video editing tool recommendation? Well, if you’re going to do it on your computer, I would probably do iMovie and if you’re going to do it on your phone, if you have an iPhone, you can do iMovie right on your phone. So a lot of times when I’m doing a video, if I’m in a rush, I’ll just take the video on my iPhone and I’ll just do the iMovie editing on it and ready to go. So you don’t have to get fancy software. mean iMovie is going to come or if you’re you know on a PC, you’d have to figure out what is the editing software, but I don’t do a lot of editing. I do some for example with TikTok. A lot of times the rhythm of Tik Tok, I’ll share an idea. I’ll stop the camera. I’ll share another idea. Stop the camera. I’ll share another idea and stop the camera and then I’ll weave those three separate videos together in a very fast way. So again, if you go on my Tik Tok site and you can look at one of my last videos again, this one that went viral, you can see that the ideas that I give boom. Boom, boom. that’s tik-tok on my podcast. It’s a lot slower. know people need time to digest. So I’m speaking more slowly. So again, you’ll know based on the social media site. What part of you you’re going to bring but don’t worry about that. It’s got to look perfect or a sound perfect. Just start posting. Okay, my last thing I think I’m going to say is that you can do what I’m doing that because of the internet today. This is a great time to start developing brand. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint and be patient financially be patient emotionally. And if you can do those things Sam Berne (31:20.789) and you give give give you will then have the leverage to be able to present your services or products in a way where you now have a relationship with your community. They’re going to go for it. All right, everybody. I think that’s it. I’m going to sign off.         Set up a free discovery call with Dr. Berne to learn more about his practitioenr’s training: [email protected] Practitioner’s Program Link: https://www.drsamberne.com/practition… For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ Then the show notes, then the transcript then Website: https://www.drsamberne.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamBerneOD/?… Instagram: / samberneod Twitter: / drsamberne LinkedIn: / drsamberne   Dr. Sam Berne has been in private practice in New Mexico for over 35 years and where he works with patients to improve their vision and overall wellness through holistic methods. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University, Doctor of Optometry from Pennsylvania College, and did his postdoctoral work at the Gesell Institute in collaboration with Yale University. He has been awarded The Special Awards for Service from the Behavioral Optometrists in Mexico for his innovative and holistic work with children.   His protocols take a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to health and wellness. He understands and treats the body as one integrated system rather than a collection of independent organs in order to identify and address the root causes of disease. His whole health protocols improve vision and wellness by healing the mind-body-spirit through nutritional protocols, vision therapy, and self-care techniques. This views each person as genetically and biochemically unique and enables the individual to make lifelong improvements to their well-being.

🎧 New podcast is live!“Trust First, Sales Second” — Dr. Sam’s guide to social media that actually works. 🔗 Listen now at www.bernemediagroup.com📖 Grab the new book Beyond The Lens: https://amzn.to/45kptwt #AIForEntrepreneurs #Leadership #BusinessEthics #VisionaryLeadership #EthicalAI _______   Keywords social media, community building, e-commerce, content creation, branding, patience, persistence, time management, online workshops, marketing strategies Summary In this conversation, Dr. Sam Berne shares his journey from being a doctor to becoming an entrepreneur and building a successful e-commerce business. He emphasizes the importance of creating value through social media, building a community before launching products, and the significance of patience and persistence in achieving long-term success. Dr. Berne also discusses effective time management strategies for social media and the difference between branding and transactional selling. Takeaways Sam Berne emphasizes the importance of creating value for your audience. Building a community is essential before launching products. Patience and persistence are key to long-term success. Social media offers underpriced attention for entrepreneurs. Storytelling is a powerful tool for content creation. Time management is crucial for social media success. Branding provides insulation from competition. Course corrections are necessary for growth and learning. Engaging with your audience builds trust and loyalty. Utilizing various social media platforms can expand your reach. Titles Building a Brand in the Digital Age The Power of Community in Business Sound bites “Create value for your audience.” “Social media is underpriced attention.” “Patience is crucial in business.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Dr. Sam Berne’s Journey 02:37 Building a Brand Through Social Media 05:36 The Power of Giving Value 08:22 Creating Content and Engaging Your Audience 11:19 Integrating Sales with Community Building 14:07 Patience and Persistence in Business 16:55 Time Management for Social Media Success 20:09 Branding vs. Selling: The Long Game 22:51 Expanding Your Social Media Presence 25:35 Utilizing Email and Text Marketing 28:04 Conclusion and Next Steps ____   Sam Berne (00:00.558) So everybody, I’m really excited to be here just a little bit about myself. You know, I grew up in a middle-class family and we emphasized education. So I ended up becoming a doctor. I was always interested in natural healing. So I combined the two and I started two private practices. One I sold the other I still have. So I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit in me. And in 2016, I started my brand on the internet and I’ll talk about that and actually in 2020 is when I launched my e-commerce right around covid. So I’ll go into more details about that and I’ve been a client of score for the past three years. So here we go. So when I started I began to think of myself as a media channel and the key thing in if you’re going to do social media in my opinion is to create value for your audience. And what I did early on is I gave away my best information like everything for free and it’s kind of like this idea of give give give and then you can ask. Okay. This is a really important aspect in building a brand and it’s very different than say being transactional and I’ll kind of go into more detail on that in a minute. But if you are going to do social media, my advice would be start with your strengths. Are you better at writing? Are you better at talking for me? I loved videos. So I loved doing video. also love doing audio and I actually started this this process called morning walks with Dr. Sam and so I would I love to hike so I be hiking in the National Forest and somebody would ask me a question and so I would stop and go. All right. Let me give you the answer here and it became a huge way to build my following. Another thing that I did was I created Sam Berne (02:17.496) four to eight content pieces a day and I posted them across all the social media platforms Facebook Instagram LinkedIn YouTube tick-tock and Twitter. If you’re independent interest, you could do that. You could also do snapchat, but I was very disciplined about creating content and Posting them and people ask. Well, what do you do for content? What’s the best thing and I would say storytelling? I would also say documenting. like for an example in my own case, you know, how did I get to the place of developing my products? How did I get to the place of you know, I might share a story about a client or a patient who had a success story in terms of documentation. Recently. I did I love whitewater rafting. It’s one of my passions and I did a trip in central and South Southern, Utah. And I documented the whole trip video audio and then I posted that and so this is another piece. Your content doesn’t just have to relate to your business. People might want to get to know you like for example, you know, let’s say people aren’t interested in my health and Wellness brand, but they’re interested in whitewater rafting. So I ended up getting some people who were now following me. but it had nothing to do with my professional brand. It had to do with my, you know, personal interests. So you could put your children on if you’ve got animals. I mean, you you could just think about not just posting about your business, but doing some personal things as well. So I feel that we are living in a golden age and what I mean by that is that, you know, if you think about say 20 years ago, the Kingmakers were the celebrities that we saw on TV, you know, the actors, the sports celebrities or the people who wrote best-selling books. But now the internet is the Kingmaker and what this means is that we can use the internet as entrepreneurs to build our business. Sam Berne (04:41.254) And the other thing is you don’t need to spend a lot of money in creating content. In fact, when I first started I was the only one in my company. I did the videos. did the editing. I did the posting. I did the same thing when I would write a blog. So I learned how to do all of those things. And if you’re starting out and you don’t have a lot of money, you don’t need to spend a lot and especially the way the economy is right now. It’s kind of soft. We may be in heading towards a pretty deep recession. You don’t want to go into debt, but you can do all of this on your own and as the internet using the internet and social media you can start to build your community. Sam Berne (05:31.498) So as I said social media reduces or eliminates spending money on ads and you know hiring social media agencies. I don’t recommend any of that. But the thing that you want to consider is whatever product and or service you would like to sell using organic reach is easy and possible for all of us. And this next point social media is underpriced attention. So what do I mean by that? Well, when I started my philosophy was I am going to give give give I’m not going to ask for anything in return. I’m going to create value for people. I’m going to answer their questions. I’m going to I’m just going to give away the information and start cultivating a relationship. And as I did that people started to follow me. This was the underpriced attention. I wasn’t paying anything except my sweat equity and in doing that over time what ended up happening is I started to grow my social media. I remember when I started my Facebook live shows. I would do those every Wednesday night and for the first three months nobody tuned in. It was very humbling to me. And so I would write out questions and I would say, hey, Johnny asked this question. Let me answer it. And so that’s how I started. And then after a few months, a few people started trickling in and one of the aspects of give give give is that number one, you’re going to have more retention of your customers as opposed to hitting them up and you know, asking them to buy something right away. And the other thing that happened is word of mouth on on social media. This is really amazing. In fact, I just did a post. This is very interesting because I was up in the mountains on Saturday and I was hiking in the deep snow and I had this idea. wow. Let me do this video. I pulled out my phone 20 seconds. I shared my idea. I posted it on tik-tok Saturday night. Sam Berne (07:54.743) And I just looked on tik-tok and I have 300,000 views of this 22nd video that I had. I didn’t prepare for it. There was no script. It was just something that came to me. That’s the underpriced attention. It can happen. You can go viral in a nanosecond and that’s what’s exciting about this for all of you. Okay, in this webinar, I want to share the following. Number one, how to build a social media community. Number two, how to integrate selling products and services using social media. You know, in my case, I spent about three years just cultivating my community. I didn’t sell anything and it was actually at a mentor meeting a score meeting that I had in March of 2020 and one of my mentors said, well, what do you think about Starting your e-commerce business and I went. that’s a great idea. So I actually launched it June of 2020 and it exploded and of course it is so robust now just I’m in like a year and half two years in but I have the community first and then I launched my products and this is also another key point. People will come to me and say, I wrote the best book. I’ve got the best product and I’ll ask them. Well, how many followers do you have and they go, why don’t really have any followers? I said, you know, it’s kind of in reverse where why don’t you spend the time building the community first and then you can launch your product or service. So it’s just a another way to think about it. All right. Number three is in this webinar. I’m going to share what it takes to obtain results. And number four, what are the time management things that you may need to do in order to make this work for yourself? Sam Berne (09:58.539) Okay, so in building a social media community, I get these questions. What are the tactics? You know, how do I use YouTube or Facebook and you can go on Google or YouTube and you can Google how do I post on Facebook or how do I start a podcast? It’s all there for you. It’s free. You know, you spend 10 to 15 hours doing that. and you’ll find that you become an expert like me and you’ll be able to do these things quite easily. Now in creating ideas for content. I talked about storytelling. I talked about documentation. Another thing that I like to do is depending on the social media platform. I make content based on who’s the customer who’s following. So let me give you an example on LinkedIn, which I think that for some people that are doing B2B business to business type of things. LinkedIn is the place where you want to be posting. If you’re more business to consumer B2C, then you want to be focused on say Facebook or Instagram. And so I’m creating different content based on the social media platform. So in LinkedIn, I like to talk about well here are the new industry discoveries or you know, I might get in a conversation with another business owner somebody in a health and wellness brand. I might even invite them on my podcast and have them talk about themselves and then we cross-pollinate. So there’s a lot of ways that you can create ideas for content in the end. I’m going to leave my my links for all my social media. Just as an example, you can look at some of the content pieces. created and by the way, our Q &A will be at the end. So hang in there. You can put your chat in the chat box and I will get to your question. Okay. Now when you create ideas create a schedule or a calendar for creating and posting so you’re organized about what you’re doing every day. There are scheduling programs that you can get which can automatically post your content so you can actually schedule Sam Berne (12:25.867) for an entire week and then finally study the different social media platforms and create appropriate content based on their platform. That’s kind of what I was talking about. And then finally just get yourself a phone a good phone with a camera and a microphone start there. You don’t need to go out and spend a lot of money on fancy microphones or you know other things like that. Get started and save your money. You know in my social media content, it’s so interesting because a lot of my videos are raw. You know, it’s just like I’m in a car. I’m in a public space and I have a great idea and you know, I shoot the video and it goes viral. That’s kind of what happened for me with Tik Tok last weekend. So don’t over don’t worry about over producing or doing post-production that can come later. But for the beginning people will love it that you’re more authentic. You just come on and either if you don’t want to do video then just do audio or write but you don’t need to spend a lot of money initially getting started. Okay, this is a big one. How does integrate selling products or services? One of the things that really worked for me and continues to work is in this community where I’m giving and giving and giving I’ve established trust with people. And so now when I launch a new product and I’ve launched a lot of new products in the last three months, what has happened is because people trust me. They actually will buy my products or services because What they’re actually really buying is my expertise and my experience, but we have developed a relationship with each other. So they trust me and I’m not hucking them. I’m not, you know, selling them on a transactional way. What’s happening is I’m developing the community and then I can start, you know, talking about my my workshops. And by the way, if you want some help on how to do Sam Berne (14:54.961) Online workshops. They are so lucrative because in the online workshops, there’s no overhead and with covid I did a ton of online workshops and they were really well attended and I made a lot of money from them. They were really a great way for me to sustain my process. So it’s all about brand and that takes time. Okay, I want to give you an example. So I’ve written books five books. I just wrote a new book. It was an interesting idea because what I decided to do was take the transcripts of a lot of my Q &A on my podcast and Facebook live and I had them so I had the transcripts written out and then I had a ghostwriter work with me to write the book. And so basically the book is based on what people are asking what they want. And so I had an idea. Well, maybe I should do a book tour. So I hired a publicist and nothing was happening. First of all, the bookstores are in big trouble for a lot of different reasons. And so for a self-published published author, they’re not really, you know, interested in taking the risk of maybe doing a book tour or hosting a book tour. So I dropped that idea. And instead I emphasize my brand and I put out some workshops and bang everything went the other way. So I had some amazing sales from it. And so I shifted out of my transit transactional ID of selling the book and I brought in my brand and I attached the book to that and all of a sudden things really took off in another example. I look at a lot of research and You know the love of the my customers and patients their eyesight is deteriorating. They’re in the 50 to 75 age range and so I’m always looking for things to help them regenerate their eyes and there was a study that came out of the University College of London. The scientists discovered that if you look through red glasses for so many minutes a day for so many weeks, there was a 22 % increase in a person’s ability to see clearly. Sam Berne (17:22.667) It was amazing. So I was looking for a way to to, you know, refer people so where they could buy the product and the only place you could buy the product was in the UK and the people that were promoting it. They were a little flaky. And so I went back to the drawing board. I talked to my manufacturers and I developed my own red tinted glasses. And the thing is is I made a couple of posts on Instagram and the whole thing went viral. And my fulfillment team, my web store manager. mean, they were really upset. They called me and said, what are you doing? You know, give us some advanced notice if you’re going to do this. And I said, I have no idea. I had no idea that this was going to go viral like this. Fortunately, my manufacturer got right on it and we were able to fulfill our orders within a week. And so another example, it was because of my brand. that people trust me. They looked at the research. They went, I want to buy these. It’s going to really help. And I want to make another point that’s not on this slide. And this is really important for small businesses. And I learned this the hard way, you know, in small businesses. One of the things that we’re always battling is cash flow. And if you have products that you are going to be selling, one of the best techniques to use is something called a pre-sale campaign. So I’ll give you my example. Recently, what we started to do is bundle our products together and each each eye condition was based on the bundle. Okay, and it was going to be a ton of inventory that I was going to have to buy and I didn’t want to tie up all that cash. So what I did was I said to my customers and my community. I’m going to do pre-sale here. You’re going to get 15 % off all my products. If you take advantage of the pre-sale price. So I did that for about two weeks and I got the number of orders and we got the money up front and then I called my manufacturer and I said, okay, this is the amount of inventory I need. So it saved my cash flow. I actually made money by doing the pre-sale and I would recommend this for any small business who has to pay payroll who’s got personal expenses. Sam Berne (19:46.409) by doing pre-sale, you’re not tying up your money on inventory, especially if you don’t know what the sales are going to be. Okay, let’s talk about results because results were very important for me very important for you know, my colleagues and people that who are interested. So the number one thing I’m going to say here. This is probably the most important thing. I’m going to say today is patience. If you can be patient. financially and emotionally you are going to make better decisions not only in your business, but also it’s going to help you have a better work-life balance, you know without having that pressure of you know, whatever, you know, I need to have it now if you can have patience. Look, this is a marathon. It is not a sprint and so As I shared my story in 2016, I just started posting. I didn’t have products to sell. I was like, well, let me see what happens here before I, you know, start investing hundreds and thousands of dollars into products and I actually built my community for almost four years before I launched my products and that’s why I’m doing so well. Now, the other thing is persistence, you know, This can sound kind of glamorous, you know, I’m saying well, I went from this zero to 120,000 followers, but it was a lot of hard work. It was a lot of daily just following through and you know, continually doing the consistent posting answering questions from customers that they would write me questions based on the post I would do so patience and process. persistence, stay the course. Another thing I want to say and you know, I’m guilty of this too, is that the focus should not be on how many views you have, how many followers you get, whether you go viral or not. Create daily content that gives people value that you’re helping them. This is not about Sam Berne (22:11.325) you or me. This isn’t about my well, I make this amount of money and I drive this kind of a car and I buy this kind of a watch, you know, that’s a real turn off and I see that a lot on Instagram, especially my whole thing is how can I serve my community and this is also with my employees as well. You know, one of the things I think about with the people that work for me is I’m actually working for them. And I listen to them listen to their what are their needs? What do they want? We have regular communication because they’re part of the fabric of whether this is going to go or not for me. And so the whole idea is creating value and once you create the value and you give give give then you have the leverage to begin to ask people Hey, I’ve got this seminar. I’ve got this book. I’ve got this product. You have leveraged yourself where you’re going to have a greater success. Last but not least, I am going to say this very humbly be willing to make course Corrections. If something doesn’t work, try new things. You learn from it and you keep going and even if there’s money involved and you’ve lost money and believe me I’ve made many mistakes financially. I’ve made many errors in judgment, but I just do a course correction and I learned so much from it and that’s going to be part of the the process for you. Okay, another thing that the people ask me is about time management because a lot of people maybe are working full jobs full-time jobs already and this may be a side hustle to start off with. But the thing is is that if you organize your time you can do this and so you have to take a look at maybe the morning time is when you post or maybe it’s on a Saturday. You create your content. So you have to figure out when you’re going to do this and there are also some interesting things to note about optimal times to post where you can get the most attention. Sam Berne (24:32.781) And I’ve created this this chart here, which talks about the different social media platforms. So one of the things that I did early on when I started to do workshops is I created a private Facebook group and this is a group with your fans that you might give them premium information or content and I post on my private groups all the time. Now the duration of how long it is. we’ve talked about duration and posting times probably the best times the post would be either in the morning or in the evening where you’re going to get the most traction. But the thing about social media is it’s a 24-7 cycle and I have a very big international following. So people in Australia and New Zealand people in India. So that even doesn’t matter as much but you can notice that these are the times when it’s best to post and then these are the duration times. So let me go through this a little bit. Facebook private group, you know, that could be just your premium content. Something that’s come out of Facebook right now is something called Facebook Reels, which are small, short, kind of like TikTok, where you can post something for 18 to 30 seconds, maybe an idea and it can go viral. This is happening on Facebook reels. It’s also happening on YouTube reels. So, you know, the attention is still there on Facebook and YouTube, but it’s a little harder to get that kind of virality that you can still get on TikTok and LinkedIn. So the reels are the short videos and on YouTube you can post any time on Facebook again. morning and evening are great. TikTok. This is ever-changing. TikTok is is kind of amazing in what’s going on with it because even though I write here durations 18 to 30 seconds, my best videos are about 22 seconds because I’ve done enough of them. If I do a little longer, sometimes I start losing people. I have to really hook them to keep them engaged and TikTok. The attention span is not not so good. Sam Berne (26:55.695) However, what’s happening with TikTok is now some of the longer videos are getting traction. Again, these are the times when you can post LinkedIn. Again, this is more of the B2B. If you’re talking to professionals or you’re marketing to other, you know, businesses. Again, I do a lot of LinkedIn posting even though my brand is mostly B2C. Every now and again, it surprises me when I get a business owner or somebody that contacts me who found me on LinkedIn and so under seven minutes is is what you do with LinkedIn. Again, I do maybe a one to two minute video or audio or even post one of my written blogs. So these are some of the things that you can start to do in when you start, you know, posting. Okay, brand. versus selling. Selling is transactional with no long-term growth. There’s also a very low or no retention time and there’s probably not going to be a lot of word of mouth referrals. Whereas in building a brand it insulates you from competition and the ups and downs in the economics. Again, it is like playing the long game. Be patient. So my talk about building brand through social media is the key. Now, when you create your brand, you want to be able to define your brand in about two sentences. So I put my mission statement up here and my brand so you can take a moment and read that. Sam Berne (28:54.191) So I’m to go back to this one creating a website that expresses your mission statement and your brand. if you go to my website, drsamburn.com, you will see that my brand and message are lined up with the website and you don’t need to spend a lot of money on a website. You can get somebody to help you. You can even do it on your own. Just get maybe a landing page or two up again. I’m very concerned. about you spending money that you don’t have or going into debt in starting this. You don’t need to do that. So start small and get yourself a nice website. You can see what I’ve done. There’s other people as well. And that’s a way that you can really support your brand and message. So as I said building brand takes patience and persistence when you’re starting avoid debt keep your expenses low go slow and steady your mentors of score can really help you looking at the finances. They’re amazing. These are such successful business people that they can help you in these areas so that you have the time to start building your brand on social media. So One of the things that you could think about is which social media plan platforms do you frequent? And the second question is what is the best way you like to receive content audio video or written? I know for me, I love podcast. So when I’m driving, I’ll download a podcast. I love that. In the evening. Sometimes if I’m on YouTube, I’ll look at some videos or tick-tock. I get some great information from that and I also love to read. So sometimes if there’s a written blog that I really like that’s also really helpful to me and I could go back and refer to it. So for you, what is the best way you like to receive content? And then when you’re posting Sam Berne (31:08.343) Learn about the different platforms. Again, you can go to Dr. Coot Google and that will kind of guide you on the duration when to post how you know what kind of content works the best. And then the other thing you could do is you can get a podcast going and I’ll talk a little bit about that in a minute, but I think each and every one of you at least in phase two should start a podcast and then you can put it up. on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and once you start rolling, you will begin to see engagement. So working with score, I have found every business is different when discussing social media and this depends on the following key elements. Your current use of social media, which social media platforms you are comfortable posting content how much time do you have available to create content and update and upload your social media platforms? and Sam Berne (32:22.553) You know, you can base that on first of all, are you on social media now? And if you are which social media sites do you frequent and if you don’t why now there’s all kinds of political reasons and people have, you know, personal things against Facebook or tik-tok or whatever. And so I appreciate that. But basically what I’m doing is I’m using the internet to promote my business and I’m using them. I’m in control of what I’m posting what I’m doing and it’s a way that creates a kind of a balanced playing field because it used to be I could never do something like this. So that’s why if you’ve got some feelings about social media like I’m not sure see if you can figure it out so that you use the social media platforms. to further your passion your dreams and your business. Now, one of the things that I emphasize when I talk to people is podcasts and I love podcasts because you can multitask you can listen while you’re walking your dog or while you’re driving and I would encourage each of you to see if you could start a podcast and again, I’ll talk about that in a in a minute or two, but for now take a look at how you digest content and then you can start creating content based on what you’re digesting. Now the following table will help you determine your skill and comfort zone level and time to invest when you’re building your social media community. So for example on the website and by the way, I learned how to use WordPress so I could actually upload my podcast my blogs my videos and that saved me a lot of money at the beginning. So I used to do that. Sam Berne (34:36.023) one hour a week and then with Facebook. Well, I would spend about three hours a week now sometimes with podcasts, you know, again, you can grade yourself and then how many how much time you think you need to be able to get on these different platforms. Now based on your responses, you’re going to get a questionnaire that Lou Sprecher and I came up with and you can work with your mentors to help you focus on how to get started because it can be kind of overwhelming. You know, I’ve given you a lot of information today and you go, well, where do I start? Well, maybe I would start with your website and maybe start with Facebook. Okay, you kind of have to look at your customers and your community the age of your customers. I know for me on Facebook, my age range is between 50 and 75 and there’s a lot of those folks on Facebook. So that’s why I chose Facebook live because I was going to get the most engagement. Now another thing that I also did when I was doing Q &A on Facebook and also posting sometimes I would do some paid advertising so you can do both the organic and then later on you can learn about how to do advertising on Facebook or Instagram and now with my products when I’m doing a sale like a Christmas sale or Thanksgiving Day sale. I am running both organic content. I’m doing advertising and then I have my newsletter. So the next thing that you can consider is can you collect emails by collecting emails? You have somebody you have somebody who’s really interested in what you’re doing and then either through MailChimp or Clavio or any one of those you can then send out a weekly newsletter. I do that all the time and that’s one of my best selling my return on investment on my newsletter when I’m doing a sale for products. Sam Berne (36:49.389) is through the roof. It’s amazing. Another thing that I’ve started is texting that you can actually have people send you texting with questions. And that’s another way that I am now getting a collection of email addresses phone numbers. And so you could look into that later on. So not only am I you know getting questions from my web my email, but I’m now getting questions from texting. And texting is one of the things that you can receive and it’s a great way to start to build your community. Okay. Now in stage two, you might expand your platform. You might bring in LinkedIn. You might start talking about Instagram and your personal interests. And again, I want to emphasize, you know, the things that you’re passionate about the things that you’re interested in that may be beyond the regular business. That’s going to help you draw a wider audience who then may discover your products or your services, but they never would if all of your Posts were just based on your business and Instagram is a great platform to do that. You’ve got Instagram stories Instagram reels   _______   Set up a free discovery call with Dr. Berne to learn more about his practitioenr’s training: [email protected] Practitioner’s Program Link: https://www.drsamberne.com/practition… For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ Then the show notes, then the transcript then Website: https://www.drsamberne.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamBerneOD/?… Instagram: / samberneod Twitter: / drsamberne LinkedIn: / drsamberne   Dr. Sam Berne has been in private practice in New Mexico for over 35 years and where he works with patients to improve their vision and overall wellness through holistic methods. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University, Doctor of Optometry from Pennsylvania College, and did his postdoctoral work at the Gesell Institute in collaboration with Yale University. He has been awarded The Special Awards for Service from the Behavioral Optometrists in Mexico for his innovative and holistic work with children.   His protocols take a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to health and wellness. He understands and treats the body as one integrated system rather than a collection of independent organs in order to identify and address the root causes of disease. His whole health protocols improve vision and wellness by healing the mind-body-spirit through nutritional protocols, vision therapy, and self-care techniques. This views each person as genetically and biochemically unique and enables the individual to make lifelong improvements to their well-being.

Keywords Iridology, eye health, vision, holistic practices, eye anatomy, workshops, natural remedies, eye exams, lymphatic system, nutrition Summary In this conversation, Sam Berne discusses the principles of iridology and its significance in understanding eye health. He explains how different eye colors and shapes can indicate various health issues and emphasizes the importance of the lymphatic system in maintaining good eyesight. The discussion also covers the anatomy of the eye, common vision problems, and how to navigate eye exams effectively. Additionally, Berne shares information about upcoming workshops and learning opportunities for those interested in holistic eye care. Takeaways Iridology maps the body through the eyes. Eye color can indicate specific health issues. The lymphatic system plays a crucial role in eye health. Hydration is essential for maintaining healthy eyes. Functional anatomy focuses on how we use our eyes. Cataracts can be influenced by sugar intake. Healthy blood vessels are vital for eyesight. Myopia is often linked to fear-based vision. Progressive lenses may not always be necessary. Workshops offer opportunities for deeper learning in eye health. Titles Unlocking the Secrets of Iridology The Eye-Body Connection: Understanding Iridology Sound bites “The eyes carry 60 to 80 % of body tension.” “Cataracts can be caused a lot by sugar.” “It’s a lymphatic stimulation, but it’s amazing.” Chapters 00:00 Understanding Iridology and Eye Health 03:59 The Connection Between Eye Health and Body Systems 08:21 Navigating Eye Exams and Vision Issues 11:37 Workshops and Future Learning Opportunities     Set up a free discovery call with Dr. Berne to learn more about his practitioenr’s training: [email protected] Practitioner’s Program Link: https://www.drsamberne.com/practition… For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ Then the show notes, then the transcript then Website: https://www.drsamberne.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamBerneOD/?… Instagram: / samberneod Twitter: / drsamberne LinkedIn: / drsamberne   Dr. Sam Berne has been in private practice in New Mexico for over 35 years and where he works with patients to improve their vision and overall wellness through holistic methods. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University, Doctor of Optometry from Pennsylvania College, and did his postdoctoral work at the Gesell Institute in collaboration with Yale University. He has been awarded The Special Awards for Service from the Behavioral Optometrists in Mexico for his innovative and holistic work with children.   His protocols take a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to health and wellness. He understands and treats the body as one integrated system rather than a collection of independent organs in order to identify and address the root causes of disease. His whole health protocols improve vision and wellness by healing the mind-body-spirit through nutritional protocols, vision therapy, and self-care techniques. This views each person as genetically and biochemically unique and enables the individual to make lifelong improvements to their well-being.

Keywords holistic health, vision, empowerment, children’s vision, integrative medicine, natural healing, systemic health, eye care, wellness, future of health   Summary In this podcast, Dr. Sam Berne discusses the evolving landscape of holistic health as we approach 2025. He addresses the growing demand for natural healing methods, the integration of vision into holistic practices, and the importance of empowering patients in their health decisions. Dr. Berne emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach to health that includes vision, especially in children, and expresses hope for the future of holistic health amidst current challenges.   Takeaways People are tired of band-aid solutions. There is a Renaissance in whole body therapy. Vision reflects systemic and metabolic health. Children’s vision development is crucial for learning. Patients want equal partnership in health decisions. Holistic methods can support eye health. The current medical model is symptom-focused. Empowerment is key in holistic medical care. Community involvement is essential for change. Integrating ancient principles with modern practices is vital.   Chapters 00:00 The State of Holistic Health in 2025 02:48 Integrating Vision into Holistic Health 06:09 The Role of Vision in Child Development 09:06 Empowerment in Holistic Medical Care 12:01 Rethinking Eye Care Practices 14:52 Hope for the Future of Holistic Health   Sam Berne (00:00) to welcome you to my latest podcast. Today is a very interesting show. What I’ve done is I’ve pulled my functional vision integrative method practitioners. So these are doctors who wanted to ask me some questions and the theme is about what is the state of the Union of holistic health globally in 2025? So I’m going to take their questions one at a time and I hope you enjoy the show. Thanks for tuning in. The first question is from a naturopath who practices in Denmark and he’s asking what is the state of holistic medicine and vision not only in the US but globally and the way I see it in 2025. We’re in a really big power shift right now. People are tired of band-aid solutions. You know, a day doesn’t go by when I get an email from somebody that says, you know, I’m really tired of symptom management care. People want to know what is the root cause of their condition and what can they do to heal their condition naturally? I would say the biggest aspect is people want to take responsibility for their health. know in the US we do call it health insurance, but I think we should call it disease insurance because all it’s good for is things like if we have to go to the emergency room, if we, you know, get into a car accident, if there’s some big traumatic event in our body, medical care works really well. But in terms of being proactive, it just isn’t there. And in fact, so many people will share with me how invalidated they feel when they even bring up things like nutrition, supplements, herbs, essential oils. It’s getting really tough out there for people to find a like-minded holistic doctor if they are themselves holistically minded. Question 2 is from a craniosacral therapist who lives in California and she’s asking how do I fit into this holistic model of health not only in the US but globally? Well, I think there’s a Renaissance and people looking for whole body therapy. I mean, if you look at just the holistic health industry, one of the things that I’ve observed Is that when practitioners now want to teach internationally, they really can’t do it unless they either get a work permit or they have the country that is hosting them do some legal things to be able to invite them so that the government’s now are on to holistic health and people who want to teach it internationally. And if you want to do that, You have to jump through a lot of hoops. remember 25, 30 years ago when I used to teach internationally. We didn’t have any of these restrictions or requirements. So people are hungry for holistic medicine, holistic health. And in terms of the eyes, I mean, it’s off the charts. People are wanting holistic methods to support their eyesight and vision. All right, question three is from an Ayurvedic practitioner. He’s also a Chinese medicine doctor. He’s from New York and he’s asking how do I integrate the eyes and vision into my message to mainstream medical health? Well, I’ve been at this for a long time and what I’m here to say is that vision is more than in the eye, know, in so many of my video blogs and written blogs. I’ve talked about how vision is more than in the eye and our eyes really reflect our systemic and metabolic health. we look for example, at iridology, iridology has been around for hundreds of years. The iris is the colored part of the eye and it maps the body doctors have mapped it for over 200 years. And so when we look at the iris, we can actually see What’s the health of our thyroid our pancreas our heart health we can look at genetic tendencies and we can also look at in our current health. What are some nurture points that we need to do whether we tend more towards inflammation or you know, we need to stay off of gluten dairy and sugar. So your ideology is one way that the eyes reflect our systemic and metabolic health another. model that I’ve studied is Chinese medicine and acupuncture. Many of the glands and organs the meridians run throughout the entire body to our eyes and I’ve talked a lot about the relationship between our liver and gallbladder and our eye health. You know, as an example, people who suffer things like chronic eyelid inflammation or dry eye syndrome. They’re probably not absorbing their healthy fat soluble nutrients like vitamin A lutein and zeaxanthin. are fat soluble and although they might be eating a lot of really good rainbow vegetables and taking their omega-3s. They’re not absorbing their fat soluble vitamins. And when they do a liver cleanse or liver gallbladder cleanse, what happens is is there their fat-soluble vitamins now are getting absorbed into the eyes. And so the chronic eyelid inflammation problems or dry eye, these are just two examples. They start to recede and we regain our eye health. Number three, I think I’d like to talk a little bit about children’s vision and we know that, you know, the the eyes originate from the brain that the The eyes have a neuroplasticity capability and the way I evaluate kids in it is in a developmental model meaning that not only am I looking at their chronological age in the way they use their eyes and vision, but I’m looking at their performance age and we look at things like brain and body processing. You know, I bring in things called the primitive survival reflexes. which are infant reflexes that need to be integrated or it becomes difficult for the child to really develop their sensory motor processing skills and the physical vision therapy the functional vision therapy that that I’m training practitioners on and I’ve done on thousands and thousands of kids really impacts their ability to read to learn to problem solve to make decisions because we’re not just talking about reading the eye chart. That’s not even vision. That’s our eyesight. But vision is how the eyes and the brain and the body process information and that’s a learned and developed skill and based on our gestation birth and bonding experiences that has a strong influence on our sensory motor development and which includes visual processing auditory processing motor processing. So we got to get past doing an exam on a child just by having them. read the distance acuity chart. I mean, that is just not cutting it. We have to do tests in the area of visual focusing, visual coordination, some of the visual perceptual skills. And then can we even do some tests in the area of our vestibular processing? And of course back to those early motor patterns like our primitive reflexes until we start bringing those into the standard eye exam room. We’re going to be missing all the problems that kids have in terms of their vision learning and development. Okay. This next question is from a German naturopath who’s taking my course and she’s asking what are lay people wanting in terms of their holistic medical care? Well, number one, I think people want empowerment. They want equal partnership in the decision-making. of their health needs. They want a doctor who’s open-minded around herbal medicines, aromatherapy, functional nutrition, energy healing and until they find somebody like that, it becomes a very invalidating experience for them. I have a vision coach right now that’s in our program and she’s wanting to help kids. She wants to help seniors. And she wants to help the middle-aged people around their glasses and contact lens prescriptions. so through the physical therapy exercises that I teach, she is very inspired to be able to meet people where they are. And instead of having to deal with drugs needles and surgery, there could be some nutritional recommendations that she makes. and really cleaning up a person’s inner environment so that nutrient wise, they’re absorbing more the physical exercises change their brain neuroplasticity offering things like light therapy and morning sunlight just by itself helps balance our circadian rhythms red light therapy, which supports better mitochondria function. This is all the things that are really really important around offering things except, you know, in the mainstream, it’s still surgery and pharmaceuticals. This next question is from an osteopath who practices in Vancouver, British Columbia, and she’s asking me if I had 60 seconds to talk to a medical Dean, what could I say to them? Well, you can’t talk about brain health, trauma recovery, stress and nutrition without including vision into the picture. In fact, we know that vision is more than in the eyeball. can use the eyes as an entryway into the body to help create more balance. This next question is from a physical therapist who’s studying with me and she lives in Santa Fe and she is asking why is vision overlooked in Optometry and Ophthalmology schools? Well, the reason is is because the model of eye care and eyesight. is based on a number and we get a lot of numbers when we do eye exams. Well, we’re so much more than a number, know, one of the sayings that I like to use is that instead of looking at the numbers, let’s look at the person behind the numbers and until I care starts to look at the person behind the number and start recognizing that things like our digestion, our nutrition, our stress, our trauma, all of those things influence how we see. mean, if you just look at the eye exam, it’s a very stressful experience. And once you get your lens prescription, you’re getting it under duress. It’s not going to be right. It’s going to be way too strong for you. It’s going to be imbalanced and you’re told to just live with it. Get used to it. And so what that does to your nervous system is you have to operate around a sympathetic nervous system model, which creates more cortisol, your mitochondria function, and the retina goes down. You have more oxidative stress. You get more inflammation. It’s no wonder that people are developing macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma at such high rates because the way the eye doctors are treating the patients is very much in symptom management and It’s very much like a conveyor belt and there’s no questions about asking, you know about the person’s lifestyle. It’s all about what is the number? Let’s give you the number get used to the number next person. Okay, the last question is from a Chinese medicine doctor who’s studying with me. She lives in Hawaii and she’s asking what gives me hope. Well, I think what is really giving me hope is that our current models aren’t working. And they’re breaking down and we can recognize that in our evolution that we will always go in a dissolution state and then we resolve the dissolution and this is actually creates more versatility and flexibility in our health and wellness and yes technology is taken over, you know with the artificial intelligence and other things. But one of things that I teach as I integrate artificial intelligence into our daily living is something called somatic intelligence our interoception. What are we feeling? What’s our intuition saying? What’s our creativity about? So we need to have both. It’s kind of like the the left brain is AI and the right brain is Si and As we’re in this chaotic phase right now, things will shift and will become more resolved in the next phase of the wave that’s kind of looking at it in that in that perspective. So I don’t look at the the small details as everything but in the big picture we go through phases and we go through cycles and we’re now in a cycle. where we’re reorganizing to a whole new level and it’s going to take a mass of people who are questioning who are inquiring who are creative who are looking for new answers and as we grow the mass the community will take over. So I am actually very hopeful even though we’re kind of in the midst of it and certainly in healthcare. You can always find holistic health practitioners to help you. You know, I’m doing my part where I’m really focusing on helping practitioners use the philosophies that I have developed and they can take it into any practice whether it’s massage, rolfing, craniosacral, functional medicine, acupuncture, you name it. ⁓ These particular principles that I’m talking about are age-old. It’s not something that I made up but in studying a lot of different disciplines. This is how I’ve integrated it. So if you’ve got more questions, feel free to send them along to me. Hello at dr. Sam burn.com. Check out my website. We’ve got some seminars coming up in July August September October. I’m also going to be doing a six-week online program starting in November. This will be on zoom so you don’t have to travel and yeah, stay tuned for more good stuff. All right, everybody. That’s our show. It’s a wrap. Take good care.       Set up a free discovery call with Dr. Berne to learn more about his practitioenr’s training: [email protected] Practitioner’s Program Link: https://www.drsamberne.com/practition… For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ Then the show notes, then the transcript then Website: https://www.drsamberne.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamBerneOD/?… Instagram: / samberneod Twitter: / drsamberne LinkedIn: / drsamberne   Dr. Sam Berne has been in private practice in New Mexico for over 35 years and where he works with patients to improve their vision and overall wellness through holistic methods. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University, Doctor of Optometry from Pennsylvania College, and did his postdoctoral work at the Gesell Institute in collaboration with Yale University. He has been awarded The Special Awards for Service from the Behavioral Optometrists in Mexico for his innovative and holistic work with children.   His protocols take a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to health and wellness. He understands and treats the body as one integrated system rather than a collection of independent organs in order to identify and address the root causes of disease. His whole health protocols improve vision and wellness by healing the mind-body-spirit through nutritional protocols, vision therapy, and self-care techniques. This views each person as genetically and biochemically unique and enables the individual to make lifelong improvements to their well-being.

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping how we think, work, and create. But what if the missing link isn’t more tech — it’s more embodiment? Welcome to Beyond the Lens, the podcast where AI meets Somatic Intelligence. Hosted by Dr. Sam Berne — a visionary eye doctor turned AI strategist and somatic educator — this show explores how the convergence of cutting-edge tech and ancient body wisdom can awaken human potential, revolutionize leadership, and transform our lives. Each episode dives deep into AI trends, somatic practices, nervous system regulation, and future-of-work insights — with thought-provoking interviews, practical tools, and reflections on Dr. Berne’s new book: Beyond the Lens: The AI Visionary Playbook for Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders. Link; https://amzn.to/45kptwt It’s time to upgrade not just your tech — but your awareness. — Keywords neuroscience, vision, aromatherapy, artificial intelligence, somatic intelligence, entrepreneurship, body intelligence, meditation, decision making, holistic approach Summary In this conversation, Sam Berne discusses his upcoming documentary and book, focusing on the intersection of artificial intelligence and somatic intelligence. He emphasizes the importance of integrating body awareness with AI to enhance decision-making and creativity in entrepreneurship. Berne shares insights on how to develop somatic intelligence through practices like meditation and bodywork, advocating for a holistic approach to using AI as a partner in strategy. Takeaways Sam Berne is launching a documentary called Beyond Sight. The documentary includes trends in neuroscience and aromatherapy. His new book, Beyond the Lens, focuses on AI for entrepreneurs. AI is defined as algorithms that mimic human mind patterns. Somatic intelligence is our body’s inner compass. AI operates in the head, while somatic intelligence operates in the body. Combining AI with body cues leads to better decision-making. Practices like meditation and bodywork enhance somatic intelligence. AI should be viewed as a partner, not a threat. Integrating whole brain thinking maximizes potential in entrepreneurship. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to New Projects 02:54 Artificial Intelligence and Somatic Intelligence 05:45 Integrating AI with Body Intelligence   Transcript Sam Berne (00:00) Hey everyone, welcome to the program today. A few announcements. So July 17th is the big day. I will be launching my new documentary called Beyond Sight. And this is something that I’ve been working on for many years. It’s a heartfelt story following a few of my patients. There’s going to be some really ⁓ moving testimonials and Not only that I’m going to be talking about latest trends in neuroscience as it relates to vision. I’m also going to put in a few things about aromatherapy and frankincense. We’re getting a lot of ⁓ interest in aromatherapy. I’m an aromatherapist and Facebook, especially people are really into some of the content that I presented. So I’m going to put a little bit of that in the documentary. Anyway, you don’t want to miss it. You’ll be able to stream it. from drsamburn.com. We’ll put it out through our social media channels, my newsletter and other avenues as well. You can stream it. You can buy it and it’s really worth it. It’s such a great ⁓ compilation of things that I’ve done over the last 40 years around July 14th. I’m going to launch my new book on artificial intelligence. This is called Beyond the Lens and it’s a playbook about artificial intelligence, especially for entrepreneurs and business leaders. You probably wonder why in the heck would I want to write a book about AI. Well back in 2017, I started my social media brand went through many different lifetimes working with products working with different people in a variety of different ways and became quite an international success. So I was asked by a nonprofit to do some coaching for entrepreneurs, especially in the area of social media marketing and other things and I began to research artificial intelligence back then and ⁓ so I wrote a book about it and I since then I’ve left the nonprofit and I’m doing some coaching for young entrepreneurs, people who want to get started have their own voice, their own creativity. And so this book on artificial intelligence is really good. In fact, what I’ve done is I’m combining artificial intelligence with something called somatic intelligence. And I’m going to talk a little bit about that. That’s going to be the the basis of our podcast today. And so it brings in vision, but it brings in the body and our body intelligence and how you blend that with artificial intelligence. So anyway, this book is out. It’s on Amazon. It’s an ebook right now. I’m probably going to do a paperback as well. You can get it on Amazon and we’d love to get your feedback on it. Now I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who’s a body worker and she’s like, well, what’s the difference between artificial intelligence and somatic intelligence? And where do they meet in the middle? I thought was a great question. And so when I began thinking about artificial intelligence, let me give you that definition better known as AI. This is a group of algorithms and data that comes together to work a little bit like the human mind. AI recognizes patterns from data that has been imported into it making predictive Suggestions the way I think about AI as a partner in strategy. I might have a dialogue or ask questions. I’m always checking in with myself to see well, how does that feel in my gut? Is that really true? Or is it something that you know, AI is really off and we know that AI automates many things workflows statistics graphs and tables found that it actually helps increase performance. You can make decisions better and faster by collecting more data. But the one thing AI can’t do is it can’t sense or feel like us. I define somatic intelligence is our body’s inner compass, our inner GPS system. If you will, it’s real-time information that flows through our nervous system, our body tissues, our fluid body, our organs, our glands, and we start getting physical cues like my chest is getting tight or I’m getting butterflies in my stomach or I’m feeling a bit nauseous or it might be something like I’m feeling a lot of bliss. My intuition is really connected. I’m in a flow state. I’m attracting the things that I need to or want to as I move forward in my soul development. Now, here’s where the magic happens. What happens when AI and our body intelligence? intersect. Well, first of all, AI really operates in our head. Whereas our somatic intelligence operates in our whole body. Let’s say we’re in adrenal burnout. Well, we’re probably not going to be in alignment with what we’re supposed to be doing. But when you combine AI with visual and body cues and we are lined up, we feel really good. Then this is where we can combine using the data. the information we get from AI, we put it into our body intelligence. How does it feel? What do we see? What do we feel? How is this going to work? Then you’ve got the answer. You now have an embodied answer. A lot of people I meet in business, the entrepreneurs, they’re just data-driven left brain, but somatic intelligence requires the right brain are intuitive creative receptive. So when you come together in a whole brain, I think of AI is the left brain. and body intelligence somatic intelligence as the right brain. Now you are whole brain. So I think the first step in this is to really invite AI into your life. So many people I talked to are very negative about AI. Hey, it’s here. It’s already in our fabric. So we need to learn to use it as a partner. So the question becomes how do we develop better body? Intelligence somatic intelligence. Well, I’ve been doing that work for 40 years and it can start with things like a morning meditation doing some journaling some spiritual practices like yoga or Qi Gong or Tai Chi obviously spending part of your day out in nature. We get a reset getting regular body work like craniosacral or other kinds of body treatments to get you in touch with your body’s awareness. And then it becomes practice where you play with AI with certain situations. You read it. You think about it. Then you put that into your body and you go. Well, how’s this feel? What am I noticing? What is coming up for me? Am I feeling some resistance? Am I getting tight in my solar plexus? You know, there’s cues body cues that you can start to see as you are using AI. So I know we’re just talking but in our workshops what we do is we actually do a lot of somatic intelligence creation and then we start adding the AI and it’s beautiful. It really is amazing how people can use the AI data, but then they bring that information into their body and then they make the decision. So it’s getting the left brain and the right brain working together. If you want more information, I recommend my new book. Beyond the lens. Also, you can contact me. have a website burn media group.com. You can send me an email if you want to do a session that would be really really powerful. It’s the way I work and it’s the way I’ve had my entrepreneurial clients work and it’s amazing when your whole body and whole brain it really allows you to get the most out of things. So that’s our show for today. I want to thank you so much for tuning in until next time. Take care.     Set up a free discovery call with Dr. Berne to learn more about his practitioenr’s training: [email protected] Practitioner’s Program Link: https://www.drsamberne.com/practition… For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ Then the show notes, then the transcript then Website: https://www.drsamberne.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamBerneOD/?… Instagram: / samberneod Twitter: / drsamberne LinkedIn: / drsamberne   Dr. Sam Berne has been in private practice in New Mexico for over 35 years and where he works with patients to improve their vision and overall wellness through holistic methods. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University, Doctor of Optometry from Pennsylvania College, and did his postdoctoral work at the Gesell Institute in collaboration with Yale University. He has been awarded The Special Awards for Service from the Behavioral Optometrists in Mexico for his innovative and holistic work with children. His protocols take a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to health and wellness. He understands and treats the body as one integrated system rather than a collection of independent organs in order to identify and address the root causes of disease. His whole health protocols improve vision and wellness by healing the mind-body-spirit through nutritional protocols, vision therapy, and self-care techniques. This views each person as genetically and biochemically unique and enables the individual to make lifelong improvements to their well-being.

Set up a free discovery call with Dr. Berne to learn more about his practitioner’s training: [email protected] Practitioner’s Program Link: https://www.drsamberne.com/practition… For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ — Keywords holistic optometry, vision therapy, macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, nutrition, quantum healing, eye health, children’s vision, alternative medicine, vision development, children’s eye health, emotional health, Graves’ disease, macular degeneration, UV protection, eye surgery, holistic eye care Takeaways Dr. Sam Berne emphasizes the importance of holistic approaches in optometry. Behavioral optometry focuses on the connection between vision and brain function. Nutrition plays a crucial role in maintaining eye health and preventing diseases. Cataracts can be managed through lifestyle changes and nutritional support. Natural remedies exist for glaucoma, emphasizing the need for awareness and education. Children’s vision is affected by screen time; outdoor activities are essential for eye health. Self-regulation and personalized care are key in managing eye health. An eye exam should explore how children move through space. Vision development in children is crucial and can be nurtured. Emotional health significantly impacts eye functionality. Holistic approaches can enhance eye health post-surgery. UV protection is essential for maintaining eye health. Macular degeneration requires a multifaceted approach to treatment. Personalized care is vital in addressing individual eye health needs. Summary Dr. Sam Berne, a holistic optometrist, shares his journey from personal vision challenges to becoming a leader in vision therapy. He emphasizes the importance of integrating nutrition, quantum healing, and innovative therapies in eye care. Throughout the conversation, he discusses common eye diseases such as macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma, offering insights into prevention and management through holistic approaches. He also highlights the significance of children’s vision health in the context of modern screen time and the need for outdoor activities. In this conversation, Sam Berne discusses the intricate connections between vision, emotional health, and overall well-being. He emphasizes the importance of understanding children’s vision development, the relationship between vision and hearing, and the impact of emotional experiences on eye health. Berne also addresses specific conditions such as Graves’ disease and macular degeneration, offering insights into holistic approaches for managing these issues. The conversation highlights the significance of sunlight exposure, the role of sound healing, and the necessity of personalized care in eye health. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Holistic Optometry 02:54 Personal Journey and Early Challenges 06:13 Innovative Approaches in Vision Therapy 10:33 Integrating Quantum Healing and Nutrition 16:15 Understanding Macular Degeneration 25:30 Cataracts: Prevention and Management 30:57 Glaucoma: Natural Remedies and Awareness 36:47 The Importance of Eye Health in Children 37:09 Understanding Children’s Vision Development 41:17 The Connection Between Vision and Hearing 45:59 Emotional Health and Eye Functionality 50:40 Exploring Eye Health Post-Surgery 53:15 Addressing Graves’ Disease and Eye Health 57:03 The Role of Sunlight and UV Protection 01:01:00 Navigating Macular Degeneration 01:07:42 Common Eye Conditions and Their Management — Keep Up with Dr. Sam Website: https://www.drsamberne.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamBerneOD/?… Instagram: / samberneod Twitter: / drsamberne LinkedIn: / drsamberne Dr. Sam Berne has been in private practice in New Mexico for over 35 years and where he works with patients to improve their vision and overall wellness through holistic methods. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University, Doctor of Optometry from Pennsylvania College, and did his postdoctoral work at the Gesell Institute in collaboration with Yale University. He has been awarded The Special Awards for Service from the Behavioral Optometrists in Mexico for his innovative and holistic work with children. His protocols take a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to health and wellness. He understands and treats the body as one integrated system rather than a collection of independent organs in order to identify and address the root causes of disease. His whole health protocols improve vision and wellness by healing the mind-body-spirit through nutritional protocols, vision therapy, and self-care techniques. This views each person as genetically and biochemically unique and enables the individual to make lifelong improvements to their well-being.   Transcript of today’s show: Sam Berne (00:01.642) Good evening everybody. Thank you all for coming here. It’s really nice to have events back at the yard. I don’t know you’ve been coming to them recently, but it’s very lovely and we’re very proud to have them. And we’re very excited to have Dr. Sam Byrne with us this evening. Being a holistic opometrist and vision therapist for over 30 years. immense following of people who believe in him. I took a look through his book and it’s very, very wonderful, fascinating things that I always follow, even though I see pretty well. I’m a little bit disappointed that not everyone’s wearing glasses though, because that seems like a missed opportunity. I hope you enjoy what he has to say, and I think it would be very beneficial for everybody. We do have the book available if you need it to be signed. and please enjoy yourselves and I hope you learn all you can. Well, before I begin, I have a couple of thank yous. First of all, I’d like to thank the Art for hosting me tonight. And also I would like to thank my partner and wife, Charlie. She has really supported me over the years. And there people in this audience that I would like to thank that have both helped me with the book and just been great supporters. I’m going to keep it anonymous, but I’m deeply grateful for their support. And so let’s begin. I want to see a show of hands of people who have either worked with me, taken one of my workshops or So, okay, a few of you, that’s great. So, you know, in my story, one of my North stars is when I was about eight years old. I grew up in a middle-class family. My parents really emphasized education. My mom was a school teacher. My dad was in business. And my grandparents and my aunts and uncles, they always stressed going to school, reading. I remember my uncle. Sam Berne (02:24.461) I would go see him and he had this library, kind of like this room, and I would go in and pick one of his books. The problem was that I was labeled as learning disabled, and I was a really poor reader. And my mom took me everywhere. In fact, I don’t know if you remember Evelyn Woods’ speed reading. That was like one of many things we did. mean, was the biggest waste of money. We ended up at an eye doctor’s office and of course the doctor gave me pair of glasses. He says, hey kid, you can use these. And so I started down the road of being nearsighted. And the way I got through school was memorizing. So I became this brainy kid and I worked really hard, but I was not a good reader. I didn’t enjoy reading. So fast forward, I got through college, got through professional school. By this time, my glasses were pretty thick. And I couldn’t see the big knee on the eye chart. So I was like, perfect optometrist. I just couldn’t see. But I met this doctor, and he was called a behavioral optometrist. So if you think of the two words together, it’s kind of a juxtaposition. It’s kind of an oxymoron. Behavior and vision, what is that? But anyway, his name is Dr. Al Shankman, and he practiced in Connecticut. I lived in Philly. And I started to go to him as a patient and he said two things to me. said, you know, your left eye wanders out and that’s why you see double vision. And I thought double vision was normal. I thought everybody saw double. And then the second thing he said was, you know, you really carry a lot of tension in your eyes. I said, I’m totally unaware. So we started in with his physical eye therapy and I just want to make a distinction. between that and when you hear of the Bates Method in eye exercises, this was not eye exercises, this was brain therapy. over period of six months, my left eye and right eye started to work together, and so my reading got much easier. I was amazed how much easier it got. And then my ear sightiness went away. I mean, my tension in my eyes completely cleared up. Sam Berne (04:47.968) And I was like, my God, this is not what I learned in school. So at the same time, I was enrolled in a place called the Gazelle Institute. And I don’t know if anybody has ever heard of this position. Gazelle, I’ll spell it G-E-S-E-L-L. And it was started in 1948 by Arnold Gazelle, MD, who was a child development specialist and It was affiliated with the Yale Study Center in New Haven. And it was a really cool place because it was a place where there was a lot of different professionals, psychologists, nutritionists, occupational therapists, obviously eye doctors. And I spent a year there learning how to evaluate and treat special needs kids. So after that was over, I moved back to Philadelphia and I associated with one of the graduates of that program, Dr. Ellis Edelman, and he practiced on the main line in Philadelphia. So I was an apprentice of his. He also gave me the opportunity to start my practice in his office. But the problem with that was that I couldn’t get any patients because we practiced in an area that was surrounded by like five ophthalmology practices. Although people were really well-off, really well-educated, they got what they needed from the regular doctors. They didn’t need somebody alternative. So at that point, I needed to make some money, and I thought about, where are there populations that are underserved? And so I went to one of the local hospitals, and I volunteered my services to the Traumatic Brain Injury Unit. So this was an outpatient hospital. And these people were high functioning, but they had been in car accidents or sports injuries. They had strokes. So they had like double vision like I had. They also had brain fog and memory issues. And the regular eye doctors just wrote them off. There was really, it was kind of sad because these people were like struggling. So I applied my physical therapy program to them and Sam Berne (07:10.228) everybody improved greatly. And so the hospital administrator said, okay, we’ll give you a contract for three hospitals. And so some other outside patients started to trickle in because my reputation was I was a problem solver. I worked with people where they had been other places and they couldn’t have their problems solved. So come to me. The other underserved population that I contacted was the special needs children. So these were kids that had brain injury, they were Down syndrome, they were in a wheelchair. Obviously there was the autistic to ADD population. And I did so well with those kids. mean, they were amazing. The parents were amazing. And so over time, my reputation got bigger and I built up a very successful practice. And then one day I woke up and I said, you know, I think I want to move back out west. Now back out west, when I was in school, one of my internships was actually here at the Indian Health Hospital in Santa Fe. So I worked for IHS and you know, I said, I think Santa Fe could be a good town for me. So I sold my interests in Philadelphia and I moved out here, got my license and I opened a practice and I got really busy, which was great. So I met this woman and I’m going to bring her up because you’re all New Mexicans, you probably maybe have heard of this person. Her name was Dr. Hazel Parcells. Has anybody ever heard of Dr. Parcells? Yes. So Dr. Parcells, when I met her, she was 103 years old and she was starting a retreat center. She had been practicing in Albuquerque for many years. She was a naturopath and a chiropractor. And she knew a lot about nutrition. And I was writing my first book, Creating Your Personal Vision, and I wanted to interview an expert. So I called her up and she was starting this center, if know where Las Vegas, New Mexico is, it was north of that in this beautiful valley called Sappio, New Mexico. And so I went to visit her and I ended up becoming a student of hers, studying nutrition. And then one day she took me into this laboratory, another building. Sam Berne (09:34.187) And there all these black boxes. said, doctor, what is this? And she said, well, I’m working with people. I’m broadcasting frequencies to them, homeopathy, color therapy. she’s like, what? They’re not here? They’re not physically in this building? No, they’re other places, but they’re all getting well because I’m changing their frequency, their vibration. So this was my introduction to quantum healing. And so she taught me how to do this and a couple years later, a very famous cardiologist who lives in Santa Fe, he was in Dallas, I know you’ve heard of him, Larry Dossie. Larry is best seller in New York Times, wonderful person and his wife Barbara. So he wrote a book called The Power of Prayer. You may remember that book and he actually researched people who are in different locations and you send positive energy and they would feel it or they would get better. It kind of opened that door of the non-local field. And I could go into more of that, but I’ll put that aside because we’re talking about the eyes tonight. So in my practice, what began happening here is that I started to study Chinese medicine. And for those of you, acupuncture is so well known here in Santa Fe that I started to develop this idea of the relationship of the meridians to our eye health. You probably all know this, you know, the liver meridian profoundly affects the eyes, gallbladder, stomach, spleen. We can look at eyelid issues, spleen is the upper eyelid, stomach is the lower eyelid. So instead of using antibiotic eye drops, you could get some acupuncture. It would clear up your stye or conjunctivitis. So, you know, those were all the things that I made those connections. And then… I was working with an occupational therapist and we working with autistic kids. A lot of these kids had birth trauma. So you know the birth industrial industry and what it’s like. Children are now born, infants are now born based on the schedule of the doctor. It’s really challenging when a child comes out and there’s C-section or there’s a breach or there’s forceps delivery or some… Sam Berne (11:58.591) distress, it has an impact on their sensory motor development. And so I went back to massage school here based on this O.T.’ recommendation and spent two years learning crania sacral. And then what was interesting is in my exam when I had a regular office, next to my exam equipment I had a massage table. So somebody would come in for, you know, glasses and I would do a Exam on them. I’d measure their eyes and then I would do an hour of craniosacral on them And then I would give them that prescription and that prescription used to would be like 30 % less than what they came in with because if you think about going to regular eye doctor isn’t a stressful experience which is clear one or two and You get the lens and it makes you dizzy and the doctor says just get used to it You know, I’m busy, you know, just get used to it. So you get used to it and your body starts twisting or torquing. So the cranial work was very interesting. And then there’s this condition called astigmatism. Anybody have astigmatism? What’s it called? Astigmatism. Astigmatism, yeah. Not stigmatism, astigmatism. They think astigma, I don’t know. So astigmatism means the eye is misshapen, okay? And like it’s like an egg, that’s how it’s shaped. But it also reflects some echo in the body where there’s some asymmetry. some twist. if you start unwinding the body and then you give a non-estigmatism correction, the astigmatism goes away. As opposed to when you get an astigmatism correction, it reinforces the twist. And we have some craniosacral therapists here, very fine craniosacral therapists here, they’re nodding their head because they know what’s going on. When you get a regular lens prescription in an exam, it’s reinforcing some adaptation that you’ve made somewhere in your vision. And so your eyes are going to get worse. mean, who hasn’t had the experience where they’ve gone back to their eye doctor after they got a prescription the next year or two, it’s now stronger. Or they were just wearing them part time and now they’re in progressive biphones. So, I mean, it’s interesting the way Sam Berne (14:20.188) an eye doctor calculates a prescription like you’re a specimen, like you’re a problem to solve. And one of the things that I think about is instead of looking at the numbers, I look at the person behind the numbers. So even though I might get some data, it’s like, what’s your stress like? What’s your lifestyle like? What do you eat? All those kinds of things. And then based on the whole person, then maybe a prescription might be beneficial that actually supports your vision getting better. And I’ll never forget people coming in to see me every year and they would come in and say, know, my contacts aren’t working anymore. My glasses aren’t working anymore. And what happened was they thought their eyes got worse when in fact, when they measured them, their eyes got better. So we didn’t even think, we don’t even think that our eyes can get better, right? We think, only think they get worse. So I would say to them, are you doing? Well, I’m doing Vipassana meditation, I’m taking a yoga class, I’m doing rafting, whatever it is. So your eyes reflect your consciousness. They reflect what’s going on energetically in your body. Again, back to acupuncture, if you start measuring the pulses, you’ll find that the meridians, if there’s a stagnating energy, that could lead to something like floaters or cataracts. or even macular degeneration. I’m going to talk about those things in a little bit. And by the way, what I want to do here, I think of this as like a fireside chat. I want to speak for a little bit and then I want to open it up for Q &A because I find that, you know, I can talk about a million things, but something drew you here tonight, some interest. And I would love to be able to answer your questions. and we learn from each other. I’m going to speak a little bit more and then we’ll open it up for Q &A. So who here knows somebody who’s dealing with macular degeneration? Anybody? Okay. So definitely it’s the number one disease for blindness and it’s growing by epidemic proportions. And part of it is we’re living longer, but Sam Berne (16:43.874) One key principle to note is that our eyes have one of the highest metabolic needs of the body. So what we eat is going to really affect our retinas, our corneas, our eyelids, and by the way, every tissue of the eye comes from the brain. The eyes are the only part of the brain that are outside the cranium. But they are part of the brain, and this is why the eyes qualify for neuroplasticity. And as long as the retina cells aren’t dead, then there is the possibility of regeneration. And there’s more more research coming out, and I could stand up here for an hour and give you all the research. My book has got a lot of good research in there. But in looking at neuroscientists, they’re the ones on the cutting edge doing the research that says you can regenerate your eyes. And not the eye doctors, because… And I’ll say we because I was trained that way. We are here to look for disease. And then when we find the disease, what we have in our toolbox, pharmaceuticals and surgery. And I’m sure somebody in here has had a conversation with their eye doctor. Well, what about physical eye therapy? What about nutrition? I have this beginning cataract. Is there anything I can do about it? No, no, no. Exactly, right? So the point of the story is is that there are things you can do and because my own eyes got better and my double vision went away when I was a kid. That’s my North Star. just kind of keep coming back back to that. How can I problem solve if you’ve got something going on and it hasn’t been solved somewhere else? Maybe I can help you. Maybe I can point to certain directions, whether it’s functional medicine, whether it’s color therapy, whether it’s craniocicrel. could be aromatherapy, be herbs, you all of these things do come into play around healing your vision. So back to macular degeneration, the macula has the highest metabolic need in the retina. It’s made up of what we call cones, color vision and detail. And when we are exposed to things like artificial blue light or we’re developing oxidative stress or inflammation, Sam Berne (19:09.316) it seems to magnetize itself at the macular area. And so when we get that diagnosis, it’s like, my goodness, you know, it’s the death sentence. I’m going to lose my independence. I’m not going to be able to drive. I’m not going to be able to read. And what’s really cool is that back in 2001, a very long time ago, NIH did a landmark study on macular degeneration. and using different nutritional ingredients to prevent or reduce the risk of macular degeneration. They redid the study in 2006 and what they found was pretty obvious. Eat a lot of colorful vegetables, your rainbow diet, eat some berries, make sure you’re getting things like your omega-3s, beta-carotene. Zinc is another one that’s really helpful for the macula. So this is back in 2006. And then of course with macular degeneration, we have the dry kind and we also have what we call the wet macular degeneration. That’s a little harder to work with, but there are things that you can do, even things like ginkgo and wormwood. These are herbal remedies. you can reduce the diabetic or pre-diabetic possibility. if you’ve got glucose issues, wet macular degeneration, you can stave that off. And there’s one other thing that’s coming, that’s come into play right now, which is hot, hot, hot, at least through my funnel, and that is red light therapy. Has anybody heard about red light? Yeah, probably. And so there was an ophthalmologist, at the University College of London and he did a study with people between the ages of 40 and 75 who had macular degeneration and another condition called drusen. I know if anybody here has drusen, it’s fatty deposits that start to grow on the retina. If it comes onto the macula, it can be a problem. So Dr. Jeffries and his team did this study where he gave his subjects red light every morning Sam Berne (21:34.6) few minutes, and over 12 weeks, their visual acuity improved by 22%. 22%. That never happens in eye research. You know, the most improvement you’ll see is maybe 3%. So, he said in his paper that the red light stimulates something called mitochondria. Heard of mitochondria? It’s a buzzword now. So, it’s the organelles that are in our cells that produce energy. specifically ATP, and when we start hitting 40, the mitochondria start receding in our eyes. And so then what happens is oxidative stress goes up, inflammation goes up, and then if we’re eating a diet maybe that’s more inflammatory based or we’ve got Candida or IBS or some digestive issue or we’ve been exposed to some toxicity or our dental work is not very good. There’s a lot of reasons why. So then over time, our maculas and our retinas develop this oxidative stress and then one day we wake up and we go, oh my, it’s blurry. Even though this has been going on in the background for quite a while. So what Dr. Jeffries found is this red light can actually reverse certain types of macular degeneration in drusen. He also wrote in his paper, it might help dry eye, It might help glaucoma and it might help other eye diseases as well. And it worked the best when you did it early in the morning. That is an important point because that was when our circadian rhythms are kicking in. And by the way, there’s another study I want to bring in about being out in the sun because in the mainstream they tell us to be afraid of the sun. Right? So there’s a pretty big study now that’s come out. about morning sunlight giving us better moods so our dopamine levels get increased. Also more energy, better focus, and better vision. So the morning sun is very important to get. It also has the blue light that we need. So not all blue light is bad for you. You you read about blue light from screens and yes, you don’t want to get too much of that, but the sun’s blue light is something that we do need. Sam Berne (24:03.528) In addition, in this study they wrote about children, the way to reduce nearsightedness, because I don’t know whether you know this, but all these kids are on their screens. I read a study that 94 % of the public schools in the US, they’re using computers and they’re off in their school room. So the point of it is these screens are really hard on our eyes and they’re developing this myopia kind of thing. So in the research, What they said was, these kids need to get outside 30 minutes a day, they need to look at long distances, and in the study they saw that the myopia started to recede when they went outside, when they got off their screens. And so just another support for getting out in nature, be in the green, because it’s very important for us. So with this macular degeneration, you’ve got glutein and zeaxanthin and astaxanthin. Those are the carotenoids that protect the macula. And then you’ve got things like glutathione, which is a master antioxidant. You’ve got your omega-3s, got, know, vitamin A, you’ve got a lot of things that you can take. Even berries are good for you as well as we move into the summer months. Very good for the retina. So there’s a lot of things that you can do. And this is not a cookbook, you know, it’s like everybody’s biochemistry is different. Everybody’s stress level is different. But these are some general guidelines for macular health. Now let’s move to cataracts. Do you know anybody who has cataracts? Cataract surgery. So cataracts. From statistic I read that 90 % of all people over the age of 65 will be getting cataracts. So you you go to your doctor and says, got a cataract. You got a cataract. And let’s take it out. And you know, there are certain things that you want to do if you’re going to have that surgery, like match both eyes for distance. You don’t want to have one eye distance, one eye near called mono vision. I hope nobody has that here because it’s very confusing for the brain to have to deal with two images at once. It’s like, you you’re, you’re going to be confused. Number two. Sam Berne (26:27.544) These bifocal contact lenses that they’re now putting in the eyes is also very, very confusing for the brain. I don’t recommend it. And then number three, torque lenses for the astigmatism. So you walk out of there and you’ve got all this, you know, distortion and because the lens is kind of warped to try to match your stigmatism, you’re much better off just getting the simple lenses for distance and then getting reading glasses. And if you’re nearsighted before the surgery, try to be nearsighted after the surgery. It’s really interesting when a nearsighted person has surgery and becomes farsighted because their behaviors and personalities are very different. know, a nearsighted person is really good up close. That’s their strength. That’s why they become nearsighted. A farsighted person is out there. Focus is hard to come into. So spatially, the nearsighted person pulls in. the farsighted pushes out. So if you’re nearsighted before the surgery and farsighted after, it’s going to be confusing mentally for you to figure out, wait a minute, I used to have really good near vision, now I need these strong magnifiers or vice versa. So there are things that you can do proactively to take care of your lens because it’s a part of the tissue of the eye that is vulnerable for oxidative stress. So what are some things that you can do? Well again, the master antioxidant glutathione is really important. Now one place you can get that is cruciferous vegetables. Leeks, onions, garlic. You can also supplement with glutathione as well. Studies have shown that people that develop cataracts tend to have low levels of glutathione. There was a study done in the UK about vitamin C in cataracts. So it was with women and in the early stages when women started to eat more foods that contained vitamin C they had a 20 % reduction in developing cataracts and over a 10 year period they had a 33 % reduction in developing cataracts. Vitamin C is very important for a lot of different things usually somewhere between a thousand to fifteen hundred milligrams a day if you’re going to go that route. Number three, sugar. Sam Berne (28:49.976) So what happens in the bloodstream is the glucose molecule attaches itself to the protein molecule in the lens of the eye. The lens is made of mostly protein, amino acids, and water. So if your glucose levels are high and these glucose molecules start to attach to the protein in the lens, this is called glycation. Glycation. And it’s a special kind of cataract that forms. which is around the edge of the eye, looks like spokes on a bicycle. It’s called a cortical cataract. And the way you know you have it is because you’re driving at night and the headlights are just overwhelming you with so much sunburst, starbursts and glare. That’s a cortical cataract. So you’ve got to eliminate sugar, process foods, clean up your diet. That’s another thing that you you need to do. And then start looking at some really concentrated antioxidants, N-acetylcysteine, alpha-lipoic acid. So in other words, start looking at how can I boost my antioxidants. Very important. And I have people here in this room that have reversed their cataracts completely. And they are amazing because they’ve done the work. So you all can do it if you want. Find out what you’ve got and then you can do the same thing. Alright, let’s move to glaucoma because this is called the silent thief, meaning that you don’t know you have and you start to lose your peripheral vision. So it’s a vascular disease. Basically it’s a circulation issue in the eyes. Well guess what? There are some great herbs that can bring your eye pressure down. One is called coleus. Coleus forskella. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it. C-O-L-E-U-S. Studies have shown that it can bring your eye pressure down two to five points. Amazing. They want to give you the eye drops, but there are things that you can do Sam Berne (30:57.572) to bring your eye pressure down that are natural. You know another one that’s very interesting? Jump on a rebounder. So when you improve your lymphatic health, you bring your eye pressure down. A third one, and I know this, this was amazing because I went to a glaucoma meeting a few months ago. was all, you know, allopathic medical. For three days I sat in this meeting for glaucoma. Well, I needed to keep my license. So, you know, that I’m legal so I can keep working with everybody. So I’m good with that. But at the very end of the seminar, the last day, the last five minutes, one of the instructors said, you know, by the way, there’s this study that came out that said if you meditate, you can lower your eye pressure. And I looked it up. I couldn’t believe it. Why don’t they recommend meditation? I do. But anyway, that can bring your eye pressure down. Amazing. Okay. So you’re starting to get the connection. I mean, you already have the connection. Let’s see if there’s anything else. Dry eye. That’s another one. So, you know, we’re all on screens. Our eyes are drying out. We’re using these drops. I don’t know if you’ve seen the news, but there have been deaths. I just put together this video that I’m going to release on social media, maybe tomorrow or Monday. So the deal is there’s this bacteria called Pseudomonas aeruginosa. And it turns out that this bacteria is in our water, it’s in the soil, and it’s in human waste. And it’s all over the place. So somebody, somewhere in this particular company, it’s an artificial tear, and they must have somehow that bacteria got in the eye drop But what we’re dealing with also is our own inflammatory environment that we deal with for a variety of different reasons and a lowered immune system. A few years ago, I wrote an article that is published in MindBody Green called the Ocular Microbiome. So you know the microbiome, a good bacteria in our body, while our eyes have an ocular microbiome. So when we… Sam Berne (33:20.526) take steroid eye drops or Visine eye drops or we’re staring at a computer through our progressive lenses, which is a prescription that’s going to really trash our eyes or we’re eating, you know, fried foods and we’re not taking care of ourselves. Our ocular microbiome goes down. So we’re susceptible to whatever is out there. And I’m really glad that the FDA stepped in. I’m glad they took this off the market. I know my eye drops are made in the US and I vigorously test them all the time. And I am very close with my manufacturer and in fact I got right on the phone with her when I saw this news item and we’re good. You know, we are very fastidious about our eye drops and all my products are really, really clean. But the thing is, is the media… turns this into something that we have to be selective about, okay, what are we going to do here? And I would say use common sense. I do have my MSMI drops that burn and people will write me and say, these are really burning, I’m freaking out. So there are other ways that you can use them. You can put them on a soft cloth or wet cloth and you can place them on the outside part of your eyes. So you have to learn about self-regulating. You know, what is going to work for my body? And I think that’s in anything, whether you take an herbal formula, a supplement, a mushroom, what foods you eat. You know, it’s really up to us at this point to regulate ourselves because Big Pharma and the FDA are not going to do that. They have a certain prescription and dose based on your weight and height and sex and all that. not one size does not fit all. It just doesn’t happen now. So back to dry eye, there was a study that came out about the eyelids that because they get inflamed, they’re not producing enough of the tears that cover the cornea. And there was a study that ophthalmologists did where they used castor oil on the eyelids. And wouldn’t you know it, the dry eye went away. Now this is some hidden, obscured, Sam Berne (35:48.638) study like over there in the corner as opposed to say well what about steroid drops, about rastasis, what about all these other things which are much more mainline and mainstream. So my manufacturer and I got together and we made an organic castor oil eye drop and we use it like an ointment so you put it on the outside of the eyes before bed and it’s very moisturizing and it works without having to use the drugs that create the side effects. You know, it’s interesting about back to this this artificial eye drop that’s causes blurriness and redness and and so on. have so many patients that take the glaucoma medications and my goodness it blurs your vision out. It makes your eyes so red and burning people stop using them because it’s it’s so negative for their body. So, you know, again, we have to kind of be educated as why I’m doing what I’m doing. because to offer other people an alternative like you. And there are a lot of people out there like that and it’s growing. And I think it’s us that’s gonna change the grassroots that will change the profession eventually. Okay, I think the last thing I’m gonna talk about is kids. So who’s had kids, grandkids, knows kids, we all do, right? They’re all around. They’re multiplying. Well, when I was at the Gazelle Institute, back to that institution, I learned that an eye exam was about getting on the floor with the child and exploring how they move through space. And one of my mentors, dear, mentor is not alive anymore, Dr. Albert A. Sutton, another great developmental optometrist, he taught me how to treat the whole child through the eyes. And it’s actually quite genius in what he came up with. So I’m kind of taking his stuff and many of my other mentors, I wouldn’t be here without any of them and I bow to them every day. Sam Berne (38:06.446) But in working with kids, one needs to be very careful about prescribing glasses, doing surgery, you know, if there’s a crossed eye, or labeling them to the point where you’re dyslexic or you’re, you know, like me, learning disabled or you can’t read or whatever. And I do work with a lot of special needs kids. There’s a place that I work in Albuquerque called Kid Power, and this is a facility that’s full of occupational therapists and these folks are with it. They are progressive. That’s why I work with them. And my job is to come in and reconnect the child’s eyes to their brain. Because when I do an evaluation with them, their eyes and their brain and their body are not connected. And it has nothing to do with reading the eye chart. In fact, that’s how they’re treated. They can’t read the eye chart. or they can barely read the eye chart so they get these crazy thick glasses and they’re lost. And so the point of the story is that vision can be learned and developed and as kids there’s so much plasticity that you can do it. I’ll point you to a podcast that I was just on. The woman’s name is Katie Wells and the podcast is called wellness mom and very popular podcast and if you want to learn about my methods she did a great job interviewing me about how I explore children and help them and yes are all the kids that you see down in Albuquerque do they all wear glasses or some of them wear glasses but all of them have developmental problems you know so What happens is if they go to the conventional doctor, the only thing that doctor can do is put drops in the eyes, where you’re going to paralyze the focusing muscles, and then they’re going to give the maximum prescription. Now, if you were to put that maximum prescription on, you’d throw up. And what’s interesting with those kids is they read as well with those glasses as without those glasses. It’s kind of obvious, right? To us, anyway. Sam Berne (40:34.144) So they may be wearing glasses, but I take them off and we’ll do something maybe 10 or 20 percent the power part time. Because once kids start wearing a full prescription, their visual development stops. Sam Berne (40:50.628) And if you really knew that, if you really thought about that, you wouldn’t do it. But again, we’re trained, we and the profession, that somebody comes in, they’ve got an optical distortion, we’re going to fix that optical distortion. And that’s it. And we know that there’s something else going on. So that’s the kid angle. So I think right now I’d like to open it up to Q &A and see if there’s… Sam Berne (41:29.398) Any questions? Does the nerve for the eyes also affect hearing? Sure, sure. to one or the improvement of one as you improve the other as well as the entire brain I’m assuming? So there’s a part of the vestibular system which is our balance mechanism that’s very married, married to the eyes. that we call the vestibular ocular reflex. And there’s no question because we’re talking about the brain here, the ears are here, the eyes are here, but in prenatal development, and when we see the fetus start growing, they’re all coming out of the same area. So the hearing affects the vision, the vision affects the hearing. And the vision and the hearing affect the movement. And then they affect the cognitive. And they go back and forth. It’s a feedback loop. So the key is where do you enter to flip the switch? I talked about this at Kid Power. I did a lecture down there. And one of the key points that I make when I work with those kids or any kid is where can I enter so it turns them on? Because if I go in with a preconceived idea of, they get this testing, this testing, this testing, and I go into that, they’re going to shut down. I have to go in in a way that allows them to feel safe, and then something can happen. Yeah, I wanted to talk about the nerve. had like some hearing damage and the little hairies died and my boyfriend does healing and he didn’t know the hairs died so he made them grow back and he had almost normal hearing whereas everything I couldn’t hear is real distorted like wah wah wah wah, you know when someone would talk wah wah wah, it would just be that kind of a wah wah. And is there something, I know it’s not quite the eye but it’s all connected, there? Sam Berne (43:48.964) Anything about the hearing and the eye and things coming back that shouldn’t? Where the eye and the ears like the hairs and the ears? I said a while ago if the cells are not dead then they can come back. Now it seems like vibrational healing works really well. You know I talked about this red light therapy. There also may be a type of sound frequency. There’s something called the tamadas method. you ever heard of it? anybody heard of tamadas? So tamadas was a French physician and he was able to determine where certain frequencies were not getting into the eyes, to the ears, and he would give them those frequencies. I was at a conference and you can actually now speak into a software program and your voice will tell you what frequencies you’re not. So the voice is also very connected to the ears as well. You people that speak in a monotone. There was a study that was done that, monotone speaking, it can create more osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. So, you know, makes sense. Sound and the bones. Obviously, there’s other things like, you know, weight bearing and stuff like that, but sound healing can have a positive effect on your bones. You know, the astronauts, when they went up into space, they lost some of their bone density. So gravity is another thing. So there’s a lot of different ways to go up the mountain. And if you’re not getting the answer like you weren’t, you find another avenue. And there you go. We’re able to heal it. Fantastic. That’s a very inspiring story. Well done. Any other questions? Yes, go ahead. Sam Berne (45:59.293) about fear and the connection between your emotional life and your eyes and if you had a lot of fear in childhood and then can you speak more to that I want to read more about so I would know a better question but I was very interested in the connection with your emotions and your eye health. Well our eyes are like a videotape library and as children we see our parents we see authorities, we absorb and we internalize what we see. And we don’t always have the opportunity to then express. We just take it in. And there’s a saying that I use is, it’s not a problem with the eyes, it’s the programming behind the eyes that causes the eye problem. So what do I mean by the programming? Well, our mind, our brain, our posture, our movement, our diet, our emotional health, our psychological health, it of depends on where you are. There’s an exercise, and it’s in the book, it’s called eye dialogue. And what it is, is you patch your left eye and you tune in like I’m now my right eye. And then you start asking your right eye some questions and you just use stream of consciousness. So how old is my right eye? And you might be surprised, it’s very old. Or it’s very young. Or I have no idea. It would be great for you because now you’re doing an inner vision exam. What’s my inner vision in that right eye? Then the second question is, right eye, do know you’re married to the left eye? And a lot of people will say, I didn’t know they were. Can you imagine? You went to a marital counselor and the husband and wife are sitting there. The therapist asks the husband, you know you’re married to your wife? He says, had no idea. So you’ve got that internal programming going on somewhere. You’re projecting that out there. And in Chinese medicine, the right eye is the masculine. It’s the father. The left eye is the feminine, the mother. The right eye. Sam Berne (48:15.9) 80 % of the nerve fibers go to the left brain. What’s our left brain? Our analytical, our linear. Get it done. And our left eye is our feminine, right brain, intuitive, creative Gestalt. So you can check out the marriage. What is the right eye need? And then you just do the same on the left eye. And a lot of times the right eye and the left eye are very different. And so you start doing that dialogue. You can journal. You can do movement with it. mean there’s a lot of things you can do with the eye patch. And so you start awakening the internal awareness of what are your eyes saying? What are they feeling? Am I talking to them? And most people are not connected to their eyes. And part of it is because of that eye exam you go to. It’s so fast. Flip, flip, flip. You got the lens. I’ll see you in a year. And your eye health is good. And that’s it. There’s no exploration of the deeper functional relationship that you have. You know, I learned that from something called voice dialogue. You’re in a voice dialogue, very famous and the therapist. So I asked him, I said, can I talk to my eyes? I said, sure. Yeah, I mean, we never thought about that. So the eye dialogue would be a way for you to explore. Maybe today is fear. Maybe tomorrow it’s grief. Who knows? But it’d be great for you to develop more awareness about what’s inside and become free of that and work on the marriage, heal the marriage. And the better married you are internally, the better functionally your two eyes are going to work together. So that’s the progression. First have the conversation and then see where it takes you. And everybody is different. I I bet if we did eye dialogue and all of you. We have as many people here as many answers. And it’d be really fun and interesting. And you would get a psychological insight that, hmm, this may be what my parents were. Maybe that was their relationship. And I just sat there taking it in. So thank you. That’s a good question. Yes. OK, so I’m. Sam Berne (50:40.06) was talking being farsighted and now I have… That’s a point. And now I have distant… Cataracts. You’ve had cataracts or yes? Yes. Cataract surgery. Yes. So, and I have progressive lenses for the computer so I can see the computer and then I can look down and read stuff. So, you said that that is not good for the eyes, but I don’t know, since I have the cataract surgery, is there anything I can do? to improve any of my vision? Well, the first thing I would say is one size does not fit all. And so when I make that statement about progressive lenses, where that’s the gradient bifocal, where you’ve got the split lenses, if you wore that 12 to 14 hours a day, that’s where it’s going to really start affecting your eyes. But one of the things that I promote is use the optical system that you need to perform at the highest level. And as long as you just use it in that circumstance, and then maybe outside of that time, you do some eye exercises, some eye calisthenics, almost anything you could do to stimulate your eyes out of that pattern, you’re fine. There’s no problem. And it sounds like that’s a good setup for you because you have the computer, you have the reading. Sounds like the lenses they put in for distance, I mean, it’s probably about the best you’re gonna do. Unless you’re gonna like really dive into like 30 to 50 minutes of eye exercises every day, and I’m not sure you need to be that. So I think what you’re doing is working well. And as long as you’re not having headaches or red eyes or double vision or whatever, I know you said that there’s a little bit you’ve lost a little bit of your clarity from the cataract surgery compared to when you first got it, the exercises will bring that. Sam Berne (52:46.812) So well done where you are. think that’s about as good as you’re gonna get it. Okay. For where you’re at. Yeah, I tend to forget to take them off when I’m walking around the house. Well, you want to remember that so that you’re not getting sucked into it all the time. Just when you need them. Thank you. Yes. Can you talk about Graves’ disease? Sure. So Graves’ disease is a thyroid condition and It affects the eyes where the eyes can kind of bulge out called exophthalmos and there can be dryness associated with that. so, are you? post. You’re post, right. So what did you do to move out of it? I had my thyroid. You had your thyroid proven. Okay. So at this point, any residual symptoms, dry eye or? A little bit. A little bit. So I mean it could be as simple as you know take a little more Omega 3 fats and oils. It could be using eye drops a little bit more could be trying the castor oil eye drops. You know make sure you’re you know not staring at your screen for hours and hours that you’re taking breaks. Get plenty of sunlight. Check your adrenal health see what’s going on there. Sometimes dry eye is related to or hormonal health. Studies have shown low estrogen, high estrogen, both of those can create a dry eye scenario. So I think it’s, again, a holistic picture of how can I find a deeper balance. And within that, maybe I need a little support with some natural eye drops or something like that. But it sounds like you’re doing pretty well. Well, I guess what I’m curious about is When I’ve had my eye exam, they’ve talked about like that the pushing outward is happening again. And so that’s peculiar to me. So I guess ultimately my question is, is it typical that if I’m taking the Synthroid or whatever, that the eye won’t move forward anymore? It can happen both ways. So one of the things I would look at is if you haven’t already, I would get a little craniocicletherapy. Sam Berne (55:10.628) and see if the relationship of the bones around the orbit of the eye could help you have more resiliency, flexibility, and muscular relaxation, craniosacral can really do that well with the eyes. And this is another thing that came up at that glaucoma meeting. And I bring it here just because of the craniosacral. And that is they said… that if you can control the cerebral spinal fluid, if you can reduce it, you can bring the eye pressure down. Like the eyes will get better. Now, they stopped right there. What do you do for that? People ask. And I was in the back going, well, you could, you know, do… I was there. I was one of four hundred, so it wasn’t my meeting. But I think the cranial work can help and see where that takes you because… There’s a lot of malleability in the orbits of the bony orbit and the jaw and the bones that breathe in the skull and the cerebral spinal fluid that could give you more, say, I don’t know, regulation with it. Wouldn’t that work chiropractor be in that too? Could be, sure. You know, again, it could be, it’s less about the modality I find and more about the practitioner’s energy and how intuitive they are. Yeah, so it’s a good question though because graves is a big issue and the fact that you’ve kind of moved forward but now the exophthalmosis coming back a little bit I would try something in the more structural manual world that could really open things up for you. In the back. I was curious about living in Santa Fe for a long time and being so close to the sun. with the UVs, are they beneficial or are they detrimental if you’re not wearing sunglasses or should you be wearing them or not be wearing them? So there was a book that was written a few years ago called Sunlight by a guy named Zane Kine, MD, and he talked about the benefits of ultraviolet light. Like it boosts the immune system. Again, it’s part of that resetting of the circadian rhythm. Sam Berne (57:32.366) And so we do need trace amounts of UV. We do need morning sunlight and and to be moderate about if you are feeling there’s too much brightness or glare. It’s okay for you to wear sunglasses. You should or wear a hat and especially in this altitude. If you’re feeling it protect yourself. So that’s the sensible, rounded, moderate way. Yes. Can you speak about what kind of lenses are best to wear if you’re trying to protect yourself from UV? Sure. So all lenses now have UV protection. That’s part of the FDA. So they all have UV protection. If you’re going to do a sun lens, I like to do a lens that doesn’t create a discolored like, you know, neutral brown or neutral gray seems to be the best type of sun lens to wear. And again, it depends on how much tint you want. you want a little bit? Do you want moderate? Do you want, do you need it really dark? And if you’re suffering some type of glare, you can also get a glare coating on it as well. But try to find something that when you put it on, your eyes feel pretty relaxed. and it’s not creating some weird distorted color. And I would encourage you to wear the sunglasses when you need them. And at the same time, sunrise, sunset, good time to go without them. And you don’t need to look directly at the sun. You put your back to the sun. You know, there’s this practice called sun gazing. people, you know, they stare at the sun. You know, when we used to go to Hawaii and we used to do that at sunset. Sam Berne (59:31.424) And a lot of times people couldn’t look at the sun. So if the sun was setting there, they’d be here. Or their eyes would be closed and they might be doing some swinging, which is a Bates method. Some people were so sensitive, they’d have to be this way, the sun there. So that indirect light can work very well and you don’t have to stare at the sun. In fact, I don’t recommend staring at the sun. So does that help to give you kind of a… balance, protect yourself, and also get a little natural vitamin D. Yes sir. Tears are the antifreeze of the healthy heart. Tears are the antifreeze. Now I learn today that it’s also for your eyes as well. Yes, I’m going to make a t-shirt. I’m thinking about making a t-shirt. Short words. maybe we need to talk. So, and I love me, I’ve come to me. There you go. I love me, I’ve come to me. It is hard at this particular time in history, so we need humor. We need humor, yes we need humor. than you know. How? You neek up on them of course. Thank you. Yes? Just recently I’ve started getting treatment for macular, wet macular in one eye, in the mother eye, which is very disturbing to hear tonight about that, what is. Yeah, I’m going, God, really, again? And I’m just, I realize as a, a body worker and a naturopath and I’ve just sort of surrendered to standard medicine. because they say, God, you’ve gotta do this and you’ve gotta do this now and you’ve gotta keep doing this and everything. I can’t believe that I have let that happen. So I think I probably need to come and see you and find out about alternatives if there are any and is there a way to work with these horrible injections or not or I just don’t know anything about it. So how long have you been getting them? Since August, I think. Okay, do you get them once a month? Yes. Sam Berne (01:01:59.356) And do they help? Do they give you more clarity? Well, we’re to find out in a couple of weeks about the second medicine that they’re using, the really expensive one. Yes. Because the first one apparently didn’t do much. Although immediately after the first shot, the wiggly lines became straight again, which was very exciting for me. Yes. But they said, oh no, you need to… So I just don’t know what’s happening anymore. Yeah, it’s difficult. So definitely a couple things to check off your list. And you could do that before we even talk. And they may be completely irrelevant, but let’s just have the list. So number one, it would be if you’ve been exposed to mold. Oh, M-O-L-D. mold. Yes, yes. So if you’ve got a level of dampness, in your body, a lot of times it will coalesce behind the macula. Wow. So they’re not going to tell you that. No, they’re But that is one correlation. Number two, I would probably consider maybe finding a really good acupuncturist and seeing what’s going on in your liver and your gallbladder. I would be willing to bet there’s a lot of stagnating energy. And acupuncture could do the same thing as that injection just by putting needles in the meridians. That’d be amazing, huh? It’d be really cool. Yeah, without the side effects of that drug. Number three, and I want to be careful about this because this is not for everybody, people that ingest a lot of dairy tend to have more wet macular degeneration. So you can take a look at that. Number four, wet macular degeneration is a precursor for possibly a pre-diabetic or diabetic condition. Sam Berne (01:04:14.076) So what’s happening is that again the sugar is doing a very similar thing that happens in diabetic retinopathy, which is the blood vessels become weakened and they’re starving. The macula is starving. And so it’s creating these new blood vessels that are fragile. And it’s that bleeding behind the macula that’s creating this waviness. So, really taking a look at from a functional medicine point of view, what’s going on with the gut, what’s going on with your glucose levels, and if you do work with a functional medicine person, one of the blood markers I look at is something called homocysteine. So when our homocysteine levels are high, we’re into the danger zone and inflammation and wet macular degeneration loves living in inflammation. the last thing that I would do before you come to see me is start doing some red therapy, red light stuff. That could be really helpful. And this is a commercial. I’ve made red glasses that you can put on that are fantastic and you can treat yourself with the red. Last thing is make sure you’re getting 16 milligrams a day of lutein, 6 milligrams a day of zeaxanthin, those are the plant carotenoids. What is it? Zeaxanthin, X-A-N-T-H-I-N, and astaxanthin, astaxanthin, So about 6 milligrams of that. That’s good. And I’ll give one more, which is something that I learned in my functional medicine training is that Sam Berne (01:06:16.071) In our liver health, our liver produces bile and the gallbladder stores it. And if we are not absorbing vitamin A, which is a fat soluble vitamin, and lutein and zeaxanthin, it’s because there’s a congestion in the gallbladder. So if we supplement with bile salts, and it also could be related to pancreatic enzymes, if we supplement with that, then we’re absorbing our eye vitamins better. because they’re fat-soluble. So it just so happens I have products now that are gallbladder and pancreatic enzymes. So if you think that your liver gallbladder are congested, then you can check that out as well. So there you’ve got seven or eight things. I would go for it and get off those injections as fast as you can. How wonderful. I mean, the way they talk, it’s like, okay, kid. You’re doing this for the rest of you. The way they talk, right? Yeah. The way they talk. Right. Yes. Fear, fear, fear. Talk about fear. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It’s a lot of fear. OK. We’re coming down to the end. I’ll take a couple more questions. This is kind of to everyone also. I recently developed, it’s almost like a bubble on the white of my eye. I suddenly noticed within a week there was another one on the inside. Okay. So it doesn’t affect my vision. Okay. The eye doctor recently, I just thought, oh, maybe they’ll give me drops. Like this is just some temporary thing. And she said, 90 % of the people we see in Santa Fe get these. they bothering you? And I said, not really. I don’t remember the word she used, but it’s a Sam Berne (01:08:11.349) It’s probably what they call a pinguecula. So it’s a collagen imbalance. I would get into my MSM jobs. They’re great for collagen balancing in the castor oil and hydrate, more hydration both on the eyes and maybe hydrating in your body and think collagen, like systemic collagen. So it could be bone broth. It could be, you know, collagen supplement. So that part of the eye is all about collagen. to sing these go away because it was very interesting. She did not say that. Her immediate reaction was when people live in high winds, high altitude, strong sun. Well exacerbates it, yes. Yeah, and then she said it’s permanent. It’s related a lot to dryness, so you need a lot more hydration. Okay. And let’s see what happens. you have a website or anything? DrSamBurn.com. It’ll be on my book. DrSanBurn.com. Yes, hello at DrSanBurn.com. So you can always email me. and I’ve signed a bunch of books, so they’re all at the front of the desk. So I think I’m gonna end here. Thanks for Thank you very much. Sam Berne (01:10:48.204) They’re in so much denial about they cannot allow anything. Sam Berne (01:10:58.389) doesn’t really matter, but it’s nice. Charlie? Are you Charlie? Thank you. Do you know who I am? Thank you. This was great, too. I’m somebody very close to you. I talk to you all the time. We just saved my friend Doug’s life. He sees Spring Again, but it’s gone on his website. OK, just order it on the website. Yeah, we have a Gallup living in San Antonio. We’ll show you how we get it to you. Because I desperately it. That’s what I want. God, that’s me, right? I wish I had to come in. I was like, I’m gonna, you know, I gotta, I gotta let you know. And I get to walk here, so.  

Set up a free discovery call with Dr. Berne to learn more about his practitioner’s training: [email protected] Practitioner’s Program Link: https://www.drsamberne.com/practition… For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ Keep Up with Dr. Sam Website: https://www.drsamberne.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamBerneOD/?… Instagram: / samberneod Twitter: / drsamberne LinkedIn: / drsamberne Keywords red light therapy, eye health, photobiomodulation, light sensitivity, health benefits, mitochondria, oxidative stress, color therapy, wellness, alternative medicine Summary In this conversation, Sam Berne discusses the benefits of red light therapy, particularly its positive impact on eye health. He emphasizes the importance of understanding light sensitivity and how it affects individuals, especially those with certain eye conditions. The discussion also covers the concept of photobiomodulation, its applications, and the potential for red light therapy to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation. Berne shares insights on the use of color therapy and the importance of timing in treatment for optimal results. Takeaways Red light therapy has a positive impact on health. There is limited research on red light for eyes. Light sensitivity can trigger trauma in the eyes. Custom glasses can help control light exposure. Morning treatment is optimal for red light therapy. Red light therapy can reduce oxidative stress. Photobiomodulation is synonymous with red light therapy. Patients with eye conditions benefit from red light. Methylene blue can enhance red light therapy effects. Results from red light therapy take time. Chapters 00:00 The Benefits of Red Light Therapy 02:49 Understanding Light Sensitivity and Eye Health 06:05 Exploring Photobiomodulation and Its Applications   Sam Berne (00:00.174) There’s no question that red light is having a very positive impact on our health. And there’s an author who was actually on his podcast a couple years ago. It’s called that podcast is called the energy blueprint and the the practitioners name is Ari. ARI Witten w h i t t e n Ari somebody you’ve heard Sam Berne (00:28.158) And Ari, if you go on Amazon, he wrote a really nice book on red light therapy, not on the eyes, but just in general. And I think that if you’re skeptical about it or you want to learn more about it, I would do some Google search. would, you know, I might I’ve done a couple of podcasts on it and you know, there are a couple of people out there that Sam Berne (00:56.983) They devote their whole podcasts to red light and research. Now with the eyes, there isn’t much out there on red light because the machines, the devices that they sell are too bright for the eyes. So this is an important point. Sam Berne (01:18.899) One of the trauma effects that we go into is if we’re light sensitive and in our light sensitivity, we shut down. We have a very strong blink reflex and so you’re triggering trauma in the eyes trying to look at a bright light box. You can’t do it. In fact, the manufacturers will say don’t look at the light. Let’s cover the eyes. Sam Berne (01:51.019) With these glasses, the reason why I made them is because the man who did the study, sells glasses in red light glasses. It’s in London. Difficult to get them shipped here. You can try. It’s called iPower UK, E-Y-E-P-O-W-E-R UK. And maybe they will, and if they do, great. But. Sam Berne (02:19.956) I decided because I had been working with color and light therapy and this segues into our color therapy where we work with all the colors. But what I did was I went to my laboratory and I began experimenting with the with the color and getting the tint exactly right. And then I was doing research based on the camera that I have and some other Dr. Sam Berne has been in private practice in New Mexico for over 35 years and where he works with patients to improve their vision and overall wellness through holistic methods. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University, Doctor of Optometry from Pennsylvania College, and did his postdoctoral work at the Gesell Institute in collaboration with Yale University. He has been awarded The Special Awards for Service from the Behavioral Optometrists in Mexico for his innovative and holistic work with children. His protocols take a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to health and wellness. He understands and treats the body as one integrated system rather than a collection of independent organs in order to identify and address the root causes of disease. His whole health protocols improve vision and wellness by healing the mind-body-spirit through nutritional protocols, vision therapy, and self-care techniques. This views each person as genetically and biochemically unique and enables the individual to make lifelong improvements to their well-being.

Check out Dr. Berne’s Free Video On How To Best Use Frankincense For Your Vision and Wellness: http://bit.ly/3SRpKiM Practitioners: Join Dr. Berne for his upcoming retreat: October 23-26,2025 Contact him: [email protected] https://www.drsamberne.com/workshop/advanced-functional-vision-and-neuroscience-a-4-day-retreat-for-practitioners-only/ Upcoming Kauai Retreat February 19-24, 2026 Link: https://www.drsamberne.com/workshop/awaken-your-vision-a-functional-vision-integrative-body-retreat-in-kauai/ Keywords Iridology, iris colors, health insights, eye health, holistic health, genetic blueprint, reflexology, endocrine health, digestive health, personalized health Summary In this conversation, Dr. Sam Berne introduces the concept of iridology, explaining how the color and markings of the iris can provide insights into an individual’s health. He discusses the significance of different iris colors, the genetic blueprint they represent, and how they relate to various health concerns. Berne emphasizes that iridology is not a diagnostic tool but rather a way to understand tendencies and health patterns, guiding individuals towards better health practices. Takeaways • Iridology examines the color and markings of the iris. • There are three main iris colors: brown, mixed, and blue-gray. • The left eye reflects maternal ancestry, while the right reflects paternal. • Iridology is not for diagnosing diseases. • The iris can indicate health concerns related to endocrine and digestive systems. • The pupil’s shape can reveal spinal health issues. • Specific iris markings can suggest liver and thyroid health. • Personalized health recommendations can be made based on iris analysis. • Iridology emphasizes food choices over supplements for health. • Training in iridology often lacks input from traditional eye doctors. Chapters 00:00Introduction to Iridology 02:57Understanding Iris Colors and Their Significance 05:52Health Insights from the Iris Sam Berne (00:00) I want to bring in something called iridology. Iridology is the color of your eyes. Let’s go around the room and say the color. Hazel. Green, brown, brown, then they turn green when I get emotional. Blue, Hazel. Hazel. Hazel. Okay. So we have a lot of mixed in here. There are three main colors in the iris. There’s brown where it’s like really dark brown. Then we have the mixed, which most of you said you were, and we have one that’s like blue-gray, blue, it’s called blue. So there are three, those are three different constitutions that we look at in iridology. So the iris is this part, so we’ve got the pupil, which is controlling the light. So we’ve got the pupil and then we’ve got the iris which are nerve fibers and those three colors. And there’s a genetic blueprint that we inherit based on our ancestors, our mother, father. So the left eye is more of the feminine mother, grandmother side and the right is more of our father, grandfather side, okay? So I’m going to go through just generally since you know what the color of your eyes are, what are your tendencies? Okay. And there’s a lot of different ways to read the iris. So first of all, when we do iridology, we’re not diagnosing. I can’t tell whether you’re pregnant. I can’t tell whether you have cancer. I can’t tell whether you have a disease. Okay. So there, this is not a diagnostic tool. Also, The goal is not to change the color or the pigments by taking supplements. If you’ve ever known of anybody who’s done iridology or ⁓ had a reading and the iridologist says, the goal is to change your color, so buy these supplements, you don’t want to do that. Because the people that are really doing iridology and I got trained very intensively in it. I had to take all kinds of tests to get certified and the people that trained me, where I learned it, basically ⁓ that’s not the goal of changing the color of your iris. So there’s two main things in what we’re looking at. Number one, the color of the iris and number two, if you have any pigments in the eyes. So I could kind of go around with my magnifier and I could look to see if you have any pigments. Okay. Now the iris is a map of the body. How many here have heard of reflexology? Okay. So you see a map of the bottom of the foot and this part of the foot is the liver. That part of the foot is the gallbladder and so on. Over hundreds of years of doctors making diagrams of the iris based on health conditions, we can pretty much tell based on the markings of your iris what your genetics are saying. And number two, what are your own health concerns that you should be nurturing? Now more specifically, what are we talking about health concerns? Okay, we’re talking about endocrine health. We’re talking about connective tissue in the body. We’re talking about your mental focus, your emotional patterns, your personality. So there’s a lot of different levels to reading into a person’s iris. In fact, the pupil If the pupil isn’t completely round, like let’s say part of the pupil is cut off or it’s flat. The pupil maps perfectly to our spinal health and we can actually see based on where the pupil is not completely round. What part of the spinal cord is having a problem and chiropractors then can use I use it when I do cranial work. The pupil can tell us about the spine and then the inside part here tells us about our digestive health. So that’s another thing. Do we have inflammation? Do we have a tendency towards autoimmune conditions? What’s our digestive health like? What kind of foods should we be eating? Not so much supplements, but foods. Also in the markings, we can see liver health. We can see thyroid health. We can see heart health. We can see pancreas health. So by looking at the markings, we can really assess individually, like making it very individualized, this is what you should be doing. This is why you go on the internet and you go, for eye health, I should be eating carrots. Okay, that’s a nice general thing. But what’s going on? in your specific liver. If you’ve got a brown pigment, that’s a liver sign. So that means that you’ve got to nurture your liver. So probably doing a liver cleanse once or twice a year would be a really good thing, not only for your eyes, but for your body. You know, I was trained by naturopaths. There was not one eye doctor in my iridology class, not one. You go to eye doctors, right? They’re looking at the iris. They have no idea on the mapping of the iris as it relates to your health. That’s why the eyes don’t lie.       Keep Up with Dr. Sam Website: https://www.drsamberne.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamBerneOD/?… Instagram: / samberneod Twitter: / drsamberne LinkedIn: / drsamberne Dr. Sam Berne has been in private practice in New Mexico for over 25 years and where he works with patients to improve their vision and overall wellness through holistic methods. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University, Doctor of Optometry from Pennsylvania College, and did his postdoctoral work at the Gesell Institute in collaboration with Yale University. He has been awarded The Special Awards for Service from the Behavioral Optometrists in Mexico for his innovative and holistic work with children. His protocols take a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to health and wellness. He understands and treats the body as one integrated system rather than a collection of independent organs in order to identify and address the root causes of disease. His whole health protocols improve vision and wellness by healing the mind-body-spirit through nutritional protocols, vision therapy, and self-care techniques. This views each person as genetically and biochemically unique and enables the individual to make lifelong improvements to their well-being.

For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ Schedule your free discover call with Dr. Berne to learn about his practitioner’s training. [email protected] Keep Up with Dr. Sam Website: https://www.drsamberne.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamBerneOD/?fref=ts Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samberneod/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/drsamberne LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsamberne/ Keywords holistic vision care, eye health, functional medicine, nutrition, antioxidants, blue light, eye strain, vision improvement, myths about eye health, grounding Summary In this conversation, Dr. Sam Berne discusses the importance of holistic vision care, emphasizing the role of nutrition, antioxidants, and lifestyle changes in maintaining and improving eye health. He challenges common misconceptions about aging and vision deterioration, advocating for a proactive approach to eye care. The discussion also covers the impact of blue light from digital devices, the significance of grounding, and practical strategies to mitigate eye strain. Takeaways • Holistic vision care integrates nutrition and lifestyle practices. • Functional medicine looks at the connection between diet and eye health. • Antioxidants like glutathione are crucial for eye health. • Carotenoids protect the macula and lens from damage. • Blue light can cause eye strain and fatigue. • You can improve your vision at any age with the right approach. • Grounding can help reduce the effects of EMFs on the eyes. • Regular eye breaks are essential for digital device users. • Hydration is key for maintaining eye health. • Dietary changes can reverse certain eye conditions. Sound Bites • “We’d rather be proactive than reactive.” • “Glutathione is a powerhouse antioxidant.” • “Blue light definitely has an ill effect.” • “You can improve your vision at any age.” • “You can actually get better as you age.” • “Grounding helps mitigate EMF effects.” • “Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!” Chapters 00:00Introduction to Holistic Vision Care 01:50Functional Medicine Approach to Vision 06:09Nutritional Strategies for Eye Health 11:47The Role of Antioxidants in Eye Health 17:59Impact of Blue Light on Vision 24:05Myths and Misconceptions about Eye Health 30:12Improving Vision: Possibilities and Strategies 36:06Grounding and Eye Health 38:05Mitigating Eye Strain from Digital Screens Sam Berne (00:00.12) Pennsylvania College of Optometry and a postdoctoral advanced degree from the Gissell Institute in Child Development. Aside from having a private practice, he’s done clinical research, been a faculty member at the Estelon Institute and authored five books. He’s a member of both the New Mexico Optometric Association and the American Optometric Association. He’s licensed to practice optometry in New Mexico and Hawaii. Welcome, Dr. Byrne. Thank you. Great to be here. So as I mentioned, you know, we’ve had so many speakers speak about whole food plant based nutrition. We speak about it all the time and we’ve kind of ignored eye health, kind of just taken it for granted. I guess I started this when I was in my 40s and my eyes were pretty good. we didn’t really think about it, but for anyone that’s having challenges with their eyes, That’s really a huge concern. we certainly would rather be proactive than reactive on this subject. If you could just take a minute maybe just to introduce yourself and tell us what you’ve been doing with your career for the last, you know, 10 years 20 years and then I’ll start asking you questions. Okay, thanks. So for the last 20 years, I’ve been doing patient care research and teaching. And my mission is to bring holistic vision care to the mainstream. I have a pretty active social media following also have a podcast and I’m just inspired to help people take back their vision. Great. Okay. I’d like to try if it’s okay with you to ask you quite a number of questions. So instead of feeling like you have to cover everything on every question, I’ll ask you a lot of questions. You can answer just that and then we’ll go on to the next question. So you have a chance to talk about a lot of things. Does that sound good? Yeah, fire away, Steve. Here we go. So could you elaborate? Sam Berne (02:19.992) what the functional medicine approach to vision entails beyond traditional optometry. Well, there two parts to it. The first is functional nutrition and that relates to how the the gut and how our diet affects the micro capillary circulation and the mitochondria function in the eyes because after about age 40, we start developing oxidative stress and inflammation and then we go to a traditional eye doctor and he starts diagnosing with a variety of conditions or you know, if you wear glasses or contacts your eyes get progressively worse. So in functional nutrition, I’m looking at What are the best foods we should eat the best best lifestyle practices? And so that’s the first category. The second category is, you know, when you get your exam where most eye doctors just have you read the distance chart and that’s really your eyesight. It’s not vision. Vision is how the eyes in the brain and the body integrate and work together. So it’s a brain experience. So how you use your eyes functionally affects the structure anatomy of the eyes eventually. So if you’re in a repetitive state of movement with your eyes and vision or you’re wearing glasses or contacts that perpetuate or reinforce a weakness, then it just gets worse and worse. So in functional vision therapy. What I’ve developed is a way to help re-educate the habits and bring people to a better space around their vision functionally and this reverses the structural deterioration. Sam Berne (04:21.549) Thank you. You’ve seen improvements in cataracts and macular degeneration with nutritional changes. are the foundational dietary recommendations you typically make? Well, number one is eliminating moderate to high glycemic index sugars. Number two is reducing inflammatory foods and you know, the bad fats. And then number three is to protect yourself from the damaging blue light emitted from our screens and using iridology, you know, analyzing the patterns of the iris. We can look at your constitutional type to see whether or not, you know, what What specific health practice you can do to mitigate any deterioration and then in addition to the Constitution, we can look at the different patterns genetic tendencies and nurture points and our glands organs and digestive areas and then we can really fine-tune and pinpoint what foods you should eat what lifestyle changes you should make and in all of the cases, I recommend boosting mitochondria function in the eye either through red light therapy. could also do methylene blue, which is kind of an it kind of amplifies the red light therapy or you can do certain foods that stimulate mitochondria function. So if you do all those things, you are being proactive in interrupting and in many cases reversing the deterioration in these eyes. diseases. Say one more thing with cataracts. If you catch it early, if you increase your glutathione and vitamin C, those two ingredients have been found to be really potent for slowing down the aging process in cataracts or macular degeneration. Sam Berne (06:31.809) Thank you. Could you explain the importance of carotenoids like lutein and zeaxanthin for maintaining macular and lens health? Sure. So the carotenoids help protect the macula by creating kind of like a similar metaphor would be like wearing sunglasses. So it deflects the damaging blue light. Now, if you’ve had cataract surgery, The intraocular lenses don’t even have any blue protection in them. So this is where lutein and zeaxanthin become even more important. Now dosage on a daily basis. You should be doing about 16 milligrams of lutein and about four to six milligrams of zeaxanthin daily. Couple things though. These are fat soluble vitamins. So you want to make sure your liver gallbladder are working well because you can be either taking the supplements or eating the you know, the rainbow vegetables. But if you’re not absorbing the fat soluble vitamins because the liver gallbladders is not working are not working well, then what’s the point? So you’ve got to make sure your liver gallbladder are working properly so you can. Absorb them. There’s one other one that you haven’t mentioned, but I think I should mention it. It’s called astaxanthin. So astaxanthin is a third carotenoid. It’s actually a marine carotenoid. You can get that from wild-caught salmon, you know, the pink seafood. You can also if you’re vegan or vegetarian, you can get it from algae. So you want to get four to six milligrams a day of the astaxanthin. The astaxanthin along with the lutein and the Sam Berne (08:19.439) Chorizanthin works synergistically that will protect your macula and if you’ve been diagnosed with either dry or wet macular degeneration, you should start taking those carotenoids immediately. Thank you. Why is glutathione? considered a crucial antioxidant for eye health and what dietary sources or supplements might you recommend? So glutathione is a powerhouse antioxidant. It’s produced in the liver and some of the best foods that you could get glutathione from would be either the cruciferous vegetables or garlic onion. those things or I would recommend a liposomal glutathione. So that means that it’s kind of fat molecule and it’s sublingual and so I’m not recommending any companies but you can do your research, but you want to get a liposomal glutathione because it’s going to be protected in a fat molecule. So when you swallow it, it’s not going to get, you know, eaten up by digestive enzymes. So either or another thing you could do is get IV glutathione, although it doesn’t stay in the body that long. But certainly I’ve had many patients going for IV glutathione and they will say immediately their eyesight is much clearer. So glutathione is one of those really power houses of antioxidants and it’s in a high concentration in the lens of the eye as is vitamin C. So if you’re developing cataracts, you’re probably low in those two antioxidants. I would start boosting them either through supplementation and or foods. Okay, you might have just answered this but how do omega-3 fatty acids and DHA Sam Berne (10:18.745) specifically benefit the health of the optic nerve and retina? Well, the retina is made up of about 50 % essential fatty acids and you know, in in the neuroscience literature, they’re always talking about how omega-3 is really good for the brain, know, the brain and maybe 50 % fat and so the omega-3 is first of all for glaucoma. It is a requirement that if you’ve been diagnosed with glaucoma, you should start taking at least two to 3000 milligrams a day of a really high potency DHA EPA primarily DHA and then with any kind of retinal disease. Again, omega-3 is critically important as an anti-inflammatory agent, but also just feeding the retina. Also omega-3 has been shown to help mitigate some of the dry eye symptoms. Now dry eyes a complicated condition. We can talk more about that because there many levels and layers on why we develop dry eye. But you know, I think that everybody should be on a good omega-3 because we don’t produce it in the body and you know, you need to do your due diligence on companies that do their third-party testing, but it’s certainly it’s essential. For high health. Thank you. What are the primary metabolic factors contributing to cataract development and how can these be addressed holistically? Well, one of the main ones and I’ve heard some of your speakers talk about it is the process called glycation. So in the lens what happens is the glucose molecule binds itself to the protein molecule of the lens and this creates cloudiness. And you know, in all the patients I’ve seen over the years, and this is also in the literature, if you have a difficult time with glucose metabolism, you’re probably going to develop cataracts and possibly even, you know, diabetic retinopathy or wet macular degeneration. So the key here is that you need to really take care of your pancreas health. Sam Berne (12:46.029) and you know, be aware of what you’re doing around your sugars, even carbohydrates. You know, a lot of my patients will say, well, I do a fruit smoothie bananas and you know, all these sugary fruits. So we try to move them off of that. I would say berries are probably okay. Citrus fruits are probably okay, but you need to really monitor this glycation situation and also it can be a cause of eye floaters. because that glycation molecule will attach itself to the protein molecule of the vitreous the gel sack and this also is a creation of floaters. So glycation wreaks havoc on the eyes as it does on the body and it really accelerates the aging process. So we’ve had a lot of speakers talk about diet and we’ve asked them a lot of questions. And when it comes to supposedly healthy fats meaning raw seeds. nuts, raw organic seeds, nuts, avocados, olives. Those four things, that’s question one. And then question two would be olive oil, hemp oil, flax oil. So question one, seeds, nuts, olives, avocados. Question two, supposedly healthy oils such as hemp, flax, olive. How do these affect eye health? Well, it’s obvious big time, know, when we do seeds and nuts again, you know, I like to do dehydrated and organic if possible chia seeds are a great source of omega-3 and of course walnuts. You know, we’ll recommend something like a smoothie where we’ll use a few seeds and nuts and cacahuas 70 % and that’s a nice way to get your fats and all the great stuff that’s in cacaua avocados. You’ve got lutein in in avocados, which is great. And you know, when I travel, I always bring an avocado on the plane and that’s one of my snacks. And in terms of the fats, you know, three six and nine again, I’ve heard some of your speakers talk about how we get too much six or nine and not enough three. I think it’s a balancing act. Sam Berne (15:09.863) act, but I, you know, I love things like, you know, organic olive oil, hemp seed oil. mean, it’s all moderation and high quality. So I don’t think we get enough fats and oils in our diet. I think it’s one of the areas that we forget about or we’re eating fats that aren’t really high quality, which are going to accelerate oxidative stress and inflammation. So I, you know, I’m with most of your speakers around. need more healthy fats three, six and nine and you know, you’ve working with a functional medicine doctor that can help fine tune, you know, exactly what you need. But you know, it’s essential for your eye health. You challenge, thank you. You challenge the idea that the vision must deteriorate with age. What are some fundamental strategies to maintain or even improve vision in older adults? Number one only wear your glasses when you need them take them off and go without your glasses and non demanding and non threatening situations. Number two get morning sunlight at least 30 minutes every morning number three limit your screen time. Take frequent breaks. If you’re on screens phone tablet or computer number four, your lifestyle is such where you want to get out into nature and get away from the EMFs because that actually affects your eyes and number six heal your emotional health because emotions definitely have an effect on the eyes and number seven. cultivate your liver gallbladder thyroid and pancreas health and we see this again in our iridology readings and we can tell if there’s you know, genetic tendencies or nurture points, but you know doing a liver cleanse once or twice a year is awesome for for clearing up your eyesight and reversing the aging in your eyes. Sam Berne (17:24.301) What just 30 second what what what’s your version of a liver cleanse? Well, a simple one is get some warm lemon water in the morning. Add bitter green vegetables to your salads, you know for lunch and before bed put a drop or two of castor oil on your liver and put a heating pad or a hot cloth over it for 10 or 15 minutes, which is like a castor oil pack. Those are really simple practices for supporting liver health. Sam Berne (17:59.772) So the next question, I guess, is the question is what are the specific mechanisms by which blue light from digital devices can be damaging to the retina and contribute to macular issues? But let’s just, the term blue light was not a term we were using 10 years ago. It wasn’t a term that most people even heard about five years ago. And now all of a sudden, not all of a sudden, but we’re hearing people say. That blue light is an issue when you need special blue light blocker glasses. What is blue light? Why is it a concern? What should we do? Not all blue light is bad. But if you look at the nanometers between 405 and 455, that is a chaotic blue wavelength. And when that blue wavelength touches your eyes, it creates dryness. also can over time. create eye strain or eye fatigue. And so on the in the short answer is that when you expose yourself to the 405 to 455, you’re setting yourself up to have this I call it a neurotoxin that’s coming into your eyes. And the French government did 400 page paper on the ill effects of blue light. from children to adults in the US and I just attended a conference. It was a mainstream allopathic eye conference. They did not really think blue light has some issues. However, blue light definitely is going to affect your pineal gland. It tricks the melatonin and it can create sleep problems. The thing with blue blocking glasses is that it’s in the marketplace. So there’s a lot of predatory products out there that say, you know, they do this and they do that even the best blue blocking glasses only only cut out about 30 % of the blue light. So it’s not a hundred percent. That’s where you have to take your carotenoids. You have to you know, get out in the natural sunlight. I do think that blue protecting lenses. Sam Berne (20:17.227) Are certainly worth it. You can also get things on your screens. You can also get software that will deflect some of the blue light, but there isn’t any one thing that’s going to completely block you from the blue light. So you’ve got to have good visual resiliency, good visual skills. I wouldn’t wear progressive lenses. Those are the invisible bifocals when you’re working on the computer because that’s going to stress your eyes. So there’s some things that you can do functionally. There’s some functional vision therapy exercises that you can do obviously nutrition and diet and it’s just like anything else. You don’t want to be running marathons with your eyes and that’s what people do on their screens. So it’s all moderate, but I would say that blue light definitely has an ill effect. And if you’ve had cataract surgery, you want to definitely protect yourself from blue light. because the IOL they’re putting in doesn’t correct you or protect you and you’re not told that in in the surgery. So those would be some of the things I would spotlight and blue light. It’s definitely an issue. the way, how many eye doctors in the country have your knowledge base? Is this there a lot of people that know this or is this unusual because I haven’t heard I wasn’t I’m not aware of that many that speak with the wealth of knowledge on this that you have. Well, I you know, I can’t speak for for others. I am doing a practitioner training now. So I know that the people that I’m training they’re going to they’re going to get my knowledge. There is an organization called covd.org and there are a group of behavioral optometrists who do some form of vision therapy to what A degree. I don’t know. There’s also a group called the College of Syntonic Optometry and they do light therapy. Again, I don’t know what their database is. I know for me, I had some really great mentors who aren’t alive anymore who really, know, I was 28 years old and I had five 70 year old behavioral optometrist developmental optometrist. Sam Berne (22:39.833) You know, so I got a big transmission there. And the other thing is I do have a broad perspective. So I’ve studied acupuncture, craniosacral, aromatherapy, functional medicine, energy medicine, and many other things. So I look at myself as a physical therapy optometrist and a naturopathic optometrist. I don’t know too many people who wear those hats, but You know, that’s that’s what I do and I’ve been doing it 40 years. So I’ve got a big base of patients and you know, that’s why I keep doing it because it’s great and on social media, you know, we have over 280,000 followers. So something is getting struck there on the cord of you know, the information I’m conveying. Thank you. What are some common myths about eye health that you frequently encounter and would like to dispel? Number one, you don’t have to live out your doctor’s diagnosis doctors allopathic diagnosis number two, your eyes don’t have to get worse as you get older. They can actually get better and number three, you can improve your vision at any age. I have patients between 85 and 90 that are improving their vision. They’re either reducing their prescription their getting their driver’s license renewed, even if it’s just daylight. They’ve had pretty severe diagnoses that we’ve been able to reverse in terms of diseases. So, you know, when you go to the regular doctor again, if they don’t see it in their mind that you can improve it, then of course they’re going to stay in their indoctrinated ways. I’ve had the good fortune to see a lot of healing with people’s eyes and vision. So I can recognize if somebody is open to do it and their body intelligence says, hey, I want to do this. I’m doing it in other areas. We find this all the time that even giving somebody a reduced prescription can actually improve their eyesight and vision and this happens all the time. And then if they want to go deeper, you know, the longer they work with me the more benefits they get. Sam Berne (25:01.465) Thank you. Beyond diet, what are your top five nutritional supplement recommendations for overall eye health and why? Okay, so a disclaimer. I do not distribute any products because the product markets that I see do not meet my criteria for safety and protection of the consumer. So that being said, I’m just going to speak generally here. And what I would say is that you know number one And I’m to go in a little different direction here. I think the thyroid health is really important. A lot of people have low thyroid. So seaweed, dulse and kelp are really important in terms of liver health. The three herbs that I love. So I’m going more herbal than just, you know, vitamins and minerals. Burdock root, yellow dock and milk thistle that combination. If you want to do a really good liver cleanse, that’s a great combination. I think that if you can, you know, do like eye compresses things like dandelion, rude or golden seal, chamomile, eye bright, although that’s hard to get even colloidal silver. If it’s a really high quality that can be really good at, you know, as an antibacterial agent. I also do a lot with essential oils and my number one essential oil is frankincense and I’ll put it on the temples massage it on the back of the neck and on the third eye. We did a we did a post on Facebook on frankincense that very thing and we got over 1 million views. So something is is resonating with people using frankincense as a way to improve the vision. Obviously, we talked about Omega 3’s those are really good. Sam Berne (27:09.775) for glaucoma adding things like ginkgo, bilberry, taurine for macular degeneration, saffron and turmeric are really good. Bilberry is great for night vision and improving peripheral vision. So, I mean, there’s a lot of different avenues around the supplementation. But you know, if you press me, I’m still saying no processed foods. and rainbow diet. I love doing smoothies like vegetable smoothies like using ginger root, turmeric root, beets, celery. cabbage, wheatgrass, you know, and use a hot tea. So if you’ve got, you know, say issues with your bones, I would do something like oat straw tea. You’ve got respiratory issues, Mullen tea, and that’s a hot tea that you would put in the blender or the Vitamix. Getting those plant enzymes is really, really important in the morning. I find that people aren’t getting enough really good enzymes and you know, you can take supplemental enzymes, but It’s not the same as you know, getting into your Vitamix and working that way. So I don’t know if I answered your question, but those are that’s my that’s my perspective on on what you asked. Thank you. What are your thoughts on wearing contact lenses full-time versus allowing the eyes periods of rest without them? Well, I definitely think contacts are great part-time sports and social. You don’t want to for near-sightedness. You don’t want to get over corrected for distance with contacts because then you’re going to need reading glasses over the contacts. So tell your doctor you want to be a little bit under corrected for distance and near-sightedness in far-sightedness. If you were contacts again, you don’t want to wear something so highly magnified because then you’re going to lose your distance. Sam Berne (29:16.229) And you don’t want to do monovision where you’re correcting one eye for distance and one eye for near and then wearing the contacts part-time is a good strategy because you know what happens is when we work contacts full-time we get a false sense that our eyes are really good and that’s the farthest thing from the truth. That’s what’s great about the glasses because you can take them off in certain instances. You get to allow your system to relax and your point is well taken around the contacts because it can create a dryness. It can affect the ocular microbiome. That’s right. We do have a microbiome and so taking the lenses off allowing your eyes to breathe and just being moderate when you wear the contacts. I think they’re a great, you know, a great optical system to use. Just as a general answer, not best case scenarios, how likely is it that we can improve our eyesight? I know a lot of what we’re talking about is how to prevent our eyesight from getting worse, but in your experience, not the couple of cases where everything went great, the average person who’s using glasses and contacts, are you saying that we can maintain our eyesight or are you saying you could actually have better vision? What are we, what is the, end? New York Spurgeon. So who who’s the population? it in this conference or is it more in the general mainstream where they’re not in this conference? Who who are you targeting here? A motivated person that was saying I would be very interested in. Okay, if they’re motivated and they have some, you know, background in holistic health. Then I would say it’s probably a 95 % chance that there can be some improvement. And what I see with people when they when they take that on the release around them actually experiencing the improvement reduces their stress by about 250 % and I see it all the time like people come in. I don’t know exactly what you do. I’ve heard good things. Sam Berne (31:38.637) I’m interested in my mindset as I want to improve it. Great. Then I can at least give them three things that they will experience some level of improvement and the stress release that they get from that is profound. Thank you. Tell me or tell us about LASIK or the equivalent of LASIK. What you know what it is how well it works if there are side effects and also for someone who’s already undergone LASIK and is experiencing returning vision issues. What holistic strategies you might recommend. So LASIK is a refractive store refractive surgery and a long line of refractive surgeries that used to be called PRK back in the day. Basically, what the surgeon does is he’s changing the shape of the eyeball, the front of the eyeball to reduce the prescription in the eye. And one of the sayings we have in our practice is it’s not the eye that causes the prescription. It’s the programming behind the eyes that causes the prescription and that’s an important point because if you do believe that it’s the Programming that causes the prescription. Well, what you’re changing is just the end result symptom, which is the prescription in the eye. That’s what you’re doing with lasik, but you’re not going back to the operating system and reprogramming that so now you have the lasik surgery and the operating system is still operating in the old model, which is I’m going to still have the same programming and then you’ve got this new hardware. That’s like it’s not fitting. So what you have to do is you either have to ignore the programming and then you’ll probably stay more in a success space. You know that sweet spot where you go. Hey Lasix great. There’s no problems, but you’ll see it in other areas either in the body intention that you carry or other weird. Sam Berne (33:53.612) Things that may show up in the eyes side effects. Yes, there are many in lasik surgery like dry eyes starburst and a revert back to again, the operating system is much stronger than the lasik procedures. So that you you move back into the the prescription that you had before you had the surgery. Now there are physical therapy exercises that I’ve developed. that can help people post surgically integrate what the lasik surgery has done to the eye. You know, we have eye surgery, but we never do physical therapy after it. In fact, it’s invalidated. It’s taboo. If you bring it up with your surgeon, they always say, that doesn’t work. It’s, you know, mumbo jumbo, but you go have a knee operated on or a shoulder and you go to physical therapy. Remember, I said about 10 minutes ago, I’m a physical therapy optometrist. So when somebody is at surgery, we need to do surgery. We need to do physical therapy afterwards so that they can integrate the programming the operating system with the new information that’s in the eye. If you do that, you can mitigate a lot of the deterioration that comes in the last point. I want to make and I mentioned this at class is that in 2018, the New York Times did an expose on the FDA FDA and Lasik surgery and actually the person who helped approve the Lasik surgery worked for the FDA was quoted in the article saying that he probably wouldn’t approve of the surgical procedure today because he’s seen so many horror stories and that article really reveals the shadow side of Lasik surgery. Even though you know on the mainstream media, it’s really, you know, very popular and celebrities and athletes that do it and it really can create confusion between the eyes and the brain. Sam Berne (36:06.869) Thank you. What is grounding or earthing and how might it contribute to overall wellness and potentially impact eye health in our modern Well, grounding and earthing is an opportunity for you to get into the energy fields of the earth and all our shoes are rubber. We don’t walk barefoot anymore and we’re spending all of our time either in cars or cement. We’re not in nature. And so the emf’s build up and One of the places that I see emf’s really cause problems is if you wear metal glasses. Sorry Steve. It conducts emf’s into the ice. So you want to go more with a plastic frame and taking your lenses off. We use grounding. We have mats that you can, you know, actually put your feet on when you’re working on the computer. We also have it on our massage table. When I’m doing crania sacral, you can even put a grounding mat on your bed if you want to so kind of depends on your environment. I mean if you live in a city where there’s a lot of wireless and you can’t get yourself into a barefoot place in nature that I would definitely get grounding and earthing in your apartment or your house definitely helps. Now if you can get out into nature and you can get into the Schumann wave, which is a very slow Frequency that comes into our body and resets us if you can do that and you can meditate and you can walk in bare feet and then, you know, you don’t need the grounding map. But I think it’s really important. A lot of holistic health practitioners talk about it. It’s the real deal. Sam Berne (38:05.547) What are your recommendations for individuals who spend many hours working on digital screens to mitigate potential eye strain and damage? Well, first of all, I would recommend having their optometrist prescribe or at least test their eyes that what is the best prescription at the computer? One of the things that happens that I see a lot is that people get a distance prescription. But that prescriptions for 20 feet and so when they use it at the computer, it’s going to create eye strain. It’s too strong for them. That’s on the near-sighted side on the far-sighted side. If you’re wearing reading glasses, like when you look at your phone, that magnification is going to be too strong for you at the computer so that you want to get a weaker magnification lens at the screen distance. I think it’s important to at the very least take frequent frequent blade breaks set up things where you can deflect the EMFs whether it’s crystals or you can get these EMF protectors. Very important. I think getting out in the morning natural sunlight is also critically important. Of course, blue protection is part of it and hydrate hydrate hydrate hydrate. I don’t know if anybody at your conference has talked about the benefits of hydrogen water. We’re using it now to be part of the support of macular problems and cataracts. So hydrogen water, structured water, I’d be drinking really high potency water, really, really good. And, you know, I use essential oils. We might distill those in the environment. So you’re oxygenating and hydrating.   Dr. Sam Berne has been in private practice in New Mexico for over 25 years and where he works with patients to improve their vision and overall wellness through holistic methods. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University, Doctor of Optometry from Pennsylvania College, and did his postdoctoral work at the Gesell Institute in collaboration with Yale University. He has been awarded The Special Awards for Service from the Behavioral Optometrists in Mexico for his innovative and holistic work with children. His protocols take a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to health and wellness. He understands and treats the body as one integrated system rather than a collection of independent organs in order to identify and address the root causes of disease. His whole health protocols improve vision and wellness by healing the mind-body-spirit through nutritional protocols, vision therapy, and self-care techniques. This views each person as genetically and biochemically unique and enables the individual to make lifelong improvements to their well-being.

Schedule a free discovery call with Dr. Berne for his practitioner’s training: [email protected] For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ Keywords eye health, vision therapy, sunlight exposure, full spectrum lighting, color therapy, iridology, holistic health, eye strain, light therapy, wellness Summary In this conversation, Dr. Sam Berne discusses various aspects of eye health, including the importance of eye coordination, the benefits of sunlight exposure, and the role of full spectrum lighting. He also explores light therapy and color therapy, emphasizing their impact on overall wellness. Additionally, Dr. Berne explains iridology and how it can provide insights into a person’s health. He concludes with practical advice for maintaining eye health and resources for further learning. Takeaways • Eye strain can be alleviated through specific exercises. • Natural sunlight is essential for eye health. • Full spectrum lighting can improve mood and reduce stress. • Color therapy can help balance energy and emotions. • Iridology offers insights into genetic health tendencies. • Eye health is interconnected with overall wellness. • Regular check-ups with an eye doctor are important. • Mind-body connection plays a role in vision issues. • Light therapy can aid in healing and relaxation. • Practitioners can benefit from training in holistic eye health. Sound Bites • “My left eye is shutting off.” • “Light is basically a food.” • “Color therapy is so amazing.” • “We attract what we need to heal.” • “The eyes never lie.” • Chapters 00:00Understanding Eye Strain and Coordination 02:58The Importance of Sunlight for Eye Health 05:54Full Spectrum Lighting and Its Benefits 08:58Exploring Light Therapy and Color Therapy 15:51The Connection Between Eye Health and Overall Wellness 19:54Iridology: Mapping Health Through the Eyes 23:06Final Thoughts on Eye Health and Resources Sam Berne (00:00.238) Can you provide an example of how this works for a specific condition? All right. So let’s say somebody comes in and they’re having eye strain and their eyes are getting worse. So there’s a test that I can do which measures how well their two eyes are working together. So this is vision. They read the eye chart a distance very well. So there’s no problem with eyesight and 20 feet. But what I’m finding is that when they look at the certain picture their brain is suppressing the left eye. So the right-handed the right eye dominant. Okay, so we we are able to identify that the left eye is suppressing and the right eye is doing more of the work unless you do a test like that. You’re never going to discover that issue, but it means that the right eye is carrying the load. Okay, so there’s a great exercise that I recommend called This the brock string. This is a string if you can visualize it. It’s got three beads and a string and you tie one end of the doorknob and you spread the three beads. So the first speed is about 12 inches from the eyes. The second bead is 24 inches. The third bead is say 36 inches. So one end of the string is on the doorknob. The other end is at the nose and the first bead say is here the second bead the third bead. This is a great way to have them focus both eyes at the first bead and they might say something like, my goodness, the left string is fading out on me. When I look at that close bead. now understand that my left eye is shutting off. So we ask them to go into their breathing to blink to feel their body to relax into it. now the left string is coming in with the right string. I see if I relax now, my two eyes are working together. Now I look at the second bead. my this left string is shutting off again. If I relax and blink and breathe and maybe I have to touch the bead now that left string is coming back and then I do the third bead and then the second bead in the first speed. So I’m going to do this exercise for one minute three times a day and what will happen over a few days that left eye starts to turn on and when it turns on it will start to work with the right eye. Sam Berne (02:22.402) So after about a week, the person says, you know, I’m working on the computer. Now. I’m not getting that eye strain or red eyes. It’s going away two weeks. It’s going away more three weeks. Wow. I’m actually able to work for a whole hour. My eyes feel really good. So that is a very simple way to discover on my left eye is suppressing. Let me bring it back in after three weeks. Now my two eyes are working together. I’ve got vitality back into my eyes. So that’s one example of a physical therapy exercise. a general thought if someone was again highly motivated, what should our relation with the Sun be? Is this something where you’re saying get sun in the early morning? Are you saying get 20 minutes an hour six hours 12 hours? What would be perfect if someone was motivated regarding our relation with sunlight? Well, just the general mainstream person what I would say is that getting third 30 minutes of natural sunlight in the morning as long as it’s not triggering a blink reflex. So you don’t have to look directly in the sun. Even if it’s cloudy outside, you’re still getting the sun. You can wear a hat. You can you know, you don’t want to look directly at the sun go walk. You know, that’s a good time to do it. The more advanced people I would say end of day is also great. We get color therapy at that time because usually around sunset. Sometimes we get the different colors and our eyes need different colors. Red is more stimulating. Violet purple blue green is more relaxing. So that would be a way to get color therapy, but I think we’ve been taught to be afraid of the sun. I think there’s a lot of fear out there and I think it’s really overblown. Yes, UV and high amounts can change the lens health, but we actually need trace amounts of UV. One of the people that I love mention this book. Sam Berne (04:25.249) John Ott, it’s called health and light and one of the things I talked about was something called malillumination just like malnutrition and what he would say is that we’re not getting the proper light diet. You know, I remember an example of this in my office. I had a very busy office and I had seven people working up front. know, they were processing all the insurance claims and there was always a lot of conflict and fighting and you know, just bad vibes. So one weekend I went in and I changed the the light bulbs to full spectrum fluorescent lights and I didn’t tell the staff so about a week later, you know, we had a meeting and they said, geez, you know, did what did you change? We’re feeling so much better in the front office and I told them and they said, that makes sense. Now we’re now in natural full spectrum lighting and our bodies are less stress. We’re more open to it. So Full spectrum lighting is like full spectrum living and we need to get away from artificial light. We need to get away from the digital and we need to go into a space where we’re getting the natural sunlight. Is it bad if you’re a gardener and you spend all day outside? Is that a good thing or a bad thing to your eyes? Well, if I was a gardener, a forest ranger or a lifeguard, I would certainly be investing in a good pair of sunglasses. And a lot of it depends on my, you know, my skin health, how sensitive I am to the sun. I think using sunglasses is actually a really good thing. I think you want to get a good neutral brown or neutral gray, pay a little bit more and get a high quality sun lens. But again, we’re talking moderation. You get that natural light in the morning 30 minutes. You know, I know for me, I like to hike. sometimes today was hiking with my dog and for part of the time I was wearing sunglasses because I was right in the sun and then we were up at a stream playing up there and the sun was indirect. So I took my sunglasses off. I do a lot of skiing. I ski up in Taos and I wear sunglasses, you know, I go out in the ocean and I wear sunglasses. There’s nothing wrong with that. Sam Berne (06:51.146) I think what it is is you need to feel your body and give your eyes and your body what it wants talk to your eyes. If it’s too bright, it’s perfectly fine to wear sunglasses. If you’re driving into the sun wear sunglasses. Now where you are the sun isn’t quite as extreme as where we are in the desert Southwest. So I might wear sunglasses a little more than say where you are. But if you’re sensitive protect yourself. There’s nothing wrong with that. But the fear part of it changes the neurochemicals in the brain and that’s where the issue comes in. You know, I want to have good levels of serotonin dopamine and oxytocin. I want to embrace the sun and I also want to be sensible about it. As soon as I go into my fear, what happens? My cortisol levels go up my dopamine and serotonin go down. So be aware of what your mind is doing and understand that Basically, we’re heliocentric. We go towards the sun just like the plants and then we just have to moderate how much and how long. And if we every day want to take a three or four hour walk outside, we seem to like the sun. We don’t really want to wear sunglasses. Are you comfortable or are we doing damage to our No, we’re comfortable with that. We’re comfortable with that. And you know what? You can always check in with your eye doctor and eye health see what’s going on with your, you know, your macular health and your lens. I’d recommend routine exams so you can monitor that. So if you start developing a cataract, you can go, okay, why is that? it because of the sun? Is because of my sugar. So, you know, I think it’s really important to check in and go to your doctor, whoever that is and just get get a baseline on what is going on in your health. I know a lot about health. I know a lot about nutrition, but I do not prescribe for myself. I go to doctors and they tell me what I need. So I am not, you know, an ego about that saying why no. Sam Berne (08:58.124) I go to people because I don’t know what I need. Well, I think you know, we’ve got the LED conversation and that’s the blue light. I would say in as many cases as you can get full spectrum lighting, you know, kind of depends again. Like if you’re in an apartment and you don’t get a lot of natural light, I would probably focus in on getting more full spectrum lighting. That would be my intention. You know, if you live in a place where you’re getting natural light in the windows then it’s it’s less of an issue. I think that you know again a lot of it depends on the toxicity of where you live and you know go from there. That’s how I would navigate that. Well what it what it means is my primary would probably be incandescent and getting full spectrum. You know, there’s things called the aught lights. You can go online and now they’ve got a lot of different full spectrum lights. I would probably move away from LEDs if I could. Another thing you got to consider is winter and again, if you’re sensitive sad, I would get yourself a full spectrum light box where you’re treating yourself with that. That’s another piece to the puzzle but full spectrum incandescent and See what you can do. Sam Berne (10:46.252) Okay, one more time, full spectrum, what does that mean? Say full spectrum on them or not? Yeah, you can you can you can again go online type in full spectrum light bulbs and see what comes up. Sometimes they’re compact fluorescence. Sometimes they’re incandescent. They come in different ways. But the reason why it’s full spectrum is that you’ve got again, you can eat food artificial food or fast food. That’s like the the light that is artificial light. Or you can eat a full spectrum food diet and light is basically a food. It’s just in a different form. So you want to look for the term full spectrum indoor lighting. That would be what you want to look for and see what see what comes up. You know, I think that’s a really good thing to think about. Thank you. In terms of light therapy, have you… Sam Berne (11:57.929) No, we haven’t really discussed it. So there’s two ways we can talk about it. One is photo biomodulation, which I know some of your, you know, your folks have talked about the benefits of red light therapy, not so much for the eyes because it’s too bright. One of the things that I have developed are actually I call them red exercise glasses. So they have the 670 nanometers in the lens. That’s a pair of glasses and you can control the brightness of the light source that works really well. So that’s one form of the red light therapy. There’s also another form of light therapy where you’re using all the colors of the spectrum and you know, we want to put down blue light. But once you get up to like 475 nanometers, that blue light actually is really good to re release trauma and also it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system. There’s a color therapy treatment protocol, which I’ll share with you. We actually did it the other day. You can either get this do this by getting all the main colors of the spectrum Roy G Biv in glasses and the way it works is you’re going to treat yourself with the rainbow of colors. So you start off with the red glasses. You put them on you ask yourself. What do I see and how does it make me feel and that particular red? May stimulate the root chakra. It may bring up some memories again color and light trigger the hidden energies behind the eyes. That’s one of the things that that’s why color therapy is so amazing. You wear that for two minutes. Take that off. Then you put the orange on same thing. What do I see? What do I feel and the feeling the emotion is very important to connect to it again two minutes move to yellow and the green then the blue green then the blue. Then the violet. So if you do that spectrum of rainbow colors, I did research on it using a special energy field camera and chakras when I was at the Esalen Institute and we did a study where we measured people doing that very treatment before we measured their energy and then after and we found their chakras were much more lined up. Their energy fields were much bigger and their acupuncture meridians were much more balanced. This was Sam Berne (14:25.523) getting light into the eyes. This is how we did the study. So doing this energy color therapy every day and then you could combine it by using aromatherapy. We in my trainings, we use seven different aromatherapy oils that match the colors and we can also add sound to it. So you can add sound healing. So by doing that, it’s working on the energy of the body, the energy field and it’s a way to really kind of clear out all the disharmony if there’s a color or colors. You don’t like you probably have a color allergy. So that color you want to treat yourself a little more so that you would release whatever the the disharmony was and then you’d be more full spectrum yourself because whatever wherever you’re not receiving that color, you’re probably attracting that life experience into your life. That’s kind of what we do. We attract what we need to heal. So the color therapy in that way works really really well. And again, you can get these glasses on Amazon or you you can look for a rainbow color machine. It’s wonderful. You can also do with each eye separately. You can also intuitively say, I think I need green today. So you could do 10 minutes of that if you’re in eye pain or you’re dealing with traumatic brain injury. I would do a blue or blue green. That helps reduce trauma. If you’re low energy or you want to cleanse your liver, I would do a yellow or yellow green or an orange. So, you know, you can work with it intuitively. You can do all the colors. You can start with the indigo violet and work your way back to the red if you want 30 day challenge do it for 30 days and you will see differences in your vision, your awareness, your consciousness and it’s a it’s a really cool way. to balance your health. Thank you. Your lecture title, The Eyes Never Lie, suggests a strong link between vision and overall health. In your experience, what is one of the most surprising systemic conditions you’ve identified through an eye examination? Sam Berne (16:44.424) Depletion in the body, depletion of minerals and B vitamins. There are certain visual coordination tests which require pretty heavy-duty eye muscle focusing, eye muscle sustaining. And when people start going into double vision in these tests and their resiliency is low, And I look at their iris readings depending on what the markings say. I can pretty much tell they’re probably going to get osteoporosis or osteopenia. They’ve got a lot of inflammation in the digestive tract. Their pancreas is not working very well. Their liver and gallbladder are not working well. Their connective tissue may be weak in certain areas, which leads to things like hernias and You know, hiatal hernias and hemorrhoids and things like that. So there’s so many levels and layers that you can look into the eyes and you can see all the mapping systemically, metabolically, even spiritually. And from that you can start asking questions and fill in the blanks and then come up with a protocol to help the person. That’s why I call it whole health. It’s not just the eyes. Yes, the eyes are going to benefit but the whole health is involved. Again, that’s part of my naturopathic optometry hat that I wear. What is iridology and is that something that you believe in with? Give a full breakdown on your health. that something you believe in or support? Well, I got trained in it certified in it. So yes, so the iris, you know, if we think of reflexology the feet, know, you there’s a map on the feet. So the iris over, you know, hundreds of years of different doctors categorizing. have a picture right here. This is Sam Berne (18:55.537) This is a map of the iris and this was invented by in this country, Bernard Jensen, who was a naturopath. And so I’ve studied with his, you know, his family and you know, it’s kind of obvious that the iris because of all the nerves and all the, you know, the connections that has been mapped out way before me, iridology. And by the way, we don’t diagnose and we don’t treat with iridology and the goal is not to change the color of your eye or the pigment that anybody that says that that’s not really iridology. Herodology is analyzing the colored part of the eye. take very detailed pictures put it up on a big monitor and from that we can be proactive in talking about different health patterns and you know, we ask history so Maybe it’s not affecting them, but there’s a genetic tendency. So the right eye is the father lineage and the left eye is the mother lineage. And so we can tell was there diabetes on the father’s side was there thyroid issues on the mother’s side. So based on you know, the genetic tendencies and what I call nurture points. So nothing is wrong here. We’re not diagnosing cancer or whether somebody is pregnant or anything like that. We’re just looking at nurture points. and then based on that using herbs using functional nutrition using color therapy and many different my in my toolbox. It’s another tool that can help us really individualize a person’s treatment. Could you if someone was on a computer, could you look at their eyes through the computer and understand their health? Sure, sure. I mean I could both on how the eyes look and also how they’re using their eyes and also the responses they’re giving based on certain prompts and probes. So for example, if somebody is near sighted, I’ll have them put on a far sighted prescription prescription. Sam Berne (21:11.333) And I’ll ask them what’s your belief system on blur and nine times out of ten. They’ll be in a hypervigilant state attitude wise and I’ll say that’s the reason why you’ve become nearsighted because of your hypervigilant attitude. So when did you start wearing your glasses? And so the the healing part of that is can I give them an exercise? So in a non demanding situation? They’re spending a few minutes relaxing into the blur and when they do that their hypervigilant attitude relaxes and then their eyesight clears and it becomes like wow, I see that I’ve been doing this to myself. It’s that programming behind the eyes that creates the eye problem. Thank you. How far should we be from our TV and just TV damage? Sam Berne (22:09.127) Yes, the the size of the screen matters and how close we are. I think you need to be at least six to eight feet away. You don’t want to be squinting. If you have a higher risk of eye problems, then I would probably get a blue protection lens for the TV. This means like cataract surgery or macular degeneration or you’re just concerned about the blue light and frequent breaks. So as long as you’re far enough away from the TV, you’re fine. And then whether you want to wear blue protection, that’s kind of individual based on what your your health situation is like. What if we have these new large 75 85 inch TVs? Is that concerning you? It depends on how close we are to the TV. But yeah, I mean, you’ve got EMFs. You’ve got blue light. So you need to protect yourself by sitting farther away from it. So you’re not as bombarded by the energy that comes off those. I mean the way you could check it is get yourself an EMF measure and just see what’s coming off the screens and that’ll tell you. Sam Berne (23:28.761) Okay, so Dr. Byrne, why don’t you share your overall final summarizing thoughts of what you want to share with us or leave with us regarding eye health and then also how we could stay in touch with you to have a website book. Do do consultations? What’s the best way to follow up? Okay. So the first thing is is that if an eye problem comes up and you go to your family eye doctor. Definitely take somebody with you as a witness so they can take notes because it’s going to be a scary situation whenever we have some health issue come up and whatever they say you want to make sure that the overall goal would be okay. My mindset is I believe in mind body medicine. I believe in holistic health. So can my doctor give me something? in that genre to help me with that. Now, if they cannot do that, then the best case scenario is you get the information and you go, okay, I’m going to start working on this. on my website, drsamburn.com, I have over I would say 400 free videos. Okay. And if you go to learn the drop down menu and you click on podcasts, for example. You see the categories you can scroll on that and click on anything that you would like and that will take you to video blogs written blogs podcasts and that’s all free. There’s no charge for that. Now if you want more exclusive content, what you can do is you can go to my membership site. So I guess if you click on Dr. Burn again. Sam Berne (25:35.011) Okay, see where says join membership. So that I set up for people where that’s exclusive content. It’s not on social media. I’m creating new stuff every day and you know, join our community. I have a practitioner side and I also have a you know, just a layperson side. You can get seven days free before you have to commit. You can quit at any time. My customer service is really good, so if you have any problems, we’re very honest, we’ll whatever you need, we’ll help you with. So that would be another way you could connect with me. And the third way is that if you want to do a private session, even if it’s on Zoom, you can. Usually what I recommend is sending some iRecords to me and then I can look at those and then we can do a Zoom appointment. And of course, if you’re local and you want to travel here, we can do that as well. Last thing, if you’re any kind of a practitioner, I’m doing practitioner trainings now and you don’t need to be an optometrist or ophthalmologist. You’re just going to be more of a coach and we gear it towards what your professional background is. Massage therapy, occupational therapy, naturopathy, acupuncture, whatever. I need to share this information. I’m on the shady side of the mountain. I’m not going to be here forever. I need to pass this information on to health practitioners. The eye doctors aren’t interested. So this is why I’m going this route. So you got lots of ways. I’m also on Facebook Instagram, Tik Tok and YouTube. I put out a podcast once a week. I’ve been doing that a long time. So lots of ways to to get a hold of me. There you go. Fantastic. Dr. Burn really really appreciate you sharing this. really like we’ve stumbled on some great information. So yeah. Well, thank you. Thanks for what you’re doing. Good luck and wish you a great spring and summer. Okay. If we could unmute everyone so everyone could thank Dr. Burn themselves. Sam Berne (27:58.549) Awesome. Thank you so much. Okay. Thank you again. Doctor. I really appreciate it. You got it. Bye bye. Thank you.  

For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ Join his practitioner’s program: https://www.drsamberne.com/practitioners-training/ Keywords holistic optometry, vision health, eye care, Sam Berne, trauma, stress management, visual processing, integrative health, eye conditions, functional vision Summary In this enlightening presentation, Dr. Sam Berne discusses the profound connection between vision and overall health through the lens of holistic optometry. He shares his personal journey of overcoming vision challenges and emphasizes the importance of understanding how our eyes reflect our physical and emotional well-being. Dr. Berne explores various aspects of holistic eye care, including the impact of stress, trauma, and nutrition on vision, and offers insights into common eye conditions and their integrative solutions. Takeaways • Holistic optometry focuses on the whole person, not just symptoms. • Vision is deeply connected to emotional and physical health. • Stress management is crucial for maintaining good vision. • Nutrition significantly impacts eye health and function. • Trauma can lead to disorganized visual processing. • The gut-eye connection is essential for overall health. • Functional vision is about how we use our visual system. • Understanding the root causes of eye conditions is vital. • Vision therapy can help improve learning and processing in children. • Integrative approaches can reverse common eye conditions. Sound Bites • “The eyes never lie about your health.” • “We see things as we are, not as they are.” • “Your vision reveals your health.” • “I reversed my progressive myopia.” • “Emotions impact how we see the world.” • “Stress affects our vision significantly.” • “The gut and the eye are very connected.” Chapters 00:00Introduction to Holistic Optometry 08:01The Journey of Sam Berne 15:10Understanding Holistic Optometry 21:50The Connection Between Vision and Health 30:05Trauma, Stress, and Vision 38:50Common Eye Conditions and Their Solutions Sam Berne (00:00.106) On the final lecture of the day, which will be followed by a couple of panels. We’re privileged to you our next speaker, Sam Byrne, OD. He’ll be talking on the Eyes Never Lie, what your vision reveals about your health. Dr. Byrne. few words about him dr burn received a bachelor of from penn state university a doctorate from the pennsylvania college of optometry and a post-doctoral advanced degree from the gazzal institute in child development aside from having a private practice he’s done clinical research been a faculty member at the es salon institute and authored five books he’s a member of both the new mexico optometric assuming optometric Association and the American Optometric Association. is licensed to practice optometry in New Mexico and Hawaii. Did I say that right? You were very close. You got a gold star. was that was was. There you go. All right. Well, welcome. Thank you. Very excited to have you here today. OK. For everything I have to say, you go ahead and begin your presentation. Well, thank you so much for inviting me and I’ve been looking forward to this. And so we’re going to start off with a quote and I want to give you my interpretation of it. You probably can have your own. We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are and one of my intentions about this presentation today is to help you see through your eyes. And we’ll get more into that. But I want you to have ownership of your eyes and vision. Now in this next quote that I put up the eye is the window to the soul, but it’s also the mirror of the body. And today I’m going to connect the dots on how our eyes affect our metabolic and endocrine health and I’ll get into that in a few minutes. Sam Berne (02:13.303) The title of my presentation is called the eyes never lie what your vision reveals about your health and then the upper left corner is something called functional vision integrative body and that’s the method that I’m using now to teach practitioners all the things I’ve learned. I’m going to this for about 40 years and we started a practitioners training last year. That’s actually open to non-eye doctors. There’s a way that people can use this method and they don’t have to be eye doctors and they can really help their clients. And then the lower right corner is me reading one of my books, my latest book vital vision and I’ll talk about my books at the end of the lecture today. But I thought I would start off about the question that I get a lot and that is how did I get into this? How did I get into this optometry specialty? Well, it started when I was about eight years old. I was diagnosed with a learning disability and my parents took me to a lot of different professionals. You know, I grew up in a family that really stressed reading and intellectual thinking and I couldn’t read. I didn’t know how to read. So we ended up after visiting several different professionals at an ophthalmologist office and I got a pair of nearsighted glasses and I became a memorizer in school. That’s how I got through school. I got really good grades. I worked really hard and every couple of years my myopia got worse. I had progressive myopia and I got to the point where I couldn’t see the biggie on the eye chart and I was really Dependent on my lenses. Well, after I graduated optometry school, I met a developmental optometrist. name was Dr. Albert a shankman and he practiced in Connecticut. I was living in Philadelphia at the time. So I started to go to him as a patient and he said two things to me. He said number one, I think your myopia your progressive myopia is due to tension that you’ve been carrying in your eyes since you’ve been a child. Sam Berne (04:37.899) I never heard that before even in Optometry school. And then the second thing he said is that your left eye wanders out and you’re not using your two eyes together. That’s why you see double and that’s why you have poor reading comprehension. So I began working with Dr. Shankman in a process called physical therapy for vision and about six months later, I woke up. I was rushing to my office in Philadelphia and I’m driving on the freeway. And I’m going, my God, I forgot to put my contact lenses in and I can see the road signs. I couldn’t believe it. It was really a shocking moment, but it was amazing. It was an amazing healing and I had been reducing my prescription, but this was amazing to be able to see clearly without my lenses and we fast forward 40 years later and I don’t wear any lenses for distance or reading. So I experienced a shift in being able to completely reverse my progressive myopia. The second thing that happened to me was that I began to use my two eyes together and I stopped seeing double vision and I became a voracious reader. So with those two things impacting me in my practice that I opened up and I actually affiliated with a another developmental optometrist. His name is Dr. Ellis Edelman in Philadelphia. I started a practice where I was very inspired to help people improve their vision. But the problem was I was in an area that was very allopathically centered a lot of ophthalmology hospitals and clinics around our office and I couldn’t get any patients. It was very frustrating. So one day I went to one of the hospitals nearby and I met with the physiatrist and the physical therapist and I said, you know, I know how to do this rehabilitative optometry physical therapy on your patients. Could I come and try for three months and see if I can make any, you know, improvements. So, of course, after a month, these people who were suffering double vision vertigo and balance issues focus and concentration issues. These are people with traumatic brain injury stroke, you know, brain insults all kinds of things. Sam Berne (07:03.648) They were going back to their life in a normal manner. So I began then working at another couple of hospitals around Philadelphia and that’s how I built up my practice. The second thing I did at that time is I began to work with special needs kids. These were kids in the spectrum disorders down syndrome, minimal brain dysfunction, and I had a very strong impact on them and I really helped them. So going after those two population groups, I built up a successful practice which I sold about five years later and I moved to my present home Santa Fe, New Mexico and I opened up a holistic integrative practice and you know, never looked back very successful at it. So that’s my beginning and now I want to bring you into what is exactly that I do. So before we get to that, I want to give a disclaimer that the information I’m sharing today is only educational that this is not a substitute for medical care. It’s not a substitute for your eye physician. This is just education. Okay, and so I am not diagnosing or treating in this. I’m only sharing information. I want to give a shout out to my mentors and my teachers. I have several of them in optometry and also in the world of body centered healing also in nutrition, craniosacral therapy, aroma therapy and iridology. So really grateful that I had these people really touch me and I wouldn’t be here today without them. Sam Berne (08:58.795) So I’m sure all of you have been to the eye doctor and this is an optometrist and he has a machine in front of the patient’s eyes. It’s called a foropter and you probably have been in this situation where your optometrist will put you in front of this and say, okay, which lens is clear one or two and you go, can you show me that again? And he says one or two and you go I number two, no, number one, number one. think number one, they’re so close. So the optometrist will probably say, well, let me show you three and four. This is number three. This is number four, four, I think four. The optometrist may say, well, you’re, you’re pretty definitive there. He says, well, you know, I think I really screwed up because I still messed up because of number one. And so this goes back and forth. And let’s say you’re having a stressful day and you choose a lens. And then the next thing is you you get the prescription and you go back to the doctor and you say hey doc, you know, I’m I’m kind of seeing out of a fishbowl and he says, that’s that’s normal. You know, that’s you know, you’ll just get used to it. And actually in six months, you’ll come back and we’ll make the prescription stronger and no problem or the other thing is you get the glasses or the contacts and go. Why is the world slanted and the optometrist will say, well, that’s just your stigmatism. You know, just tilt your head a little bit. You’ll get used to it and you know, six months, you’re going to get a cataract anyway. No worries. Well, no, we don’t want to adjust and get used to something that’s creating some kind of disharmony in us. And this is how the eye exams regularly go. So in mainstream eye care, It is dominated by reactive symptom-based experiences. I’m sure many of you have had that you have going with the symptom and you leave and you know, maybe the symptoms a little better, but you’re not really getting to the root cause and usually, you know, whether it’s, know, farsightedness or nearsightedness myopia hyperopia astigmatism cataracts. Sam Berne (11:22.952) macular degeneration dry eye. We’re going to get into all those today. Eye care is very reactive and they’re going for the first line of defense. Okay, how do we control the symptom? They may manage the symptoms through prescription lenses, which by the way, when you do get a prescription lens and you see 2020 out of it invariably, it’s probably going to weaken your eyes. And you know, in my practice, what we do is we figure out perhaps giving you a full prescription, but then we might give you a vision improvement prescription that you can work with in a non demanding and non threatening situation. And over time your eyes can flex into the weaker prescription happens all the time for us. Also in mainstream eye care, basically it’s pharmaceuticals needles surgery and you know, one of the big moneymakers today. If you have wet macular degeneration as an example. is the the shots of Avastin the anti-VEGF and we’ll go into some of those things. What are alternatives to getting the injections month after month? You know, I’ve had a lot of patients over the years that have been doing those injections for a long time and they’ll come to see me and within three to six months using my method. They’re able to completely get off the need for injections and their eyes get better. They return to health. Obviously surgical invention interventions are very common and sometimes you do need surgery. I’m not against cataract surgery. It’s actually, you know, one of the safest surgeries out there, but there might be alternatives that you can you can do that instead of doing surgery. So we’ll go into that. The other thing that mainstream eye care does is it treats the eye as a mechanical structure and it often ignores the deeper connections to the brain to our systemic health our trauma lifestyle and stress. You know, one of the things that I did after I had my experience working in the hospitals is I published an article on research on the relationship between traumatic brain injury and vision. And by the way, if you Sam Berne (13:41.937) want any of the citations that I shared today. I’d be happy to send you the article. My hair is a little less gray, but otherwise it is me and the the I would say the case histories that I shared were really compelling and it made a big difference in terms of bringing traumatic brain injury into the conversation around vision. So what is the science of holistic optometry? Well, there is definitely peer review literature in vision science. The journal behavioral optometry, optometry and vision development have published many articles on case histories and outcome-based reports on things like visual processing problems, convergence insufficiency, which is an issue with coordinating your eyes together, it’s what I have. Sam Berne (14:41.864) So what is holistic optometry? Well, it considers the whole person, you know, in this conference and I’ve been listening and watching some of the other practitioners. They’re all talking about, you know, we’re treating the whole person, you know, we’re reminding patients that we’re already whole and instead of treating fragments, we’re treating the whole person. So in vision science in our holistic optometry approach. I’m looking at things like behavioral neuroscience. We’re going to do an exercise a little later in this presentation on how to increase our neuroplasticity. And because the eyes originate from the brain, the eyes are the only part of the brain that sit outside the cranial vault. But the eyes do come from the brain very early on in utero. So when we start applying new Stimulations to the eyes. We can make changes and some of those changes can really affect our behavior. That’s why there’s a term that sometimes used in holistic optometry called behavioral optometry. And that means that if we change the way we’re seeing we might change the way we respond to ourselves in the world and we’ll talk a little more about that. Another thing that I do in holistic optometry is something called somatic movement body movement. Well, you know, we don’t just see with our eyes. Our eyes are actually our GPS system that guide our body through space and our peripheral vision our depth perception all of those skills that interface with the brain gets stimulated through movement and so movement and vision work hand-in-hand with each other. I don’t know. I don’t think I have to say much about nutrition. mean in this conference, everybody’s talking about eating, you know, in a healthier way. And certainly if we change our diet, if we eat more antioxidants, you know, the eyes have one of the highest metabolic needs of the body. And so if we give it healthy clean food, non-gmo organic, you know, we prepare it. Well, that’s going to improve our eyesight. Sam Berne (17:04.667) No question about it. Stress management is another thing. So how many people here spend more than one hour a day on a computer that in itself being on digital devices creates a lot of stress in our eyes and in our body. So what can we do to reduce the stress to de-stress our vision so that we’re not behind the eight ball in terms of oxidative stress inflammation and This creates the deterioration. You’re in for a treat today because we’re going to talk about light and color therapy and I’ve set it up. So we’re actually going to all get a light and color therapy treatment. So that’s going to come towards the end of my presentation. So stay tuned for that. And then finally visual processing and integration therapies. I do this a lot with children. I’m in the process of producing directing and producing a new documentary that’s going to be coming out this summer. And it’s my work with the spectrum disorder kids that I’ve been, you know, helping for over 40 years. And so, you know, get on my email list because this this documentary is really fabulous and I’ve been working on it a long time. We’re kind of in the final stages of it, but I want to bring awareness to the general public that vision and learning and the brain. are very interrelated and it can really affect our learning and processing of information. Alright, some other things that affect our vision. I referred at the beginning of my presentation astigmatism and astigmatism means there’s a twist in the body a twist in the eyes and this creates an imbalance in our posture. Sam Berne (18:57.735) It’s interesting with the stigmatism. I’m a craniosacral therapist and when I used to have my main office, I used to have my eye exam equipment and right next to that I’d have my massage table. So I would measure somebody’s prescription and then I would ask them to go on the massage table and I would do an hour of craniosacral therapy on them. Then I’d put them back in the eye exam and I would redo the exam and invariably their eye prescription was at least 30 to 40 % less after doing an hour of craniosacral therapy and that’s what I would prescribe and people were thrilled. They love that prescription. So the point of it is is that what prescriptions we have in our eyes can really impact our neck our head our body our spine our sacrum and if we give a lens that’s too strong. I’m telling you that the cervical spine the thoracic, the sacrum, the pelvis is all going to feel it. And I’ve had a number of cranial osteopaths that refer patients to me because they say, you know, this guy’s prescription is way too strong. I can feel it in his cranial rhythm. This happens over and over again. So posture the body how we hold ourselves. Based on what prescription we’re worrying in our eyes. It’s going to affect our posture. What about emotions? Is there any relationship between emotions and how we see well with 40 years of patients telling me this so this is coming from patients. They’ll say something like my nearsightedness my myopia is related to fear and I’ll then talk to farsighted people. hyperopia and they’ll say my main emotion is anger. So if we relate that the Chinese medicine what is fear is in the kidneys and anger is in the liver. I’m going to talk about the liver kidney relationship in a little bit. So our emotional body definitely has effect on our physical vision. And once you start uncovering what’s behind your eyes. Sam Berne (21:21.486) what’s been internalized. Those things are going to start to come out and you can have emotional psychological even spiritual insights that can actually clear up your physical seeing. I talked a little bit about learning. So we know that, you know, when you go to the regular eye doctor and he or she has you read the distance eye chart. That’s actually not vision. That’s your eyesight. It’s eyeballs. It’s glasses. Vision is how the eyes and the brain and the body work together. So the more seamless you have that eye brain body connection that’s going to improve your learning. mean, I experienced it firsthand. I was a terrible reader for 20 years and when I met Dr. Shankman and I went through his vision therapy program and I healed my visual coordination problem. No problem in reading. I can read and write and So it was a real epiphany in me and again over the years helping thousands of kids regain their vision which really impacts their learning and then finally the nervous system regulation. So our eyes reflect our sympathetic nervous system and our parasympathetic nervous system. So how does that work? So we have something in our eyes called our pupil and the pupil is I call it the the light. gatekeeper like for example, you go outside and your pupils should get small. They should constrict because you want to protect yourself from the light. You don’t want to have light sensitivity like you come inside and you come inside and the pupils dilate because you need more light. Okay, so that’s a nervous system autonomic nervous system response. When you have too much sympathetic nervous system. in your vision. Guess what happens your poop. Your pupils are dilated all the time. So you’ve got light sensitivity, your sensitive to glare. You get eye strain, eye fatigue. Another thing you do is you tunnel your vision. This is the start of myopia. So your nervous system is a reflection of how your visual system is working and how you’re working. You can’t really separate it out. Sam Berne (23:50.051) All right, little more on research because people like that. And again, I can send you citations on the science of holistic optometry. The Journal of Behavioral Optometry has reported, you know, improvements in convergence insufficiency by doing something called the convergence insufficiency symptom survey. They also do something else called developmental eye movement test. And eye movements are very important in terms of our reading our tracking. And so there are physical kind of standardized tests that you can do to measure the effects of the physical therapy. And not only are you seeing subjective changes, but you’re also seeing objective changes. Now, what about vision mirroring stress? I talked a bit about stress and stress management. There are scientific findings out there that the sympathetic nervous system is in overdrive and just like I talked about we go in our fight-flight-freeze response. This increases pupil size. If we’re in chronic stress, it’s going to affect our accommodation, which is our focusing muscles, our vergence is our coordination. And the other thing that we measure is the relationship between visual stress and cortisol levels. We’re not surprised by that. So we go into adrenal fatigue and I’ll kind of bring those things together a little later. How does vision mirror trauma? Well, in some of the scientific reports early trauma can lead to disorganized visual processing. So this would be birth trauma and any kind of c-section or breach or forceps delivery will affect something called primitive reflex retention. So now we’re kind of in the world of occupational therapy and physical therapy and I had the good fortune with one of my mentors. Dr. Albert a Sutton who was a world-renowned developmental optometrist. He brought a group of optometrists from Scandinavia and they taught us the primitive reflex integration therapy. So the primitive reflexes are early movement patterns that start in utero. Sam Berne (26:12.932) And they kind of set the stage for the infant toddler child to move through these primitive patterns movement patterns. And then the brain gets freed up where they learn how to hop and skip and jump rope and then eventually they’re tracking their eyes. They have visual coordination. And then finally they move into executive functioning processing where they make decisions and they plan ahead stuff they do in school. But what we learned was these school-aged children that have learning problems. It was because they didn’t integrate their primitive reflexes. This is what these optometrists from Scandinavia taught us. So what we found was is that if there was early trauma could have been in utero could have been at birth could have been at the bonding period. These primitive reflexes got stuck and they’re controlled by the reptilian brain our survival brain. So our survival response and so by doing this primitive reflex therapy on them, it released the brainstem. They integrated the primitive reflexes. Then they could then move to the higher brain centers and this actually had an effect on their processing. So it’s a long answer to it’s one way that you can heal trauma. Probably another way you can heal trauma that I use in my practice, especially with the kids. Is craniosacral therapy. I feel that craniosacral combined with primitive reflexes is a really great foundation for helping children heal trauma. And I would say craniosacral works on the fluid body and primitive reflexes work on the nervous system. Now the fluid body comes way before the nervous system. So, you know, in a lot of rehab, they’re talking about just primitive reflexes. They just stay in the nervous system. So in my practitioner training as an example, we go all the way back to the fluid body, the cerebral spinal fluid, the fascia, the connective tissue, the lymph because if we can go all the way back, then we can reprogram the fluid body and then we can do the primitive reflexes on the nervous system. And there you go. You’re covering all the bases. This also can be with adults. This is what I saw in the hospitals. Sam Berne (28:36.804) PTSD and trauma survivors, you know, I’ve worked with a lot of veterans and in veterans as you probably know, there’s a lot of PTSD and the thing about our vision is because it’s soft tissue. We absorb the traumas, but we can’t see them on the MRIs. We can’t see them on the scans, but where I do see them is functionally symptomatically. And so by doing again, physical vision therapy. This is a way that you can start healing the PTSD and the trauma. Some other things that happen in trauma around vision is we tend to tunnel our peripheral vision. We have trouble with eye contact. We have trouble with convergence. That’s where our eyes aiming in towards each other and focusing issues. And also the last thing is we’re sensitive to light and there’s a problem with our balance our orientation. We might have vertigo. That’s that vestibular visual mismatch. What about vision and inflammation? I’ll tell you a lot of the eye diseases. I see are really related to inflammation gone amok. And if you look at conditions like dry eye uveitis macular degeneration, just to name a few, there’s a connection between those and cytokine cascades. Also oxidative stress and pairing. the lens health. So that’s why we develop cataracts or retinal problems, either macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy or other very weird retinopathy conditions. There is a very strong gut-eye axis. I know that can be hard for some of my colleagues to understand, but the gut and the eye are very, very related and connected. Sam Berne (30:38.604) So in my functional integrative body, my functional vision integrative body method. What I’m here to say is that functional means how we are using our visual system as opposed to just looking at it from a structural point of view. You know, when I was in school, I learned the structure of all the anatomy and actually in a few minutes, I’m going to give you a functional anatomy session just Just to teach you a little bit about function as opposed to just structure. There’s also in my experience a neuro emotional and a somatic approach when we start adding those things to our vision. It allows us to open the door to create to create and treat the root causes not the symptoms and I would say most I care is really interested in symptom suppression. They’re not really Looking at the root causes. So I think of it as education prevention and restoration empowering people to take agency in their healing and this is what our practitioners training is about. Okay, so I’m going to bring you in to structural anatomy versus functional anatomy and structural anatomy focuses on form and shape. This is the lens. This is the eyelids. This is the optic nerve. Okay, so there’s an identification of here’s the anatomical parts and maybe this is where the disease is. This is where the disease begins. It could be in the optic nerve. It’s glaucoma. It could be in the macular. It’s macular degeneration. In functional anatomy, what we’re interested in is how the anatomy moves, how it works. It’s more of a dynamic situation. In this particular saying that I use function affects structure. So how we use something is going to eventually affect the anatomy. As an example, a lot of people out there go into what we call invisible bifocals or progressive lenses. And when you wear a progressive lens, what happens is basically the edges of the lens are not usable and the only part of the lens that you can see through is the middle part and it’s Sam Berne (33:06.12) Split up. It’s a gradient where the very top fourth of the lens is for distance. The middle part of the compartment is for computer and the bottom part is for reading. And let’s say you now have been diagnosed with macular degeneration. This happens a lot in our practice. So they come to see me. They’ve got macular degeneration and they’re wearing the progressive lenses. They don’t like them. but they were prescribed for them and what the progressive progressive lenses are doing functionally is they’re making the person focus and use primarily their macula exclusively. So they’re making them use the weak part of their retina, but they’re not even thinking that the practitioners that are prescribing these aren’t even thinking of the functional ramifications. They’re thinking of it as this is cosmetically great. Nobody’s going to see the line, you know, it’s everything’s in one lens and you know, so they’re they’re not really looking at the root cause they’re just trying to treat, you know, the the symptom again. So we take them out of the progressive lenses. We might give them a single vision lens for driving and a single vision lens for the computer and maybe we give them a reading lens as well. Okay, they can still use their progressive lenses if they’re really shifting back and forth. But the key thing on function affecting structure, the bigger the window you look through the more of the eye you’re using the smaller the window you’re using the less of the eye you’re using and you’re putting stress maximum stress on the stress point. It’s the weakest part of the person’s retina, which is the macula macular degeneration. So you have to look at what are you giving the patient? as it relates to their functional vision experience. Okay, so here’s the anatomy of the eye and if we go over here, see my arrow. This is the front part of the eye. We have the the front part, which is the eyelids which protect the eyes and they house the glands. So people that have things like blepharitis or you know, my bone me and gland dysfunction. Sam Berne (35:30.708) Their eyelids are swollen. There’s inflammation going on. And so, you know, that’s going to impede their ability to produce the proper tears that then cover the clear window of the eye, which is the cornea. And so the cornea has a lot of nerve endings on it. And if it’s not getting lubricated every time you blink, it feels like you’ve got sand in your eyes. Well, the standard approach would be to use, you know, an immune suppressant eye drop called Restasis, which is very expensive. It suppresses your immune system. It gives you some temporary relief, but it’s certainly not dealing with the the cause of why the person is getting dry eye just as an example. And then we go behind that and we see the iris, which is the colored part of the eye. And then here’s a healthy lens. So I read a statistic recently that by the age of 70. 95 % of people are going to get cataracts. Okay. Why is that? Why do we get cataracts? Well, partly it’s because the lens of the eye has no blood vessels that run through it. You don’t see any blood vessels here. It’s what we call an avascular structure and it’s very susceptible to oxidative stress accumulation protein accumulation. something called the glycation process where glucose molecules attach to the protein molecules and this creates the cloudiness in the lens. So what can you do to reverse cataracts or slow down cataracts? Well, two of the main ingredients are glutathione and vitamin C just to start with we’ll get into some other things. But basically if you’re developing cataracts, you’re low in glutathione, you’re low in vitamin C. And the third thing is you need to really monitor your pancreas health and your glucose levels because if your glucose levels are moderate to high, if you eat a lot of carbs and a lot of you know, white foods or sugars or you know, bad fats, you’re going to start getting oxidative stress in the lens of the eye. So there are things that you can do nutritionally to start to reverse that and we’ll talk a little more about that. Sam Berne (37:54.346) We look back here. This is called the posterior chamber. This is where we get those bothersome floaters. I floaters. I probably get a question a day on social media. How do I fix my floaters? And we think that floaters is just an eye problem, but actually there’s a systemic and metabolic cause to floaters anything from inflammation in the eye liver congestion. poor dentistry head trauma just to name a few and so there’s some things that you can do to mitigate some of the floaters. I think improving the lymphatic system is another way getting better circulation in the eye. Sometimes is a way to get rid of the floaters and then finally we’re back at the retina and the retina is made up of photoreceptors. We have the macula we have the which is right here the fovea and then we have the the retina itself and then we have the optic nerve here and this is the connector back to the brain. So the eye in general needs a lot of nutrients and after about age 35 or 40 of we get less and less of those nutrients into that eye area unless we have really good digestion and coupled with stress poor lifestyle lots of digital use not getting enough morning sunlight. I mean, there’s a lot of reasons why our eyes let us down and there is a genetic component to it as well. So we’ll kind of go into that maybe in about five minutes. We’ll go into that. All right, so common eye conditions. I had progressive myopia and I was able to reverse it. Certainly myopia is running an epidemic. portions because of all the screen time we’re doing. I call it visual confinement time.  

For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ Please check out Dr. Berne’s Practitioner’s Training Program: https://www.drsamberne.com/practitioners-training/ Keywords astronaut training, sensory integration, visual skills, functional vision, visual tracking, binocular vision, cognitive skills, visual memory Summary In this conversation, Sam Berne discusses various techniques and methods used in occupational therapy, particularly focusing on astronaut training and its components, including vestibular activation, ocular motor skills, and auditory processing. He emphasizes the importance of visual skills in functional vision, including visual tracking, accommodation, and binocular vision, and how these skills are essential for reading and spatial awareness. The conversation also covers cognitive skills such as visual memory, form perception, and spatial orientation, highlighting their significance in learning and everyday activities. Takeaways Astronaut training incorporates sensory motor integration techniques. Vestibular activation is crucial for spatial awareness. Visual tracking is essential for reading and learning. Binocular vision enhances depth perception and spatial IQ. Visual accommodation is important in sports and daily activities. The cover test helps assess visual coordination. Visual memory plays a key role in learning processes. Form perception is vital for recognizing objects in different contexts. Spatial orientation aids in understanding relationships in space. Visual closure is important for problem-solving and comprehension. Sound Bites “It’s a wonderful sensory motor integration.” “Visual tracking is so important with reading.” “Binocular vision is super important.” “The cover test is a way to do this.” “Visual memory is essential for learning.” Chapters 00:00 Understanding Astronaut Training Techniques 05:53 Exploring Visual Skills and Functional Vision 11:49 Enhancing Visual Tracking and Accommodation 18:10 The Importance of Binocular Vision 24:06 Cognitive Skills and Visual Memory   Sam Berne (00:00.236) All right. So in the astronaut training, this is an occupational therapy technique where they’re working with sensory motor integration and there’s three components. There’s the vestibular activation. So that’s where when you rotate them around you’re stimulating that inner ear number two, it’s ocular motor meaning it’s visual. So it’s eye tracking and gaze stabilization. So getting me to be able to focus and hold my gaze that improves my visual motor integration like hand-eye coordination or copying from the board stuff like that. And then the third component and the astronaut training is auditory processing integration. So you can use sound and rhythm to help the brain process spatial awareness. So I find I like to do this with every kid, but especially with autism, developmental delays, autism spectrum, Asperger’s, brain injury, people with dizziness, vertigo, balance. So what you’re doing is either using a rotating board or you can use a chair, something you can spin and you’re monitoring the direction speed and duration. To over stimulate. some of these kids if you try to do too much of the astronaut training it over stimulates them. Now you can use a pen light or moving objects or visual tracking tools and then also they’re listening something sometimes you can pair it with you know, by by urinal beats or you know some like in here. We use the so cord. Now, the reason why we call it astronaut training is because in NASA and astronaut training protocols, they would work a lot with the vestibular system, especially in different gravity environments. So just as astronauts have to adapt to movements in space individuals and people with sensory challenges. Sam Berne (02:23.085) They they have challenges with gravity and moving their body as it relates to Spatial awareness now the actual go ahead Okay, let me let me give you the actual directions There There’s different kinds of movements you can make. You can go forwards and backwards with the chair. You can go side to side with the chair and you can even go up and down. Okay, so each one of those is helping them with gravity awareness, postural control and muscle tone. So you’re working with what we call the postural reflexes. They come after the primitive reflexes. So if you’re going to do the spinning, can do I like to do clockwise first then counterclockwise and Sam Berne (03:40.383) I also can do diagonal movement as well. Sam Berne (03:53.525) now the the sequence of this is that When you do this standard rotation, I like to do between three and five in one direction and then I pause for a few seconds. To let the person process it and then I’ll do three to five rotations in the other direction and I’m really monitoring the over stimulation. Like if they start saying, I’m dizzy. I’m nauseous. I’m disoriented. I will do less on the next round. I do it slow. So it needs to be smooth. So you don’t want to jerk it. And what I also will have them do is focus on a target a visual target as they’re moving around. I might have multiple targets in my room. Okay, look here and then they move now. Look at this target over here and then look at this over here. So you can add that but if again, if they start getting dizzy, sometimes I’ll just have them stop will stop and just do breathing because you’re going to find like with this child probably he’s going to get overstimulated pretty quickly. so you may only get going around once or twice in each, you know, in each, direction and then you stop and that’s it. Now I tend to do the astronaut training for about a month and we just incorporated into our, you know, primitive reflex work, our gross and fine motor therapies, those kinds of things. So. Sam Berne (05:53.245) It’s a wonderful sensory motor integration that really takes in the vestibular the visual and the auditory especially if you’re adding kind of a an auditory processing stimulant as well as the visual to you. We’re going to talk today about visual skills and we’re going to talk about fine motor cognitive vision connection. So this is part of our Functional vision, but we’re really talking about the visual skills. So what are What what does this mean? So developing functional vision in in it means enhancing visual skills and perceptual abilities. So we’re working more with advanced things. Okay, as opposed to say staying with you know, balance and primitive reflexes. We’re now working with specific eye muscle skills and how those eye muscles are helping the person process information. Okay. Now as an example, one of the primary visual skills is visual tracking the ability to smoothly and accurately follow a moving object with one’s eyes. This visual tracking is so important with reading. So some of the behaviors will see If there’s a visual tracking problem, if you’re, you know, tracking their their eyes, do they have to move their head or their body to track their eyes? That tells you something that tells you that reading is probably going to be difficult. And I when I’m testing, I don’t tend to correct or suppress the person. I’m just watching to see hey, follow this target. Do I need to move my body? Do I need to move my head or can I just do it with my eyes? Ultimately, we’d want you to do it with the eyes and we have the pursuit movement. That’s the smooth movement and the saccadic movement jumping from one object back and forth. So both of them are important in the visual tracking. Now there are different ways to assess visual tracking. There’s a there’s a test. Sam Berne (08:19.223) That’s very paper and pencil oriented that gives you a lot of results based on age and it’s called the King Devic test. Kin G is the first word. D E V I C K and sometimes if I need to do kind of a test where we’ve got norms for certain ages because you’re basically reading digits on this. cardboard book in this book and At first there’s lines that connect the numbers Okay, and then the next page there’s no lines and then the last page the numbers are really spread out Eradically and that’s harder to do so you can measure how many times they miss reading the numbers You know based on their age and so on So you could do the King Devic test if you’re if you’re looking for that that level of accuracy. What I like to do is I actually just have to move an object. So I move the object I’m moving so it could be a pan light. It could be a ball with a metal rod with a metal ball on it called a wolf ball could be a kind of a tongue depressor with a a sticker on it. And so you can use one or two of them if you’re doing saccades or pursuits. We do them in all the directions, you know, circular and you know, diagonal. And we’re looking for the accuracy of being able to hold on to the ball or hold on to the target while they’re fixating on the target. You’ll see kids sometimes do this will the overshoot Sam Berne (10:21.953) So they’re looking at something in their eyes actually go beyond the target. call that overshooting or they might be under shooting. let’s say they’re following the target this way and the eyes kind of are moving in that direction. So you’re going to see a lot of weird movements and the eye tracking is a fundamental skill that’s connected with especially in the horizontal movements. with the primitive reflex called the asymmetrical tonic neck reflex. So if I see an ocular motor tracking problem, I’m going to go back and test the asymmetrical tonic neck reflex because a lot of times that reflex is inhibiting the tracking to work well. visual tracking is really essential in terms of reading. Now, one of the fun exercises I like to do physical vision therapy functional vision exercises called the alphabet ball exercise. So what I do is I write letters on a ball or even a balloon. That’s even more fun and I toss it to the individual and I have them call out the last letter they see before catching it. So again, you could do this with a Marsden ball. We have a Marsden ball with different letters and numbers on it. So while they’re hitting the ball I might have them spell a word or I might have them, you know, just call out the letters or the numbers. Again, if you’re doing balloon volleyball, you can put letters on the balloon and they can call out the first or last letter. So there’s different ways you can also work with the visual tracking using a heart chart, which I think you know about with an eye patch and a metronome. I like doing auditory. processing along with that as well. Sam Berne (12:22.741) So they have to say the leg leg. I’ll put the letters in different triangle points on the dome and I’ll also have them do like a vestibular thing as well like jumping on the physio ball or doing the rotation board or the balance board. These are more high level kids or we’ll do prisms, you know, while there I was doing that with the last client. So yeah, in any way in any way you’re really boosting the tracking either where you do it with each eye separately or you do with both eyes together. kind of just mix it up and that’s what we do. All right. Now the second skill that we talk about is called visual accommodation. This means that the eye, the lens of the eye is able to change its focus between near and far distance objects. And so one of the tests I use in that is have the individual switch their focus from an object like a 10 inches away, like a small chart of letters to one that’s 20, 10 to 20 feet away and noting any delay or difficulty in the adjustment of. the visual accommodation. You know, there’s less of that today because kids are on the tablet a lot and they’re not using their desk and looking at the board. They’re just kind of at their tablet but visual accommodation comes into play a lot in sports. It comes into play a lot with bike riding, you things where you have to kind of shift your focus. Now we’re in ski season. So with the borders, can they board and kind of do that near far focusing while they’re keeping their balance. So in terms of vision therapy, the fun, my functional vision exercise, you can do it with a thumb. Sam Berne (14:14.675) shifting it from, you know, thumb up close and then looking out in the distance. I can do it with each eye separately. I like to repeat it for about five times to improve the accommodative flexibility. Sometimes I’ll use two heart charts on closer one farther away different sizes different setups of the heart chart with the letters. I also like to use the vestibular system as a challenge. So we might again be on some kind of a rotation or balance board. And then the other thing is the The metronome I like the metronome at a slow speed like 40 beats a minute and we’re just you know, shifting our focus back and forth. All right. Now the third visual skill that I like to work with is what we call binocular vision. This has to do with both eyes working together and I am really interested in the coordination between the two eyes. I’m going to stop here for a second. The coordination between the two eyes is critically important as it relates to depth perception judging things in space. You know, it’s such an important skill in terms of the the spatial IQ, the spatial IQ of the person. And there were, there was some work done by some optometrists, developmental optometrists, where they actually measured IQ and then they did vision therapy on them and their, there’s their depth perception improved. Sam Berne (16:16.085) And their IQ went up because they could see in the problems more they could see into Solutions better. So binocular vision is super important. Now we haven’t gone over this test. This is called the cover test. And so the way you set this up is you sit across from the person about a foot away. Okay, so they’re looking at you. You’re looking at them. And what you’re doing is you’re having them look at a target, maybe about 14 inches from their face. So they’re focusing on the target and you’re covering an eye. Now, when you, as soon as you cover an eye, you want to watch the movement of the eye that’s uncovered. Does it move away from the target? Does it drift away out or away in? That’s going to tell you whether or not there’s strabismus. and if there’s a lack of visual coordination. Now, the other thing you want to look at is when you take the cover away, what happens to the eye that was covered? Does it come back to look at the target? Does it drift away from the target? So we do both eyes. We have you cover the right eye. We say look at the left and then we go in the other direction and then we say cover the other eye. So we’re covering the right eye. And we’re covering the left and we’re looking at the movement of the eye behind the cover. If the eye goes in then we know we’re in an exo response. If the eye goes out under the cover when you take the cover away, then that’s an ESO response up and down. Also, you might see an eye like you take the cover away. Whoop the eye is going up or the eye is going down. So the The cover test is a way to do this. Another way to do it is with the red green test. We have them look at the red green bars and this test is going to show more general binocular vision possibilities or suppression. Because when there’s a binocular vision problem, two things can happen, double vision or suppression. So on the red green test, Sam Berne (18:34.765) You’re going to be able to ascertain are they suppressing or are they using both eyes together? Now you could even get a 3d picture book with Polaroid glasses. The Brunel Corporation sells this and so basically it’s a it’s a 3d book. The picture on it you wear the 3d glasses and you go. Oh my God, I can see depth in the picture. I can pinch the insects wings as an example. Or the person might say, geez, the picture looks really flat to me. I can’t really see it. So that’s where I might do the red green test to see if they’re suppressing one eye or another. Now, one of the best exercises to develop binocular vision is the Brock string, which you are doing. You folks are doing these. And again, you attach one end. of the string to a stationary object. And then the other end you hold it up to your nose and you spread the beads out equidistantly and you focus on each bead and you’re just converging at each bead and that’s a way for you to develop the binocular vision situation. So it’s such an important skill. Okay, we got it. We got a few more things. We want to talk about hand-eye coordination. So this is how the eyes follow the hand reaching and grasping. There’s a primitive reflex called the grasp reflex. You probably know it. And so we want to observe the person’s ability to reach and grab grass grasp objects of various sizes distances and textures. And again, we’re doing the alphabet ball exercise. to improve eye-hand coordination, keeping the ball, hitting it up at the balloon, for example, is a good eye-hand coordination. Catching a ball, Marsden ball, know, those kinds of things. Juggling with scarves, throwing the scarf over here on the right and then throwing it here on the left. So anything you can develop that eye-to-hand coordination is really helpful. Sam Berne (20:56.919) So now we’re going to move into some of the cognitive skills like visual memory. There’s a test called the Monroe visual three, which is a good memory test, but it’s paper and pencil visual integration visual motor integration. So another way to do it is to do the test is to show the individual series of images or patterns and for them to then recall or reproduce from memory. That’s another way to Test the memory and then their memory games matching card games. Concentration is a game. all use anything. You can locate specific images in a pair enhances visual memory. There’s also a whole body of work. I learned from a doctor wax Harry wax who was a developmental optometrist. He has a whole program working with parketry blocks. and visual memory. All right, the next is form perception, recognizing objects despite changes in size, position or context. So how do you assess form constancy you present objects in various orientations and ask the individual to identify them? No noting any difficulties in the identification. I like doing tangram puzzles as a way to enhance form perception or form constancy where you engage the individual and assembling the tangram pieces to match specific shapes. Sam Berne (22:38.317) Improving their ability to recognize forms in different configurations. This is going to come into play in high level mathematics calculus differential equations even geometry So this is very supported in math All right. The next skill is called figure ground being able to see the forest from the trees to see the the details from the whole picture one of the Techniques we use is utilizing puzzles where the individual must find objects hidden within a busy scene or enhancing visual figure ground discrimination by doing parts to whole relationship type parketry designs. And then the last one is visual closure and spatial orientation. This is important because spatial orientation tells us about being able to understand where we are in space and where we’re going and understanding relationships is a key point. Now, this could be in sports. It could be just socially, but the key in spatial orientation is that what we want to do is we want to utilize different puzzles and worksheets where you must find hidden objects in a busy scene. Okay. Now, we also talk about something called visual closure. This would be like doing dot to dot drawings. It could be doing something like we call the incomplete man test where we have a diagram of a man with like one arm, his face, maybe one leg. And so we give it to the child and it’s a  

-If you are a practitioner, consider joining my training. Contact me here to set up a free discovery call: https://bit.ly/4jSn293 For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ Keywords eye health, lymphatic system, vision, detox, relaxation, vagus nerve, eye exercises, digital strain, inflammation, self-care Summary In this podcast, Sam Berne discusses the importance of the eye-limb connection and offers practical exercises to improve eye health. He emphasizes the role of hydration, movement, and the vagus nerve in maintaining clear eyesight and reducing symptoms like puffiness and strain. Techniques such as humming and eye massage are highlighted as effective methods for enhancing relaxation and lymphatic flow, ultimately leading to better vision and overall well-being. Takeaways For most of us, digital devices cause eye strain. The eyes rely on movement and hydration for health. Systemic inflammation can lead to eye brain inflammation. Eye massage can stimulate the vagus nerve. Humming is a powerful technique for relaxation. Palming helps in reducing stress and enhancing vision. Regular practice can lead to clearer eyesight. The ocular cardiac reflex slows the heart rate. Humming sends vibrations that activate the vagus nerve. Consistency in these techniques yields better eye health. Takeaways For most of us, digital devices cause eye strain. The eyes rely on movement and hydration for health. Systemic inflammation can lead to eye brain inflammation. Eye massage can stimulate the vagus nerve. Humming is a powerful technique for relaxation. Palming helps in reducing stress and enhancing vision. Regular practice can lead to clearer eyesight. The ocular cardiac reflex slows the heart rate. Humming sends vibrations that activate the vagus nerve. Consistency in these techniques yields better eye health. Sound Bites “Humming calms the nervous system.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Eye-Limb Connection 01:28 Understanding Eye Health and Lymphatic Function 02:57 Techniques for Eye Relaxation and Vagus Nerve Stimulation 06:19 Benefits of Humming and Eye Massage Sam Berne (00:01.634) Hey everybody. Welcome to the podcast today. It’s great to be here. So we’re going to talk a bit about the eye-limb connection how to drain and detox clear eyesight and vision. So the one thing I want to say to start off with is that you know, for most of us we spend our day on digital devices and I don’t know how many listeners out there followers. have things like puffy eyes strain redness and you’re concerned because you’re staring at a screen all day. Well in this podcast, what I want to do is I want to give you some exercises. Just a very simple approach on how to boost your eye lymph body connection because you see the eyes don’t have a direct lymphatic system and so they rely on movement. The eyes rely on movement hydration and proper circulation to get rid of inflammation and oxidative stress. So if you have any of those things like blurry vision puffy eyes, then stay tuned. So let’s talk a little bit about the lymph and since the eyes have no direct lymphatic connection. They do rely on hydration and movement and the eyelids are key player in this because they house the glands that produce the tears that keep our eyes from getting dry. So it’s very easy to get inflammation. In fact, a lot of systemic inflammation can lead to eye brain inflammation. Obviously what we eat gluten, dairy and sugar. our big factors, but also how we stare at our screen actually locks down our lymphatic function and this can cause these symptoms that I’ve spoken about. So the role of eye massage and I’ll talk a little bit of what I mean by eye massage. I’m also going to bring in what we call the Vegas nerve because the Vegas nerve is very important. Sam Berne (02:27.438) in our connection to our parasympathetic nervous system and the vagus nerve runs from the brainstem to the face throat chest and into the gut. Now, one of the best ways to stimulate and balance your vagus nerve is by doing a simple process called humming and the power of humming and I palming is so critical for balancing the nervous system, increasing the lymph, increasing our vagus nerve and reducing our stress. So while we’re massaging and placing our hands on different parts of the body, this is a very powerful self-regulating technique that stimulates the vagus nerve. It calms the nervous system. It enhances lymphatic flow and it reduces our stress. So the way we do this is that you’re going to place first of all, you’re going to wash your hands. Hopefully your hands are clean. You’re going to place your fingertips over the eyelids. See how I’m doing the eyes are closed and I’m just making some circles. See how I’m doing this very lightly and I’m humming. So we’re going to do about 10 homes. Sam Berne (04:09.633) Also add the temples. Sam Berne (04:24.568) Now let’s move down to the jaws. Sam Berne (04:38.808) forward to go. Now we’re going to work on our vagus nerve which runs along the side of our neck and we’re going to be going down like this two hums. Sam Berne (05:01.974) In the last two, remain closed. You’re going to do the palming and the humming. Sam Berne (05:23.04) You can drop your hands and just connect in with your body. There should be some tingling brightness lightness, and then you can open your eyes and look around and I know for me when I hum like this, it actually relaxes me. It can actually reduce cortisol, increase oxytocin and serotonin those natural calming biochemicals. In the brain also humming can slow the heart rate lower the blood pressure and increase digestion and relaxation. The other thing that when you cup your eyes over the palms over your eyes, you’re you’re gently stimulating something called the ocular ocular cardiac reflex and this naturally slows the heart rate. I’ve done studies on heart rate variability doing this technique and I actually see the heart rate come down. Also, the other thing that the humming does is it sends vibrations through the skull and the sinuses and this further activates the vagus nerve, which which again is going to just create more relaxation. So this is a great technique for being able to reset your eye brain body connection. It’s definitely going to relax your nervous system and it’s going to rejuvenate your eyes. So give it a try. I’d love to hear your comments. Let me know how you’re doing. My suggestion would be to do these 10 homes like we did three times a day do it for a week and you will start to see more. resiliency in your eyes, less redness, less puffiness, less strain, more clarity. So let me know what you think about that. That’s our show for today. I want to thank you so much for tuning in. Take care.      

-For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ Are you a practitioner? Join his practitioner’s training today. Book a free discovery call with Dr. Berne https://calendly.com/drsamberne/retre… Keywords to the podcast today: myopia, eye health, computer use, prescription lenses, vision improvement, blue light protection, eye fatigue, relaxation, peripheral vision, eye doctor Summary In this episode, Dr. Sam Berne discusses the implications of myopia, particularly in relation to computer use. He emphasizes the importance of having the correct prescription for computer work to avoid worsening eye conditions. Dr. Berne suggests that individuals should request a second prescription tailored for computer use, which can help reduce eye strain and improve comfort. He also highlights the benefits of using blue light protection lenses and the importance of taking breaks from lenses to promote eye health. Takeaways • Myopia means seeing well up close but struggling with distance. • Using a distance prescription for computer work can worsen myopia. • Request a second prescription specifically for computer use. • Comfort and clarity are both crucial when choosing lenses. • A reduced prescription can help relax the eyes and improve peripheral vision. • Wearing a lower power lens can enhance eye health and circulation. • Taking breaks from lenses can reduce their reinforcing influence. • Blue light protection is essential for screen use. • Over time, a reduced prescription can become the new distance prescription. • Regular eye exams are important for maintaining eye health. Sound Bites • “This is a recipe for disaster.” • “You have to know how far away your laptop is.” • “Clarity is important, but comfort is just as important.” Chapters 00:00Understanding Myopia and Its Implications 02:57The Importance of Correct Prescription for Computer Use Sam Berne (00:00.568) Hey everyone, welcome to the program today. I’m going to be giving some advice on how to reduce myopia. People ask me questions whether or not you can actually improve myopia. Well, of course you can. In fact, you can improve your vision at any age. Hope you enjoy the show. Here we go. You could do to be proactive is you can download. A Snellen acuity chart. It’s free and print it out and put it somewhere 20 feet away. And that could be a measuring stick for you to see, you know, how close you are to passing the driver, the vision part of the driver’s test. In most states, you need 2040 and so you don’t need 2020. And 2020 means seeing a 1 third inch letter at 20 feet. So you’re you’re looking at a fairly sizable letter and as long as you can pass it with both eyes somewhere with a correction. There’s no problem. And now I’m going to deconstruct this a little bit for you and it may or may not make sense. It may not resonate. But here’s the pattern I see in you. Here’s the pattern. Growing up, you began to tense your eyes. And when you tense your eyes, you give up the distance to keep your world close to you. That’s the successful part of your seeing up close. Now what goes along with that tension sometimes is you feel Sam Berne (02:02.978) Like you have to defend yourself. Like you’re on a constant alert. Yeah, yeah, looking for threats looking for threats. Now that mental energy, whether it’s conscious or unconscious that you’re putting into your eyes because your eyes are the bodyguards for you. They’re like the advanced sentry, you know, that sits outside where you live and is watching. When’s the next fire? Do I smell smoke? What’s that siren? So your prescription in your eye is everywhere in your body. It’s not just in the eye. So the cataracts, you’re allegedly forming and I can give you what symptoms are. What a cataract is on a kind of a very deep level is I’m blocking what is coming at me and I’m blocking looking out. So it’s kind of like a boundary that you’re creating. It’s a hardening. You’re getting more fixed. And then with a floater, that’s like shocking, shocking transformation. Like there’s always this it’s like a pinball machine, a pinball that’s going all over the back of your eye and it’s got some congestion. It’s got the tissue is partly consolidated. It’s it’s very hard to predict. And again, it’s it’s related. To being really fixed and tight and locked in and You know, there are I exercises. I want to show you but the psychology of this is that You are mentally operating in a way where you’re on high alert all the time Sam Berne (04:20.746) And you’re you’re putting that through your sensory systems, especially your eyes and your ears. And what it’s doing is it’s beginning to affect the healthy tissue and the structures of the anatomy. Like it can’t even absorb the good nutrients that you’re feeding it. Thank God you’re, you know, conscious to do that because if you weren’t game over, you know. So, you know. I want to revisit for a second the that blurry vision exercise. I’m not going to make you go back and do that necessarily. But my point in that was to take away your habit of being used to having things a certain way, which is clear. Well, when you put them on, there’s no way for you to get clarity. You cannot focus through it and get the same level of resolution as you can with your glasses. And so what that what that lens is doing is an it’s an energy transformer. So think of your eye as a doorway of light that comes in and projects out. So the eye is one of the is one of the windows where light can get in. And when you wear a lens like from the optometrist, it’s a very specific window that concentrates and tunnels and tightens you up. It reinforces Sam Berne (06:23.35) your mental habit of protecting yourself hypervigilance stress. Yeah on high alert and what the blurry glasses do is it invites you to go into the other part of your nervous system, which is the parasympathetic nervous system. And you know, there’s a saying that what you don’t like or what you’re not really attracted to is probably the very thing you need to bring you into more balance. And that’s a tricky thing because you know, I don’t like spinach. So do I have to eat spinach to get into balance? No, there might be another way for me to do that. But your eyes have been eating a certain diet and the diet is a certain experience that you have been reinforcing when you wear those corrective lenses. It’s a whole body consciousness mind body emotional psychological even spiritual change. Sam Berne (07:48.502) Now, when you take the lenses off, the light pattern changes into the eyes and it’s more equally distributed. And then when you wear the blurry glasses, what it’s doing is it’s spreading the light into the dark areas of your retina that you cannot get to because it’s been lost. You know, you you spend this time tunneling and narrowing and tightening and making it resolved so you can see clearly because you can feel safer that way. There is a connection somewhere between safety and security and clarity. Again, you may not be aware. Those are the issues that I would suggest you explore and that’s why Like when you put on the plus lens, it’s like going to a whole new country. It’s very weird. And one of the things you could do with that is forget the patch for now. Put them on and see if you can walk around for a few minutes. Now, I wouldn’t walk up and down stairs. I wouldn’t walk out on the street, but Here’s the game that I’m inviting you to play. This is a game and the game is how many different experiences can you give your eyeballs? Sam Berne (09:35.694) You just want to make it more broadband. know, be like if you were in high school and I was your teacher and I said, you know, You look like you got some artistic abilities. Let’s send you to Paris. Go study for six months. And you don’t know French, you know, you’re like, well, I don’t know anybody there. This is like a big thing for me, but you go and you do it. And it gives you something that broadens you gives you more access to resource so that maybe 20 years later you’re applying for an advertising job or something and that creativity that you tapped into in Paris you can you that’s imprinted in you and you can use it. So the parallel is that when you wear the blurry glasses it forces you out of your habitual way of seeing and it’s really easy. When we do our workshops, it’s amazing. It’s it’s it’s incredible. So we’ll do a workshop, right? And we’ll do a process and I’ll ask people. Okay, what’s changed? Nothing. No, no, you got to come up with one thing that’s changed by doing the process. I’m telling you nothing is changed. I don’t like it. don’t know. So what what we talk about is when you see no change or there’s you you’re not like I’m not really into this. You’re probably going to stay in the same track. The track and for you to reverse cataracts. and floaters, you must come out of the track that you’re in. I mean, I like the idea of you going outside without your glasses being in the sunshine grounding yourself. I probably do that long swing exercise. Sam Berne (11:54.774) Yeah, I would do that and I would be super mindful of what are what are differences for you when you’re without your lenses and I’d write them down like I’ve started keeping a journal notebook. Okay, when I did dr. Burns blurry vision exercise today, what were three things that I noticed it could be? You know, I felt a lot more dizzy through those blurry glasses when I was moving. Well, that would make sense because it’s stimulating a lot more of your peripheral vision than you’re normally used to. It could make you very angry. It could make you very frustrated. It could give you a sense of relief like, I don’t have to worry about details. Sam Berne (12:54.188) I don’t know, but there is a deep, deep well of information that you’ve internalized into your eyeballs. It goes all the way back when you weren’t treated right. And I was done. Now I’m going to speak as a clinician. Got some data here. The higher the number in the prescription. The more well trauma. Yes, the more because of your sensitivity. You’re highly sensitive. You have this trauma that is energy in your eyes that’s now beginning to turn into floaters and cataracts. So how do you get out of this? Well, I’m creating an awakening like, okay. These could be and I’m sure this isn’t really new information. But the cause of your myopia is the incredible defense strategy and hypervigilance that you are still operating on. That was back then, but you’re still in that news cycle. Sam Berne (14:22.424) So. connecting your psychological and emotional perceptions to doing different things with your eyes is a way for you to begin to release it. Sam Berne (14:43.362) Like I’ve had people who’ve had emotional releases, right? I’ll have an emotional release, happens and we’re doing a process and it’s like, whoa. And after that emotional release, they can see the eye chart better. So energy that’s been internalized. blocks the function. Sam Berne (15:10.402) And it’s like we have a lid on the eyes. We open the lid. We open up the cap. There’s a lot of internalized energy that you’ve swallowed over the years. Especially when you were young. Sam Berne (15:32.13) So. There’s the blurry vision experience with just do both eyes, but I want you moving when you do it. Okay, walking, but I don’t want you to give up and if you’re so the the question the two questions you want to ask yourself. What do I see and how does it feel? Sam Berne (16:02.582) If I said to you off the top of your head, what does blurry vision mean to you? Okay, blur is danger. Love it. Blur is danger. Okay, so you’re going to do everything in your power to avoid experiencing blur. You’re going to avoid it. But do know what it’s going to give you clear eyesight? Sam Berne (16:28.994) And you’ve got a lot on the line here because now it’s starting to affect your independence, your driving. It’s like, I got his attention now. Sam Berne (16:41.996) We talk about embracing your blur. Going into the blur is the way you get clear eyesight. So what’s supposed to happen is if you wear those blurry glasses for a few minutes and you process through yeah, blur is danger blur is scary blur is fear blur is whatever it is and just say can I can I go into it a little more? I learn about my reaction to it? Can I be with it? Sam Berne (17:23.522) When you take those glasses off, what should happen is that your eyesight should now be clearer. Sam Berne (17:38.892) That’s what’s supposed to happen. Sam Berne (17:43.406) But the more resistance you have to that idea, again, you’re in a track, you’re fixed, right? It’s comfortable. But even I’m losing control of that because now my distance glasses aren’t working as well. So damn, my strategy isn’t working very well. Sam Berne (18:09.838) Does that make sense? Your eyes are five years old. There’s a saying that when you wear less prescription your eyes get to be a little older. When you wear more prescription that reverts you back to earlier time. That’s why in my view, you should be celebrating being able to wear the computer glasses because it’s taking you a little bit out of the danger zone mentality. But then one of the rules is if I’m not feeling safe in the circumstance, I’m in I’m always able to put my stronger glasses on. You always have that default because what I want you to do is make choices about what you want to look through so that you can see more clearly when you need to. I mean, it could be very simple. I don’t want to necessarily do this right now, but probably we could increase the distance prescription enough for you to be able to go take the test and pass it. They would be glasses you would never wear, but I’m sure that we could increase the prescription to the point where you’d have no problem walking in there and taking the test. The floater is the floater and the cataracts are symptoms. They’re not the problem. And I mean, I could give you the answer for the floater tomorrow. Doctors in Beverly Hills. He’s Sam Berne (19:58.574) a floater doctor that zaps floaters with a laser. If you don’t want to go to him, I know another guy in Dallas who does it. It’s called the floater’s doctor. So you play like a video game and he zaps your floaters. So that’s always there for you. One needs to be careful about laser on the eye because I had one case where it made the eye unseeable just created a cloud afterwards with another guy. It helped him. So he was, know, the he tried all the detox things and nothing worked and he was frustrated. So there you go. So you have those options available to you at any time. I know it’s not really where you want to go. And I think that what needs to really happen here is you need to do a bit of a reprogramming and then updating in your eye experience instead of being back at that five-year-old situation. So your homework will be a couple things if you choose to accept it. The first is even if you did it two or three days a week. Even one day a week put on those blurry vision glasses. And let your psyche come up around. Well, how’s this making me feel? What am I thinking and look how strong that safety response is in you that hypervigilant response and see if you can. Sam Berne (21:54.686) Embrace or surrender into the blur. What the blur is asking you to do is relax. Let go. It doesn’t have to be your way. So you’re doing that in a therapeutic circumstance, right? And you do some kind of a before and after measurement. Look out a window. Look look across the room. Look at that clock and even if it’s clear for a millisecond after you do the exercise that begins to prove to the mind that you can actually get clarity by going into the blur because right now I get it. You why would you want to trust that go into the blur? I want to try to get away from the blur. I got this these cataracts and floaters that you know, they’re strangling me. Sam Berne (23:01.432) So that would be the first one to do. The second one to do if this at all appeals to you, I’m not sure we did it. It’s called the eye dialogue. So in eye dialogue, let’s rewind a little in Chinese medicine. The right eye is the father and the left eye is the mother. It’s the same same in urology. So what you do is you cover you could use a bandana or a patch whatever, you know, you cover the left without glasses on and by the way when you when your glasses are off. You’re going to be more vulnerable, more internal and more real. When you put your glasses on, first of all, your eyes are way ahead of your body. And second of all, you are now in a persona. You are not authentic. You’re in something else be more critical. You’re going to be more judgmental because your vision is such where you’ve got that acute artificially created but that acuteness. So you’re going to pick up stuff. But it’s it’s a drug you’re on. Sam Berne (24:31.352) Glasses are a drug and they’re side effects. They make you hyper. They make you tighter. They make it’s like Ritalin. So you patch the left eye and I’ll send you some questions that you can ask your right eye wonder what the left eyes experience. Let’s ask the left eye. So cover the right eye that’s working on your inner vision. That’s part of the internalized energy that you swallowed because you couldn’t really do anything with Now, I don’t know whether this is true in your case, so I can’t say, but when I evaluate a child, I can tell exactly what the parent’s marriage is. The eyes are really just a mirror of what we see, what we’re taking in. Sam Berne (25:29.464) You know, I’m digesting what I’m seeing with my parents on a daily basis. I don’t know how to process this. I mean, I have clinical experience with evidence because I’ve seen so many kids. The problem is the parents, not the kid. You know, the father is over on one corner and the mother’s over in the other corner. I recently had an autistic kid. The father is a cardiologist. The mother is an artist. She says I want my kid to be treated by you. And I met with a cardiologist in my office and he railed me out left and right and he said that they would never stand for for this for me that I’m a quack and all that. So what ended up happening is she divorced him. I mean, they had a bad marriage and they were married and the guy was a jerk had no connection to anything except his rational science mind, which was very narrow. It was really hurting his kid. So, I mean, this is like this is our eyes are our our scroll of history at least for me. I can read somebody’s eyes and I can tell a lot about their life, you know. because I learned the patterns. And so what I’m saying about your pattern is your cataracts and floater you manifested it as a way to block things more and create more congestion and being fixed in. So what I want you to do is have different net have now have different experiences with your eyes. It’ll give you a new lease on life. It’ll it’ll allow you whatever happens. It will allow you to have a broader range of what’s possible. And so the blurry vision is the invitation. Can I relax into this blur? What can I learn about myself? What are my reactions to the blur? Write it down every day when you do it. Like you said blur danger. Everybody’s got that that’s nearsighted. I hate the blur. I’m out of control. Sam Berne (27:57.266) I hate the blur. could be shamed. I hate the blur because I could get it wrong. My teacher shamed me when I was in school. I mean the stories go on and on. had a lady. She’s an artist now. She said first grade. got a D in art. How do you get a D in art in first grade? She became myopic. So. The blurry vision glasses, the eye dialogue, and the third exercise is I’m going to send you a picture of some jelly beans. Okay, you’re to print it out. It can be black and white or color. If you got a color printer, you do that. All right. So this picture of jelly beans is what we call a soft focus 3D exercise. And you’re going to wear your computer glasses for this. This is the only time you wear the glasses. Wear the computer glasses. You take the jelly beans and you hold it up to your nose. So it’s touching your nose. Okay, touching your nose. You mentally look through it. So pretend you’re at Venice Beach and you’re looking out at the ocean. All right, but the jelly beans is here, but I’m seeing out in the ocean. You start pushing it away from your face and you start to look at the spaces between the jelly beans. You keep pushing it out pushing it out. The picture pops and you see 3d meaning that your two eyes are now synchronizing. Sam Berne (29:34.92) So some of the floaters look close. Some of the jelly beans look closer. Some of them look farther away that opens up the circulation in the lens of the eye and the vitreous where the floater is. I’d like you to do that exercise three times a day for like a minute or two. I you go on that computer all day. I’d love to see you. That’s a break from your you’re focusing. So that’s more of a physical therapy. exercise the other two the blurry vision glasses and the the eye dialogue are more of the internal vision and your your habits and conditioning and patterns. Sam Berne (30:22.53) Yeah, it’s it’s huge. I mean, I can’t underestimate it because if we don’t at least interface with that a little bit, you’re not going to make the changes just doing the physical exercises. Booming when you go to psychotherapy, you take your lenses off. If you don’t you should. You know, I guess, you know, it depends if you need to see the person but here’s the thing that I can say to you. When you take your lenses off, you don’t have the same obstacles and blocks. In defense. Remember your energy is going to be more equally distributed. Like I have a lot of massage therapists over the years. I’ve worked with. And I’ve said to them take your lenses off when you’re doing your treatments. And they’ll all come back and say to me, you know, when I have my lenses off, I’m much more intuitive. I’m much more connected. Sam Berne (31:25.847) And I want you to make that that crossover so that you get that. Sam Berne (31:34.066) I mean, I’m not saying do this right now. This would be your vision quest. Take a Sunday when you have no demands. Maybe Sunday isn’t the day Saturday or whatever day go on a vision retreat meaning don’t wear any of your glasses for four hours and notice what comes up for you. There’s going to be a detox. And energetic detox. Sam Berne (32:10.494) because we’re taking away the drug that you’ve been made dependent upon. Sam Berne (32:19.812) Exactly. It numbs you. Thank you. Yes, it does. It sure does numb you out. It disassociates you. That’s what it’s really doing. Part of you is out there your eyes. Maybe most of you is out there. You’re not in your body. When you take your lenses off, you are going to be more in your body because it’s so blurry out there. your fixation and your attention comes in. You develop the habit of being outside of yourself because of the danger. Sam Berne (33:02.804) You don’t have to do that anymore, but it’s going to take time for you to get your eyesight clear and wear less prescription. There’s because it’s split again. It’s a dissociated pattern, right? Yeah. So, you know, keep taking the supplements that feel good to you. that you feel like, okay, this is I like this and the ones you don’t put off to the side you to be much more mindful energetically what you’re putting into your body. What you’re seeing the difference when you take your your your lenses off. I want you to get more mindful. Mindfulness will heal you. Sam Berne (34:03.9) It will make you more connected to yourself and you’ll know what’s working in what’s not right now. I’m helping you, but I want you to get that and the floaters in the cataracts are symptoms. want you to start thinking of them as symptoms and not the diagnosis. The diagnosis is hypermental vigilance. That’s the diagnosis. So wear the blurry glasses and soften your attitude. Embrace the blur and do it in a circumstance where you feel a hundred percent safe be in the safest environment you can and nurture yourself. And this is a this is a loving act what you’re doing. You’re taking back your vision under the deepest healing things in your life. You know, that’s why you were able to meet me and do that. Everybody going in there. They’re not thinking like you. They’re not. They just say, give me the contacts. Give me the glasses. Give me the lasik surgery, you know, so very few escape the insanity. But you did.    

Join Dr. Berne’s membership: https://drsambernesmembership.com Join Dr. Berne’s Practitioner’s Program: https://www.drsamberne.com/practitioners-training/   Keywords holistic eye care, traditional eye care, vision therapy, eyesight improvement, eye health, diet and vision, glaucoma reversal, brain-eye connection, vision exercises, iridology Summary In this enlightening conversation, Dr. Sam Berne discusses the differences between holistic and traditional eye care, emphasizing the importance of treating the root causes of vision problems rather than just the symptoms. He shares his personal journey of overcoming severe nearsightedness through holistic methods and explains how vision therapy can benefit individuals of all ages. The discussion also covers the critical stages of visual development in infants, the distinction between eyesight and vision, and the impact of diet and lifestyle on eye health. Dr. Berne highlights the potential to reverse conditions like glaucoma and cataracts through holistic practices and emphasizes the deep connection between eye health and overall brain function. Takeaways Holistic eye care focuses on treating the cause, not just symptoms. Vision therapy can improve eyesight at any age. Early development stages significantly impact visual health. Eyesight is a static measurement; vision is dynamic. Diet and lifestyle choices directly affect eye health. Cataracts and glaucoma can potentially be reversed. The liver plays a crucial role in eye health. Craniosacral therapy can improve vision by enhancing circulation. Emotional and psychological factors influence vision. The eyes are an extension of the brain, reflecting overall health. Sound Bites “We treat the cause instead of the symptom.” “We can improve our eyesight anytime.” “I was seeing 2400 on the eye chart.” “Vision is how the eyes and brain work together.” “Eyesight is a static measurement.” “Cataracts can be slowed down or reversed.” “The liver is critical for absorbing nutrients.” “The eyes are the brain.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Holistic Eye Care 02:03 Understanding Holistic vs Traditional Eye Care 03:58 Personal Journey to Improved Vision 12:17 The Importance of Early Development in Vision 18:19 Distinguishing Eyesight from Vision 22:32 The Role of Diet and Lifestyle in Eye Health 28:20 Reversing Glaucoma and Liver Health 33:05 The Connection Between Eyes and Brain Health   Sam Berne (00:01) Hey everybody, welcome to the podcast today. So I’m being interviewed by Ashley Dealey and she is a wellness practitioner. She’s got a big following on Instagram. So I’ve agreed to be on her show and I thought I would do a recording and share it with you. So enjoy this it’s new information and here we go. Why don’t you call me Dr. Sam? Okay, Dr. Sam. then this is also when I remind my guests this is not a live podcast. Okay, so if something’s on the tip of your tongue or maybe your alarm goes off, don’t worry. I’ll edit it out. Okay. And then this is usually when I ask my guests to make sure to put their phone on do not disturb or airplane mode. Yep. That’s good too. We’re good to go. I would say, well, let’s just see how it goes. I don’t have a hard stop. yeah, we’re good. Yes. So I am just so excited that you’re here. If at any point you need to take a break, just let me know. Okay. edit this. So I’m going to go ahead and get started. Like I always do. Okay. Dr. Sam. Welcome to the show. It’s great to be here. Thank you, Ashley, for having me so excited. I feel like matches mine and I’m just thrilled to have someone so open-minded here. is to get a good understanding of what’s the difference between holistic eye care and traditional eye care. It’s pretty simple because in holistic eye care, what I’m doing is looking for the cause instead of treating the symptom. Also, I would say number two that I’m looking at the eyes as it relates to our metabolic systemic and psychological, emotional, spiritual health. And number three, the eyes are interrelated and interconnected to our awareness, our diet, our lifestyle, our stress. So it’s not just genetics. Yes, there’s epigenetics, but there are many factors that influence how we see and it actually starts very early in our life. And so when I figure out, okay, what are the causes? We treat those. Lots of times the symptoms actually just go away. So are you saying we could improve our eyesight anytime? Yes, we can from infants to elders. That’s the scope of my population, my community. I did it on myself very early on in my career. I was very nearsighted and I met a holistic eye doctor and I went through his physical vision therapy program. And in a period about six months, my eyesight improved to 2020 and I didn’t need my lenses anymore. And so I am firsthand experience of people being able to improve their vision at any age. Yes. That’s a fascinating story that I really want to dive into because I feel like in a regular optometrist office, you’re going to read an eye chart, be fitted for glasses or contacts, and then buy your prescription for glasses or contacts. So can you please tell me, how did you find this doctor and how did you change your vision? Hmm. Well, I was in a study group in the Northeast. That’s where I went to school. That’s where I grew up and I had heard about this doctor. He was in the 70s. His name was Dr. Albert A. Shankman and he wrote a book called Vision Enhancement Training. So he was a physical therapy type optometrist who practiced in Connecticut and he was, you know, on the shady side of the mountain of his career. And he was inviting certain young optometrists to year-long training on teaching us his methods of holistic vision care. And so I resonated with it because I had always been really open-minded. You know, even as a child growing up, there was a there was an openness that I had and a curiosity. So even though I went to a very conventional Optometry School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania College of Optometry, which I’m really grateful I graduated there because it was a very disease focused, eye disease focused type practice school. And I had done some experiences in internships where I worked in holistic optometry practices. One was in California, one was in the East Coast. And I also had just finished a program learning how to treat children on the spectrum disorders. And this was called the Gazelle Institute in New Haven, Connecticut. So I was already primed to practice this way. And then when Dr. Shankman set that invitation, I jumped on it and I started to become a student of his. And then I went to him as a patient and started doing physical vision therapy. And that’s how I transformed the habits and patterns in my eyes. So that’s the short story. Well, I feel like I’m on the edge of my seat because now I want the long story. What was the physical vision therapy that you did to change your eyes and a two-part question? What was your eyesight before you saw him? So before I saw him, I was seeing 2400 on the eye chart. So that’s the biggie. I needed a really strong nearsighted prescription in order to function. And what? What he offered was a mind body approach. So he was a yoga teacher and he also taught meditation. you know, there there are I exercise programs out there that are very mechanical. So if you do certain amount of exercises every day, your eyesight gets better. But as soon as you stop doing the exercises, your eyes get worse. What he did was he really focused on what our belief systems were around our vision our attitudes and he worked a lot with our movements our body movement and different lens prescriptions that we would use as exercise prescriptions. He worked a lot with each eye separately and we delved into what were some of the psycho-emotional patterns around why we developed our vision. I was nearsighted. That was my diagnosis. Nearsighted is I pull the world in, I tighten up, I get very defensive and you know, I was a memorizer. I always had a hard time learning to read. My mom took me to a lot of different educational tutors and we could never figure out why I wasn’t a good reader. And so I became a memorizer and I went to an eye doctor and he gave me nearsighted glasses when I was about eight years old. at 10. up my eyes, but it didn’t really treat the problem, which was Dr. Shankman diagnosed me as having my two eyes not working together and my left eye wandering out. And that’s why I saw double vision and I had poor attention. So through his vision therapy techniques, I was able to learn to coordinate both eyes together. So my double vision went away and my reading took off. And so then I didn’t need the tension in my eye muscles to do the work, the schoolwork that I was asked to do. And so since I didn’t need that tension anymore, I methodically started to reduce my prescription and with each prescription reduction I I felt more relaxation in my nervous system and more openness. remember I had started a practice in Philadelphia and one day my staff said to me, know, you’re really different. What what’s happening? You seem more relaxed and I said, well, I’m going through vision therapy and my my eyes are more relaxed. Therefore, I’m more relaxed and they said, yeah, you don’t have your edge. You’re not as intense. So that’s that was a real breakthrough moment for me to really I how strongly my vision affected my affect my behavior my reactions and when I got to the point where I didn’t need my prescription anymore. was able to see possibilities in a different way and that’s what inspired me to move out to New Mexico because I didn’t have the fear anymore. I could see possibilities and so I sold my Pennsylvania interests and moved to Santa Fe. This was in 1990 and up a holistic practice there. But that moment of wow, I could actually do it and you know that that permission, know, most eye doctors you go to their offices and you know, bless their heart. Their whole thing is let’s measure and give you the strongest prescription. But what they’re actually doing is perpetuating the same problem. They’re not really treating the problem. They’re treating the symptom and that’s why people get strong. stronger and stronger glasses like you referenced. Yeah, you get new glasses every year because the doctor keeps increasing your prescription and that’s a formula for making your eyes even worse by wearing that super strong prescription that he or she is giving you. And of course, there’s the the feedback that you get this strong prescription to go. Wow, I’m dizzy. I’m nauseous. I don’t like it. It’s making me sick and you go back and the doctor says well, don’t worry. You’ll you’ll get used to it. And you don’t want to get used to something that’s making you dizzy or nauseous, but that’s what we do. We internalize a lot of our visual experiences through our eyes, but we have no place to express it except, know, swallow it. Just, you know, this is how it is kid. So I’ve really over the years have helped thousands and thousands of people get free of just the programming that has been put into them by going to the eye doctor’s offices. with that story, especially about being a bad. reader because I have a cousin who has a nine year old and he doesn’t like to read. And so now I’m wondering, does he need to see a holistic eye doctor? And I also really like what you say about treating the whole person because I feel like in the mainstream conventional medical structure that we have, it’s a sick care system and the eyes are separate. Why would anybody look at anything else when you could just look at the eyes? So I would love to hear how you help treat infants all the way to elderly people. So with infants, first of all, one of the most there are three really important stages. One is in utero. That’s when our sensory systems really start developing. We’re floating in our mom’s waters. And so that’s developing our peripheral vision, our vestibular system. And then the second… milestone is when we actually are born and that imprint of when we come out of the birth canal or if it’s a c-section or There’s the forceps delivery or there’s been some stress birth trauma really impacts our sensory motor systems And then number three is the bonding period, know what we go through like initially when you’re born and you’re laying on your mom and there’s this oxytocin flowing through and all this love, you know kids that are put in incubators or or, know, preemie babies or, you know, all kinds of weird things that happen that affects our sensory motor development as well. I’m including the eyes in that because our eyes originate from the brain very early on after conception. So every structure of the eyeball is brain. In fact, the eyes are the only part of the brain that sit out of what we call the cranial vault, the skull, but the eyes are such a an intimate part of our brain. And that’s why we can improve our vision because there’s a neuroplasticity capability in our vision if we’re shown the way and so in infants a lot of times they may be diagnosed with crossed eyes or lazy eyes. Well, the last thing you want to do is put glasses on a child or do eye muscle surgery at that age. There are stimulating activities that can help improve an infant’s vision very early on and we call it visual stimuli. because their world is mostly you know here and so there are definitely prescribed activities that you can do to help an infant then we go into a toddler and then you know we go into a you know a child the the the things of learning how to hop and skip and swing on a swing and go down a slide and you know spin these are all things that help develop our vision and our sensory motor program. So I want to make a distinction here between eyesight and vision. Eyesight is reading the eye chart at 20 feet. That’s a static measurement and that’s eyeballs and glasses. Vision is how the eyes and the brain and the body work together. So it’s very much brain centered. Most eye exams are eyesight based and then they check for disease. They’re not testing for vision. And vision is a skill that you start developing in utero. These three experiences that I’ve named have a strong influence on our visual coordination, our visual tracking, our visual focus, even though it’s very early in the nonverbal time. And then as a child develops and they’re learning to read, they need to have those visual skills to be able to read. I I certainly didn’t have those skills and sounds like the nine-year-old you referenced maybe has a deficit in the visual skills. So it affects our visual processing, our visual thinking, our visual moving. All of those things can be repaired through vision therapy, which is a reeducation. process of relearning of how the eyes, brain, and body work together. Now if we fast forward to adults, when we hit age 40 we start needing reading glasses, our arms aren’t long enough. Well, when you start wearing magnifying glasses that actually weakens the eye muscles and so then you get addicted to these magnifiers and they only make your eyes worse. So there are exercises that you can use to repattern the eye muscles in the brain. So you don’t need those magnifying glasses. All right. Now let’s move to age 60 870. This is when people start developing conditions like cataracts like over 90 % of the population. is going to develop cataracts. Well, cataract is really oxidative stress that accumulates in the protein of the lens and in early stage cataracts and or if you’re proactive, you can actually slow down the progression of cataracts and even reverse cataracts. Macular degeneration is the number one leading cause of blindness today. Why is that? Well, it’s related related somewhat to our diet, our stress, our screen time. And so there are protocols that you can do to slow down or even reverse macular degeneration. And the third big died disease is glaucoma, which is a problem with eye pressure and it affects our peripheral vision. Well, there are things that you can do to slow that degradation down and in some cases even reverse glaucoma. So now you’ve seen the spectrum from infants to elders that you know, these are the people that I work with. my goodness, you just gave me so much information. I’m going to, excuse me, I’m going to unpack some of what you said bit by bit. And where I wanted to start was. You said that eyesight isn’t the same as vision and there’s exercises that we can do to strengthen our eyes. So Dr. Sam, can you walk me through the shape of the eye, the muscles and what we can do to strengthen our eyes? Okay, so the eyes sit in an eye socket. This bony orbit and there’s six eye muscles two on the top two on the bottom one on the outside one on the inside. Those are called extraocular muscles. So they help us track and move and rotate our eyes very important for eye movement. So the brain has got to be really connected to controlling those six muscles and then inside the eye. There’s a tiny little lens like maybe a third of the way back from the front. of the eye and that lens has little ligaments or ciliary muscles we call them to change the shape of the lens. know, and based on that, that helps us with our focus, our ability to see clearly. Now what happens is when we start develop blurry vision, we go to the eye doctor and there’s a deficit. We don’t see the eye chart as well. And then there’s the whole question of which lens is clear number one or number two and let’s Let’s say you’re having a bad day. Let’s say you’re a mom and your your child is sick and you’re worried about her and you’re going to this exam and it’s a high-pressured situation to begin with and he’s flipping the lenses, which is clear one or two one or two. Come on. You got to pick one. So you pick number two and you’re you’re stressed out to begin with that lens fixes your vision in that particular position based on that bad day that you were having. So then for the next year. to you’re looking through this lens this reality based on a decision you made and most likely it’s going to be too strong for you. And again, we’re just treating the symptoms here. There are relaxation exercises, their eye movement exercises. There are awareness exercises that can help release the tension which then gets rid of the blur. So that’s one thing. Then the other aspect is what do you eat? You know, what’s your diet like? And one of the modalities that I use is I analyze the colored part of the eye. The colored part of the eye is called the iris and the process is called uredology and the iris is a map to the entire body. And so I take really good pictures of the irises and I look for patterns and those patterns can tell me genetic tendencies like what has been passed down through the genes. The right eye is the father eye. The left eye is the mother eye or the grandfather grandmother. And then you could look at things like your liver health liver gallbladder health because the liver is rules the eyes in Chinese medicine. We can look at the pancreas and what your blood sugar levels is. So sugar is really poisonous for your eyes. We can look at your thyroid health. We can look at, your respiratory health, your heart health. So iridology and it’s been around for a long time. It was actually really fathered in by a doctor named Bernard Jensen. You could Google him and I became certified in iridology. I’ve taken all the tests and studied it. And so it’s well part of my If somebody is having an unusual vision problem, I will do an iridology analysis and that tells me a lot about what they should be eating, what supplements, what herbs, what essential oils, flower essences, lots of things. And based on that, it’s a roadmap to bring people’s vision back to health. So it’s that two-pronged. One is more functional and the second is more on the biochemical. said about the liver. I’ve heard you mention that before, but I also want to go back to where we were going to unpack that first lot of information. So I was also curious to learn. little bit more about, let’s say you put on those glasses and you say they weaken your muscles around around your eyes. So what can we do then, and maybe this is a bit redundant from what you already said, but what can we do to wean ourselves off of wearing glasses? Well, I think finding a doctor who does physical therapy, vision therapy because it’s going to be a combination of what habits created the blurry vision that that’s kind of what happened in my case. What were the habits that created? The prescription so in nearsightedness my habit was I pulled the world in and farsightedness people tend to push the world away in astigmatism. They twist the world. So when the doctor is testing the eyesight the doctor also needs to test. Well, what are the visual habits? What are the visual skills that have created the blurry eyesight? And then based on that, maybe giving 60 or 70 % of the prescription so that you can function, so you can pass the driver’s test and you can drive and you can read, but then starting to do physical vision therapy and it’s very individualized based on what your deficits are. And then you can start wearing a reduced prescription. That’s what I did. That was what I shared when I was in my office. I had a prescription for driving and I had a reduced prescription that I wore indoors. And the more I wore that reduced prescription, my eyes flexed into that reduced prescription. And then eventually it became my distance prescription. So I incrementally started to reduce that first prescription that the doctor gave me. You know, another thing that works really well is in non demanding and non threatening situations start taking your glasses or contacts off. There’s a practice I recommend called going on a vision retreat. It’s called a vision quest and if you wear lenses, you take four hours on a weekend like a Saturday or a Sunday and you don’t put your lenses in at all and you function without the lenses and you use the experience to learn about your reactions without having the lenses in what is your relationship with blur? Are you totally dependent on your lenses or can you function what comes up for you emotionally spiritually energetically when you don’t go without these lenses? It’s kind of like a vision detox. I saw you do detox stuff. Well, this is a vision detox where you take the lenses off and you don’t wear them. Remember the lenses are approved by the FDA. They’re a drug and they have side effects. And so when you start Weaning yourself off a drug, you’re going to have side effects and the toxicities that have been created from this prescription are going to start to show up. And so in this vision quest or vision retreat where you sequester yourself in an environment where there’s no demands on you and you can start to really notice what your patterns are. So this is a question for all your listeners who wear glasses or Context take them off and give me three belief systems that you feel around blurry vision. And just to kind of cue people a little bit give them a context most people in blurry vision a feel out of control be are afraid they’re going to get hurt and see they’re afraid they may get criticized. So all of those things creates a fear and a hypervigilance in their attitude. So when I have a hypervigilant attitude, I got to be on, you know, fight or flight all the time. I’m going to put that that fear through my eyeballs. That’s one of the main causes of why people need glasses because of that, that early programming in the hypervigilance that they’re having to deal with. So it’s a, it’s a very interesting way of healing from the inside out, looking at your thoughts and belief systems and attitudes of what created the blur to begin with. It reminds me of a book that I read about 10 years ago that I found completely fascinating where this person had multiple personality disorder. And in one of her personalities, she needed reading glasses. And in the other personality, she had perfect vision. And that was the first time that I think the light had kind of… peeked open for me or at least peeked my interest and I couldn’t believe someone could change their eyesight. I found it so fascinating. So I really resonate with what you’re saying about people’s habits and lifestyles and what are their environments like. I also wanted to go back to where you said you could potentially reverse glaucoma and talking about the liver in Chinese medicine. So can you walk me through how can we possibly reverse glaucoma? Okay. Well, I’m to start off with when I first moved to Santa Fe and Santa Fe is a pretty alternative community, even though an eye doctor’s there. There was no alternative eye doctors, but there were, I think at the time to acupuncture schools. And so I enrolled in one of them because I wanted to learn the relationship between the eyes and acupuncture. And I remember one of the very early lectures. And the professor knew I was a practicing licensed eye doctor. He looked at me and he said, did you know that the liver and the gallbladder are critical for our ability to absorb fat soluble nutrients? And did you also know that some of the most famous fat soluble nutrients are really important for the eyes like vitamin A lutein? and zeaxanthin and moat and he said most people have a congested liver and gallbladder because of the toxicities we’re living in and we could go into you know variety of reasons it could be dental health mercury amalgams it could be trauma in the head it could be being exposed to mold or you know those kinds of toxins parasites yeast infections in any case the liver the meridians go right to the eyes and that if you clean up the liver and the gallbladder your eyesight is going to get better and I remember studying herbs and milk thistle and burdock root and yellow dock. I would give those to people that had you know eye diseases for example, like you mentioned glaucoma. And lo and behold, their eye pressure would come back to normal or their cataracts would would reduce or their macular degeneration would get better. I call macular degeneration by the way, macular regeneration so that you know that that mindset is like, you know, we hear that diagnosis and it’s just like game over not really. So in any case the That the liver gallbladder is so important in doing some kind of cleansing or supporting and I’ve seen it thousands of times where people’s eyesight gets better. The glasses reduce their their eye disease goes away and in doing acupuncture you’re redistributing the energy. let’s say you have a puffy or you have swollen this around the eyes. If you start doing acupuncture either around the eyes, but you can also do it, know, distally in other places. It actually redistributes the energy and by redistributing the energy those symptoms go away. So the liver and the gallbladder and I’m going to also add our digestive health, our spleen, our pancreas our thyroid, you know, all those endocrine glands have a very strong influence on our visual system and part of it is because this is such a blood vessel rich area, you know, and we require a lot of oxygenation and hydration to keep those oxidative stress molecules away. And one of the issues that I see with most people is they have a lot of oxidative stress. They have low and the killer is inflammation. And so when they’ve got that inflammation and their lymph system isn’t working well. You know, for example, in iridology, if you’ve got blue eyes, you’re what we call lymphatic. You need to take really good care of your lymph system or you’re going to have all kinds of health issues and eye issues. And the other thing is you need you need to stay away from gluten, dairy, sugar, because as a blue-eyed person, the lymphatic system, it’s very easy for you to get inflammation and that’s going to be a killer for you. So, you know, there’s all these connections. I think you want to say something so I’m gonna turn it over to you what you Eye health is so important and it seems like one of those things that isn’t quite moving in the medical field. Everyone takes their kids to the eye doctor. Everyone has the same vision test. And I’ve heard you say, I’ve done a lot of research on you before and I’ve heard you say the eyes are an extension of the brain all the way from in utero. So knowing that. and what you mentioned about taking care of ourselves, no sugar, no gluten. What can you tell me about the relationship with the eyes and the brain? Well, the eyes are the brain. They’re, you know, an outer representation. Some of the latest research is showing that we can actually see amyloid plaques in the retina or the optic nerve. And that could be the early stages of Alzheimer’s or dementia by looking at the eyes. Another thing that we can say is that if you can improve the cerebral spinal fluid from the brain to the eyes and the eyes to the brain, you can lower eye pressure, which is the glaucoma situation. So another modality that I studied when I moved to Santa Fe was I was working with kids with birth trauma. I work a lot with occupational therapists and physical therapists and teachers and all these kids had birth trauma and some of them had strabismus, the eyes were crossing, they had learning issues and it was mentioned to me, I think you need to learn craniosacral therapy. So I enrolled in the massage school. Well, first I went to the upledger. Institute and I took a lot of their courses, which I really liked and that was more muscular skeletal level and then at the massage school I learned the biodynamic craniosacral so that was more of the fluid part of the body and I began doing craniosacral on my patients and this is a really interesting story. So people would come in and I’d measure their eyesight at distance and I’d measure their prescription and then my massage table was right next to my eye exam equipment. So I’d say lay down and I’ll do an hour of craniosacral and then after the craniosacral session, I put them back in the exam chair and invariably their prescription was 30 to 50 % less and that’s what I would give them and they would love those prescriptions because their system was relaxed. It was the nervous system was balanced. They weren’t in that, you know, one or two or in that machine the foropter. So it taught me that craniosacral has a very strong effect. on the cranial nerves and the muscles and the fascia and the connective tissue around the eyes. And as I got more into traumatic brain injury patients, that was another thing that I researched and that was back in Philadelphia. It’s funny because when I first opened, I opened a practice up with a holistic eye doctor whose name is Dr. Ellis Edelman and he was like one of my great mentors and we became partners and he passed away about 10 years ago, but. One of the things that happened was I couldn’t get any patients to come see me. It was really difficult because Philadelphia at that time was very medically oriented. So I went to the local hospitals and I volunteered with the physiatrist there that hey, I can work with your brain injury patients. They all have double vision. They can’t walk there, you know, they can’t read their memory is off. And so I began applying a lot of these physical therapy. exercises and color therapy and you know some of the other techniques I learned and they all got better and so from that experience I began to start to get patients word-of-mouth because I was doing this great work and with the TBI population. The other thing I did in Philadelphia and I still do this today I work with special needs kids. So these are kids that have been written off Down syndrome, minimal brain dysfunction, severe developmental delays, severe autism. So I started working with these kids and they got better. And so that was another way that I word of mouth. was like, hey, this guy’s working with special needs. He’s working with TBIs. The regular eye doctors don’t have the time or interest to work with these populations. fast forward when I moved to Santa Fe, I affiliated with a clinic in Albuquerque called Kid Power. You could look it up, Kid Power Associates. And I began consulting there and I still do to This day I go down a couple times a year from Santa Fe. This population is amazing because these kids are been written off and they’re doing primitive reflex therapy and vision therapy and sound therapy and craniosacral and nutrition stuff and I’ve kind of helped them in certain areas. And so it’s a great match to do that. But the craniosacral is so important around the brain health because it just improving the circulation. You think about a newborn that there’s a forceps delivery. Well, what they want to do is put a helmet on a kid and try to force the skull to go back into alignment. I mean, it’s Neanderthal stuff. But if you do craniosacral, then this starts to breathe more the cranial rhythm and this is going to affect not only the eyes, but the ears and the body and the whole situation. It’s pretty obvious how interrelated the eyes and the brain are. So here’s a statistic. The eyes in the brain make up 2 % of the body weight. and use 25 % of the food intake. So 25 % of what we eat is needed in this metabolically needed area. And that’s why what we eat has such a strong effect. on our eyesight and vision. And when I started to study functional medicine, I could see the relationship in this eye brain health and then the gut, you know how the gut and the eyes and the brain come together. I’ll say one more thing because this is another really nice story. So when I was writing my first book in Santa Fe, it’s called creating your personal vision. I wrote that book in 1994. You can still get it in their new editions out now. I think you can get it on Amazon. but I was interviewing a woman who was a master nutritionist and her name was Dr. Hazel Parcells and Dr. Parcells was 103 when I met her and she was just starting a retreat center in northern New Mexico. And so I became a student of hers for three years. She died at 106 and taught me a lot about energy healing and other things that are a little more esoteric that we could get into if you want to. But Dr. amazing around nutrition. knew food combining, what to cook with, and we had a good run together. There’s a book about her called Live Better Longer. The author’s name is Dispensas. So your listeners out there, they want to learn about Dr. Parcells. What an amazing woman. But she was really focused on the brain, the eyes, the nutrition, and it kind of all came together for me when I moved to Santa Fe. I met some extraordinary people that kind of pushed me in different directions.          

To learn more about Dr. Berne’s Practitioner Program go to: https://www.drsamberne.com/practitioners-training/ For exclusive content go to his membership: https://drsambernesmembership.com Keywords functional vision, dynamic vision, static vision, visual regard, pupil testing, eye alignment, tracking skills, convergence, divergence, primitive reflexes, near-far fixation, suppression, visual midline, vestibular ocular reflex, Harmon distance Summary In this podcast episode, Dr. Sam Berne discusses the concept of functional vision screening, emphasizing the difference between dynamic and static vision. He explores various assessments and exercises that can help improve visual skills, coordination, and overall learning abilities in children. Key topics include the importance of visual regard, pupil testing, tracking skills, convergence and divergence, primitive reflexes, and the significance of the Harmon distance in reading. The episode provides valuable insights for parents, educators, and therapists working with children who may have visual processing challenges. Takeaways Functional vision is dynamic and involves the brain and body. Head posture can significantly influence visual problems. Visual regard is essential for effective motor planning. Pupil response can indicate stress and visual issues. Convergence is crucial for reading and visual tracking. Primitive reflexes play a key role in visual development. Near-far fixation exercises enhance copying and reading skills. Suppression of one eye can indicate underlying vision problems. Visual midline assessments help understand spatial awareness. The Harmon distance is critical for optimal reading posture. Sound Bites “Functional vision is dynamic, not just eyesight.” “Head posture can influence vision problems.” “Pupil response can indicate stress levels.” “Convergence is crucial for reading skills.” “Primitive reflexes affect visual skills.” “Near-far fixation improves copying skills.” “Suppression can indicate a vision problem.” “Visual midline affects spatial awareness.” “The Harmon distance is vital for reading.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Functional Vision Screening 03:07 Understanding Dynamic vs Static Vision 05:56 Assessing Coordination and Posture 09:13 The Importance of Visual Regard 11:59 Pupil Testing and Eye Alignment 15:11 Tracking Skills: Pursuits and Saccades 18:11 Convergence and Divergence in Vision 21:14 The Role of Primitive Reflexes 23:47 Near-Far Fixation Exercises 26:54 Understanding Suppression in Vision 30:12 Visual Midline and Balance 33:12 Vestibular Ocular Reflex (VOR) Testing 35:49 The Harmon Distance and Its Importance 38:51 Conclusion and Future Considerations Sam Berne (00:00.066) Hey everyone, welcome to the podcast today. So I’m doing a little more teaching in what we call functional vision screening. So the difference between functional vision, which is dynamic and static vision, which is eyesight is huge. And when we start talking about how to use these two eyes in relationship to the brain and body. We can do a number of tests that can help us determine what’s the best course of action and being able to help a person improve their vision. So again, I’m going to invite you in and part of the lecture today that we did with our class. I think you’ll find it to be very interesting. Again, if you have any questions, you can send me an email appointments at dr. Sam burn.com. Enjoy the show everyone. So this is called assessing functional vision. And this is a this is a an assessment that I have developed over the years and I’ve given it to many occupational therapists physical therapists teachers people like yourself. And so I will give you a worksheet that you can use to actually take the notes when you actually do the testing but for today today. We’re just going to start in on the ideas of it. So here we have a person who’s on a Boza ball and we’re working with the inner ear, the vestibular system, which is very tight into vision. And I’ll talk more about that in a few minutes. Sam Berne (01:53.174) So what I did here is I made a list of things that relate to each other. Like for example, if you have a child who tilts their head. They usually have what we call a stigmatism, which means that the eye is shaped more like an egg instead of being round like a ball. And a stigmatism effect is influenced by our posture head posture neck posture. So there’s that relationship head tail a stigmatism now double vision meaning I see two of something that could be related to something called stimming coordination problems. So that could either be body coordination problems or visual coordination. So it could either be gross motor or fine motor or both a lot of times there is a gross motor coordination problem and they can even relate to some of the primitive reflex primitive reflexes that aren’t integrated and we’ll save the primitive reflexes for another lecture, but You know, you can ask your your client. Do you ever see two of things and a lot of times they’ll say, yeah, I do and the parents are like, I never heard that. So if you don’t ask the question then you know, the child just thinks double vision is normal. Another behavior that you might see in the double vision is they like to cover or close an eye, especially when they read. Or you can look at their eyes and their eyelids and the eyelid droops. gets heavy. Another thing you can notice is that the pupils which is the control of the light. It’s the black circle is always dilated. And if you see a child that’s always got dilated pupils, they’re under a lot of stress. There’s a there’s a big stress response in their system. So Sam Berne (04:01.354) In general head position and posture. One of the things that I like to do is really observe how the child is writing and reading watch the child while he or she is hopping skipping or galloping and one clinic that I work in. We actually observe the child walking on a either a two by four or a piece of tape that was like a masking tape that we put along the floor and they have to walk on that forwards and backwards and we observe the arms the hands the legs the feet and then there’s an exercise called the duck walk pigeon walk and this is where you ask the child to turn their feet out like a duck and start walking. And with most of the kids that I’ve worked with when they do the duck walk or the pigeon walk is when the feet are turned in like a pigeon. You will see the upper part of the body kind of turning in or turning out as a way to try to help the feet stay in the position. You’re asking them to stay on. You can also look at their arms and their hands while they’re walking and it’s going to clue you in that they’ve got some kind of motor developmental delay and many times it’s related to again, the primitive reflexes not being integrated if they’re in a therapy situation and I see this behavior on the pigeon walk or the duck walk. I’ll do something called Socratic guidance, meaning that I’ll start asking them questions. Hey, Johnny, is there another way you can hold your arm or hold your hand? Sam Berne (05:56.801) And so that they are in a discovery mode of going. well, my hand was turned in. What if I turn my hand out as just as an example? So Socratic guidance is a technique where instead of saying, you’re doing it wrong or correcting them, which really is a missed opportunity for them to become better at problem solving because that’s this whole this whole process is teaching them to be experts of problem solving first with their body coordination and then thinking and then eventually they can transfer that to school. So when you’re doing the Socratic guidance, you’re artfully you’re skillfully asking them questions and guiding them to a place where they try something else and they’ve got the confidence because they’re not afraid that you’re going to correct them. They’re going to be in an open space of just well, can I explore it a different way? And then when they come to the right answer you go. Well, what do you think of that? And they might go. Yeah, that makes sense. So then you’re validating their experience in solving the problem. And I see this a lot with parents where especially the mom she’s always like trying to correct her son and I have to say, okay. Please be quiet, step back because we don’t want you to correct your son because he’s going to get this complex where he’s going to be afraid to try things. And so we teach the parents ask questions to guide the child so that they have the discovery of the answer. Okay, another thing that you can look at while they’re walking is their eye fixation. Are they walking with their eyes pointing downward like at the ground or upward like at the sky or off to the one side or the other? It’s going to give you information perhaps on what side of the the body they they Sam Berne (08:03.691) have a preference towards and ultimately we want them to have a wider peripheral vision so that they can go down. can look up. They can look to the side, but they also have a centering point because the next thing this is a not talked about very much. It’s called visual regard and the definition of visual regard is It refers to the act of using your vision to locate focus on and attend to an object in the environment. It is a foundational skill in motor planning. Okay, so I see where I need to go first and then I move my body based on the decision where I’m looking. This is so important in sports. For example, kicking a soccer ball playing basketball playing baseball tennis golf any of these when you look ahead and you know where you’re looking then you’re planning your body to move through that and there are there are exercises that you can do to improve motor plan. Using visual regard because it’s going to affect coordination. It’s going to affect how the person is relating to themselves and objects out there and it also visually guides the hands and body. We call this proprioception. I know where my arms and my legs are as I’m using my vision. This gets a little more interesting when we start putting them in gravity situations where they’re jumping say on a rebounder while they’re reading a heart chart as an example so that there is a visually guided movement and their body follows that particular movement. Sam Berne (09:56.553) So visual regard is something not a lot of therapists talk about, but it’s really really important. So what are some functional examples of that eye hand coordination or visual regard? Well, one is reaching for a cup. You know, one of questions I ask moms a lot is does your child spill their milk? Do they spill their juice? And that tells me that their visual visual regard is not accurate. So they have difficulty judging location guiding their hands towards an object because their eye is tracking it or not tracking it. Another place will see it is in reading. So skipping words being able to follow letters words on a page and then finally playing sports, which I talked about tracking a ball in motion calculating its trajectory and preparing to catch it involves visual regard. And when you get really good with visual regard, you’re great at anticipating where the teammate is where the ball is and this is where the the athletes really take off when they start being able to plan ahead and they can almost tell where things are going to be before they get there. Kids they bend over when they’re bouncing the ball, especially if I’m adding a metronome and they think by bending over they can be faster with catching the ball and throwing the ball. And so we’re always in this correcting mode of asking them the question. Well, hey Johnny, what would it be like bouncing the ball? If you just stood up straight up? What would that be like? And then he goes, wow, it’s actually easier on my muscles, but it’s the vision that’s leading the body here. It’s not the Sam Berne (11:50.007) muscles leading the vision. It’s vision leading the body and in the physical therapy that you and I are talking about. I feel that the more we can get the vision into the body and the more we can get the body into the vision that really solves the issue for the kids around their learning disabilities and their reading problems because it’s not just the eyeball experience as one of my teachers used to say a vision problem is more than in the eye. It’s in the whole child and going on to this next slide. When you look at the pupil and when you come here, we’re going to do some pupil testing. You have a pen light and you shine the light towards the eye and the the pupil should actually get smaller when the light comes to the eye with a lot of these kids. What happens is the pupil doesn’t constrict it stays really big really dilated and then there’s the issue where one pupil is big. With one eye say the right eye and the left eye, the pupil is small and that’s called anisocoria and that could be a neurological problem. It could be a stress problem. It could be a trauma or toxicity issue. But the pupils are there to kind of show us what’s happening on the nervous system level. And also when a child is reading a book and starts to bring it close, the pupil should get smaller as the person brings the book closer to their face. Sam Berne (13:29.761) Just as like when they move the book farther away or at this point is probably the tablet. The pupils should get slightly larger. So we will do some testing in the area of having a pen light and being able to test the pupils so you can see the movement again when it’s light when there’s a lot of light the pupil should get smaller when there’s dim light the pupil should get bigger or more dilated. And one of the tests I’m going to teach you is something called the Hirschberg test. And this is a test where you have a pen light and we’re going to talk about the Harmon distance in a little bit. That’s the distance that is about 12 to 14 inches from a person’s face. And what you do is you shine the light towards the the the person’s eyes and you look at where the pupils The light is reflecting off the pupils. So it’s a way for you to see alignment. So you probably have worked with kids where when you look at them one of their eyes might be wandering in. One of their eyes might be wandering out. One of their eyes might be going up. One of their eyes might be going down. So in this Hirschberg test, they’re looking at the pen light. You’re right in front of them and you want to make sure they have alignment. If they have misalignment, two things could be going on. One is double vision and two is suppression, meaning the brain is shutting off the eye to avoid double. So we have in this slide, the technical term, esotropia. is when the eye is crossing exotropia is mean one eye is looking outward. So you’ll see the reflection of the light on the inside part of the pupil and then you’ve got the hypertropia where one eye is up and hypotropia where one eye is deviated down. So you can have a vertical split. You can have a horizontal split. I’m going to tell you this most of these kids have one of these four issues. Sam Berne (15:39.453) esotropia, exotropia, hypertropia or hypotropia and for you to know that before you start the pursuit eye movements, which is the smooth movement. This is being able to smoothly move your eyes from horizontal left to right or up and down pursuits is one of those visual tracking skills that’s really important for reading. The other one is called Cicade movements and this is the jumping from one. Position to another like like focusing from near to far focusing from the left side to the right side. So when you’re testing you can test both the pursuits and the saccades and one of the things you’re looking for is is the child able to move the eye muscles smoothly or is there jerkiness in the movement or are they having to move their head and or their body to move their eyes? I’ve done so many, you know, kindergarten eye screenings where we we test the saccades and the pursuits and we go. Wow, they’ve got to move their head to move the tiny eye muscles. So can you imagine trying to teach them how to read? It’s going to be really stressful for them because they don’t have accurate eye movements at this point. And then we talk about something called convergence. This is what you’re working with right now with the Brock string. Basically, it’s three beads on the string and the first bead is about 12 inches from your face and the child is holding the string on the tip of their nose. Sam Berne (17:24.105) in the middle of the eye level and we spread the beads out equally 12 inches 24 inches 36 inches and we have them look at each bead and they should see an X at whatever bead they’re looking at. This is a skill called convergence. Convergence is a very important skill at aiming the eyes, especially when you read. When you watch the child’s eyes to see if both eyes are tracking the target or you can actually start to see one of the eyes moving out and you can ask them is this a double vision? Do you see two? We call this near point of convergence where how closely can you move the target where they’re able to keep converging and hopefully they’re able to converge. well within the range of where they’re holding their their books when they read because if the convergence breaks down right at their reading, then they’re going to get the diagnosis convergence insufficiency. And then we’ve got divergence, which is more like the magic eye you’re doing like the jelly beans where the eyes are looking parallel. And in this particular way, this is more of a distance type coordination pattern. So divergence is more distance and convergence is more near and you want to be able to again watch the clients child’s eyes as you’re moving the target towards their nose and away from their nose and you can start to see. Okay, what is their convergence divergence abilities build a house you start by building the basement and you build the you know, the foundation and the basement and the foundation would be the primitive reflex. It would be working with their balance. It’d be working with their gross motor coordination. Sam Berne (19:18.741) You probably wouldn’t want to introduce the convergence divergence or tracking exercises. That metaphor would be like the bedrooms upstairs. So absolutely because they don’t have them. They don’t have the gross motor connections. They’re in a developmental delay. So you couldn’t really introduce the, you know, ocular motor exercises like this divergence convergence until their primitive reflexes their balance the bilateral coordination skills are foundationally more solid. It’s absolutely that’s why there’s a certain sequence in when you introduce these certain activities. This is a mistake that most behavioral optometry and vision therapy practices make. I’m sorry to say this, but I see the mistakes. I’ll have people come to see me. I say I’ve worked in vision therapy for two years and I have not seen any improvement. And within four to six sessions of working with me in this particular method, the child’s reading they’re playing sports their problem is solved. So one of the issues is that the the vision therapy exercises they start too high up in the motor development and the child is not ready. So they learn a splinter skill, you know, they can cross their eyes or move their eyes, but they’re not really working with, you know, fixing the developmental delay which started way back more in the preverbal period. So you are right and not introducing convergence divergence until you think they can have some success at it. You need to stay more with the basic things and actually you’ll get a lot more benefits by doing that than trying to force them into Sam Berne (21:24.971) doing some things before they’re ready. So in the divergence going back to that, there’s something called, you know, blur break and recovery. So when there’s a target and you bring it in you ask him go, where do you see double and hopefully they see it like three to four inches from their face. Some kids will say, I see double at 12 inches or 14 inches. Well, that’s a red flag right there because they’re probably in double vision when they’re reading or writing. So you need to note that. The other thing is the recovery of the double vision because you want them to be able to recover from the double vision pretty quickly with a lot of kids. Their recovery is very low. In other words, you have to push away or push away away from them. or pull it way away from them before the two goes back to single and what that tells you is they’re depleted. They don’t have enough in their energy reserves to be able to turn the two into single and this is where then you can start doing some muscle testing educational kinesiology, which will come later and maybe testing the child where they need either change in their diet or supplements. And again, in one of the clinics I work with the occupational therapist does educational kinesiology to find out what are the targeted supplements that will give that child more energy. So their recovery is better. Their developmental growth is going to be faster because they have more energy on the cellular level to make the changes that we’re asking them to make. Now, another thing we like to look at is something called near far fixations. This would be like sitting at your desk, looking at the board and being able to copy what you see at the board. Now, the way we simulate that is through a small printed heart chart, which is at 12 inches and a large printed heart chart. Sam Berne (23:34.293) which is say three to six feet away. And so the exercise is done where they look at one letter on the small printed chart up close and then one letter. at the distance chart and they’d be able to go back and forth with it. When they get good at it, you can bounce a ball and do it. You can even do it with the eye patch. But this near far fixation exercise is really great for getting them to improve their copying. Now, just as an aside, and I didn’t write this in one of the primitive reflexes that most effects The near far fixation is the symmetrical tonic neck reflex and we’ve done studies where we kids have difficulty copying. So instead of doing the near far fixation exercise, we do the symmetrical tonic neck reflex and that reflex. Allows the brain to move more into the frontal part of the brain. And so the near far fixations automatically get better without having to do any exercises in the near far fixations. That’s how potent the primitive reflexes are and being able to change the visual skills and In this near far fixation procedure, we’re asking the child to shift their focus from the near chart to the far chart. And sometimes you can add a metronome. Sometimes you can put them on one of those Boza balls or a trampoline or so you can bring in a vestibular component to it while they have to jump their eyes back and forth. It’s a form of what we call saccades. Cicades. Remember we talked about eye movements that are jumping from one Sam Berne (25:22.381) Position to another and as the child gets older the saccadic movement is more important for them, especially sports processing information faster being able to you know motor in the world faster making decisions better. So that’s a catech near far fixation probably would be great for like a normal 12 13 14 15 year old, you know for the young ones like 5 six, we probably wouldn’t do a lot of near far fixations except maybe the Marsden ball, which is the swinging ball and they’re just hitting it and they’re tracking it. That would be a gentle way to start the near far fixations. But once you get into the heart charts, that’s where they’re already in a language based situation. And so they’re ready for that. Sam Berne (26:18.217) Okay, suppression and I know you know about suppression because when you were here and you got tested what what suppression does is it test the person to see whether or not either they’ve got number one double vision because there’s a misalignment of the eyes or instead of double vision the brain says, I’m just going to shut off the weaker. I it’s going to go dark. and then the right eye has to do all the work. So in the bottom of the slide is something that I know you’re very aware of and that is the red green charts and the red green glass for sure because in the special needs world, if you go to a conventional doctor, they’re just going to say, well, you’ve got this condition live with it and there’s no there’s no help whatsoever. There’s no understanding that the person has some level of neuroplasticity to learn and know, even in this suppression, if we go to the next slide where you have the child wear the red green glasses and just look around the room. Just the awareness of then being able to see the different colors, the red, the green. This is a really great way to start. But what I like to do is just to put the red green glasses on and just see what their response is. Number of kids will say, I just see the red or I just see the green and that tells me right away that there’s probably a very good deal of suppression and as they progress. Sam Berne (28:02.197) In fact, you could try this to wear the red green glasses while you’re doing the Brock string. It’s a very interesting thing when you are doing the Brock string and you’ve got a red string and a green string. What’s more dominant? Does the green string shut off? Sometimes it’s a way we do add-ons where we add like the red green glasses to the exercise and it kind of gives them more information on this binocular vision. Another way that you can do this the red greens is by using heart charts with strips. vertically alternating red and green and red and green and again, they’re at that Harmon distance, which is about 12 to 14 inches and you ask them to read across the row and I know you’ve done that because we’ve done it with you and it’s a really great I think even we did with your kids and so this is another great way, especially when they get into reading and language. Can they have that alternating situation? And then we move to something called visual midline. I was working with this today with a client and the purpose of this is to see if the child is actually. Balanced between the right eye and their left eye because in a lot of cases if a child is right-handed. On a visual midline, if we think of that as our steering wheel, our GPS system, a lot of times the steering wheel will start sliding more towards the left. Sam Berne (29:42.281) left eye would meaning that the right eye is now coming over and it’s it’s now taking over where the left eye is. So it’s pushing the left eye out of the way. So the way you do this is this is a screening where they can either track visually track a target and you bring it into their midline. You can have them touch it and where they report now. That’s going to tell you where their visual midline or visual midline shift is. Now, there’s a vertical right to left where you’re standing on the right side of the child’s peripheral vision and you hold the pencil or the pen oriented vertically and move the target slowly through the midline from the child’s right side towards the left side and ask the child to say now when the target is in front of their nose. So a lot of times they will miscalculate you’ll see it as my goodness the pencils way over on their left side, but they’ll interpret it as yeah, the pencils in the middle of my face. Well, it’s actually not so the The vertical right to left is good to do the vertical left to right is good to do where you stand on their left side and you move that vertical pencil from left to right to where they think it’s a in front of their nose. can also do horizontal vertical. Sam Berne (31:21.993) So sometimes what we have found is that when a person is looking their horizon line. when you look out at the horizon, okay, a lot of times kids will think that the horizon is lower than it really is. This happens a lot like in Down syndrome. That’s where I mostly see it. And when that happens, there are always their visual spatial world is actually pushed downward. And so I’ll give them a prism that lifts their vision up and there have been life changes when they they start to have that horizon line match where the true horizon is and at a later session. We’ll talk about prisms and and those kinds of things. But for now. The midline whether it’s horizontal or vertical is something that you could start to play around with and cognitive ability and you know on the testing side of it is you certainly could try it and if you’re not getting an accurate response, then you just say this. This isn’t the right test to do now, but with some of your kids. something called the vestibular ocular reflex VOR and the VOR is a test to see how much is the vestibular system meaning the inner ears helping a person with their balance. So we’ve got two sensory systems that help us with balance really three we have the eyes. For balance. have the ears for balance and we have the feet for balance. It’s like a triangle and what happens with most people is that if they have an under sensitivity of the vestibular system, meaning the ears are not helping the eyes in balancing. Sam Berne (33:33.301) The subjective behaviors that you will see the child may be clumsy bumping into things. If there’s an oversensitivity in the reflex the child might get dizzy easily or report motion sickness. So an under acting vestibular system is bumping into things and over reacting vestibular system is getting dizzy or seasickness. So in terms of testing the vor because that will give you an indicator on whether the the ears and the eyes are balanced or one system is overworking the other. So you have the child sitting in a comfortable. They’re in a comfortable standing position and you’re in front of them. And what you do is you hold up a target vertically at midline in front of the child and you instruct the child to focus both eyes on the target and slowly turn the head to one side as far so they’re turning their head while they’re tracking the target and they go as far as they can with their head on one side and on the other side and you have them do that total of 10 times five on each side. So you count one one two two. all the time. They’re maintaining the focus on the target. And so you do this five on each side and then you can also do it vertically. Okay, up and down same thing where they’re moving their head up moving their head down five five in each each direction. So now once once you do that. What you’re looking for is a movement called nystagmus. That’s where the eyes oscillate back and forth. And if you see no oscillation, okay, no oscillation or the oscillation is less than five seconds, then they have an under acting vestibular system. Okay. Sam Berne (35:49.425) If that oscillation goes beyond 10 seconds, then they have an overacting vestibular system. So somewhere between the five and 10 seconds, that’s a normal response. Like you should see a little bit of ocular nystagmus for five to 10 seconds. That’s normal. So at that point and in most cases, most cases The vestibular system is under acting. So you need to do some vestibular stimulating things. We’ll get into this in a later session, but it could be something as simple where you’re you’re having them swing. They’re swinging. They’re rolling. Sometimes we’ll do jumping like on a rebounder. Sometimes we’ll roll them on a physio ball. So we get a big physio ball and we’ll roll them. We’ll use a Boza ball and they can either sit on it or stand on it. So in other words, what we start doing in the therapy is we bring in vestibular stimulating things while they have to do visual focusing things. So it teaches them to bring in the ears to the eyes with the feet. That’s the proprioception. And it’s a very important connection, especially when a child learns to read. Because in reading when they’re tracking there is a little bit of vestibular connection. There is a little bit of proprioceptive connection and it’s also very tied in to the moro reflex. So if somebody has not integrated the moro reflex a lot of times their vor the vestibular ocular reflex will show a very underacting vestibular system and this can be related to birth trauma. So either Sam Berne (37:47.279) serine section forceps suction or just you know, the cord is wrapped around the neck. There’s some birth trauma that’s happened. It’s triggered the more reflex which they can’t get out of and this starts to shut down the vestibular system because they’re getting overwhelmed in this fight or flight freeze response. It’s a trauma response. So they have to start shutting down their sensory systems and it’s very easy for them to shut down their deceptive and their inner ears. And so then the visual is overworking and this creates situations where then they might need some glasses like they need a prescription because their eyes get so fatigued from over focusing so they might become farsighted. may become nearsighted. So that’s the kind of the the progression of why kids start to need glasses, especially early on or another reason why they start developing developing an I turn crossing in or crossing out. So again, the way I’m teaching this is you’re noting these signals and symptoms and putting it together in the history, but you’re trying to treat the cause and not the symptoms and what I doctors do is they want to fix the symptoms. Well, guess what you fix the symptom and you drive the cause further in this is why when you start doing the physical therapy and you treat the cause the symptom goes away and it never comes back. but it also creates a better processing of information and learning and it’s just a very exciting transformation. So I’ll have more to say about the vor but this is basically just getting, know, your feet wet with it. Then the last thing I want to talk about today is something called the Harmon distance. So Sam Berne (39:46.507) Back in I would say the the 40s 1940s 1950s. There was a a scientist his name was Darrell Boyd Harmon and he was working with some of the more well-respected developmental optometrists about posture and working distance. and Harmon did a series of studies. I believe in Ohio State where they took a look at what is the optimal distance you should be holding your books. Now your tablets when you read and what kind of angle should it be at? So how far away should it be from your face? And what’s the angle and what he found in this diagram shows it is that if you are propping up the reading material at about 22 degrees in a slant board, what that does is it creates a 90 degree angle in a way where the child or the adult has the optimum potential to learn and read better. And so this 22 degree incline, it could be just propping their, you know, their tablet up on a some books so that they’re at a 22 degree angle. Approximately what this does is this is going to take the stress off their posture and allow them to learn better. Now, there’s a little picture up here, which is a picture of this arm. Okay, there’s a fist. There’s an arm and it’s like an L and what Harmon proposed is you take that fist and you put it under the chin and that measurement from the end of the the knuckle to the elbow, which is now under the chin. Sam Berne (41:42.693) Is your specific Harman distance measurement. So for example, a four-year-old has a Harman distance that might be 10 inches because they have a smaller forearm. You could take a 22 year old person. Their Harman distance is going to be farther away. And that’s based on how long the knuckle to the elbow is and it’s placed under the chin and then you kind of look at okay, that’s my Harman distance. One of the problems that happens with kids and you’ve probably observed this is you give them something to read and you watch where they habitually like to hold it and when kids hold their reading material closer than the Harman distance. You can bet there’s going to be a vision problem. Again, vision is tracking focusing visual coordination. It’s the brain. Eye brain body connection. It’s not eyesight. It’s vision. When they bring that in closer than the Harmon distance, that is a great screening device. That’s going to tell you right away. they have a vision problem focusing problem coordination problem. And so you want to instruct them. to have that 22 degree angle and get into the Harmon distance. And this is something I tell every parent that they have to do this. Okay. Now sometimes they might need some low plus learning lenses to help them stay at that Harmon distance or if they’re wearing a distance prescription, we might have to reduce the prescription or increase the prescription to allow them to have the clarity that they need at the Harmon distance. But With all your clients, you should be talking to them about the importance of the Harmon distance. You could actually Google Harmon distance, Darrell Boyd Harmon, and you get a whole page of different things that Harmon did about as a pioneer to create this this idea and it’s you know, even today because we’re talking it’s you know, almost 80 years 90 years. Sam Berne (43:58.365) It still really holds water and I still see it. I still work with the Harmon distance today and especially with electronics phones tablets computers. The Harmon distance is more important than ever. So focusing closer than your Harmon distance, I guarantee you in six months, you’re going to become near sighted because you’re in a visually constricted spatial situation and it’s the worst thing the kids can do. They start pulling it in because they think, you know, if I pull it in, I’m stressed. I can learn better. I can focus better. But what it’s doing is it’s tensing the eye muscles and it creates that visual confinement which creates myopia. And so and then you got the kids that are farsighted and they’re pushing the world away and you know, that’s a whole other thing. So functional vision screening. You know, I wish more school nurses and different institutions included functional vision in their eyesight screenings because most eyesight screenings only measure the optics of the eye at distance. And this is an uphill, you know, battle because very few professionals even think about vision, which is the brain. Okay. Well, that’s our show for today. I want to thank you so much for tuning in until next time. Take care.  

To contact our guest directly, go to: www.earthwalks.org or e-mail Doug: [email protected] Keywords Earthwalks, Geomancy, Ecotourism, Indigenous Cultures, Chaco Canyon, Land Acknowledgment, Nature Connection, Community Engagement, Spiritual Wisdom, Environmental Education Summary In this engaging conversation, Doug Conwell, founder of Earthwalks, shares his journey to Santa Fe, his connection to the earth, and the principles of geomancy. He discusses the importance of ecotourism, the mysteries of Chaco Canyon, and the significance of land acknowledgment in addressing social injustices. Doug also highlights upcoming workshops and the essence of giving back to the community through service and respect for indigenous cultures. Takeaways Doug Conwell emphasizes the importance of connecting with the earth. Geomancy involves understanding earth energies and their impact on our lives. Ecotourism should focus on reciprocal relationships with nature and communities. Chaco Canyon is a site of astronomical significance and ancient wisdom. Land acknowledgment is crucial for recognizing historical injustices. Listening to nature can enhance our awareness and connection to the environment. Service projects are a way to give back to indigenous communities. Earthwalks promotes a journey of personal and communal growth. Understanding indigenous education can inform modern environmental education. The essence of Earthwalks is about our life’s journey and connection to the earth. Sound Bites “You have to desire.” “Thank you for coming.” “There is a star map.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Earthwalks and Community Engagement 03:01 The Journey to Santa Fe and Connection to the Earth 05:50 Understanding Geomancy and Earth Energies 09:01 The Principles of Ecotourism and Respect for Nature 11:54 Exploring Chaco Canyon and Its Mysteries 15:02 Land Acknowledgment and Social Justice 17:49 Upcoming Workshops and Closing Thoughts   Sam Berne (00:00.248) Hey everyone, welcome to the podcast today. So we have a very special guest, my good friend, Doug Conwell. And Doug does amazing things here in the community. He’s also founder of Earthwalks, which he will talk about. So Doug, I would love for you to introduce yourself, tell us who you are, and we want to know about you. Thank you, Sam. Thanks for inviting me to be here. I really appreciate that. And I really want to give thanks to the Tehuah people and Carah’s people on whose land that we are living and where we’re working right now, which is called Santa Fe, New Mexico now. And I want to read the acknowledgement that I make on my website for that. Acknowledging the deep connections of indigenous peoples to the land and their significant contributions of past, present, and future. In acknowledging these connections, we express our gratitude for the opportunity to live, work, and learn on this land. And I have to say that Earthwalks is committed to helping reconcile the injustices, restoring voices, and realizing the well-being of all members of our community, and especially those whose land this really was, the first peoples who were here. So yes. Where do we go from here? Well, tell us a little bit about how you came to Santa Fe, where you came from and what inspired you to move here. Well, guess I was it was almost 50 years ago. It’s hard to believe, but in 1979, I kind of heard a calling. I was living in Colorado, my home state, Sam, and I was feeling disconnection from the earth, from myself. I didn’t feel like I had any real connection to my own family or history. And I used to live on the border in El Paso when I would come through Santa Fe and back and forth from Colorado and always loved this area, this part of the world, New Mexico. And I thought, well, I’m going to try this out. I’m going to, I’m going to live in Santa Fe and see. I was hearing in my head and also reading and finding out more about indigenous traditional cultures and their spiritual wisdom. Sam Berne (02:27.6) and how they are connected so much to the land, to the earth, to the ecology, and how that’s a part of the essential part of our well-being. So I wanted to know more about that if I could, and that was my main reason initially for moving here. And I know we’ve talked about this a lot, but the subject of geomancy. How did you get into that? And that’s kind of a precursor before your Earthwalks. I would think so, yeah. Well, along the way, I learned something about… globally in cultures around the world called geomancy which deals with earth energies and has to do with how do you listen? How do you understand what those energies are that we are all a part of and how does that kind of inform you in terms of who you are and your own individual personality and maybe goals and values but it’s values that are in sync with in harmony with earth energies. there’s a whole field of geomancy that includes ley lines and divining with earth energies and labyrinths and standing stones in Europe and other places. But they have their relationship too, I found, in native cultures in this country very much so. And then I discovered, my goodness, my own Celtic background. I am Scottish and Irish and guess what? Those similar traditions and you might say it’s a Earth science and it’s a science of the soul really exists in my own culture as well as in Native America. So I started learning more about that and then as I learned more I started offering some group gatherings and sharing what I was learning. I ultimately ended up teaching out at Ghost Ranch New Mexico which is a retreat center northwest of Santa Fe out in the Georgia O’Keeffe area for quite a few years and part of that Sam Berne (04:30.848) teaching had to do with geomancy itself. One of the things we’ve talked about and I’ve experienced it and you know when I on your Earthwalks is listening, feeling and seeing the Earth energies. could you elaborate? I know one of the quotes you have is you have to desire. You said that to me. So people want to know about that. What’s all that about? Yeah, I guess that would be probably the most important first step. know, you you. You think that, this is possible. So maybe I want to understand, I want to experience. And I think a lot of us, most of us probably have. Maybe it was more when we were children, younger, playing outside or even in the parking lot, wherever it might be, that we were, you know, looking at things more closely as little kids, right? We were looking at the earth, you know, the small things that were maybe the bugs, the insects, maybe it was how the sand was blowing across our yard or wherever we were, if we were in an urban environment or a rural environment. So, yeah, that’s the first step is kind of in a way Sam Berne (05:50.017) being open to that fresh way of looking at things with innocence like you did when you were a child most likely. So it’s being aware, having that consciousness. And then I remember one class I was teaching in Albuquerque and you know, in the middle of a city and we had a break for lunch and I gave them an assignment which was to wherever they were to go for lunch was to find some aspect of nature that was calling them that they could absorb. of whether it was popping out of the asphalt or where it was. And yes, you can find that no matter where you are. You don’t have to be in pristine environment like Chaco Canyon, where you and I have been before several times. Yeah, I think that listening, looking, you know, that inner that inner sense of knowing is an essential part of it. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And, know, I know in my own case, we’ve talked about this. My power spot is Hawaii. And I’ve led a lot of retreats there. And of course, the energies there are very different in some ways than New Mexico. But it is that listening, feeling and seeing and all the elements coming together. And I love how you orchestrate that on your workshops here. So which brings me to the next question. Can you talk about ecotourism? Absolutely. In fact, not only talk about I’d like to read something from Dr. Greg Kehete, who is a Pueblo, a Native American Pueblo from the southwest here in the Santa Fe area scholar. And this is what he says about related to ecotourism. Traditional systems of Indian education represent ways of learning and doing through a nature-centered philosophy. This gets back to geomancy. They are among the oldest continuing expressions of quote, environmental education in the world. Taken as a whole, they represent an environmental education process with profound meaning for modern education as it faces the challenges of living in the 21st century. So he has a book, Sam Berne (08:05.771) which is called Look to the Mountain, an ecology of indigenous education that I would really recommend to your viewers, Sam. But related to that are principles of ecotourism. I think more important now than at any time in our life. But a lot of people, I think, approach tours and tourism as something that you extract. you go somewhere and you’re going to get something as opposed to giving something. And ecotourism really is a reciprocal relationship between you and the place and the people that you are visiting. But there are some basic principles Sam that I think are real important to talk about. One is if you’re going to be, you know, visiting somewhere, try and minimize your impact. And that has a lot to do with environmental impact, but also your presence, how big of a presence do you want to make as a tourist, as a visitor, and then building environmental and cultural awareness and respect. So what does that mean? Well, it means you’re not just going to take pictures and then run away and then put that on your Instagram and share it with everybody else. You’re going to spend time listening like we were talking about with Geomancy, listening to people and really respecting the traditions and the people who you’re visiting and the place that you’re visiting. So that provides positive experiences for not only you, but the people who are you are visiting. In fact, with Earthwalks, what we’ve experienced lots of times the indigenous folks who are really our leaders have said thank you for coming. Sam Berne (09:50.091) because we were listening to them. We were participating in whether it was arts and crafts or whether it was a sweat lodge or whatever it might have been. But we were there to learn, to respect, and to really gain an understanding that we could give back in some way, whatever that might mean. That might mean direct financial contributions if you’re visiting an area that is in need of that. It’s just basically raising your own sensitivity to the issues that are there before you go. One thing I wanted to say Sam is that if any of your viewers want me to send them a list of my bibliography that includes videos and websites and books that relate to everything we’re talking about, just get in touch. I’ll send that out to you as right away. So we’re here with Doug Conwell. He’s founder of Earthwalks and just a wonderful person who loves New Mexico and has a very deep connection with the indigenous cultures here and So I guess my curiosity is what should people know about Chaco Canyon? Wow, that’s such an amazing place, isn’t it? It is. Wow. Well, Chaco is from Santa Fe. It’s about four and a half hours away from here by car. But it’s located in a really wide open empty space. In a lot of ways, people would say empty. Like why here? This huge World Heritage site with enormous ancient buildings that were in astronomical alignment, sun, stars, moon, it’s a pretty amazing place where you visit and we say, why there? And there are questions about that. Why? Because there’s not any water that really runs, that sustains the people. But there’s something there that really called the people and they created this huge center which reached out to the vast Sam Berne (11:54.625) region with straight roads that they built up and down the cliffs and there was trading with South America going on and there’s no real, I’ve heard anyway, real reason for establishing this huge community and then these network of outlying communities. So we may not know about that. I sort of think in my own mind that there is a star map. You’re the star man, Sam. He’s an amazing astronomer, folks. You ought to be with him in Chaco Canyon when he pulls out these gigantic telescopes and then takes us to the stars. Well, I think the Chaco people did that. know, without the aid of a telescope, somehow they went out there because they aligned their buildings, amazing sites, with such precision, mathematical and astronomical and mathematical precision, But beyond that, I’ve always found Chaco to have a certain powerful beneficial energy. Now I know there’s a history that may not be so benevolent in Chaco’s history like there is in every culture around the world, but overall that’s been my experience, a real healing environment. Talk about land acknowledgement. Well, I said something about that earlier on, but I think why it’s so important maybe is what you’re asking. it so important? Even in major cities, large cities, let’s take New York City as an example, where I just was this last summer. people may not have the history and understanding of who were the first peoples on this land, what the history of that place was. And of course, we look at the social injustices that have occurred in our country, colonialism, settler mentality, the westward expansion, the coming of the railroad. This was after the Spanish invasion, colonial invasion in our part of the world Sam Berne (14:12.047) here and what happened to people who were living on the land for centuries peacefully. I mean, they had their own personal conflicts, but they were basically peacefully here. In the Pueblo world, it was farming, more than any kind of nomadic relationship. But those lands were invaded, taken over, and people pushed back and oftentimes mistreated, starved, whatever it might be. And here we sit on those lands now, and most of us without an awareness of the history of that social injustice and colonialism. I think it’s important wherever you are to be able to have that awareness, not to just feel guilty about it all. or anger or resentment, but to say, yes, this is the way it was, and I am here as a result of that, and how can I give back? Here’s a good way that we can do it here. They’ve done it in Oakland. It’s a pretty urban area, Oakland. The indigenous people of Oakland reached out to the community and said, you’re living on native land, Oakland. We would like you to voluntarily, if you would, consider don’t donating, based on maybe the value of the land that you’re on right now, certain amount of money, and we’re going to build an indigenous center for our community, which includes social services and medical services and clinics and that kind of thing. They did it. People voluntarily from their hearts donated and said, I am here because of you. And there’s an effort in Santa Fe to do the very same thing. So that’s just one way to give back. And be aware. Well, we’re coming down to the end of our show today. how can people get in touch with you where they can see your offerings this year? can share about what you’re going to be doing if you want to in terms of workshops and so give us your contact info, your website and maybe what you’re doing this year. Sure. Well, thank you, Sam. Well, the best way to reach me is through earth walks dot org earth walks dot org and you’ll find a way to contact me. Sam Berne (16:26.747) find a real archive of all the things that we’ve been doing over the years with pictures and description and people’s reactions to them and then that way if you want more information I can certainly you know provide that. This year we’re planning to go to Canyon de Chey in the latter part of May. Canyon de Chey is this beautiful amazing deep canyon in the middle of Diné or Navajo country which is across the border between of New Mexico and Arizona. We’ll be there about for three or four days, participating in Sweat Lodge right on the edge of the canyon, and doing service work. This is an element of Earthwalks I didn’t mention, but it’s important to know that one of the ways we give back as participants is to do service projects helping people. In Canyon de Chey in the past, we’ve been out there in the field pulling weeds, whatever it might be, feeding the sheep with the weeds, that kind of a thing and then sharing a meal together whatever it might be with folks from that area. Excellent. And then how about your Chaco trip? Chaco will be in the fall. I don’t have a date for that. But Chaco Canyon in the fall, that is a camping trip. The Canyon de Shea one is a lodging, indoor lodging based but that’s the difference between the two. But yeah, and there is walking involved, but Earthwalks, the name refers to our own life’s journey, our Earthwalk in this life. Well, I will make sure to put all the contact information on the podcast notes, and we’re going to end the show with Doug playing a little bit of flute. And thank you so much for sharing today and. more fun. Thank you Sam. Looking forward to more of the Starman in our lives here too. Stay tuned. This is a Native American flute that a friend of mine gave me many years ago. Sam Berne (18:31.017) offering this our blessings and thanks and gratitude to all the directions.    

To join our membership, go to: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ To enroll in our practitioner’s training go go: https://www.drsamberne.com/practitioners-training/ Keywords functional anatomy, vision therapy, eye health, structural anatomy, color therapy, optic nerve, retina, eye muscles, visual pathways, accommodation Summary This conversation delves into the intricacies of functional anatomy, particularly focusing on the eye. Sam Berne emphasizes the importance of understanding both structural and functional aspects of anatomy to enhance vision therapy practices. The discussion covers various components of the eye, including the cornea, iris, lens, retina, and optic nerve, while also exploring the impact of color therapy and the role of eye muscles. Berne highlights the significance of dynamic processes in vision, such as accommodation and tracking, and addresses common issues like eye floaters and strabismus. The conversation concludes with a powerful message about the interconnection between function and structure in the eye, advocating for a holistic approach to vision therapy. Takeaways Understanding functional anatomy is crucial for vision therapy. The eye’s anatomy includes both structural and functional components. Color therapy can rejuvenate the retina and improve vision. Stress and toxicity can significantly impact visual health. The optic nerve is essential for transmitting visual information to the brain. Accommodation is a dynamic process that can be improved through therapy. Eye floaters are often a result of fluid stagnation in the eye. Tracking exercises can enhance reading and writing skills in children. Vision therapy can address issues like strabismus without surgery. Function can influence structure, leading to improvements in eye health. Titles Unlocking the Secrets of Functional Anatomy The Dynamic Nature of Vision Exploring the Eye: Anatomy and Function Color Therapy: A New Approach to Vision Sound Bites “Vision is dynamic, not static.” “Functional anatomy opens the door for vision therapy.” “Color therapy can help the retina get stronger.” “Stress affects the eyes significantly.” “The optic nerve connects the eye to the brain.” “Accommodation is a dynamic process.” “Eye floaters are a common concern.” “Tracking exercises improve reading and writing.” “Function can change structure in the eye.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Functional Anatomy 03:05 Understanding Structural vs. Functional Anatomy 05:48 The Eye’s Anatomy: Cornea, Iris, and Sclera 09:04 The Lens and Its Role in Vision 12:04 The Retina: Function and Importance 15:02 Color Therapy and Its Impact on Vision 17:48 The Optic Nerve and Visual Pathways 20:57 Accommodation and Focusing Mechanisms 24:02 The Vitreous Body and Eye Health 26:58 Eye Muscles and Their Functions 29:48 Tracking and Eye Movement Exercises 33:06 Primitive Reflexes and Vision Therapy 36:04 The Role of Cranial Nerves in Eye Function 38:56 Strabismus and Vision Therapy Solutions 41:51 Conclusion: The Interconnection of Eye Function and Therapy Sam Berne (00:00.098) Hey everybody. Welcome to the podcast. So today I’m going to bring you into a lecture I gave on functional anatomy and this is something we use in our practitioner training. So I thought I would include part of it in the podcast. So I hope you enjoy the show. Here we go. Why do we want to learn anatomy? Well, if you’re going to be an expert in vision knowing the foundations of the major structures of the eye is very important. And one of the things I want to make a distinction about is structural anatomy. That means knowing the terms, you know, like this is the arm. This is the leg and you know, you can get into the more technical things that’s called structural anatomy, but that is static and that’s physical. What I have found is that when you look at the function of the eye, like how does it work? then that is a what we call dynamic aspect and vision is dynamic. It’s not static. And when you just focus on the structural aspects of anatomy and in this case the eyes, the only thing that you can offer is surgery needles and drugs. and that the eye is separate from the body. But in functional anatomy, what we know is that our eyes dynamically produce vision and adapt to environmental demands. And in functional anatomy, we emphasize how vision integrates with the brain, the vestibular system, and our body systems. Sam Berne (01:46.314) So understanding those roles, like when you work with kids, visual tracking, visual focus, visual coordination, visual perception, cognitive abilities, some of the gross motor skills like primitive reflexes or balance orientation, the functional aspects of vision and functional aspects of Anatomy opens the door for you to say, okay, I’m doing vision therapy today. I can offer you some nutritional counseling. I can take a look at the colored part of your eye, the iris, and I can tell certain constitutional things like certain foods you might want to eat or certain lifestyle things you want to do craniosacral therapy color therapy. So the functional anatomy is really an important part of this. our objectives today is I’m going to introduce just the basic and anatomy of the eye but looking at it from a more functional point of view and we start from the outside and work our way inside. So the outside eyelids the white part of the eye called the sclera, the cornea, which is the clear window. The iris, is the colored part of the eye, the pupil, is our gatekeeper allowing light into the eyes, our lens and our focusing system. And then the retina photoreceptors, the optic nerve. And then we’re going to just briefly touch on the liquid part of the eye, the aqueous, the front part of the eye and the back part, the vitreous, the eye muscles and their eye movements and how that affects conditions like lazy eye or crossed eyes. And then finally the integration of visual pathways in the brain. Sam Berne (03:42.89) So we’re going to start off with the cornea and the iris. So the cornea is the clear window that we look out and people can look in. And on the left side here of the slide, this is the white part of the eye. It’s called the sclera and you can see these blood vessels and in the future. I’m going to teach you how these blood vessels affect our health. There’s a whole body of study called sclerology where we look at the white part of the eye and we can actually tell what’s the health of the liver. What’s the health of the gallbladder? Do we have Candida? We can actually look at this white part of the eye and we can tell if a person has got systemic or metabolic imbalances. But for today, we just say that the white part of the eye is the sclera. We obviously have the eyelids which help us produce the tears that cover the cornea and the eyelids are very important around producing the tears that keep our eyes moist. So it’s very common for people to have inflammation in the eyelids and this causes all kinds of problems with dryness and eye pain and that affects the cornea, is the transparent of the eye. So just to repeat the white part of the eye is the sclera, the eyelids house the glands and the cornea is the clear window of the eye with a lot of nerve endings and you need to keep that cornea covered with tears and that’s what the eyelids produce. Sam Berne (05:34.54) And then if we go back a little bit, we see the colored part of the eye and there three main colors. There’s the blue eyes. There’s the mixed color, which like their hazel and then there’s the deep brown color. And the color of the the color of the eyes shows us a couple things genetic tendencies like things that have been passed down from your mom and dad your grandma and your granddad, you know conditions like perhaps diabetes or heart disease or connective tissue issues or liver problems. So we can see patterns in the color part of the eye that you know, we can say ask the question. Well, did your mom and dad or grandma and granddad, anybody have diabetes and For example, if we identify a pattern there, we can we can counsel the person and say, you know, it’s probably better that you don’t have high glycemic index sugar foods because if you do you’re going to have a tendency toward diabetes. And of course, we know sugar for the eyes is deadly. It causes a lot of eye problems. So we can look at the colored part of the eye and we can determine. Okay, what is the systemic health? What’s the glandular health? Sam Berne (06:55.702) What’s the digestive and metabolic health? So in a later module, we’ll talk a little more about the specifics. This is just an overview today. So sclera white part eyelids cornea colored part of the eye is the iris and then finally the pupil and the pupil tells us the state of our nervous system. So for example, when our pupils are always dilated even in dim light because the pupil should get smaller when we go into bright light, but it should dilate when we go into dim light. But if it’s always dilated that suggests that the person is under a lot of visual stress and their peripheral vision is very tunneled. It’s just a very simple thing. And in our next lecture when we meet I’m going to give you a functional vision screening. process and it’s a very detailed way to analyze the eyes. looking at the pupils, looking at the eye alignment, looking at tracking. It’s going to be perfect for you. We’ve used it at Kid Power in Albuquerque with the occupational therapists for years. It’s basically called a functional vision screening. And I know you already have a screening that you’re doing, but this will just be a great add-on for you to really give you a very specific analysis on what is happening in terms of the visual system and part of that is the pupil health and when a person’s pupils are really dilated all the time that suggests that they’re under a lot of stress and we can take note of that. That’s why it’s a question I asked quite a bit. Are you light sensitive? As an example. Sam Berne (08:53.868) All right, so as we move back in the eye, the next thing we look at is you can see here, this is a person that has a cataract and this is called the lens of the eye. Now, basically what the lens is is it’s the part of the eye that allows light to come through it that bends eventually to the retina. And again, when you work with your kiddies, what happens is is that the lens of the eye, the muscles that attached to the lens are not working properly and that that process is called accommodation. And we have conditions like accommodation excess too much focusing spasm in the muscles or accommodative insufficiency where a person can’t move the muscles very well. So like shifting from near to far back to near is difficult. So this is where vision therapy working on improving the muscular flexibility of the lens is very helpful in improving the the brain processing. the reading, the learning, the copying from the board. So this is the functional aspect of the lens. Most eye doctors just look at the structure of the lens. Oh, you’ve got a cataract. Let’s cut it out. But what we’re talking about is how does that lens work and how do those muscles make the lens bend in a way so that a person can shift their focus from near to far? When the light is focusing on the the through the lens, it actually focuses on the retina and the retina is the back part of the eye. It’s actually made of brain tissue. So every part of the eye is brain. Basically, what happens is is when Sam Berne (10:44.15) The light strikes the retina changes it into an electrical impulse and then it converts it and it moves it back to the brain. This is how we see and we have different parts of the retina. have the rods, which is our peripheral vision night vision our cones, which is our specific. fine detail vision and then the macula which this is where the cones are. This is the central part of the retina where we get very sharp central seeing and the fovea is even inside the macula, but it’s all about visual acuity. So the significance of this is that again, when you’re working with people with learning disabilities or you know, visual developmental delays. A lot of times there’s a confusion in the peripheral vision, central vision, and this is where color therapy can work really well at re stimulating different parts of the retina that become desensitized to light and in color therapy. It’s a great tool that can help the retina get stronger. by having a person look at different colors on a daily basis this begins to bring the retina back to life. remember when I was doing a lot of very specific color and light therapy. What we would use to do is we used to measure a person’s peripheral vision and most of the time when they had learning problems, they had very small peripheral vision like it was tunneled vision and we would give them color therapy and over a period of two to three weeks just by doing the color therapy. We would see the peripheral vision open up again. Once the peripheral visions opened up the memory got better. The balance got better. Sam Berne (12:45.378) The depth perception got better just by doing the color therapy the color therapy. I’m referring to we use combinations of colors like red purple in a gel like a mask, which I will make available to you or yellow green combination or a blue green combination or therapy. I’m referring to is very targeted towards waking up the retina that has gone to sleep because of stress or toxicity. The color therapy you just showed me is more subtle and it works more in the area of visual coordination. So it doesn’t encompass the whole thing like the the color therapy. I’m referring to they’re wearing it, you know for say 10 minutes a day and you do it every day and then it becomes a cumulative effect of your two eyes really getting more peripheral engagement. And when your peripheral gets more engagement, so many things change immediately like depth, reception, memory, balance, and so on. Even when the eyes are open, the retina is not working. It’s like the retina is a dead zone. Yeah, it’s not the light is not being absorbed with the eyes open. Yeah, exactly. You would say that’s like how could that be but that’s what stress does. That’s what toxicity does when I measured people’s peripheral vision. We would measure it with the eyes open. They had no awareness on the sides. Everything was like right in here. It was very very tunneled and yet they didn’t have a glasses prescription. I couldn’t give them a glasses prescription to correct the tunneling. I would have to give them color therapy to open it up. That’s how strongly stress affects the eyes. mean, I have had thousands and thousands of patients who have come to see me where their visual deterioration has not been able to be explained going to a regular doctor. Sam Berne (15:02.382) The regular doctor says, oh, it’s all in your head. You know, it’s a mental problem. You’re just making it up. And what we used to see is that in first grade period. So October November, I would see so many kids coming into my office who had this narrow tunneling syndrome. In fact, one of my teachers his name was dr. John Streff s t-r-e-f-f you could Google the Streff syndrome because he he developed it and what the Streff syndrome is is that there’s no medical or physical reason Why are eyes tunnel? There’s no physical disease. There’s no prescription that we can give and he would call that the streft syndrome and became very famous. You can Google it and basically what it is is kids who are under a great deal of stress, but they can’t see but there’s nothing physically wrong. It’s emotional and psychological because their eyes are so overwhelmed that they shut down. Now, this is with their eyes open. It’s not with eyes closed. It’s with the eyes open. So when I teach you color therapy and that bright light color therapy, that’s going to be a great tool for you to be able to work with those kids to get them out of the stress. The streft syndrome we’re going to spend a whole module on the science of color and light therapy and you’re going to you’re going to be very very expert at being able to understand it. It’s one of my most asked questions on social media how to do color therapy because it’s not really, you know taught. Sam Berne (16:58.702) And I’ll go into the history of color therapy and so on and another module, but this is very stimulating. You’re getting stimulated here. Like hmm, this is another tool that you’re going to be able to use. It’s like a vision therapy exercise, but you’re going to be able to use it to turn these kids around another thing. All right. I want to move on because we want to get to the optic nerve. So this little yellow disk here, this is called the optic nerve. And basically again, it’s it’s connecting to the brain. I’m going to send this hand out to you. So you’ll see it and you can see these vessels from the retina going into this nerve and then it goes right back to the brain. So the optic nerve is the kind of the place Where the information goes through the retina through the eye back to the brain and there’s what we call pathway called the visual pathway and there are there’s circuitry. There’s basically axons neurons. This is part of the the nerve transmission the wires so to speak so the electricity can go through the wires back to the brain. Now when you came for your exam and we had you look at the dog and the pig And you were saying something like, part of the pig is disappearing. What’s happening is on the optic nerve visual pathway. The nerves are not working. They’re not passing the information back to the brain. That’s why the pig disappears. Now, some will say it’s an eye problem. Some will say it’s the brain problem. I think it’s both but People are shocked when they look at that dog and pig and they try to touch the pig, which is the left eye and they go my goodness, the pig is disappearing and you go why why is the pig disappearing? Well, because this visual pathway is so overwhelmed that it shuts down. It’s like it’s like a circuit that breaks. Sam Berne (19:07.564) Like, you know, have you ever had your electricity go out in your house? Probably you’ve had that it’s just like that. It’s like it’s it’s an overload. There’s a circuit that breaks and so again, vision therapy is a great way to help fix that breakdown in the visual pathway. Again, eye doctors what they do is they measure vision through the eye chart. Okay, and it’s not really vision. It’s eyesight. It’s glasses. It’s eyeballs. And so they miss every time they miss The the suppression and vision again, I can’t tell you thousands and thousands of patients that have come to see me who’ve had very weird vision problems. And when we do that test the dog and the pig they fall out of their chair. Why is the pig disappearing? Why aren’t why aren’t professionals testing this because it explains why they’re having a problem. Okay, so That’s this backstory behind why that pig disappears. It’s happening in the optic nerve in the visual pathway, which can be fixed. All right, another very common situation. I would substitute accommodation for focus the focus mechanism overview. So focus or accommodation is a dynamic process where the lens changes its shape through coordinated action of the tiny muscles called the ciliary muscles and when we are able to make that change our Sam Berne (20:50.926) I is able to see objects clearly at a variety of distances. So it’s a great example when we start doing vision therapy how to fine-tune those muscles so kiddos can focus on their screen or you know at their desk and then they can focus on the the whiteboard or the chalkboard and being able to have that versatility is something that vision therapy addresses. But again, the regular eye doctor is not looking at the dynamic process of vision. He or she is looking at the static measurement of reading the eye chart at distance. So this is another way for you to really contribute to these kids. So the ciliary muscles are right here. These little muscles right in here. This is the lens, this little purple spherical shaped. So these muscles need to work. in order to allow the near vision and the far vision to work together. And again, I’m going to show you very specific vision therapy exercises that target the ciliary muscle and accommodation. It’s going to be great. But for now, all we’re doing is letting you know that this is why a child is having a focusing problem because they can’t change the muscles very well. Now another thing to note the eye is mostly fluid. Okay, we have a front part which is called the aqueous humor and we have the back part which is called the vitreous the gel the gel sack. So these need to be clear fluid. Sam Berne (22:40.046) But a lot of times because of inflammation because of stagnation in the channels there gets to be congestion. One of the most famous congested descriptions of the vitreous are something called eye floaters. It’s my most asked question in in my social media. What can I do to get rid of eye floaters? Or in the anterior chamber, the aqueous aqueous anterior P posterior posterior vitreous interior posterior. There are ways that you can do vision therapy exercises to clear up the fluid to reduce the inflammation and I will be teaching those to you at a later time. Another thing that happens is if the fluid begins to solidify. What happens is a pressure can build up in the eye and that’s called glaucoma. It’s a very scary disease because it can lead the blindness and you don’t even know it. So there are again vision therapy exercises. There’s nutritional things that you can feed the eyes to help bring the eye pressure down because otherwise you’re just dealing with needles drugs and surgery. That’s all that’s available in the allopathic world which work but there you pay the price because they’re side effects. All right. I want to Your mom’s yeah, I mean you could you know somebody exactly. Well, the thing is is that more and more people are having these problems for a variety of reasons and I want to focus in on this this big orange part of the eye. This is the back part of the eye called the vitreous and it’s a gel sack. It’s made of a jelly like material of water and amino acids. Sam Berne (24:43.296) And what happens is is that over time as we age this compartment begins to shrink. And it pulls away from the retina. call it posterior vitreous detachment over 60 % of people over the age of I think 50 or 55 get this posterior vitreous detachment. So you get flashing lights. You get sparkles. You get a lot of eye floaters and part of it is because the integrity of this compartment begins to shrink it dries out. So again, hydration, oxygenation are so important, especially in this area to avoid the posterior vitriol detachment and or floaters because once you get the floaters, then it becomes a little harder to get rid of them. You can get rid of them, but it’s it’s definitely a tall order and Yeah, of course you you are you the glasses are really helping you. I can imagine we reduce the prescription and you saw the immediately like this feels more relaxing. I remember you were wearing the glasses down on your nose because the prescription was way too strong for you. And so anyway the role of the vitreous body in eye stability. So that we want to keep our vitreous We don’t want it to shrink because if we can keep it at a the same level of size, then our vision stays clear. Our retina is in place and we can focus on images. So again, you’re going to learn a variety of different ways to feed and bathe the vitreous. Okay, so now we’re going to move to eye muscles and the Sam Berne (26:43.854) The thing about the eye is that it has six muscles that attach to the outside part of the eye and What I would say about the so on your test, one of the questions is going to be how many muscles are on the outside part of the eye? So you already got that question. Another question you’re going to get is what part of the eye has floaters? Well, we already talked about the vitreous. Another question is the optic nerve carries visual impulses to the brain’s vision centers for interpretation. That’s a cool question. I’m going to ask you what part of the eye carries the impulses back to the brain. So you’re getting the questions here. Let’s go to the anatomy. So we have The six muscles one, sorry, one, this is the one at the bottom of the eye called inferior. This is at the top. This is called superior, inferior, superior. And then this is the right eye. So this would be the outside part or the lateral. And this would be the inside part, the medial. So inferior, superior, lateral, medial. Those muscles move the eye up and down and horizontally. Okay. So when we when we start talking about tracking exercises, those eye muscles are really important. Now, it doesn’t mean that we have to strengthen them. What it means is the brain has to have better control of them. Sam Berne (28:29.782) So there’s always this thing when people have problems with tracking. The parents will say, we got to strengthen the muscles. No, don’t have to. Their muscles are very strong. We just have to learn to control them and aim them better. And that’s what vision therapy does really, really well. So I’ve labeled the four muscles superior rectus, inferior rectus, lateral rectus, medial rectus. So those are the four muscles that attach to the eyeball. And then we have two more called the inferior oblique. So this little curve here, inferior, which is below or underneath and superior on top. And this is superior oblique. So the obliques Rotate the eye. Okay, the rectus muscles move the eyes up and down and left and right. That’s going to be on your test. And so basically what happens is that a child doesn’t understand how to track their eyes. So when we do tracking exercises, we’re working on the rectus muscles or the oblique muscles. Now, one of the issues that happens If you see this picture of this young girl, she’s got right eye turning in. Esotropia right eye esotropia. Now when we see an eye turning in like that, the child is seeing two things possibly two choices. She’s got the first is double vision. So I see two of things or the optic nerve and the visual pathway have shut down that right eye. That’s called visual suppression. So those are the two options that the brain and the child are going to to manifest. So in this particular case, it could be the lateral rectus muscle. The muscle on the outside is overworking and the medial rectus muscle. The inner muscle there is under working. Okay. Now sometimes with these muscle movements and actions. Sam Berne (30:44.812) What we need to do is we need to work on two different types of movements. The pursuits are the smooth movement. So if you use my fingers, that’s smooth. That’s pursuits. That’s like for reading. And then the second part are called saccades where we’re jumping. I’m jumping my two eyes to different places. So we need to be able to have both of those coordinated movements and our eye muscles have to be working that way. In the functional vision screening that I’m going to teach you next time, we’re going to go over the different kinds of eye movements and how to measure them and how to grade them. And it’s a it’s a really excellent way to begin to see changes in not only a child’s eye movements, but their performance because if you improve their tracking skills, their reading is going to get better. Their writing is going to get better. Their sports is going to get better. And you’re going to look like a rock star like wow. How did the parents are going to love you because you are doing something to teach that skill so that they can track both eyes together. So we’ve got that kind of situation the pursuits in the sink saccades and then the second kind of movement is similar to what we’re doing with the Brock string, which I know you’re using which is both eyes are moving either close, which is convergence or they’re moving parallel or even slightly apart. That’s called divergence. So we’ve got two sets of movements here. We’ve got the tracking and then we’ve got the virgins convergence divergence. They’re different movements and different skills that we have to teach. So when we teach them And we do it through vision therapy and the child goes through the exercises on a daily basis. We start to see improvements not only in the eye movements, but the virgins movements. And then a lot of things change around their processing of information, their engagement, their movement, their mood, their confidence, they’re getting along with their siblings or others. Sam Berne (33:06.06) their ability to do many, many things and problem solve. So it’s a huge influence on learning as you work with these eye movements and virgins movements. Now, we’re not going to get into this and in this lecture, but one of the best ways to initially work with eye movements and virgins movements is working on the primitive reflexes. Maybe you’ve seen this. don’t know. I know whenever I start the primitive reflex movements, what I’ll notice in a few weeks is the eye movements get better and I’m not doing any vision therapy in the tracking. There’s something about working with the primitive reflexes. You’re shaking your head. Yes, that has an effect on these specific muscles. It’s magic. It’s amazing. I know you’ve experienced it and I’m going to teach it more. Sam Berne (34:05.87) You said don’t do it for extended period of time. Well, it’s easier doing that way. I mean, is that helping it more than just or is it the reflex itself? I think it’s probably a combination but the reflex itself because where it originates in the brain the survival brain you are you are calming that part of the brain down so that they can have better body control on a specific muscle level. So I’m not against eye patching. I just think that What I have found is short-term patching. It makes much more sense to the child than long-term patching. So I’m going to come to this slide. See this child here. This was one of my patients that came to see me and they were patching this child eight hours a day. And what was happening was the eye that which was the strong eye, the left eye, which is patched. that began to develop laziness. That was the strong eye. But because it was patched for so long that I became weak and it really didn’t have an impact on this. I also this was a very strong farsighted prescription. So we took the lenses off the child and we stopped the patching and what we noticed was that the visual engagement was so much better the The balancing the hopping the motor skills got better. The auditory processing got so much better. In fact, the occupational therapist tried an experiment by taking the glasses off in the eye patch off and she was doing specific auditory processing therapy with the child and she found that with the glasses off in the eye patch off the auditory processing was so much better and that was a signal that she had to refer The child to me because the prescription that the child was in was much too strong and the eye patching wasn’t working. So when you’re doing eye patching, it needs to be done in my opinion equally and for short intervals. And so whatever you’re doing do it equally because what will happen like in this case and this has happened thousands of times the so-called good eye starts to become the bad eye. Sam Berne (36:32.91) starts to become the lazy eye and that’s the last thing you want to create. Also this child emotionally and energetically was really shut down. We had to do a lot of craniosacral therapy and color therapy because she was traumatized from why do I have to wear this patch? You know, it was a fight with the parents. There was no reason why she should wear that eye patch. Now again, when We can do the saccadic movements of the pursuit movements with each eye separately, which we did do some of that, but the full-time patching eight hours a day. We stopped that because it just wasn’t working. I don’t want to talk just for a moment about eye muscles and nerves because there are nerves that go to the muscles that stimulate them. We call these cranial nerves and there are three main cranial nerves that affect the eye muscles. There’s cranial nerve 3 which affects the rectus muscles. There’s cranial nerve 4 which affects the oblique muscles and there’s cranial nerve 6 which affects the lateral and the medial rectus muscles. What I put here is some of the muscles that what they do. So the levator is the main muscle that that pulls the eyelid up. Sometimes we have people with a with what we call a ptosis or the lid is kind of just lagging down. And so by improving this muscle here, we can stop that eyelid blocking the eye. The superior rectus moves the muscle up. Medial rectus moves it towards the nose. We talk about functional dynamic anatomy. It involves these different components and I talk about the cornea the tears I talk about dynamic function adjusting the lens. So it’s just another thing that you can read and again, you’ll have it in your when you get the PDF of Sam Berne (38:56.216) There we go. And so I’ve put a couple of articles in here, a couple of articles one on strabismus. So when you work with crossed eyes or uncrossed eyes, you see, you probably know this, but when a doctor sees a child with an eye that’s crossing or uncrossing like wandering out, the first thing they think of is doing eye muscle surgery. Sam Berne (39:27.246) Okay, they they want to do eye muscle surgery. And when you do eye muscle surgery for the rest of that person’s life, they are going to be insecure and they’re not going to trust their vision. Because when you change the length of the muscle in the eye, you know, I showed you those six muscles. You haven’t told the brain anything. So the brain is like, okay, you’ve done something here. I don’t really know what you’ve done. The brain is now talking. So I don’t know what to do. I’m going to go back to the way it was before the surgery. And this is why the success rate of eye muscle surgery is so low because they have to do multiple surgeries. The more surgeries, the more confusion, the more scar tissue. Now, what I can say is in your geographical area. I’m not going to name it but in your geographical area, they probably do a lot of eye muscle surgeries. And so if you get a child and you get a family like that, I’m going to counsel you on how to talk to the parents. So they’re not freaking out. So they’re not scared into doing some invasive surgery like this and vision therapy works in incredibly well to teach a person how to keep their eyes straight and it’s an organic Learning like I’ve learned how to use my two eyes together. I don’t need that surgery that surgery is treating a symptom because the eyes may look straight for a while, but they’re not going to function any differently. So strabismus when you’re doing vision therapy for strabismus, it’s a long lasting result. Okay. Now, I also wrote an article about the optic nerve and we talked about, you know, suppression visual suppression. It’s like when you do those red green charts and reds over the right eye and green is over the left eye and you’re doing the red green and you go to you. I can’t see the green very well. I think this was with your kids even that’s the brain and the optic nerve shutting on off and so Sam Berne (41:51.502) There are vision therapy exercises that stimulate that so that you stop the suppression. And then the last thing is on how to keep the eyelids healthy. Probably down the road. You’re going to get a question on, know, I’ve got inflammation here. I’ve been using steroids or other nasty pharmaceuticals. What can be done like herbal compresses or eye massage to keep the eyelids healthy? fact, today I did a class on our membership on how to keep the eyelids healthy and it was all about putting sound into the eyelids to open up the circulation and it works very very well. So you’ll have those articles and I didn’t put any videos in it. I may send you some but I think it’s enough. So wrapping up. This has been an introduction to the anatomy of the eye, especially the functional aspect of the eye and how that eye brain body connection and the structure and the function. We’re looking at all these different layers the structure and function of the cornea the retina the lens the pupil the iris the optic nerve. Remember function if we know the function we can apply vision therapy. to change the performance and that’s that’s really the basis here. Iris and pupil lens and accommodation retina and photoreceptors optic nerve and transmission the fluid of the eye the aqueous and the vitreous body the eye movements and there you go. So in terms of the questions that I’m going to ask you on the test. What is functional dynamic and anatomy? Can you describe what it is? What is the iris control? Well, controls the size of the pupil which regulates the amount of light entering. The iris also shows us genetic tendencies and nurture points. What is the white part of the eye called? It’s called the sclera. What’s the function? It’s responsible for I’m sorry. Sam Berne (44:09.166) So now we talk about the lens of the eye. The function of the lens is responsible for focusing light on the retina and also for a combination the retina the structure. It’s a multi-layered sensory tissue lining the back of the eye. What’s it made of rods and cones? What does the optic nerve do? It carries visual impulses to the brain’s vision centers. So you have the questions. When we do the written exam and there might be a little essay, but you’ll have those what what I want to emphasize in the anatomy is that you don’t have to memorize every little thing, but just to know that we’re working on functional anatomy so we can change the performance and in some cases the function when we change the function the structure gets better. I’ll give you an example. somebody that has a cataract. If we start improving the circulation in the eye through exercises, sometimes the cataract will reverse or go away. So the function, if we change the function, the structure changes. So that’s a very powerful idea that function can change structure, but it can not only in the eye, but in the whole body. If we change the way we use something in the body, it’s going to change the anatomy. And so that’s why just doing repetitive movements. That’s all we do. Eventually, there’s going to break be a breakdown in the structure. That’s why we have to do a versatility of a variety of movements outside the box. That’s what vision therapy is so good for because whatever you’re doing in vision therapy is out of the box. It’s something that the person is not normally doing. So you’re going to get results. You’re going to get improvements. Because just giving them a little bit is going to make a huge change in how they see how they process how they move how they balance how they think how they problem solve even if there’s a developmental delay or you know brain injury or even you know kids like with Down syndrome and autism when you apply vision therapy you are contributing something new to the brain and the eyes and this is going to change everything. It’s kind of like a ripple effect.  

Keywords Hawaii, travel, Maui, Molokai, adventure, nature, functional vision, wellness, retreats, exploration Summary In this episode, Sam Berne introduces his practitioners training program and membership offerings before transitioning into a personal narrative about his travels to Hawaii. He shares his experiences exploring the islands, particularly Maui and Molokai, highlighting the natural beauty, cultural significance, and personal connections he made during his adventures. The conversation emphasizes the importance of travel and exploration in personal growth and wellness. Takeaways The practitioners training program is open to non-eye doctors. Traveling can provide a sense of spiritual home. Hawaii offers diverse experiences from ocean to lava. Maui is known for its breathtaking landscapes and waterfalls. Molokai has a rich history and is less commercialized. Camping and hiking in Hawaii can be transformative experiences. Exploring different cultures enhances personal growth. Traveling allows for a deeper connection with nature. The importance of sharing personal stories and experiences. Creating a library of knowledge can benefit others. Sound Bites “I want to talk a little bit about travel.” “Hawaii felt like home to me.” “Molokai is a very interesting Island.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Program Announcements 02:23 Exploring the Beauty of Hawaii 03:12 Adventures in Maui and Molokai   Sam Berne (00:00) Hey everyone, welcome to the program today. So before we get into the main part, I want to make a few announcements. First of all, I am offering a practitioners training program and these are for non eye doctors. This is a program which is called functional vision integrative body and it’s a one-year program where I teach you the methods that I have developed. in physical therapy, educating your clients on how to improve their vision, their brain health, their body health from a physical, emotional and spiritual perspective. So if you’re interested in this program, and by the way, you don’t need to be an eye doctor. The way I’ve set up this program is you could be a massage therapist, a teacher, an occupational therapist, a psychologist, whatever. And program is geared as an educational coaching program so you won’t get in any trouble from any licensing boards but the information will be very effective in working with your clients. So if you’re interested you can go to my website DrSanBurn.com you can email me appointments at DrSanBurn.com and we can have a conversation and see if it’s right for you. The other thing is is I want to tell you about my membership program. We’re on year number three. I have got so much exclusive content in there. I’ve got different courses that I’ve taught and different ideas that I don’t want to put on social media a little too controversial but in the membership program or protected with confidentiality. Also, I’m now putting up some of my written blogs that I’ve done over the years. It’s really good stuff. stuff and I post three or four times a week just on the membership. So it’s 20 bucks a month. You have a seven-day free trial period. If you want to sign up, you can go to my homepage, dr. Sanburn.com under the word vision. You’ll see join membership and you can join for free and check it out and see if it’s for you. All right. So in today’s show, I’m not going to talk about eyes. In fact, you know what was interesting? I was having breakfast with a friend the other day and at the end of our conversation, she said, you know, I have a friend who’s got this condition called macular pucker. Have you ever heard of it? And I said, well, yes, I’ve worked with it a lot. And if you go to my YouTube channel and you type in macular pucker, Dr. Byrne, you’re probably going to get several free video blogs on macular pucker. He’s like, my goodness, you are the best, you know, that you have created this library, this archive. of eye conditions and you know I can’t say that I’ve created a video for every single eye condition but over the last seven years I have put together so many content pieces both in podcast form audio video written that it’s time for me to Broaden out a little bit and talk about some of my other interests and this may or may not be interesting to you but I want to talk a little bit about travel because I love travel and Some of the other things that I also am into I may do a podcast on it. So today I want to talk about Traveling to Hawaii. I don’t know how many people out there it in my community have been to Hawaii. know many of you have come to my dolphin swim retreats, my other retreats in Hawaii. So I want to talk a little bit about why I like Hawaii, some of the tips you can do if you travel there. My first entree in going to Hawaii was back in January of 1990, a few years ago. And I’d sold my Pennsylvania practice. I put all my stuff in my car, which wasn’t very much. I had an old Toyota Corolla barely could get across the country. I have a lot of money. And so I dropped my stuff off at this apartment that I rented in Santa Fe and I had signed up to meet a group out in Hawaii. I’d never been to Hawaii. In fact, I had hardly ever been to the West Coast and it was a month long. backpacking trip. I had never done backpacking throughout all the islands of Hawaii. Now, this is back in 1990 before there’s been this tourist explosion where it’s kind of become Disneyland in a lot of ways these big resorts and you know, these big groups and so on. So I landed I remember landing in Maui and my tour leader who’s a woman very nice lady. She picked me up and I had all my, you know, my camping stuff and my backpack and I met up with the group and we drove up to Holly Ocola. Holly Ocola is this big crater in Maui and you can actually, you can camp up at the top and you can watch the sunrise. So you’re actually above the clouds and it was such an amazing experience. I mean, coming from Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, the East Coast and Hawaii felt like home to me. I mean, so did Santa Fe, but Hawaii in a different way felt home. It’s kind of like a spiritual home. Well, anyways, the next day we we packed up our stuff and they had a van and they took our van like 14 miles away. We walked through the crater of Haleakala, which I highly recommend even if you just walk down in it in Maui. It’s kind of an otherworldly type of place. But we did this 14 mile hike and we went through these lava tubes and which is another amazing thing like like caves. I mean, there’s just so many different ways to experience Hawaii from the ocean to the lava to the Hawaiian culture and so many other things. So in Maui, we we spent time at Haleakala. Then we went to a small town where we took this winding road to a place called Hana. And Hana is a small town. I don’t know if it is anymore. And there’s a wonderful hike there that you can do and go to waterfalls. So synonymous with Hawaii is waterfalls, know, just so many of them. And so we spent about 10 days in Maui and we had a great time. And then we took a plane and we went to Molokai. Molokai is a very interesting Island again at the time. It was very uninhabited. Now. I understand there’s a lot of eco tourism there and we went to the Father Damien Church. was a settlement in Molokai where people suffered leprosy and so they were all in this community and I remember we were top of this Vista and we had to do this really long switchback hike down into the settlement area and there are still people living there who had had leprosy and we took up this school bus through the lava fields and we got to the church that Father Damien led for these people. So in visiting Father Damien’s church in the backyard, the backside of the church outside, you could look out to the ocean. Then there was this big stone rock in the middle of the ocean and there were white caps out there and it was so serene and peaceful to be there. Now, Malachi is, you know, it’s it’s a fairly uninhabited Island again today. It has definitely been discovered, but it’s still worth going to because is it’s pretty old Hawaiian in a lot of ways and we just had the greatest time camping and hiking in Malachi because it was pretty rough and tumble.   Well, that’s our show for today. I want to thank you so much for tuning in and until next time everyone take good care.  

From Visionary Products to Empowering Knowledge: My Next Chapter My journey has always been about innovation, education, and integrity. While the chapter of selling products has come to a close, my mission to empower others is stronger than ever. Now, I am dedicated to sharing his intellectual property and leveraging decades of experience to educate entrepreneurs and professionals on navigating product liability, social media marketing, and brand development with clarity and confidence. Through engaging blogs, lectures, and podcasts, I offer actionable insights to help business owners protect themselves, build resilient brands, and make informed decisions in a complex marketplace. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, seasoned professional, or advocate of holistic health, my story and expertise can illuminate your path forward. Join me on this exciting new journey where knowledge becomes the most powerful product of all.   Visit my business website: www.eyeclaritybusinesssolutions.com Contact me for a consultation; [email protected]     Keywords marketing, branding, social media, audience targeting, content creation, influencer marketing, data analysis, legal considerations, brand story, pain points Summary In this conversation, Dr. Sam Berne shares valuable insights on improving marketing strategies and building a strong brand identity for businesses. He emphasizes the importance of utilizing social media effectively, understanding target audiences, and creating engaging content. Dr. Berne also discusses the significance of influencer marketing, data analysis, and legal considerations in business. Throughout the discussion, he highlights the need for businesses to stay agile and responsive to market demands while crafting a unique brand story that resonates with their audience. Takeaways Social media is a free way to build your brand. Brand identity is crucial for long-term success. Narrowing your target audience enhances engagement. TikTok can help your content go viral. You should think of yourself as a media company. Repurposing content can maximize reach. Email lists are a valuable asset for businesses. Influencer marketing can expand your audience. Analyzing data helps refine your marketing strategy. Identifying pain points can lead to business opportunities. Sound Bites: “Building a stronger brand identity is crucial.” “The customer is coming to you with branding.” “Narrowing your target audience is key.” “TikTok is one of the hottest platforms.” “You are now a media company.” “Your email list is gold.” “Stay agile and be able to pivot.” “Identifying pain points is striking gold.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Marketing and Branding Strategies 02:52 Building a Strong Brand Identity 05:53 Target Audience and Social Media Segmentation 08:58 Leveraging Social Media Platforms 12:11 Content Creation and Repurposing Strategies 15:03 Utilizing Podcasts and Newsletters 17:50 Influencer Marketing and Partnerships 20:46 Analyzing Data and Staying Agile 23:55 Legal Considerations in Business 26:50 Crafting Your Unique Brand Story 30:12 Identifying Pain Points in Your Market

Keywords vision therapy, behavioral optometry, eye health, personal development, holistic healing, functional vision, primitive reflexes, meditation, emotional health, professional coaching Summary In this conversation, Sam Berne discusses his journey in the field of vision therapy, highlighting the influence of his mentors, Dr. Albert A. Shankman and Dr. Albert A. Sutton. He shares insights on the importance of holistic approaches to eye health, the role of emotional and physical well-being in vision improvement, and the significance of primitive reflexes in developmental optometry. Berne emphasizes the need for surrendering to the process of healing and the value of continuous learning in his practice. Takeaways Functional vision integrates physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Vision therapy can significantly improve reading comprehension. Surrendering to the process is essential for healing. Primitive reflexes are crucial for children’s vision development. Holistic approaches are often overlooked in mainstream optometry. Continuous learning from mentors shapes professional growth. Emotional tension can manifest as vision problems. Building connections in the professional community is vital. Vision improvement requires commitment and consistency. Dr. Sutton’s techniques are applicable in special needs education. Sound Bites “Primitive reflexes start in utero.” “He was way ahead of his time.” “Take good care of your vision.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Functional Vision Integrative Body 04:12 The Influence of Dr. Albert A. Shankman 12:16 Learning from Dr. Albert A. Sutton Sam Berne (00:00.078) Hey everyone. Welcome to the program. Before we start. I have a few announcements. First of all, many of you know that I’ve started a practitioners training and it’s called functional vision integrative body. And this has come after 40 years of distilling A lot of information, not only about improving your eyes and vision, but things like brain health, body health, working on a physical, emotional and spiritual level, using things like color therapy, iridology, craniosacral, somatic movement and many other things. So I’ve written up this course for non eye doctor. So it’s a coaching program and it works for any practitioner. let’s say you’re a chiropractor and somebody comes in and they’re complaining about their eyes while they’re exercises and strategies and educational things that you can teach your clients or patients to get better. I’ve been working with a few body workers like massage therapists, craniosecral therapists, somatic experiencing therapists, and they’re just loving the program. So if you’re interested, contact me appointments at drsamburn.com and we can have a conversation, see if it’s a good fit for you. Sam Berne (01:39.842) The other thing I want to mention is my membership program. We’re going on year number three and what I’ve done is I’ve taken a lot of my creative energies that I used to put towards social media and I’ve created content that is exclusively for the membership. It’s about 20 bucks a month. It’s really worth it. If you’re interested in some of the deeper issues that might be going on not only about your eyes, but about health spirituality meditation energy medicine things like that. So if you’re interested in the membership, I highly recommend it. You can go to my website, drsamburn.com and right below the word vision. You’ll see membership and you can click on that and there’s a free seven-day period where you can join and you can peruse the content. What I’ve started to do over the last few weeks is post my written blogs. I’ve written a lot of written blogs over the years and I’m starting to post those in the membership. know some people like like to read and so we’re going to offer you things whether you listen watch or read. reduce the resistance in your quest of the information. The last thing I’m going to be offering which I’ve actually started is some professional coaching in the area of marketing, social media, brand building. Sam Berne (03:24.174) I’ve been very successful at doing those things. In fact, I was recognized by a nonprofit organization here in Santa Fe to offer seminars and do some private coaching. And of course, this is all volunteer, but I want to widen the net. So if you’re a health practitioner, if you’re a young entrepreneur, Contact me, you can go to my business website, iClarityBusinessSolutions.com and you can read some of my blogs and some of my offerings. And if you want some help in the area of growing your business, I love working with young entrepreneurs, that’s what I’ve done with this nonprofit. Contact me and we can see if we’re a good fit. Okay, let’s go on to the show today. My number two mentor is an optometrist Albert A. Shankman. Dr. Shankman. You want to know about this guy? So Dr. Shankman was an optometrist. He was a behavioral optometrist who practiced in the Connecticut area. And after I moved back to the East Coast after my internships were over and I was moonlighting in a lot of different primary care offices, you know, looking for the place where I could start in and open my own office or affiliate with somebody. I remember getting a flyer in the mail and it was an invitation from Dr. Shankman and he was saying that he is doing a year-long program for any optometrist who’s interested in learning his method of vision therapy and he called it psycho behavioral vision enhancement. In fact, he wrote a book about it. Vision enhancement training, psycho behavioral vision and enhancement. you’re interested. Sam Berne (05:17.997) And so I enrolled in the course. Now I was living in Philadelphia at the time and I just started a practice there. And in my own vision, I had a couple things going on for, so I was very nearsighted. And the second thing was, is that reading was not something I was very interested in. Even though I was an A student, I did well in school, I was in the National Honor Society. I was never really good at taking, you know, the, the SATs and you know, those, those kinds of tests. And comprehension was not easy for me reading comprehension. So when I contacted Dr. Shankman and I went up and I had an evaluation from him, I decided I was going to be a patient of his. So I would go up once a month. It was about four hour drive. and I would do vision therapy with him over the weekend. Now at that time, he was in his mid 70s, so he had sold his practice and he was living in a retirement community, had a great condo and his wife, Shankman, she also worked in his office as a vision therapist and we became quite close like family. And every month I would go up there and I would, you know, get an update in my vision therapy program. And then in between I was doing 20 to 40 minutes every day, seven days a week of vision therapy practices that were very different than what I learned in school. They were very involved in movement and balance and working with the eye patch and looking at psycho-emotional and spiritual and energetic reasons around, you know, my own vision problems. And I remember Dr. Shankman said two things to me at my first visit. He said my myopia was a result of the tension that I carried in my eyes as a way to muscle my way to the answer. And that was pretty accurate. Second thing he said is the reason why I wasn’t a good reader is that my left eye wandered out. I had very poor convergence. Sam Berne (07:23.631) with my eyes, especially when I read and this either leads to confusion, double vision, suppression in the eye. When our two eyes don’t work together, the brain gets confused and it tends to suppress, you know, the non-dominant eye. And so I started in an Invisvision therapy practice and within a couple of months, I noticed that my nearsighted prescription reduced and it kept reducing and as I kept reducing, Consciousness opened up insights opened up things changed for me and you know myopia is related a lot to the kidneys and fear. and tension. And I noticed that a lot of that stuff was kind of just evaporating. And at the same time, I also noticed that I was reading better, that my comprehension got better, that I understood what I read. I could read more. I could read faster. And I got to a point six months in the program and he made you commit to a year. And that is a actually very important point because You know, people think, I can go to a behavioral optometrist once and get the changes and that’s not true. because the habits and the conditioning and the belief systems around our visual system get ingrained very early on. In fact, our eyes are like, you know, videotape library where we as children internalize our parents’ experiences. And Dr. Shankman pointed that out to me and he was right. And then about six months in, I got kind of frustrated because I want my, I was very goal oriented and I wanted to get to a place where, Sam Berne (09:10.873) want to get rid of my nearsightedness completely. And it wasn’t happening. In fact, the more I stressed into it, the worse my eyes got, even though it hadn’t been making a lot of progress. So he said to me two things. He said, first of all, you have to give up the goal. I said, I can’t do that. And second thing he said to me was you’re too attached to the results and you have to really dive into the process. like, man, I love results. I want results. That’s what I live for. So I wrestled with that. I remember talking to my brother and my brother said to me, very smart, he said… I said, well, you you paid this guy a lot of money. You’ve invested all this time. Why don’t you just do what he says, you know, give it up, man. And so sometimes brothers have the wisdom. So I ended up surrendering. Surrendering is a big thing and letting go as we all know, you know, because change is is constant, right? And we’re always changing. Things are always changing. Sometimes it’s very uncomfortable. But how can we surrender into and with the change. So after I changed my mindset with him, with Dr. Shankman, some magical things started to happen. My eyesight really started to improve. In fact, one day I woke up and I was late to the office. I lived in Center City, Philadelphia. My office was out on the main line and I was like halfway to the office. I went, my goodness. I forgot to put my contacts in and I can read the road signs. So that was kind of like a come to Jesus moment where I was like, wow, I don’t really need these lenses anymore. Sam Berne (11:00.077) And so we continued on. One of the things that Dr. Shankman recommended that I do is take up meditation, which I did and I still meditate. so doing a lot of different modalities along with vision therapy, I completely dissolved my near sighted prescription and I was 28 years old at the time. So it inspired me to move into a direction where I was going to exclusively work in a practice where I was helping people improve their vision. Road less traveled because if I’d gone mainstream, sold glasses, gotten into disease-based care, I probably would have made a lot more money. I would probably, in some ways, in terms of the profession, been more acknowledged. But I took the road less traveled, kind of like my modus operandi. I tend to do that a lot. And it set me off in a career where I’m still doing it today, 40 years later, and probably will continue to do it until I physically can’t anymore. So Dr. Shankman, kudos to you for giving me so many gifts, and you’re right up there in Mount Rushmore with Dr. Sanit. Okay. The third eye doctor I want to talk about is a developmental optometrist who practiced in Florida. met him when he was in his seventies and it’s an interesting story. His name is Dr. Albert A. Sutton, Dr. Sutton. And when I moved to New Mexico, I had a hard time getting a license to practice because New Mexico is a good old boys state. and it’s a poor state, 48th poorest state in the union. And so they kind of limit the number of outsiders that come in to get a license. And I was having trouble, even though I thought I passed all the tests and I had to retake the national boards, which is a standardized written test. Sam Berne (13:04.043) I had to take pathology slides, you know, things like that. So I was at a conference and I met Dr. Sutton and I told him my dilemma. He said, why used to be on the state board in Colorado? And here’s the strategy. This is what you need to do. You need to call up the president of the board, tell him you’re doing vision therapy, behavioral optometry, and you know, let him get to know you. Don’t try to sue him or, you know, get mad at him. Be friends, make connections. network. And so I did that for about six months and magically and miraculously. I got my license after the third try. So New Mexico license is very valuable not only for New Mexico, but then I recognize that there was a reciprocity deal with New Mexico and Hawaii. So I also have a Hawaii license and in my next show. I’m going to talk about my relationship with Hawaii and talk a little bit about travel there. I tend to like to go outside of just talking about eyes. So stay tuned for that show. Anyways, Dr. Sutton and I became friends and I became a student of his and Dr. Sutton was really a pioneer in the field of development in children learning and his testing was very whole body. He had a test called mind body testing where he tested vestibular visual fixation body movement bilateral integration many different things. And then he brought two of my now close colleagues from Scandinavia Lena and Thorkeld Rasmussen who were doctors of optometry and they practiced in Denmark and Sweden and he brought them to the United States and they taught us the primitive survival reflexes and the primitive reflexes is such an essential part of vision therapy, especially with kids. Sam Berne (15:14.925) OTs, some of them do primitive reflexes. There are a few people out there that are teaching it, but primitive reflexes, those movement patterns start in utero and the purpose of those movement patterns is to help the newborn adjust to being outside the birth canal in the womb. And many, many kids who have vision problems that are school-aged still have the primitive reflexes. And Dr. Sutton recognized that because he worked with Arnold Gazelle at the Gazelle Institute. It’s place that I attended in the mid 1980s and the gazelle Institute was at that time a beacon of light for vision development. Now again, I’ve talked about the difference between eyesight and vision. Eye sight is eyeballs and glasses and reading the distance chart, but vision is how the eye brain and body work together and there’s a developmental process on when kids develop their vision as it relates to learning and academic performance. And Dr. Sutton was an expert at this. He had studied it and he developed many different protocols. He also got me involved in biochemistry testing, hair mineral analysis, and the importance of the energy in the cell having to be really high cellular health to be able to make the developmental changes that are needed, especially in the sensory motor system. He taught at Berry College in Miami and he was a world renowned expert in developmental optometry. In my view, he was not recognized enough by optometry. That was, and I remember towards the end of his life, he said to me, you know, take it to the math. because the optometrists, they’re just not ready for this. I mean, they had a hard time understanding. You get on the floor with your patient and you do things like primitive reflexes and you do craniosacral and you do, you know, vestibular training. Now, I think it’s a little more accepted in the behavioral optometry world, but back then it wasn’t and he was way ahead of his time in those things. Now, I remember I was giving a seminar at a Sam Berne (17:32.463) workshop in Florida and he attended it and people loved it. You know, they thought I was a rock star and at the end it was just him and me. The room was pretty dark and he said, you know, you’ve got some holes in your thinking. I was like what? He said, yeah, you you’re not really addressing and understanding the sequence of development in a child’s learning. And of course, you know, my ego was bruised by that, but he was a hundred percent right. And so I started to study with him and learned a lot about testing and diagnosing and treating and managing, especially in that developmental model. And to this day, I use many, many of the things that that he taught me. One of the places I work is a place called Kid Power, which is in Albuquerque. And it’s a place where kids have a lot of special needs, Down syndrome, minimal brain dysfunction, autism, you know, they’re in the autistic spectrum. and I apply many of Dr. Sutton’s techniques there to this day and learning those primitive reflexes back then has been such an essential part in being able to help kids reach their potential. So I put Dr. Sutton up on the Mount Rushmore with Dr. Sanit and Dr. Shankman. I’ve got a few others that I’ll talk about in another show, but I think that’s a That’s a mouthful right now. So I think I’m going to end it here. I want to thank you so much for tuning in today. Share this podcast. If you found it helpful again, you can go to my social media me social media feeds and also my website dr. Sam burn.com and until next time everyone take good care.  

In this episode, I interview Doug Conwell, founder of Earthwalks, Which Explores the ancient cultural and earth wisdom traditions of the American Southwest and Mexico through guided journeys and service activities. For more information, contact Doug: www.earthwalks.org.  E-mail: [email protected] For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ Keywords Earthwalks, Doug Conwell, geomancy, listening to the earth, indigenous cultures, Celtic traditions, Chaco Canyon, personal transformation, retreats, community service Summary In this enlightening conversation, Dr. Sam Berne interviews Doug Conwell, the founder of Earthwalks, exploring themes of geomancy, indigenous cultures, and personal transformation through nature. Doug shares his journey from urban life to discovering the wisdom of the earth, emphasizing the importance of listening to nature and the experiences that shape our understanding of the world. The discussion also highlights the significance of Chaco Canyon and the retreats Doug leads, fostering community and connection with the earth. Takeaways • Doug Conwell founded Earthwalks to connect people with nature. • Geomancy involves listening to the earth’s energies. • Listening to the earth can be practiced anywhere, even in urban settings. • Indigenous cultures offer profound insights into nature and spirituality. • Personal initiations are essential for growth and transformation. • Chaco Canyon is a vital site for understanding earth energies. • Retreats provide a space for deep connection and healing. • Community engagement is a key aspect of Doug’s work. • The blending of indigenous and Celtic traditions enriches spiritual practices. • Nature holds immense wisdom that can guide our lives. Sound Bites • “There’s so much wisdom in the earth.” Chapters 00:00Introduction to Earthwalks and Doug Conwell 02:55Exploring Geomancy and Listening to the Earth 05:59Indigenous and Celtic Traditions: A Juxtaposition 09:04Personal Initiations and Transformative Experiences 11:32The Significance of Chaco Canyon 14:52Leading Retreats and Community Engagement Sam Berne (00:02) Hey everyone, it’s Dr. Sam and I’d like to welcome you to another podcast. So we have a great show today. I’ve invited a really special guest. He’s been a longtime friend Doug Conwell and you guys need to know about Doug. He’s an amazing person. He does a lot of different things service in the community, but he started this. guess he started this process many years ago called Earthwalks and I went on one of his retreats in Chaco Canyon last September and it was life-changing for me. And so I wanted to bring him on and I wanted to introduce him to the community. So Doug, welcome to the program. Give us a little bio so that people can get to know who you are. Doug Conwell (01:03) Sure, happy to do that. Originally from Colorado, Sam, from Denver. Born in Denver. My family moved from there to Texas and I lived on the border in El Paso for sixth grade through college and got a really good dose of the Mexican culture, which I just adore. And was in the military in the army for a couple years and came back to Colorado thinking it was home. And it was for a while, but this huge, relentless urban development that John Denver used to sing about, and he was promoting it while he was decrying it, sort of got to me and I realized that I was hearing a call elsewhere. And that call actually got into a book called The Spirit That Wants Me. It’s an anthology of different writers, and I’m one of them that’s in it. The you know, is the spirit of this region where we’re living here in Santa Fe, the Four Corners region. But I moved to Santa Fe almost 50 years ago, about 47, 47 years ago, to actually go to massage school while I was getting my master’s degree in criminal justice and public administration. I was on a track to be wearing the American noose, which is called a necktie, and go up the ladder and… Little did I know I had a lot of changes in store for me. So that’s what happened. I started hearing that call and you know, earth energies, earth mysteries, all of those things were kind of new to me. Finding out about this word called geomancy, divining with earth energies. We were in massage school and we were dealing with our earth bodies and the energies within our… our earth bodies, which you talk about so much, Sam, and you deal with your clients. That’s so important, I know, vital. And I found out, I think it was probably while I was in massage school, about this thing called geomancy. And ended up exploring that whole area of lay lines, sacred geometry, sacred architecture, sacred sites. Definitely Chaco was one of those. And with a friend of mine, we started leading small groups of people, just kind of exploring the area. And then I went on to develop Earthwalks as it is today. Lots of other things along the way, but that’s sort of brief aspect. Sam Berne (03:36) Yes. Well, you know, it’s something we share in common and I don’t talk about this that much but you know, the divining with the earth energies, you know, going to a nature spot and really listening and I know when you facilitated the group that was a really big part of developing people’s awareness on listening and listening to the earth because there’s so much wisdom in it and Can you speak a little bit more about geomancy? What it is and you know that process that you facilitate around listening to the earth? Doug Conwell (04:21) Certainly, you know, it really is more of a, like you said, a listening meditative experience. But I remember years ago here in Santa Fe, an Australian Aboriginal woman was in town as a guest of somebody and she said what their people do is to go out on the land and lay down and feel the earth, you know, from the top of their head to the bottom of their feet. And when they need to kind of release whatever anxiety or stress that they’ve got, they breathe in to head, let that breath travel down through their whole body and through their spine and down into the earth, giving thanks to the earth for taking those, you know, that stress and transforming it, neutralizing it. So there’s so much written on this. People can certainly access all of that. But the goal that I think Earthwalks and I have for this kind of experience is really a listening goal. but it’s one that you can use when you’re in the parking lot at McDonald’s. Okay? Yes, it’s important. You absolutely need to go on retreats to amazing places like Chaco Canyon, a World Heritage site where it’s free of cell phones and asphalt and traffic and all of that kind of a thing. But once you have begun to listen, you can go back into a place like McDonald’s, you know, in the parking lot. and you start looking at things much more carefully. It’s a process of looking to at the details around you, not just taking things for granted. you know, there are a lot of… Sam Berne (05:59) Yeah, I, you know, I’ve I’ve experienced that a lot in both in New Mexico and in Hawaii and you know, the indigenous culture is such a big part of well, what you spotlight and I was wondering if you could talk about the relationship between the indigenous the Celtic because I know that’s part of your background. and some of the shamanic traditions. That would be a great juxtaposition. So what do you have to say about? Doug Conwell (06:35) Well, I didn’t know much about that before I moved to Santa Fe, moved to New Mexico. I think that’s why I moved here, was to learn from the continuing indigenous cultures here in this region. And then I found out, yes, there are similar ways of accessing that information inside ourselves and in nature in my own background, as you said. Sam Berne (08:35) Mm-hmm. Yeah, it’s really critical. Another thing that I’m taking about is this idea of initiation and we all go through initiations all the time and you had an experience. You shared with me about being at Bear Mountain. Where is Bear Mountain and what happened to you? Yeah. Go ahead. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Wow. Sure. So we’re here with Doug Conwell. He’s founder of Earthwalks and he’s involved in a lot of different healing processes. He runs retreats and he’s just a spectacular human being. I hope you guys check out his website. I’ll certainly put all that in the notes and contact him if you’re interested. So we’re coming down to the end, but I wanted to ask you about Chaco Canyon and why people should know about Chaco. So how can people learn more about it? What are some resources, you know about that you could, you know, point people to? Okay. That’s great. And you also take people to Chaco. Tell us a little bit about… Say again? Sure. Mm-hmm. So I know you lead groups there. Tell us a little bit about, you know, the process in terms of taking people and what you do and things like that. Yuri. Yes. Yes. Yeah, what what are some of the things that you you spotlight when you take people on on a trip like what I know you do it like once a year and you know, you have phenomenal people that are attracted. I mean, it’s such a great dynamic group. Can you talk a little bit about the, yeah. Very good. Yes. Yeah, that is. So how do people get in touch with you, Doug? And I will put your website and that email address on the show notes at the beginning so that people can refer to that and we will be putting this out on a video on YouTube and my website and then it will go through Apple and Spotify. So we’ll we’ll get the word out for you and I want to thank you for your generosity of spirit coming on today and I look forward to celebrating with you in the future. So take good care and thanks for being on.    

Please check out my membership.  Access to my video: The 7 Day Liver Cleanse.  Click link to watch: https://drsambernesmembership.com/zen/7-day-liver-cleanse-members-852bfb   Practitioners!  Consider my practitioners’ course.  Link: https://www.drsamberne.com/practitioners-training/ Show Notes: Keywords vision therapy, mentorship, eye health, functional vision, holistic health, Sam Berne, optometry, brain health, emotional health, spiritual health Summary In this conversation, Sam Berne discusses his journey in the field of optometry, focusing on the development of his Functional Vision Integrative Body program. He reflects on the importance of mentorship in his career, highlighting key figures who influenced his approach to vision therapy and holistic health. Berne emphasizes the integration of various therapeutic modalities and the impact of vision therapy on cognitive and emotional well-being. Takeaways Sam Berne has developed a program called Functional Vision Integrative Body. The program integrates various therapeutic modalities for holistic health. Mentorship played a crucial role in Berne’s professional development. Dr. Bob Sanit was a significant mentor in vision therapy. Vision therapy can lead to neuroplasticity and cognitive improvements. Berne emphasizes the importance of emotional and spiritual health. He offers professional coaching for health practitioners and entrepreneurs. The membership program provides exclusive content on health and spirituality. Berne’s experiences in San Diego shaped his approach to optometry. He values the relationships built with mentors throughout his career. Sound Bites “I highly recommend it.” “I know you East Coast people.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Functional Vision Integrative Body 03:05 The Impact of Mentorship in Optometry 10:05 Reflections on Influential Figures in Vision Therapy Sam Berne (00:00) Hey everyone, welcome to the program. Before we start. I have a few announcements. First of all, many of you know that I’ve started a practitioners training and it’s called functional vision integrative body. And this has come after 40 years of distilling a lot of information, not only about improving your eyes and vision, but things like brain health, body health, working on a physical, emotional and spiritual level, using things like color therapy, iridology, craniosacral, somatic movement and many other things. So I’ve written up this course for non eye doctor. So it’s a coaching program and it works for any practitioner. let’s say you’re a chiropractor and somebody comes in and they’re complaining about their eyes while they’re exercises and strategies and educational things that you can teach your clients or patients to get better. I’ve been working with a few body workers like massage therapists, craniosecral therapists, somatic experiencing therapists, and they’re just loving the program. So if you’re interested, contact me appointments at drsamburn.com and we can have a conversation. See if it’s a good fit for you. The other thing I want to mention is my membership program. We’re going on year number three and what I’ve done is I’ve taken a lot of my creative energies that I used to put towards social media and I’ve created content that is exclusively for the membership. about 20 bucks a month. It’s really worth it. If you’re interested in some of the deeper issues that might be going on not only about your eyes, but about health, spirituality, meditation, energy, medicine, things like that. So if you’re interested in the membership, I highly recommend it. You can go to my website, drsamburn.com and right below the word vision, you’ll see membership and you can click on that and there’s a free day of free seven day period where you can join and you can peruse the content. What I’ve started to do over the last few weeks is post my written blogs. I’ve written a lot of written blogs over the years and I’m starting to post those in the membership. know some people like like to read and so we’re going to offer you things whether you listen watch or read. reduce the resistance in your quest of the information. The last thing I’m going to be offering which I’ve actually started is some professional coaching in the area of marketing, social media, brand building. I’ve been very successful at doing those things. In fact, I was recognized by a nonprofit organization here in Santa Fe to offer seminars and do some private coaching. And of course, this is all volunteer, but I want to widen the net. So if you’re a health practitioner, if you’re a young entrepreneur, Contact me, you can go to my business website, eyeclaritybusinesssolutions.com and you can read some of my blogs and some of my offerings. And if you want some help in the area of growing your business, I love working with young entrepreneurs, that’s what I’ve done with this nonprofit, contact me and we can see if we’re a good fit. Okay, let’s go on to the show today. The things that I think about a lot and my philosophies that I’ve developed is the relationship that I had with many older eye doctors and educators when I was just starting out and they were mentoring me. And today I would like to talk about three mentors who had a huge influence on me. And every time I start a session with somebody or I’m giving a workshop, I take a few minutes before I start and I am so grateful for all of my mentors, teachers, people who have helped me develop my philosophy and how I help people. And one of the first people that I met, I was actually still in optometry school and I went to the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in Philadelphia and that was a very medically oriented school. You know, it’s from the East Coast and very intellectual that school really focused on eye disease and pathology as it still does now and I had the opportunity to go out West and do an internship in a doctor’s office who was practicing vision therapy and behavioral optometry and his name was dr. Bob Sanet. This point. Dr. Sanet is probably yeah in his mid 70s. I think he’s retired. I haven’t spoken to him in a long time. But I’m so fond of him because I remember landing in San Diego. That’s where his practice was. And the first thing he said to me was well, I know you East Coast people. All you like to do is go to the beach when you come out to California. And I said no, Dr. Sanet actually I’m here to learn your method. And what was amazing about his practice is that he would see like 60 patients a week who were just doing the physical vision therapy and he and his wife Linda. She was also, you know, one of my teachers and just amazing person and one of the vision therapist Margie Thompson Margie ended up because of her. Well, what happened with her own kids and getting so much benefit in vision therapy and seeing so many kids flower and be able to go back and learn to read and read to learn and just, you know, just take off after vision therapy. She started an organization called Parents Active for Vision Education, PAVE. And so the three of them really helped me and I just just going to the office every day and you know, I started to work with some of his patients after he trained me and really saw the transformation. and the neuroplasticity that our visual system has as it relates to our brain learning, cognition, memory, and so many other things. And his vision therapy program, was so successful that he had the largest vision therapy practice in San Diego. San Diego is there is kind of a cloud over San Diego in the sense of this big military. There’s also a big military. I’m sorry big medical model up in La Jolla. with the Scripps Institute and ophthalmology and so on. So there was definitely a little bit of resistance, but Dr. Sanet, because he had so much success with both kids and adults, really developed a great practice. And he had this internship program where I’m sure hundreds of young optometrists came to him and he influenced them. And I know in my time there, you know, I just learned so many things about how to evaluate, how to diagnose, how to treat, how to set up a treatment plan. And one of the most interesting treatment modalities that I still use today is something called parketry blocks. And these are special blocks. They come in a kit. And it’s a way to develop visual perception, visual memory, form perception, figure ground. These are some of the kind of more cognitive executive function visual skills. And one of their influences was a optometrist from the Pittsburgh area is actually originally from Washington DC and moved to Pittsburgh and his name is Harry Wachs and Dr. Wachs worked a lot with Piaget. So he had this whole method of helping kids develop better cognitive skills. He wrote a book called thinking goes to school. you ever want to look it up with Harry Wachs and Hans Furth. Anyways, Bob Sanet and Linda really really took Dr. Wax’s stuff, especially in the parketry area and developed their own method of helping kids really problem solve learn. And it was, it was a great, adjunct to, you he worked with strabismus crossed eyes, lazy eye. He was just really, really adept at that. And I remember at the end of the training, he actually, there was an opening in his practice and he offered me a job. And I was so flattered by that. by that offer and it was a really hard decision for me. But I knew it wasn’t the right thing for me to do even though my mantra is go West young man. I ended up moving to New Mexico about five years later. I needed to do some things back in the East Coast and I just wasn’t ready to move to Southern California and go into his practice. But we remained friends and I so appreciate him and think about him every day. Both he and his wife. So that’s my number one mentor. I think I’m going to end it here. I want to thank you so much for tuning in today. Share this podcast. If you found it helpful again, you can go to my social media feeds and also my website: www.drsamberne.com and until next time everyone take good care.  

Are you a practitioner? Learn about Dr. Berne’s practitioner’s program here: https://www.drsamberne.com/practitioners-training/ For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: https://drsambernesmembership.com/ Keywords liver health, gallbladder, eye health, detoxification, herbal remedies, nutrition, holistic health, acupuncture, wellness, vision Summary In this episode, Dr. Sam Berne explores the intricate connection between liver and gallbladder health and its impact on vision. He discusses the liver’s multifaceted functions, the role of the gallbladder, and how liver health directly influences eye health. Dr. Berne shares various detoxification strategies, herbal remedies, and a comprehensive seven-day detox program to enhance liver and gallbladder function, ultimately supporting better vision and overall wellness. Takeaways The liver is a detoxification organ with over 500 functions. Liver health is crucial for eye health and vision. Bile production and fat absorption are essential for nutrient uptake. Herbs like milk thistle and dandelion root support liver health. Hydration and bitter greens stimulate bile flow. Emotional health can be affected by liver congestion. A liver gallbladder cleanse can improve vitamin absorption. A balanced diet is key for liver and gallbladder health. Spending time in nature can enhance overall well-being. Regular detoxification can lead to better eyesight and energy levels. Sound Bites “Milk thistle helps in liver regeneration.” “Bitter greens help stimulate bile flow.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Liver and Gallbladder Health 01:51 Understanding Liver Functions 03:15 The Role of the Gallbladder 06:04 Connection Between Liver Health and Eye Health 07:56 Detoxification Strategies for Liver and Gallbladder 12:12 Seven-Day Detox Program Overview   Hey everybody, it’s Dr. Sam and I’d like to welcome you to the burn podcast today. We’re to be talking about the liver gallbladder connection as it relates to vision. Before we get to that. I want to remind people about my membership. Dr. Sam burn membership. This has exclusive content things you won’t see on social media my online courses and other very interesting opinions. That I don’t put on social media. So if you want to join you can go to my website, dr. Sam burn.com and in the home page, you’ll see join membership to today’s show. So I don’t know whether you know this, but I discovered it when I first moved to Santa Fe. It’s been over 30 years and I met an acupuncturist who was working a lot with liver gallbladder health as it relates to eye health. Now in optometry school, I never knew anything around the connection between the liver gallbladder and the eyes. And when I took some courses in acupuncture, I couldn’t believe as we studied the meridians of the body, how much the liver gallbladder has on our not only our eye health, but our digestive health, our brain health. And yet it’s something in allopathic medicine that’s pretty overlooked. So I want to talk about that relationship today. What you can do to support better liver gallbladder health. What’s the function of the liver gallbladder? What are some detoxes you can do? So that’s going to be our show for today. So let’s start with the basics. What is the function of the liver? Well, it’s a detoxification organ. has over 500 functions in the body as a detoxification organ. It helps filter things like toxins in the environment drugs that you might be taking and it also removes metabolic waste from the blood. The liver also produces bile which aids our digestion and helps in the absorption of fat soluble. Sam Berne (02:20.558) foods and vitamins. Probably the main ones are vitamin A, which is great for our retina cornea eyelids and lutein and zeaxanthin which help prevent macular degeneration. The liver also helps in the metabolism of our fats proteins and carbohydrates. The liver also stores our glycogen. Here are a list of vitamins that store the liver vitamin A D E and K also stores vitamin B12. Now, if you’re a vegan or a vegetarian, you want to make sure you’re getting some type of vitamin B12 supplement. The liver also synthesizes blood clotting factors. Liver also boosts the immune system. It has something called cup for cells and these cells destroy pathogens. and old blood cells. The gallbladder is very interesting because it actually stores the bile that the liver produces. So the gallbladder holds the fats until digestion is needed. Bile goes into the small intestine to emulsify fats for absorption. It also assists in the breakdown of cholesterol. What are the signs we see in the eye if a person has difficulty breaking down and excreting the cholesterol? is an Archesinellus, a white ring that’s around the edge of the iris. When we see this, we know that there could be a problem either in the liver production of the bile or the storage of it in the gallbladder. So there’s some liver signs that I see in the iris. And if there is a congestion in the liver and or the gallbladder, I like to use herbal remedies. to flush the liver and increase the liver function. So some of those herbs are number one, milk thistle, which protects against toxins and milk thistle helps in liver regeneration. Another herb I like is dandelion root. This stimulates bile production and it supports detoxification. Also like the Indian spice turmeric, it’s anti-inflammatory, it supports bile flow and it protects the liver. Sam Berne (04:42.21) I recommend burdock root. This root cleans the blood and aids in detoxification. And my last one is yellow dock, which also supports detoxification and liver health. So here are some of my favorite strategies that support liver gallbladder health. Number one is hydration. Drinking high quality filtered water, structured water, high pH water like Kagan water. is great for detoxifying the cells. Number two is bitter greens. This would be things like arugula, kale and dandelion greens, which help stimulate bile flow. Start your day with a squeeze of lemon and some warm water. This also stimulates liver cleansing. four is eating high fiber foods, things like chia seeds, flax seeds. And of course, don’t forget your vegetables and sprouted raw seeds and nuts avocados. This also helps increase bile flow and then of course avoid alcohol processed foods and sugar. I recommend lifestyle practices like putting castor oil packs on the liver gallbladder area. It’s some acupuncture that targets the liver gallbladder meridians get regular exercise which stimulates the lymphatic health. And then if you have one use an infrared sauna daily traditional Chinese medicine. The liver is connected to our eye health and the gallbladder is connected to our mental clarity and decision-making liver stores the blood which nourishes our eyes. This is a key point. If your liver is congested some of the eye symptoms you might experience would be blurry vision dry eyes and floaters. If your liver and gallbladder are overburdened, you might experience things like inflammation in the eyes. This is where you get conditions like blepharitis, dry eye syndrome, and even more serious inflammatory diseases like uveitis, which has an autoimmune effect to our body. When the energy of the liver meridian to the eyes is congested, we call this Qi stagnation. It can lead to emotional outbursts. Sam Berne (07:01.238) like anger and you experience eye stress, eye tension and dryness. And if you’re working on a digital device all day, it’s only going to make matters worse for the gallbladder, which stores the bile. It’s very important that you have good fat absorption. If you don’t, you’re not absorbing your vitamin A D E or K. This is going to affect your eye health directly. And even if you take supplements that have lutein and zeaxanthin in it, or you eat foods that contain lutein and zeaxanthin, if you’re not absorbing your fats, you’re not absorbing these ingredients. And this can lead to conditions like macular degeneration, dry eye, glaucoma, and retina issues. So doing a liver gallbladder cleanse can help you absorb those fat soluble vitamins, which are crucial. for your eye and vision health. So here’s my seven day liver gallbladder detoxification program. Day one, start the day by squeezing half a lemon in some warm water and drink it before you have any coffee tea or breakfast. The benefits of this lemon water stimulate bio production help alkalinize the body and I would get some either herbal formulas or teas. that contain the following herbs number one dandelion root number two milk thistle number three yellow dock number four burdock root and drink this tea before you have breakfast consider doing a morning smoothie. So my base tea is something called oat straw tea. So it’s a hot drink and I put in a stock of celery a little bit of beet some lemon maybe a half an apple and a teaspoon of flaxseed. What I like to do to create flaxseed powder is I take some flaxseeds and I put them in a coffee grinder and then I just grind them up and I store them in the refrigerator. That way you can put them on your salads. You can put it in the smoothies. It’s a great way to absorb flaxseeds. Peets are great for the liver. And by taking this smoothie before you eat, Sam Berne (09:20.142) It helps your digestion. get live plant enzymes and loads of antioxidants that are easy to absorb mid morning. I would take a milk thistle capsule 250 to 300 milligrams mid morning. Also, you could have some ginger tea, some peppermint tea, something again to support your digestive system for lunch. I need a healthy salad that contains kale avocado dandelion root arugula cilantro include in the salad beets. carrots and I would add some pumpkin seeds. This contains zinc, which is a very important trace mineral that helps in the absorption of fat soluble foods and vitamins for the salad dressing. I would make my own olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is one of my favorite things to use as a way to alkalinize the body and it’s high in potassium for snacks in the mid afternoon. I would use cucumber celery and maybe a handful of walnuts. For dinner, I would recommend a soup that contains broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, these cruciferous vegetables. They are sulfur rich that help in detoxification. Make sure to add garlic and onions and a base of bone broth, which will help in your mineral absorption. I would have some turmeric tea with a pinch of black pepper and some coconut oil. And then before bed, I would do a liver. detox drink which contains one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Make sure it’s raw and unfiltered in an 8 ounce glass of warm water. I would also add a dash of manuka honey. If you have it, this will support a gentle detox while you sleep. I would learn a breathing practice things like pranayama or other yogic breathing could be very helpful in terms of stimulating relaxation. I also like to do skin brushing. before any shower or bath and of course avoid things like caffeine, alcohol, processed foods and sugar. Some other strategies to detoxify and flush your liver would be number one, get some bitters, put them in an eight ounce glass of water, sip it before a meal, take your omega-3s during this time before you eat and also some dietary enzymes. This will help flush the liver Sam Berne (11:43.806) and stimulate your digestion before you eat. I also recommend a magnesium formula and if you’re going to do any sweetening things, I would do 70 % cacao. You can make that into a drink or you can have it as a little snack, but keep the sugars and the chocolates in a low glycemic form. Some of the signs of progress could be better eyesight, better sleep, healthier skin, more balanced energy. Also, one last thing. I think it’s very important to spend some time every day in nature. That’s a way where you can slow down. You get into the rhythm of nature, enjoy the sunshine, especially in the morning. If you do these things, I think you can support better liver gallbladder health. So if you’ve got any questions, send me an email appointments at dr. Sam burn.com. I’m happy to consult with you. That’s our show for today. I want to thank you so much for tuning in until next time. Take care.  

Keywords myopia, eye strain, reduced prescription, vision correction, eye health, nearsightedness, eye muscles, prescription glasses, vision therapy, eye fatigue Summary In this episode, Dr. Sam Berne addresses a common concern regarding myopia and the adjustment to reduced prescriptions. He explains the physiological and psychological factors contributing to eye strain and muscle tension when transitioning to a less strong prescription. Dr. Berne emphasizes the importance of understanding the habits that lead to eye strain and offers practical advice for easing into new prescriptions, ultimately highlighting the potential benefits of reduced prescriptions for improving overall eye health. Takeaways Reduced prescriptions can reveal underlying eye muscle tension. Eye strain is often a result of habitual squinting and straining. Adjusting to a reduced prescription requires patience and practice. Wearing a less strong prescription can improve distance vision over time. Overcorrection in eye exams can lead to unnecessary strain. Prescription glasses can have side effects similar to medication. Understanding your prescription is key to managing eye health. Children may need guidance to adapt to new prescriptions. Chronic eye issues may improve with reduced prescriptions. Awareness of eye habits is crucial for better vision. Sound Bites “Any prescription that you wear is like a drug.” Chapters 00:00 Understanding Myopia and Reduced Prescriptions 02:56 The Impact of Eye Strain and Muscle Tension 04:54 Adjusting to New Prescriptions and Habits   Hey everybody, it’s Dr. Sam and I’d like to welcome you to the podcast. So I received a question from a mom who I’m working with her son who’s got nearsightedness. This is a very interesting question. So I gave him a prescription that reduces his myopia and she said that he’s having a hard time adjusting to the prescription that is creating eye strain and his eye muscles hurt and she wants to know Sam Berne (00:30.71) what she can do to tell him to get used to the prescription. Well, it’s interesting because when you’re presented with a reduced prescription, your eyes should relax. Basically, any reduced prescription is saying, can I let go with my muscles and can I release and relax? Sam Berne (00:56.694) Now in this particular case, there’s two possible scenarios going on. The first is that and this is very common with people that start wearing reduced prescriptions. They start feeling their eye muscles more and they start feeling this area. Whereas before it was very a very unrealized area, meaning they had no awareness of it. And so when you wear something that’s less tight, Sam Berne (01:26.402) Guess what happens all of that tightness that you’ve absorbed over years of the strong prescription. You feel that so it’s showing you what’s already there. It’s not causing it, but the relaxation potential is showing you the tension that you’ve been carrying for a long time. The second part of this is Sam Berne (01:54.921) It’s not the prescription that’s causing the eye tension. It’s the attitude and habits that we bring to the prescription that creates the eye tension. So this means that we’re so used to having it clear that when we’re given a softer prescription and it’s a little on the soft blurry side, we immediately want to get rid of it by squinting and straining. Sam Berne (02:23.595) So we’re back to our old habits again. Sam Berne (02:28.321) Yeah, exactly. So the reduced prescription is going to confront the habit of you wanting to squint and strain and muscle it. So what I told the mother is just invite the child to wear this reduced prescription at near at the 14 inches, maybe maybe 20 inches at the most. But don’t try to wear it in the distance for now. Sam Berne (02:56.171) I mean the prescription was prescribed for near vision to begin with and it can be a big jump and kind of disorienting if you get this reduced prescription and you have the expectation that it should be clear in the distance. Now what will happen over time is that if you get used to the reduced prescription you’ll notice that your distance acuity improves and you know, you’re there when Sam Berne (03:25.633) You then put on the strong prescription and you start getting a headache. You start feeling the eye ache and you go, wow, this is what I used to wear all the time. And now I’m aware that it’s too tight for me. It’s too strong for me. And you know, I have to say that in my years of practice, I would reduce so many prescriptions during the exam. Sam Berne (03:54.741) And people actually saw more clearly because the way the eye exam is done. Sam Berne (04:01.015) You’re going to overcorrect people. You’re going to make the lens too strong. And you know, this really speaks to some of the adults that have chronic things like flashing lights or posterior vitreous detachment or even some, you know, retinal lattice degeneration all those retina problems. If you are nearsighted your prescription is too strong for you. And if you start wearing something less the retina Sam Berne (04:30.959) the flashing lights start to reduce and eventually go away so you don’t have that traction. So it’s very interesting to note that you know any prescription that you wear is like a drug. The prescription, eyeglasses and contacts have been approved by the FDA and they’re side effects. Sam Berne (04:54.329) And for nearsightedness, especially if you’re wearing something too strong, you’re going to pay the price and that price is going to be tension, compression, muscle pain, eye strain, eye fatigue and on and on. So I really appreciate the question and I hope that’s helpful. So that’s it for today. That’s my show. I want to thank you for tuning in until next time. Take care.

Keywords binasal tapes, vision therapy, eye health, neuroplasticity, peripheral vision, double vision, lazy eye, visual coordination, stress relief, alternative therapies Summary In this conversation, Dr. Sam Berne discusses the concept and application of binasal tapes, a technique used in vision therapy. He shares his experiences and the origins of this method, highlighting its benefits for various visual issues such as double vision and lazy eye. The discussion emphasizes the importance of peripheral vision and how binaural tapes can help in enhancing visual coordination and relaxation, especially under stress. Takeaways • Binasal tapes are used to enhance peripheral vision. • The technique was taught to Dr. Sam by Dr. Ellis Edelman. • Binasal tapes can help with double vision and lazy eye. • The eyes are connected to the brain’s mapping through visual input. • Using these tapes can lead to profound visual relaxation. • Stress affects vision and can lead to tunneling of sight. • Binasal tapes provide a reference point for better vision. • The technique is beneficial for patients with TBI. • Neuroplasticity plays a role in how we perceive vision. • The method is a gentle nudge to engage peripheral vision. Sound Bites • “These tapes help you in that process.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Binasal Tapes 02:48 The Technique and Its Origins 06:12 Applications and Benefits of Binasal Tapes Sam Berne (00:02.222) Hey everybody, welcome to the program today. I’m on my morning walk here in the forest and I thought I’d bring you along. I received a question from a listener on what are binasal tapes and how do they work? So think about a pair of glasses and on the inside part of the glasses like on the we call it the nasal part or the nose part. We actually apply about one inch of tape on either side of the lenses. So you’ve got it on your right and the left and you have this tape in the middle. So it’s by the nose, it’s by the nasal, it’s by the sinus. We call these bi-nasal tapes. What are these and how do they work? Well, I have to rewind and I want to give many of my mentors kudos for sharing this with me. One of my former partners, Dr. Ellis Edelman. I was in practice with him for five years in Newtown square, Pennsylvania near Philadelphia. And when I started working with Dr. Edelman, I had just graduated the gazelle Institute and Dr. Edelman was a graduate of the Gazelle Institute, except he had graduated about 40 years before I did. So he had a lot of experience and I thought this would be a good place to apprentice. so I began my practice in his office. I started renting space from him and it’s kind of hard to get patients. took a while. We were in a very conservative area of the main line of Philadelphia. Sam Berne (01:51.598) And people were not open at that time to alternative therapies. This was in the mid 1980s, but I hung out, hung in there with it and slowly and surely I began to attract my practice, my patients, and I built it up quite successfully, which I sold at the end of 1989 and moved out here to New Mexico. in 1990 and started a practice in 1992. Just to give you some orientation. One of the techniques that dr. Edelman taught me was how to work with people either who over focused or tunneled their vision. And you know, when you tunnel your vision, you exclude your peripheral vision. One of that has to do with myopia. where you just tighten up your vision and you you narrow it. So that would be one place where you might want to say, okay, how can we enhance your peripheral vision? Another application that we would see is double vision. So with the two eyes weren’t working together how to work with this and then of course the third situation would be if somebody had a crossed eye or a even a wandering eye or they had lazy eye. So one I saw more clearly than the other. So he showed me this technique where you put black tape on the inside part of both lenses. And what it did immediately for most people is that gave them a reference point on where they needed to look and where they needed to look is where they weren’t looking. Meaning that when you put something right in front of your eyes like this, you start opening up your peripheral vision. And if you want to reduce double vision, the way to do that is to enhance your peripheral vision on both sides. You know, the bigger the visual field, the more chance you have for the two eyes to overlap, especially if they’re separating. Sam Berne (04:13.9) And so these binasal tapes would get in the way of people’s habits of either tunneling crossing wandering double vision and it also would help wake up the eye that maybe wasn’t seeing as well. we do testing in the area of what we call visual coordination how well the two eyes work together and by putting these tapes on the inside part of the glasses. First of all, you would feel a lot of eye relaxation and relief and second of all, it would get your two eyes to start to work together with the brain. So by wearing it over time because of the neuroplasticity capability in the visual system. Remember the eyes are the only part of the brain that sit outside the cranial vault. And what you’re doing is you’re creating a new mapping in the brain by changing how the eyes are inputting the information. So these binasal tapes became a tool in my toolbox. And to this day, if somebody has double vision or a lazy eye or you know, they’re just tunneling their vision and they’re under a lot of stress. We use scotch tape. Now. We don’t use the the black electrical tape. So it kind of gives them the idea that okay, I need to use my peripheral a little more. And it’s it’s quite a winner of an effective treatment that over a few weeks you can remove the tapes and your vision goes back to homeostasis. It goes back to normal where the double vision reduces in some cases even goes away and you have this really profound visual relaxation because the name of the game is opening up your peripheral vision. And when you’re under stress, we say the sympathetic nervous system is overworking. You’re either traumatized. You’re in a fight flight freeze response. The eyes reflect what’s going on in your nervous system and your emotions your psychological reactions. And so the binaural tapes give you a gentle nudge to say, a minute. 90 % of my vision is in the periphery, which I’m not using. Sam Berne (06:41.866) What if what if I start engaging that so these tapes help you in that process. So I want to give a special thank you to Dr. Edelman. He’s not alive anymore. lot of the older behavioral developmental optometrists use that technique. I also used it in the hospitals with people with TBI who had double vision instead of trying to correct them with prisms. We use the binasal tapes and that kind of helped give them the necessary stability to start to use their vision with their brain in a better way. Book Mark this subject. All right. That’s our show for today. I want to thank you so much for coming along on this trip until next time everyone. See ya.  

Keywords visual system, nervous system, neuroplasticity, vision therapy, stress and vision, eye health, cranial nerves, emotional vision, visual processing, brain function Summary: In this episode, Dr. Sam Berne explores the intricate relationship between the visual system and the nervous system. He discusses how stress impacts vision, the role of neuroplasticity in vision rehabilitation, and the importance of understanding the visual pathway and processing in the brain. The conversation highlights the significance of the vagus nerve, emotional states, and various therapies that can enhance visual health and overall well-being. Takeaways: • The nervous system is crucial for resilience against stress. • Vision is not just about the eyes; it’s a brain-body connection. • The visual pathway includes the retina, optic nerve, and brain regions. • Stress can lead to visual issues like myopia and eye strain. • The vagus nerve plays a key role in relaxation and vision. • Neuroplasticity allows for improvement in visual processing. • Visual therapy can help rewire the brain for better vision. • Emotions significantly influence our visual perception. • Craniosacral therapy can aid in visual and nervous system balance. • Understanding the connection between stress and vision is vital. Sound Bites • “The nervous system reflects our ability to become resilient.” • “The eyes are a sensory organ connected to the brain.” • “Visual processing occurs in the occipital lobe of the brain.” Chapters 00:00Understanding the Visual System and Nervous System Connection 02:59The Visual Pathway and Brain Processing 05:57The Role of the Nervous System in Vision 08:52Neuroplasticity and Vision Rehabilitation 11:03Stress, Vision, and Neurological Disorders Hey everybody. Welcome to the Berne podcast. It’s great to be in today. And today I want to talk about understanding your visual system as it relates to the nervous system. This is one of the topics we talk about in our practitioner training, but I also talked to many of my patients about it because they’re so stressed out and our nervous system reflects our ability. to become resilient with stress. So there is a very strong relationship between the nervous system and our vision. In fact, it is so deeply interconnected because it’s not just about our eyes, but it’s about the process between our eyes, our brain and our body. And since the eyes are a sensory organ. We can see the nerves that are connecting into the eyes like our pupil responses as one example. Another example is eye movements. In fact, there are three cranial nerves that innervate the eye muscles cranial nerve 3 cranial nerve 4 and cranial nerve 6. So if we’ve got visual coordination problems strabismus amblyopia, sometimes it’s related to an imbalance in the nerves as it relates to the eyes. So the first thing I want to bring up in our visual system is something called our visual pathway. And so the eyes convert light when the light strikes the retina. These electrical signals are stimulating the photoreceptors the rods and codes in the retina and sending these signals. They’re transmitting them basically through I call the fiber optic pathway the optic nerve and this visual pathway includes the retina. which is the photoreceptors the optic nerve, which is that fiber optic pathway that connects the retina to the brain something called the optic chiasm the point where the nerves cross in the brain and then this visual information we then reaches the hemispheres of the brain. have the right brain and the left brain. So we talk about the visual information processing and another part of the brain. We talk about is something called the lateral geniculate nucleus, which is located in the thalamus and this is related to our visual information to the visual cortex the back part of the brain. This is the occipital lobe of the brain where the majority of our visual processing occurs. This is where we get things like depth perception color processing motion detection. And so we’ve had say cervical spine compression or if that traumatic brain injury many times the visual cortex that occipital part of the lobe of the brain is not able to handle the visual information processing. This is why we get issues with brain fog visual memory visual confusion. If the visual cortex is not capturing the vision that were taking in through the eyes. The output is going to be impeded. So we have input we have processing in the brain and then we have output. Now the nervous system plays a critical role in interpreting these signals and they turn them into coherent visual perception our ability to see motion our spatial awareness our spatial IQ and decision-making our shape recognition all of these things. are in influenced by our nervous system. So when we talk about our autonomic nervous system, we’re talking about some of the involuntary physiological processes. So I need to bring in the gatekeeper of light into the eyes, which is our pupil. So we have the dilation where our pupil gets larger and we have contraction where our pupil gets smaller. So when we’re in a fight-or-flight situation, I call it the fight-flight freeze. Our sympathetic sympathetic nervous system, is our active state is overworking and we start to see that the pupil remains dilated even when we’re in bright light when it should constrict. And so this is saying that the adrenals are overworking the thyroid may be overworking our depth perception on our peripheral vision is going to be tunneled and our sympathetic nervous system is overworking. This is most of us when we’re under stress. Now the parasympathetic nervous system causes the pupil to constrict or something we call meiosis. So in bright light, normally it should constrict. So when we talk about the dilation and the constriction, another aspect that we need to bring in is something called accommodation. And this is the ciliary muscles in the lens of the eye, which change the curvature of the eye. So when we have an imbalance In our sympathetic parasympathetic nervous system. One of the issues that it affects is our accommodation our ciliary muscles and this is one of the reasons why we develop nearsightedness or myopia. It’s also another reason why we might be developing presbyopia. That’s at age 40 you need magnification. All right. Now I have to talk about something which is related to vision and the vagus nerve because the the vagus nerve Is the major component of our parasympathetic nervous system and it’s related to our relaxation our stress levels our ability to handle trauma and stress. And so when our Vegas nerve is out of balance, we’re going to get things like light sensitivity blurred vision increased eye strain even things like dry eyes. That’s why in many of my techniques my somatic techniques. We are targeting relaxation techniques that engage the nervous system, specifically the vagus nerve my end palm hum exercise, for example, some of the other somatic movement exercises that we do to help calm down the vagus nerve so that we can come back into a self-regulating balance. And then I want to talk about our visual perceptions in a higher brain function. So our visual cortex. is related to our initial stages of visual processing, but there are also other parts of the brain that are involved in visual processing. Number one, our parietal lobe. This integrates visual information on a spatial level, our depth perception, our peripheral vision. That’s the parietal lobe. Our temporal lobe processes details, object recognition, facial recognition, enabling us to identify people places and things and then the prefrontal cortex. This is the higher order cognitive processing. Sometimes it’s called the executive function decision-making a lot of the kids that I work with. They’re unable to get into the prefrontal cortex because there’s an imbalance in their visual processing. And then I want to talk about vision and emotions. We talk about the limbic brain. The limbic brain which regulates our emotions is highly connected to our vision. That’s why myopia that’s our mate. The major emotion is fear. It’s our kidney connection hyperopia. That’s farsightedness. That’s our anger emotion liver. So the amygdala plays a role in processing the emotional significance of what we see and this relates to our eye contact our facial expressions. our threats. The hippocampus part of the brain is involved in our memory and our recall experiences. So emotional states have a very strong effect on our eyesight and our vision and our decision-making. All right. The last thing I want to talk about and I talk about this a lot is neuroplasticity and vision. I doctors do not like to talk about neuroplasticity and vision, but The neuroscientists have recognized that the nervous system, specifically the brain has an incredible capacity for rewiring itself. And when you rewire you refire the axons and the neurons so you can improve not only your vision, but your problem solving your processing of information and many other things. So the physical vision therapy is really a great way As I call it neuroplasticity training where you’re improving your retraining the brain and the eyes and the body to work more effectively. So conditions like amblyopia lazy eye strabismus crossed or uncrossed eyes where there’s part of the brain that’s suppressing there’s certain visual therapy exercises that can actually create new pathways in the brain and the eyes and restore binocular vision and depth perception. Okay, before I leave, I want to talk about the neurological disorders. We’re seeing more and more of these like multiple sclerosis Parkinson’s disease people with strokes. This these these conditions create things like blurred vision double vision visual field loss and even complete blindness. Remember damage to the optic nerve creates a problem in our visual field. So if you’ve got conditions like multiple sclerosis. or papillodema or optic neuritis. This disrupts the nervous system’s ability to process visual information and bring it back to the brain. Okay, there’s one more bonus. I’m going to talk about and this has to do with stress and vision. I’m going to talk about one of my mentors. Dr. Elliott forest who is a professor of optometry at SUNY. He wrote a book many years ago called stress and vision and he talked about how the sympathetic nervous system if it was overworking it created a dilation in the pupils more myopia blurred vision. eye strain, headaches, difficulty with visual processing and overall visual performance. So our stress affects our eyes. There’s no question about it. And this relationship between our nervous system and our vision is intricate and both systems work off each other. They kind of work in concert and the brain not only processes what we see, but it also controls the muscles to direct the eyes and the focus in certain positions. That’s why if our eyes are misaligned, we either get double vision or one of the eyes shuts off. So things like craniosacral therapy, light therapy, vision therapy, some of my somatic practices can help rebalance the nervous system and give you better vision. So if you’ve got questions, feel free to email me appointments at dr. Sam burn.com. That’s our show for today. I want to thank you so much for tuning in until next time. Take care.  

Keywords pinhole glasses, vision improvement, myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, eye strain, depth of field, eye health, visual habits, retraining vision Summary In this episode of the Berne Podcast, Sam Berne discusses the concept of pinhole glasses, exploring their functionality, benefits, and limitations. Pinhole glasses are designed to improve vision by reducing light scatter and enhancing depth of field. While they can provide temporary relief from eye strain and improve clarity for certain vision conditions, they are not a permanent solution and require retraining of visual habits for long-term effectiveness. takeaways • Pinhole glasses reduce scatter of light and improve clarity. • They can help with conditions like myopia and astigmatism. • Wearing them can reduce eye strain, especially at the computer. • They enhance depth of field, allowing clearer vision at different distances. • Pinhole glasses can help retrain the eyes to focus without magnification. • They are a temporary solution and not a cure for vision problems. • Using them requires practice and adjustment to new visual habits. • Bright light is essential for effective use of pinhole glasses. • They may not be effective in dim lighting conditions. • Long-term vision improvement requires deeper retraining beyond just using pinhole glasses. Titles • Can Pinhole Glasses Improve Your Eyesight? • Pinhole Glasses: A New Approach to Eye Health Sound Bites • “Are they good for you? Do they work?” • “Pinhole glasses actually reduce the scatter of light.” • “They enhance something called depth of field.” Chapters 00:00Introduction to Pinhole Glasses 00:45How Pinhole Glasses Work 02:12Benefits of Pinhole Glasses 03:35Limitations and Considerations Hey everyone, welcome to the Berne Podcast. In today’s show, I’m gonna talk about pinhole glasses. Are they good for you? Do they work? What in the heck do they actually do? Stay tuned. So these are pinhole glasses. It’s a type of eyewear that has tiny holes in the glasses. There’s no prescription. Do they work? How do they work? That’s what I want to discuss today. Pinhole glasses are a type of eyewear that contain a lot of little holes. Unlike traditional glasses, pinhole glasses actually reduce the scatter of light. and they block the indirect light into the eyes. Pinhole glasses are marketed as a vision improvement technique to help conditions like myopia, hyperopia astigmatism and presbyopia. A description I use for pinhole glasses is limited light entry into the eyes. The holes in the glasses focus the light rays onto the retina. Light enters the eye from the multiple directions. This leads to blurry eyesight. So in the pinhole glasses, the only light that gets through is parallel and is focused directly onto the retina. The pinhole glasses enhance something called depth of field. This means that it allows you to see objects at different distances very clearly since the pinhole glasses block peripheral vision. It limits the amount of aberrations that we might see normally. which again creates some blurry distorted eyesight conditions like double vision presbyopia or astigmatism might be helped by using the pinhole glasses. If you put the pinhole glasses on you’ll probably be able to read the distance eye chart more clearly. You see the eye chart more clearly using the pinhole glasses. You start to prove to the brain and the mind that you can actually have clear eyesight. Sam Berne (02:12.172) without your regular lenses. Pinhole glasses may reduce eye strain, especially if you use them at the computer. One of the things I have found with pinhole glasses is they work really well for people who are dependent on magnifying glasses. So whether you’ve got hyperopia in the distance and or presbyopia up close when you put on the pinhole glasses, you will be able to see the world very clearly. without the magnification effects of the regular lenses. One of the side effects of magnification lenses is it makes your eye muscles unresponsive to focusing. This is where the pinhole glasses can reprogram your eyes and your brain to learn how to focus again. It’s miraculous when you put the pinhole glasses on because the print is very clear and this is very unusual. without the pinhole glasses and without the magnifiers. Usually the print is too blurry to be able to see. So by wearing the pinhole glasses about 10 minutes a day, you start reading through the holes. It begins to change the habit that the farsighted magnifying glasses have done to your eyes. This is one benefit of using the pinhole glasses as a substitute for your magnification lenses. For myopia, it’s a little different situation because minus lenses that you wear are matching the over focusing that you’re doing. And although the pinhole glasses may make the world a little clearer, it’s not really helping you change the soft focusing that you need to learn to be able to reduce your dependency on the minus lenses. Now for a stigmatism, it’s a individual by individual case in some people wearing the pinhole glasses. If you have astigmatism can begin to change the astigmatism in the eye. Also, if you wear pinhole glasses in dim light, it could be difficult to read. It’s much better for you to have bright light. If you’re going to try to read using the pinhole glasses see pinhole glasses as a temporary Sam Berne (04:31.212) vision improvement technique that creates a change in your mental and visual habit patterns. So in the short term, it’s great to have them because you have to make some changes in order to use them unless you can internalize the changes that the pinhole glasses are asking you to make then it’s just a temporary solution a band-aid and it’s not really treating the causative factors changing your vision permanently. requires a reprogramming or retraining on a very deep internal level. This requires a lot of practice and daily activities. And although the pinhole glasses can help in the short term by itself. I don’t think it’s the answer. That’s our show for today. I want to thank you so much for tuning in until next time. Take care.  

Keywords vision, eyesight, holistic eye care, diet, concussions, protective eyewear, eye exercises, brain plasticity, sports vision, eye health Summary In this conversation, Dr. Sam Berne discusses the holistic approach to eye care, emphasizing the distinction between eyesight and vision. He highlights the importance of diet, the impact of screen time on eye health, and the connection between concussions and vision. Dr. Berne advocates for protective eyewear in sports and shares insights on the plasticity of the eyes and brain, suggesting that vision training can enhance athletic performance. Takeaways Vision is a holistic process involving the eyes, brain, and body. Diet plays a crucial role in maintaining eye health. Screen time has detrimental effects on children’s vision. Artificial blue light disrupts sleep patterns and eye health. Concussions can lead to significant visual system issues. Protective eyewear is vital for athletes in contact sports. Eye exercises can improve vision and brain function. The eyes and brain can adapt and improve with training. Nutrition and functional medicine are gaining attention in eye care. Sports vision training can enhance performance in athletes. Sound Bites “Eyesight is only one part of vision.” “People get older and their eyes get better.” “The eyes have one of the highest metabolic needs.” Chapters 00:00 Understanding Vision vs. Eyesight 03:08 The Impact of Diet on Eye Health 06:09 The Connection Between Concussions and Vision 09:02 The Importance of Protective Eyewear 12:09 The Plasticity of the Eyes and Brain 15:00 Enhancing Performance Through Vision Training Dr. Sam Berne, welcome to the fourth doctor. Thanks, Dr. Bob. Great to be here. Sounds good. So when you go for an eye exam, you know, the doctor has you read the eye chart and you get the reading 2020. That’s a measurement of your eyesight. But vision is how the eyes in the brain and the body work together. So eyesight is only one part of vision. So as a holistic eye doctor, I look at the eyes as an interrelated interconnected part of the body and there are things that you can do to improve your vision even as you get older. And that’s kind of the difference between the regular eye care. They just say your eyes get worse as you get older. my practice, people get older and their eyes get better. Well, exactly because the eyes have one of the highest metabolic needs of the body highly concentrated with those tiny blood vessels. So it’s one of the entryways into the body like the foot and you can pick up disease very early. And of course in diabetes, this is a real vulnerable area. I’m talking about the retina. So, you know, if you have glucose levels that are off the charts or your pre-diabetic You’re going to see it in the eyes. It’s going to be one of the first places and then you can treat it by doing some holistic things if you want to. big emphasis on prevention. You know, it’s being proactive, you know, just with diet alone, the eyes and the brain make up about 2 % of the body weight and use 25 % of the food intake. So if you cut out processed foods and sugar and mostly gluten and you eat, you know, the colorful vegetables and berries get enough healthy fats in your diet that in itself. can keep your eyesight healthy and well as you get older. Well, when you get glasses as a child, what it’s doing is it’s reinforcing the problem that’s causing the need for glasses to begin with. So, you know, again, back to the holistic perspective, I find the cause and treat that and we know that the eyes originate from the brain. And so if you do eye exercises, not only are you changing the brain, but you’re also changing the eyes. And of course, the other thing that’s going on with kids is screen time. So the more screen time they have, this is really wreaking havoc. And then with COVID, where schools were just online, I got so many complaints from parents and kids about eye strain, eye fatigue, red eyes, blurred vision, dry eye, and so on. So I think the screens are another factor that we have to look at in terms of helping kids improve their vision. Well, more more research is coming out about the damaging effects of the artificial blue light. It’s a chaotic frequency. And first of all, it messes with our circadian rhythm. If we’re staring at a screen after 6 p.m. suppresses the melatonin, as you know, but it also can dry the eye tissue out. And, you know, in severe cases, it can start to cause things like macular degeneration and cataracts. So we need to protect our eyes. Mm-hmm. magazine. A lot of excitement. get from Twitter and LinkedIn over the years. We’re speaking with Dr. Sam Bernie, the holistic Again, behavioral eye health. I wanted to ask you Sam again about your thoughts with the world of concussions and the whole eye connection. So I’ve done research and published on traumatic brain injury and vision. I’ve also worked in hospitals, written articles. It’s a huge problem today in sports. I mean, it’s not just the NFL, but What happens is when we get hit in the head, it reverberates into the nerves and muscles in the eyes. Now, the problem is we don’t pick these up on an MRI. So you’ve got these soft symptoms like blurred vision, double vision, memory issues, balance issues. You know, something’s wrong, but the traditional eye exam misses it. So when you go to somebody like me, we’re testing things like visual tracking, visual focusing. visual reaction time, peripheral vision, depth perception. And we’re looking at how the visual system has been impacted. And then once we get the diagnosis, we can do physical therapy on the eyes to repair the damage that’s occurs from these traumas, concussions, so on. at and again this idea of the whole eye effect. on UU. DrSamByrne.com I have thousands of videos that are free on there also written blogs. You can also find me on Facebook and Tik Tok, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. I do tons of… You I totally agree. mean, I think when you get hit in the eye, it really causes a lot of problems, know, circulation issues and double vision, blurred vision. You’ve got to use protective eyewear, especially with kids and they’re playing in contact sports. It’s a no brainer. You know, we recommend it all the time for people. I think a little bit, you know, especially in sports like lacrosse and squash and racquetball, but you know, in basketball or football or baseball. No, I don’t think we’re making enough inroads there. You’re right. It takes education and being proactive and you know, we need to do a better job of PR getting that stuff out there. safe to go back and come along. You know, this starts another protocol. We already have the concussion protocol. Now we need to bring the vision piece into it. And that could actually be part of the baseline and whether or not, you know, when an athlete can actually go back into competition. Ahem. You know, we don’t we don’t really emphasize it in school. But you know, in my own vision, I had very bad vision when I was a child. I was very myopic and I met a doctor who did this physical therapy and I completely reversed my myopia. I don’t wear any glasses 30 years later. So I’m a living example that you can do it and the eyes and brain have a plasticity. That’s the thing. And if you offer them new experiences, new pathways, you can improve your vision. And I think it’s coming more into things like occupational therapy, physical therapy, in some of the private schools, in sports. But I think in regular eye care, we’re so geared towards looking for disease and using pharmaceuticals and drugs and surgery that there’s no place for exercises. God bless America. Well, I think it’s slowly changing because in the grassroots the patients are asking for it and because there’s so much emerging in the area of nutrition functional medicine acupuncture as you say by the way many of the meridians in the body go to the eyes and so liver gallbladder, you know those affect the eyes quite profoundly. Yes emotional tapping that. Yes? that. And again, in the area of high performance, I think again, this is something that seems to be paid more more attention. You know, thinking about that guy in the batting box or whoever’s hitting a ball or moving in different directions. The whole eye acuity, these are things that can really be improved, can’t they? my God. I’ve worked with baseball players, golfers, volleyball players, wide receivers. You know, it’s all about reaction time, keeping your balance. tracking the ball while you’re up in the air. So there’s no question that sports vision is a huge, it’s a huge support for athletes that wanna play at a higher level.  

Keywords eye health, nutrition, worst foods, vision, cataracts, diabetes, inflammation, antioxidants, omega-3, vitamins summary In this podcast episode, Dr. Sam Berne discusses the worst foods for eye health, emphasizing how certain dietary choices can negatively impact vision and contribute to various eye conditions. He outlines ten specific food categories that should be avoided, including sugary foods, refined carbohydrates, trans fats, high sodium foods, processed meats, fried foods, artificial sweeteners, excessive alcohol, red meat, and high sugar breakfast cereals. Dr. Berne concludes with recommendations for a diet that supports eye health, highlighting the importance of omega-3s, vitamins, and colorful vegetables. takeaways Sugary foods and drinks are detrimental to eye health. Refined carbohydrates can increase the risk of cataracts. Trans fats contribute to inflammation affecting the eyes. High sodium diets can lead to hypertensive retinopathy. Processed meats are linked to poor eye health. Fried foods create oxidative stress and inflammation. Artificial sweeteners can cause eye inflammation. Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to dry eye syndrome. High consumption of red meat is linked to macular degeneration. A diet rich in omega-3s and vitamins is essential for eye health. titles Foods That Harm Your Eyes Eye Health: What Not to Eat Sound Bites “These sugars are a death spiral for our eyes.” “Refined carbs increase your risk for cataracts.” “Trans fats contribute to inflammation in the eyes.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Eye Health and Nutrition 01:00 The Worst Foods for Eye Health 08:03 Conclusion and Recommendations for Eye Health   Hey everybody, it’s Dr. Sam. I’d like to welcome you to the podcast today. So I want to talk about the worst foods for your eyes. know, usually we talk about what are the best foods, know, like avocados and goji berries and wild-caught salmon, but I want to talk about the worst foods today. So nutrition for eye health. There’s certain foods that so negatively affect your eyes, you know, when people come for eye exams and they’ve got like hypertensive, hypertensive retinopathy or diabetic retinopathy or they are developing cataracts and I asked them what they’re eating and you know, I have to scratch my head because well, these are some of the reasons why your eyes are letting you down. you know conditions like macular degeneration cataracts dry eye even general vision. deterioration. Here are some of the worst foods for your eye health. Number one, sugary foods and sugary drinks. So when we have things like Diet Coke or Pepsi or we’re eating, you know, things like sweetened coffee, tea, desserts, sugary cereals, candy, pastries, all of these sugars. really are a death spiral for our eyes. I mean, if you want to really trash your eyesight, then just eat things like candy pastries, sugary cereals, soda, sweetened coffee, tea and desserts and you will get there. Number two, what’s also really bad for your eyes are the refined carbohydrates because these spike your blood sugar levels. Sam Berne (02:01.853) And when you eat foods that are say high glycemic index, this increases your risk for things like cataracts. We talk about something called the glycation process. So if you have moderate to high levels of glucose in your blood, those glucose molecules will attach to the protein molecules in the lens. And this is what creates cataracts. Same thing for diabetes. If you’ve got again. These refined carbohydrates, then you have a higher risk of number one getting inflammation number two getting oxidative stress and number three over time. You are going to have what we call reactive oxygen species, which contributes to these eye conditions. So what are some examples of refined carbs white bread white rice anything that’s white pasta processed snacks crackers chips again really bad for your eyes. Okay. Number three trans fats and hydrogenated oils. Why is this so bad because trans fats contribute? to inflammation which can increase the risk of things like blepharitis my bone and gland dysfunction. Those are when the eyelids get inflamed and creates dry eye macular degeneration whether it’s wet or dry again, these unhealthy fats interfere with the absorption of the essential nutrients like omega-3s which are crucial for eye health. So what are some examples fried foods margarine packaged? baked goods and processed snacks. All right, let’s go to number four high sodium foods. Well diets high in sodium lead to high blood pressure. had a guy yesterday came to my office. He’s got really high blood pressure. I asked him what he’s eating. He says well canned soups processed meats frozen dinners fast food all of these things are going to affect the delicate blood vessels. call them the micro capillaries of the retina. Sam Berne (04:12.172) This creates hypertensive retinopathy. Also sodium contributes to fluid retention. So this may cause puffiness or irritation on the outside part of the eyes and could be one of the causes of factors of wet macular degeneration, which is the edema that is accumulating behind the macula. All right, my number five worst foods that you can eat processed meats. Why because again, these are high end. both saturated fats and sodium and can negatively affect your eye health. Remember high fat diets increase the risk of AMD. Now, this is the bad fats. creates plaque in the blood vessels, which affects the blood flow into the eyes. These would be things like bacon sausage hot dogs deli meats and smoked meats. Now, let’s go to number six fried foods. Fried foods are rich in the trans fats. I’ve talked about the trans fats before unhealthy oils, which creates oxidative stress and inflammation. Examples would be fried fried chicken, french fries, donuts, onion rings. This also creates a cholesterol buildup in the eye. We see something in the iris called Archesanilus and that can tell us number one that we’re in high cholesterol. Number two, our liver is probably not working well very well. Your gallbladder too. And you’re not absorbing the good fats and the fat soluble vitamins like vitamin A lutein and zeaxanthin number seven on my list artificial sweeteners and additives certain artificial sweeteners and preservatives contribute to eye inflammation. This can lead to dry eye allergic reactions red eyes. What would be some examples diet sodas? I know a lot of people they just love the diet Cokes. Those are so negative for you for your vision. So we look at packaged low calorie snacks. That’s another thing that you want to be careful about in terms of having additives artificial sweeteners. Number eight on my list is alcohol again, excessive alcohol consumption dehydrates the body which includes causing dry eye syndrome. It also reduces the absorption absorption. Sam Berne (06:35.281) Of essential vitamins like vitamin A, B complex, which are very important for eye health. So chronic alcohol increases the risk of something called optic neuropathy, which damages the optic nerve. We see this in glaucoma as an example. So of course examples would be excessive beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails. Number nine on my list is red meat in excess. Why is it bad? Because red meat provides well red meat. does provide zinc, is an essential trace mineral for eye health excessive consumption of fatty red meat has been linked to increase conditions like macular degeneration. We need to be very careful of our cholesterol buildup if our liver is not working properly. So this would be things like steak hamburgers and other fatty cuts or beef or pork and number 10 on my list high sugar breakfast cereals these cereals are not only high and refined sugars, but they also lack essential nutrients. High sugar intake can lead to things like inflammation, the risk of cataracts macular degeneration. What would be some examples sugary breakfast cereals granola bars instant oatmeal. These are added sugars. So my argument is in conclusion is if you want to have optimal eye health you have to avoid these 10 types of foods because what you do need for healthy eyes Omega 3 vitamins, especially vitamin a bc and e zinc glutathione. Where do you get these leafy green vegetables wild-caught salmon nuts and seeds preferably soaked and dehydrated also the colorful vegetables. love berries and think rainbow diet reduce your intake of sugar processed foods and unhealthy fats. And that will help you protect your vision. So that’s our show for today. I want to thank you so much for tuning in until next time. Take care.  

Keywords light adjustable lenses, cataract surgery, vision correction, depth perception, blue light protection Summary In this podcast episode, Dr. Sam Berne discusses light adjustable lenses (LAL) used in cataract surgery, explaining their benefits, drawbacks, and potential impact on depth perception. He emphasizes the importance of understanding how these lenses work, the necessity of UV protection during the adjustment period, and the need for blue light protection to prevent potential eye issues. Dr. Berne also shares his personal recommendations regarding vision correction options.  See his BONUS podcast on his membership site: https://drsambernesmembership.com Takeaways Light adjustable lenses (LAL) are a new option for cataract surgery. LAL allows for customization of vision correction post-surgery. Patients must wear UV protective glasses during the adjustment period. Depth perception can be affected by blended vision from LAL. Monovision and blended vision can create confusion for some patients. Surgeons can adjust the non-dominant eye after surgery for better results. Blue light protection is important to prevent eye damage. Not all interocular lenses have blue light blocking capabilities. It’s advisable to try monovision contacts before surgery. LAL may be worth considering if blended vision is acceptable. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Light Adjustable Lenses 02:20 Benefits and Drawbacks of Light Adjustable Lenses 05:42 Depth Perception and Vision Challenges 07:36 Blue Light Protection and Final Thoughts “Hey everybody, welcome to the podcast today. So I’m to take a question that I’ve been getting a lot of something called light adjustable lenses. These are new lenses that cataract surgeons are putting in your eyes. And so what are the pros and cons? Do I recommend it? What do you have to watch out for? That’s what we’re going to talk about today. So light adjustable lenses are new intraocular lens that cataract surgeons are putting in your eyes. So just like regular cataract surgery, they take out the clouded lens and they’re putting in this new interocular lens. I call it the LAL light adjustable lens. So after the surgery, there’s a two to three week healing period and once your eyes have healed, then the adjustable process can occur with this new interocular lens. So during this time you get a pair of ultraviolet glasses that protect you from UV light. because it’s the UV light that actually creates the changes in the light adjustable lenses. So after the eye heals, you’ll go back to the doctor and he will start making some adjustments in the lens using a special UV laser and this UV light causes a retargeting of the shape of the lens. So the refractive errors myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism can be fine-tuned by reshaping the lens in the eye. Typically, you’ll need two to three light treatments to complete the reshaping and come up with a prescription that you can see clearly out of. So once you get to the end result of having clear eyesight, then there’s a final lock in where the lens will be permanent. in terms of the prescription that you’re getting. In some of the studies I’ve seen, there’s been a 92 % success rate in having clear eyesight from the light adjustable lens. So you get this great customization of your prescription and it works really well. If you’ve had things like PRK or Lasik surgery because it can really find to the final result of having clear eyesight. Sam Berne (02:20.652) So three initial drawbacks. I see is number one. You have to use UV protecting glasses during the period of measuring. What is the final LAL prescription number two? You have to do somewhere between two and four extra office visits to fine-tune the reshaping and get the prescription that you want and number three is the cost. So usually these lenses are not covered by insurance. So you’re going to have to pay out of pocket. If you want these, okay, so now my personal opinion when you look at the light adjustable lenses as it relates to depth perception, I see some potential problems. So like the mono vision correction where one eye is corrected for distance usually the dominant eye and the non-dominant eye is corrected for near the light adjustable lens has a similar concept. But instead of calling it mono vision, they call it blended vision. But still you’re dealing with one eye is corrected for distance and the other eye is corrected for intermediate and near. Well, this sets up a problem with the brain being able to decipher and process vision is when you are in this blended vision very similar to mono vision. It can either create double vision. other kinds of blur or the brain just suppresses or shuts off the eye that’s not using so like for example, if you’re driving the right eye is really the only eye that’s your dominant eye. That’s the eye that’s only going to be used for driving and then if you’re at the computer or reading the left eye, which is the non-dominant eye in most people is going to be used exclusively for that. So it’s going to put more stress and pressure on each eye to work at those particular distances and this reduces and in some cases even eliminates depth perception. So you remember how I talked about the difference between eyesight, which is seeing the eye chart clearly in vision is the eye brain body connection. And so in terms of this LAL technology, it can be very helpful in terms of eyesight correction. However, you need to be careful Sam Berne (04:48.213) that because the eyes are going to be corrected at different distances. This could create confusion and difficulty in terms of using both eyes together. So one of the things that you could do is you could try a mono vision or a type of blended different contacts and that would be before the surgery to see how your brain in your eyes respond. You know, for some people I’ve worked with with monovision with Lasik surgery and cataract surgery. They do just fine with it. Others. However, have difficulties adjusting because the eyes are focusing at different distances and this creates confusion. I strain I fatigue double vision irregular blurred vision. So to know before you do the surgery to have that monovision in contacts. See if it works now. Another thing the surgeon can do after the surgery is he can make adjustments in the non-dominant eye with the new interocular lens and he can back off the difference between the distance intermediate near so we can make the blended vision they closer together and in doing that that might be a way where you can actually be able to read use the computer and see in the distance but make no mistake about it. that either blended vision or mono vision from this light adjustable lens technology does create an obstacle in your depth perception. It’s one of the reasons why I still recommend the monofocal for distance. In other words, both eyes are corrected for distance with the cataract surgery. So you’ve got really good depth perception at distance and then you get a pair of glasses for your intermediate or near vision and one last point. I haven’t been able to determine whether these lenses have the blue blocker in them. I can say that most interocular lenses don’t have blue blocking protection or original hardware. know, our original lenses do have the pigment to block some of the blue light. Now with blue light, what we’re dealing with here is it dries the eyes out faster and in extreme cases. Sam Berne (07:07.549) It can lead to things like macular degeneration. It’s why a lot of my post-operative patients who’ve had cataract surgery if they haven’t had the blue protection put in the interocular lens and they weren’t told that they have a higher risk of developing things like macular degeneration and other retinal problems. So you want to ask your surgeon if there’s blue protection in the lenses. If there is not then you’re probably going to need to get some blue protection. in some type of glasses if you’re on screens after 6 p.m. So those are the pros and cons. I would give it a mild. Yes, I think it’s worth checking out. But if you can try the blended vision mono vision before the surgery and you can accept it, then the light adjustable lens could work really well for you. So that’s our show for today. I want to thank you so much for tuning in. Remember my membership. You can always get on that and I have some exclusive content on that. So check it out and until next time everyone take good care.”      

Internationally known celebrity nutritionist, and New York Times bestselling author of more than 35 books, Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS, is known as the “First Lady of Nutrition”. She is a leading innovator in the field of integrative medicine, dietary, environmental, and women’s health issues and a trailblazer whose impeccable, groundbreaking research and knowledge paved the path for nutritionists today.  Visit her website: www.annlouise.com Dr. Berne discusses his relationship with his mentor Dr. Hazel Parcells, who lived to 106.  He describes what behavioral optometry is.  He talks about how his prism therapy can improve the brain, the vestibular system, and the visual system. He discusses the relationship between trauma and vision. For more, join his membership: https://drsambernesmembership.com/join_us/

Join me for an illuminating episode of the EyeClarity podcast, where we unravel the secrets of holistic eye care. From finding the right eye doctor to making informed choices about surgery, this episode is a comprehensive guide to maintaining and enhancing your eye health. Let’s journey through the realm of eye care together and empower ourselves with knowledge and insights that pave the way to better vision. Enjoy the show! If you want more, sign up for my newsletter at: www.drsamberne.com. If you have any questions, submit them to [email protected]. For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: drsambernesmembership.com Hey, everybody, it’s Dr. Sam. I’d like to welcome you to my EyeClarity podcast. If you want to get in touch with me, you can send me your questions at [email protected]. Before we start the show, I’d like to talk to you about my new membership platform. When you join, you get access to exclusive content that you won’t see on social media. You’ll be able to attend my live Q and A and ask me questions, and you’ll have the opportunity to join my advanced workshops. To sign up, go to drsamburnmembership.com now to today’s show. Hey, everybody, it’s Dr. Sam, and I want to welcome you to another EyeClarity podcast. So today, I want to help you navigate the eye care system. So I’m going to take a few minutes. I’m going to talk about ways that, first of all, you can find an eye doctor that you can maybe be compatible with. Number two, how you can help your eye doctor, help you in the best possible way. And number three, if in fact, you do need surgery, what’s the best way to navigate? All right, so let’s go to number one, how to find an eye doctor. Well, you know, the best way to do that, I think, is first of all, go on Google and type in holistic eye doctor. Now, you may or may not get somebody in your area. You may not even get a holistic eye doctor. You may get a holistic naturopath or functional medicine doctor or a biological dentist. And so at this point, I would contact whatever comes up on the Google, and I would contact that office and ask them for a referral. Is there anybody they know? And maybe it isn’t quite a holistic eye doctor, but somebody maybe who’s a little older, maybe who’s a little more gentle, a little more middle of the road. It’s kind of hard to find holistic eye doctors because in school, we’re not really trained to look at vision holistically only allopathically but many times there are doctors that at least they’re more reasonable in their attitude. And if you can find somebody like that, another way to do it is through your friends, through your community, to ask around who’s somebody that I have a holistic philosophy in my health. Is there somebody that at least isn’t totally extreme? Name that’s going to really just recommend surgery as soon as I walk in the door. And there are doctors, eye doctors out there like that, and that may be the best you can do in your area. So that would be number one. The number two. When you go for your eye exam, I recommend taking a friend, a family member, and have a certain intention or focus on what you want to achieve. It could be, I want you to check my eye health. I want you to give me a prescription for my glasses, if that’s what you need. But I don’t want you to overcorrect me. And the way you do that is when he starts flipping the lenses. Feel it in your body, feel it in your eyes, and you’re wanting to stay as close to the current prescription as you can. And you need to stand up for yourself here and you need to say, I don’t want a super strong prescription. And most of the time, even if they don’t believe in you or believe what you’re saying, if you’re committed, because the stronger the prescription you get, the faster it is going to weaken your eyes. So you want to stay in the area of something that’s more in the middle, so you don’t have something that’s so strong that it’s going to make you dizzy, nauseous, or give you headaches. All right, now, in addition to that, I would be very careful about going into things like progressive lenses or bifocals, especially if you haven’t done it before, you’re much better off getting two pairs of glasses. Something for distance, something for near. You want to stay away from things like monovision where they’re correcting one eye for distance, one eye for near. And you want to be conservative in what you’re wearing. These newfangled things that these guys and gals want to prescribe, they end up in disaster. I mean, people come to me and they go, I should have never gone down this road. I just had a guy yesterday and he said, you know, this is the busiest fanciest eye center in Santa Fe. And every time I come out of there, I get these glasses. I cannot see out of them. And I keep going back and they just say, Get used to it. And I’ve gone to them three years in a row. I am fed up. And so for the exam, what I did is I reduced his prescription by about 70% and he tried it on and he goes, my goodness, this feels great. I love this. This so it takes an empowerment. In your world to be able to say, I don’t want something too strong, and don’t give me all these bells and whistles. I’d even be careful about staying away from a lot of tints, a lot of coatings, because it ends up smudging the lens. It’s cloudy, and the lenses just don’t last as long, and they’re expensive. So stay with, again, middle of the road. All right, number three surgery. So, first of all, if a doctor is recommending eye surgery, I would consider getting a second opinion. I would definitely do some research, consult with me or somebody like me. And before you enter into any surgery, you want to know what the side effects are. You want to know what the success rate is. You want to know, what can I expect from this? And in some of the side effects, you want to know things like, well, is this going to create dry eye? Is it going to create floaters? Am I going to have a retina issue? What are some of this? And really, if you can’t get those answers from your doctor, then you find a doctor who can tell you these things. And I would enter any surgical procedure very cautiously because there are side effects, especially to laser procedures and procedures that are invasive. So that being said, as long as the condition is not sight threatening, and you’ve got even if you have four to six weeks, what I would say is start doing some of my protocols, and many times you can stave off the pattern and eventually turn the tide. So this is something, again, where you go with a friend, with an advocate, and you don’t let them bully you into something or scare you into something until you are completely informed on what’s going on. And this even includes pharmaceutical eyedrops, things like eyedrops for restasis, steroid eyedrops, antibiotic eyedrops. A lot of times, there may be alternatives that you can use, and this is where you get the information. And then you find somebody like me, and then there are ways that you can go. I mean, acupuncture can be really helpful. Craniosacral therapy, lymphatic drainage, herbal remedies, any plant based medicines, natural eyedrops eye exercises. There’s so many things that you can do. And another aspect that we don’t discuss extensively is changing your diet. Reflect on the foods you consume. Shift towards a more plant-based, rainbow-colored vegetable-rich diet. Vegetables are highly beneficial for your retina, vitreous, cornea, and eyelids. Adopt an anti-inflammatory eating pattern. Explore intermittent fasting. Consider doing a cleanse. Seek guidance from a functional medicine doctor. Often, eye issues stem from either functional eye problems, incorrect prescriptions, eye coordination disparities, or biochemical/endocrine imbalances. A skilled naturopath or functional medicine doctor can assist you in replenishing essential nutrients and facilitating the healing of your eye tissues. For queries, reach out via email: [email protected], [email protected]. Connect with me on social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, and Clubhouse. I’m here to support you. That concludes our episode. Take care, everyone. Thank you for tuning in to the EyeClarity podcast show. If you found value in this episode, be sure to subscribe on iTunes or Spotify and share your feedback with a review. Looking forward to having you back next time.

I invite you to join me on a captivating journey through the realm of aromatherapy in this podcast episode. Together, we’ll delve into the multi-faceted world of lemon essential oil, explore the art of intuitive aromatherapy, and uncover the remarkable benefits of harnessing the power of natural plant remedies. From sensory experiences to practical tips, I’m thrilled to share my insights and knowledge to help you navigate the intricacies of this enchanting practice. Tune in and let’s discover the transformative magic of aromatherapy! Enjoy the show! If you want more, sign up for my newsletter at: www.drsamberne.com. If you have any questions, submit them to [email protected]. For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: drsambernesmembership.com. Hello, everyone. This is Dr. Sam. I’d like to extend a warm welcome to my EyeClarity podcast. If you wish to connect with me, feel free to send your questions to [email protected]. Prior to delving into the show, I’d like to discuss my fresh membership platform. By becoming a member, you’ll gain access to exclusive content that remains unseen on social media. You’ll also have the opportunity to participate in my live Q&A sessions, where you can ask me questions directly, and you’ll be eligible to join my advanced workshops. To enroll, please visit drsamburnmembership.com. Now, on to today’s episode. Hello, everyone, it’s Dr. Sam. I’m pleased to welcome you to today’s EyeClarity podcast. Today, I’ll be addressing a single question, and I’m thrilled to delve into the topic of aromatherapy. Aromatherapy is a profound interest of mine, one that I’ve been deeply immersed in for numerous years. In particular, I’d like to spotlight lemon essential oil. Lemon is an incredibly versatile essential oil, but cautious application is necessary. When using any essential oil for the first time, it’s crucial to introduce it to your system gently and with care. This is a practice I emphasize in my classes. Begin by experiencing the aroma of the oil, allowing it to engage with your olfactory and limbic systems. This will provide an immediate inclination towards acceptance or rejection. For example, if I were to present rose oil, its scent is often associated with the rose flower and evokes a sense of heart-opening. On the other hand, an essential oil like spikenard, with its shamanic essence, might carry a scent reminiscent of dirty socks. Despite this, it holds value in the dream world, inducing relaxation. The key is to discern whether the initial response is positive or negative. Turning to lemon, a citrus aroma that’s generally favored, you’d similarly smell it initially and evaluate your reaction. Next, I recommend conducting a patch test on a less sensitive area of the skin, such as the inner part of the wrist. This minimizes any discomfort that might arise, as opposed to applying it directly to more sensitive regions like the face or private areas, which can lead to temporary discomfort. If you ever experience a burning sensation from an essential oil on your skin, applying coconut oil can promptly alleviate it. So, having completed test number one for lemon—smelling and patch testing—the next step is determining suitable areas of application. Almost any essential oil can be applied to the soles of the feet. For adults, two to three drops of oil on each sole, twice daily, is advisable. With children, the dose varies. For instance, one drop for younger kids and up to four drops for older ones. Lemon essential oil boasts several benefits. It possesses antibacterial and antifungal properties while supporting the liver, spleen, and kidneys, functioning as a detoxifying agent. Thus, it’s a valuable addition to any gentle detox regimen, consistently applied to the soles of the feet. Moreover, lemon oil has a positive impact on mood, elevating emotions and combating feelings of negativity. When facing a challenging day, a little lemon can go a long way in boosting your spirits. Lastly, there’s a common query about carrier oils. Initially, my aromatherapy training advocated for direct application of essential oils on the skin. However, as I began practicing, I observed varying skin sensitivities. Consequently, I’ve adopted a more flexible stance. Organic carrier oils, such as jojoba, aloe vera, or sunflower, can be blended with essential oils. They serve as compatible carriers, diluting the essential oil’s potency. While this might necessitate a slightly higher quantity of drops, experimentation is key. Intuition also plays a vital role in aromatherapy. A strong intuitive sense guides dosages—whether it’s one or two drops, once or twice daily. Typically, twice daily is a solid guideline for adults, with dosages ranging from one to four drops based on the oil’s nature. Allow me to recommend a reputable company, Stillpoint Aromatics. Although I receive no financial incentives, I hold them in high regard. Their founder and CEO, Virginia Joy, ensures the utmost integrity in sourcing essential oils from biodynamic farms. Stillpoint Aromatics, located in Sedona, stands as a trustworthy option. Thank you, everyone, for tuning in. That concludes today’s episode. I appreciate your listenership and hope you’ve gained insights from the Iclarity podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, kindly subscribe on iTunes or Spotify and consider leaving a review. Until next time, take care.

Today I want to address the pressing issue of managing children's digital device use and offer valuable advice to parents seeking to establish effective boundaries. We'll shed light on the potential pitfalls of excessive screen time – from eye strain to fatigue – and underscore the heightened vulnerability of children due to their less-developed protective eye pigments against blue light. I advocate for a thoughtful approach rooted in negotiation when discussing digital device limits with kids. Enjoy the show!

In this episode I recount my personal struggle with vision issues and how I found solace in the holistic method. Vision encompasses more than just the eyes; it encompasses the brain, emotions, posture, and balance. I lay out crucial strategies for bolstering vision, especially for those aged 70 and above grappling with conditions like cataracts or macular degeneration. Enjoy the show!

Let’s talk about how to approach the conversation around eye care with someone you’re close to, whether it’s a family member, friend, or your child. This can be a very delicate conversation. When someone you know is diagnosed with a problem like glaucoma, cataracts, or macular degeneration, I suggest taking a holistic and integrative approach, but it’s important to respect their choices and ask permission before offering advice. So let’s jump into today’s episode. Enjoy the show. If you want more, sign up for my newsletter at: www.drsamberne.com. If you have any questions, submit them to [email protected] or you can now text me! Text ‘Join’ to 1-844-932-1291 to sign-up and ask your questions! For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars: drsambernesmembership.com SUMMARY KEYWORDS eye, vision, health, cataracts, conditions, macula, inflammation, myopia, retina, reduced, floaters, red light, talk, body, ai, open, treating, child, diagnosed, podcast Hey everybody, it’s Dr. Sam, I’d like to welcome you to my EyeClarity podcast. If you want to get in touch with me with questions, you can email me at [email protected]. And you can always text me your questions at 1-844-932-1291. I would like to let you know about my new membership program. This is going to offer members new information on how to improve their vision and wellness. So you will get access to articles, video, blogs, podcasts, and webinars. Also a live q&a with me. And all of this information will empower you to make informed decisions about your vision, and your health. So to sign up to go to my website, drsambernesmembership.com. And you can see the details there. All right now on to the show. 1:37 Everybody, welcome to the program today. So I want to talk about what happens when either your family member or friend gets the eye diagnosis. So let’s say you have a parent, and he or she has been diagnosed with glaucoma, or cataracts or macular degeneration. And the doctor will say something like, well, let’s just watch it. Or let’s schedule you for a procedure. And you being a holistically minded person says maybe there’s something else. So how can you help. Or let’s say you have a child who’s maybe struggling a little bit in school, or you notice that there’s an eye turn, or he or she covers one of her eyes, and you go to the doctor and he says, Well, you’ve got esotropia or amblyopia. And we need to either patch full time, or you need to do i muscle surgery right away, let’s get this scheduled. Or even if it’s just a friend, a friend who maybe has had a botched cataract surgery, or is facing glaucoma surgery, and you know that there might be a better way, how do you navigate the waters, the day doesn’t go by when somebody will write me and say, you know, I have a family member or a friend who’s got this eye condition. I know there’s a better way. And so you know, I offer certain suggestions and so on. But this is educational only. So I’m not diagnosing or treating. But how do you handle the dynamics of this? So first of all, I think it’s important to note that everybody is on their own path. And as much as we want to help others, I think it’s important that if you’re going to offer advice that you want to ask permission, you want to make sure that it’s okay. Because some people just aren’t open to a more holistic integrative approach, especially with the eyes. For some reason, we don’t think we can improve our vision. It’s the one part of our body that isn’t going to heal at least that’s what maybe your eye doctor has said, even though people have had healings in so many other areas of their body, why not the eyes? So if you have that conversation, and the person says, Yeah, I’m open to it, what do you have? I think the first thing to do is maybe show some research based on the condition if that’s possible. I’ve got a good resource list that you can use to show them that, you know, if you do x, it might change Why, certainly with conditions like macular degeneration, the research is pretty rock solid. That says that you know, if you add things like lutein, zeaxanthin, acid Xanthine, Omega three vitamin A zinc, that you have a chance of maybe improving your vision, if you start feeding your eyes with those nutrients. Of course you can get a little more edgy, and you can show them the red light therapy, which the studies have been done by the Jeffrey’s lab I’m in UCL University College London, which said that red light actually might be able to regenerate your eyes, especially the macula. And also there might be a reduction in drusen. You know, some people with red light if they’ve never been exposed to it before, this is a bit of a leap. But you know, the research is pretty definitive, that red light is definitely helpful, at least in supporting mitochondria function, reducing oxidative stress and inflammation, at least on a body level. Another thing to consider is, you know, how open the person is that you know, diet and nutrition, play a big role in your eye health. And I’ve said this many times that the retina has one of the highest metabolic needs in the body and the macula has the highest metabolic need in the retina. And if we look at all the eye conditions, at least the main ones, we start at the front of the eye, we’ve got conditions like blepharitis, and meibomian gland dysfunction, it comes down to the state of the health of our eyelids, how much inflammation we’re carrying, how much I stress and blue block or blue light exposure we have. And when we when we have inflammation in the eyelids, of course, this leads to dry eye, and cornea health, more problems like cataracts, of course, cataracts are formed because of oxidative stress, and also the glycation process. That glucose molecule attaching itself to the protein molecule of the lens is the person really willing to reduce their sugars and eat a more natural, organic, non GMO, low or no pesticide type foods, this is really important food is medicine. And if you can heal your gut, it’s going to have a positive impact on your eyes. And the more inflammation you have in your body, the more it’s going to create eye problems, as we know this, so this this is kind of the first conversation you can have. As we move further back. Of course, floaters are disturbing, but they’re not sight threatening, although people have a real emotional response to floaters. Again, some people get so frustrated and angry with their floaters. And again, it comes down to how can you boost your vitreous health, collagen health. And you’ve seen many of my video blogs to talk about that. And even things like posterior vitreous detachment, there are things that you can do to reverse that. And then of course, then we move to the retina, we’ve got the optic nerve and the retina and the macula. And so that covers the eyes. Nutrition is an easy way to start. If you start making changes, this is a way for you to start seeing improvement in your eyesight. You know, I’ll never forget when I got into practice very early on my first practice was in the Philadelphia area. And I didn’t know very much when I started my practice, I knew I was committed to holistic optometry, but I used to counsel people just to change their diet. That’s it, you know, just eat a more healthy diet. And they’d come back and three and six and nine months later, and their cataracts were reduced, or their macular degeneration was reduced or their glaucoma, they weren’t taking as many medications they’re dry was less their myopia was less. So I saw early on the relationship, the connection between what we eat and how we see, obviously, eyes and vision relate to our lifestyle, our stress, how well we sleep, our relationships. And all of these things contribute to the eventuality that if we don’t take care of ourselves, we have a higher risk of developing all these different AI diagnoses and conditions that the eye doctor is great at figuring out. So in the conversation that you have with your friends and your parents, these would be some of the places that I can start and then you can maybe turn them on to some of my content or other people’s content, who talk about holistic healing and functional medicine, things that are you know, steeped in research and you know, testimonials and things like that. If they go more deeply into it, then they can get into the AI exercise realm. But that would not be a place that I would start because that takes more commitment. It takes more buy in and you know if they’re open minded to doing it if they’ve done other things like yoga, or Feldenkrais, or you know, any kind of body centered practice mind body, meditation, those kinds of things, then they may be more open to the eye exercise therapy. That’s certainly true. Now with kids, you or your child, if they had been diagnosed with a high condition like strabismus, or amblyopia, or high hyperopia or myopia or astigmatism, there are physical therapy exercises, in my opinion, that work so well organically in helping the child re educate, reprogram how their eyes connect to their brain and body. And taking a developmental approach, where you start looking at the arc of development from gestation, birth, and the first few years of life, these experiences definitely can impact a child’s sensory motor development, I put their vision in there as well, traumas have a huge impact on our visual system. You know, more and more professionals are talking about the effects of trauma, and how it affects our mental health. And our mental health and our vision are very tied in together. I’ll never forget one of my mentors, saying that vision is mostly mental, what we think about as what we see what we project and what we manifest. Now, I know that’s kind of a metaphor, but it actually rings true on a physical practical level, that what we think will impact what we see and what we believe. And if we change our thinking, we can change what we’re seeing. And so with kids, especially because of their plasticity, I would definitely seek out a more organic physical therapy type program, instead of doing something invasive and traumatizing, like surgery, or long term patching, that stuff just doesn’t work, even though that’s what the mainstream promotes. It’s really fixing a symptom. And I think if there’s one takeaway today, when you talk to your family members, your friends, or your thinking about your children, or even yourself, is do you want to be in the fixed model, which is just treating symptoms? Or do you want to get to the causative factors, and realize that at least in the vision world, there’s physical, emotional, energetic, and psychological reasons why we develop our eyes in the way we do. And if you think of it that way, and you want to treat the cause, then you can seek out a more holistic approach and it works very well. It takes more time. It takes more persistence, consistency, commitment, but the results are amazing. 12:37 So digest that for a while. I want to thank you so much for tuning in today. Until next time, take care. 12:50 Thank you for listening. I hope you learned something from the EyeClarity podcast show today. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to subscribe on iTunes or Spotify and leave a review. See you here next time.

Today’s episode is all about the misconception of solely focusing on reducing prescriptions to improve vision. I share a powerful story of a nearsighted patient who demanded a reduced prescription without doing the necessary reprogramming work. It resulted in frustration and discomfort. I emphasize the importance of vision therapy to reprogram habits and beliefs before pursuing reduced prescriptions. Whether dealing with myopia, astigmatism, or farsightedness, the key is self-awareness, discipline, and adaptability. Vision is a flexible process, and with proper physical therapy, reduced prescriptions can be more effective. Don’t rush the process. Do the work first for lasting results. Enjoy the show. If you want more, sign up for my newsletter at: www.drsamberne.com. If you have any questions, submit them to [email protected] or you can now text me! Text ‘Join’ to 1-844-932-1291 to sign-up and ask your questions! For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars, https://drsambernesmembership.com/pages/drsamberne SUMMARY KEYWORDS prescription, nearsighted, reduced, nearsightedness, vision, reduce, shankman, people, work, therapy, program, habits, podcast, fixated, astigmatism, self awareness, eyes, plasticity, private facebook community, goal   00:05 Hey everybody, its Dr. Sam and I’d like to welcome you to my EyeClarity podcast. So if you want to get in touch with me, you can send me an email at [email protected]. Or you can text me now 1-844-932-1291 Send me your questions. Before we get to today’s show, I want to announce my membership program. This is an opportunity for you to get exposed to my exclusive content and resources, things you won’t see on my social media or website. The reason why I’m offering this membership program is to give you valuable information to empower you to make informed decisions about your vision and your wellness. You’ll receive personalized support and coaching, goal setting, and I’m going to make you accountable so that you achieve your goals. Also, with the membership, you’ll have the convenience of 24/7 access without having to pay for weekly appointments. We’ll be offering a private Facebook community so we’ll be able to share with each other. And you’ll be able to come to my live q&a and ask me questions. So if you’re interested, you can go to my website, drsamberne.com and sign up now. Okay, now to the show.   02:10 Hey, everyone, welcome to the program. So the title of today’s podcast is don’t just live to reduce your prescription. So many people that I’ve worked with over the years, who wants to reduce their prescription who want to improve their vision gets so fixated on the prescription, that they’re missing out on what is really needed to make the deep level changes. I’ll tell you a story. One time that happened when somebody came to see me she was very nearsighted. And she asked me to reduce her prescription. And I said, you know, without doing the physical therapy to reprogram your eyes and brain, it’s not going to work. And she said, Oh, no, I can handle it. Give me a reduced prescription. So I’ll give you the numbers. Not that it means anything, but she was a minus 3.25 in each eye. So she had a moderate amount of nearsightedness. So I reduced her prescription to a minus three. So I reduced it by a quarter of a diopter. So she got the prescription. And she called our office. And she was irate. She was so angry. She said, Dr. Byrne has blinded me, I can’t see anything. Wow. Okay, so my secretary, and I talked about this. And we made an appointment she came in. And I had her put on the glasses, and she was going off how things were so blurry, and how I really how could I do this to her and, you know, stuff like that. So I put her into the exam lane with the minus threes. And I said, I read the chart, and she was able to read the 2020 eye chart, except she missed one letter. So I paused and I said, Well, you’re still seeing close to 2020. And she’s like, Well, I’m not really seeing the same way as I saw out of my three and a quarters. So it was a great learning lesson for her because it triggered some very deep fear issues and insecurity issues that just by reducing the prescription a little bit. She went into blame mode. She went into fear mode, and she went into survival mode. And so we talked it through and she recognized how much hyper vigilance she was carrying into her eyes that went way back to when she was in school. And she was learning to read and she wasn’t a great student, and on and on and on. But Case in point, here it was I reduced her prescription the minimal, the most minimal amount. And it triggered such a deep reaction that, wow, this is what people go through, when they start reducing their prescriptions. It’s like it opens up Pandora’s box. So she enrolled in my vision therapy program. And we forgot about the reduced prescription conversation. I said, we’re going to revisit this in about six months. And she came for vision therapy for about six months. And when I re examined her, I was able to give her a minus 1.5 that she wore just for driving, she was able to read without her prescription. And she considered that a major success story. But what’s missed here is that people will contact me and they will say, Hey, give me the reduced prescription. And I’ll say, No, I’m not going to do that until you do the work first. And sometimes people get very upset about that, because I do talk about giving reduced prescriptions, and how they can be beneficial. But you have to remember that any prescription you get is reinforcing the habits, belief systems, attitudes, reactions, emotional responses, posture, that when you start wearing something that’s unfamiliar, even if it’s just a small change, like this lady, it’s going to cause some changes in your awareness. And yet people live for this idea of just give me the reduction, give me the reduced prescription. I can handle it. And I would say 99.9% of the time, they actually can’t handle it. They can’t adjust to it. Unless they do the reprogramming work the reeducation work first. You know, I remember in my own case, when I was going through my nearsighted reduction process, the doctor that I went to Dr. Al Shankman, he was my optometrist. He said to me, alright, I want you to give up the goal of getting rid of your nearsightedness. And of course, nearsighted. People are very goal oriented, they’re very results oriented. And I was like that too. And they said, you know, Dr. Shankman, I don’t think I can do that. And he said, Well, that’s going to be the key for you in dissolving all of your nearsightedness because you’re too fixated on the reduced prescriptions, you’re too fixated on getting the results. And what you need to do is do the vision therapy practices and use them as a mirror, use them as a experience to learn about your habits, your conditioning, the relationship between your two eyes and your brain and your body. So there was a lot that I learned in my self awareness that got me to the place where one day I woke up, and I didn’t need my lenses anymore, but it became a byproduct of all the changes I made in my awareness, letting go of all the habits and conditioning that put me into that nearsighted world to begin with. Now, this also happens with the astigmatism. I get a lot of DM’s on social media. Hey, I’ve got a stigmatism. Would you write me a prescription for reduced astigmatism correction? Well, you know, if we do that, it’s going to really upset the applecart for sure, because there’s going to be distortion, there’s going to be blurriness, it could lead to headaches, because the reduce prescription is asking you to relax and be in a non warped state. That’s what a astigmatism astigmatism is. It’s warping your perception, because the eyeball is now shaped like an egg instead of a tennis ball. And so it creates this irregular blur, it affects the posture, and so on. If you want to qualify for a reduced astigmatism correction, you’ve got to do the vision therapy first. That’s the sequence. And last if you’re farsighted, same thing, if you wear magnifying glasses, I mean, it’s not going to work for you to wear something less and strain and stress and create, you know, headaches and those kinds of things. You’re basically reacting to the reduced prescription and you’re not learning what you need to do to adapt or adjust. Vision is about flexibility. Vision is about adaptability. Vision is about how the brain and the eyes and the Body Talk to each other. And the eyes have a plasticity even after the age of 25. We still maintain a certain level of classes, plasticity, now not the same as children, but we do You have a plasticity that we can change, but we have to be willing to have self awareness, discipline, persistence, consistency in the physical therapy before we can qualify for these reduced prescriptions. So the moral of the story today is don’t just live for reducing prescriptions, do the work first, and then you can slide right into the new prescription, and that will work better. So that’s my show for today. I want to thank you so much for tuning in. Until next time, take care.   10:44 Thank you for listening. I hope you learned something from the EyeClarity podcast show today. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to subscribe on iTunes or Spotify and leave a review. See you here next time.

Welcome to the EyeClarity podcast! In today’s episode, I share a powerful story about a patient diagnosed with glaucoma and the shocking way the news was delivered. This incident highlighted the importance of going beyond the routine eye exam and considering the patient’s unique needs. Glaucoma diagnosis can be challenging, but incorporating functional vision tests can lead to major breakthroughs. Don’t miss these valuable insights into comprehensive eye care. Enjoy the show! If you want more, sign up for my newsletter at: www.drsamberne.com. If you have any questions, submit them to [email protected] or you can now text me! Text ‘Join’ to 1-844-932-1291 to sign-up and ask your questions! For even more from Dr. Sam, check out his new exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars, https://drsambernesmembership.com/pages/drsamberne SUMMARY KEYWORDS glaucoma, eye, eye exam, vision, optic nerve, open angle glaucoma, doctor, diagnose, prescription, visual, test, major breakthrough, important, health, give, access, pressure, prescribed, missed, delivered   00:05 Hey everybody, its Dr. Sam and I’d like to welcome you to my EyeClarity podcast. So before we get to today’s show, I’m going to give you some ways to contact me, you can send me your questions at [email protected]. Or you can text them to me at 1-844-932-1291. I want to let you know about my new membership program. This is an exclusive membership where you get access to my content and resources, new information, articles, videos, webinars, even a live q&a, where I will answer your questions. So you’ll be able to access valuable information to empower you to make informed decisions about your vision and your health. I’ll be offering personalized support and coaching, giving you recommendations, helping you with goal setting accountability, so you can achieve your goals. This is a convenient way for you to access me 24/7 Without paying for appointments, or going to your doctor every week. So I’m so excited about this, I hope you can join me. And by the way, if you do join, you’ll get access to my advanced workshops in aromatherapy, color and light therapy, nutrition and physical vision therapy. So the sign up go to my website www.drsamberne.com. Now to today’s show.   02:09 Everyone, welcome to the program. So today’s episode is titled, The advice that goes beyond the eye exam. Recently, I saw a patient who was diagnosed with glaucoma. And that’s serious enough, but the way the doctor delivered, the message was even more mind blowing to me. So the story goes like this. Somebody called us and said, You know, I want a second opinion. And we had some space. So she came into the office here. And I asked her, you know why she came and she said that she had had a conversation at the end of her last eye exam where the doctor said, and oh, by the way, you’re diagnosed with glaucoma. And it’s early stages, but you know, you’re probably going to go blind. And I’m gonna go on to my next patient. So she sat there, she was very upset, she was devastated. And there was absolutely no emotional support, or anything beyond here’s the diagnosis and goodbye. And this happens more frequently than not and you know, speaking from somebody who used to be in a busy private practice, and you start seeing lots of people, you get kind of dumbed down, you know, where everybody looks like they’re the same and that, you know, you’ve delivered the message 1000s of times in, you’ve got this diagnosis, and you’re gonna go blind. So, we sat there for a few minutes, and she processed a little bit. Definitely she was traumatized. And as we went through the records, it became clear to me that she was more of a glaucoma suspect, than she had full blown glaucoma. And there are three main ways that you diagnose glaucoma. The first is obviously the eye pressure, and that’s an important test. The second is the health of the optic nerve. And the third is the visual fields testing. And I had the good fortune when I was in my training that I studied with some ophthalmologists who were specialists in the area of glaucoma, and I would shatter them and it was very interesting for me at that time, because they weren’t sure when they saw certain patients whether they had glaucoma or not. And it became kind of a detective story where they had to do a number of tests multiple times before they could make a definitive diagnosis. Now not to minimize glaucoma because it is a very serious disease. And it’s also a silent disease, we don’t really know that we have it until we start losing our peripheral vision. Now in most types of glaucoma, especially open angle glaucoma, there’s no eye sensation, like we have eye pain or I, you know, eye inflammation or things like that. Now a narrow angle glaucoma, different story, you can certainly experience pain. But in regular open angle glaucoma, it’s pretty quiet. And this is why it’s important, especially if there’s a genetic predisposition that you get your pressures checked regularly, you get an optic nerve analysis, maybe through an O CT, and also do a visual fields test. So you monitor those things. But the bottom line is that Glaucoma is pretty hard to diagnose. And in this particular case, it was pretty sketchy because we went went back and looked at some of her earlier photographs and her eye exam records. And her eye pressures were normal, the optic nerves looked the same, they hadn’t changed. And the visual fields were normal as well. And this is where I bring in another very important point that is completely missed by most of the eye care field. And that is how we use our eyes affects the anatomy and the physiology. So let me explain in this case, this person does very fine work as hair removal, and it’s a very stressful job visually. And you know, you usually use some kind of a magnification loop. Anyways, it’s a very intense visual demand. And she was also wearing trifocals, not transition progressive lenses, but straight line bifocals. And when I tested to see how well the two eyes work together, on a functional level, the left eye was shutting off, the brain was shutting off the left eye. And this is important to note that, you know, we can do all the eye health tests, we can check the eye chart readings. But if we are not testing how well the two eyes are working together, we call this by nodular vision, then we’re missing a very big point in the brains relationship division. Remember, I said in a few podcasts ago, that I say n is glasses, reading the eye chart is glasses. And vision is brain. And we can do a great eyesight exam. But if we don’t do a vision exam, where we’re checking to see how the eye brain connection is, then we’re missing out. And in this particular case, a lot of the symptoms of the visual stress visual deterioration, eye pain in the right eye, was due mostly to how she was using both eyes together. When I showed her our binocular vision test, basically, the left side of the image, the left eye seeing that was blanking out there was it was was coming and going coming and going. And this really surprised her it freaked her out. It was a epiphany, you know, we we explained exactly what was going on. And in the end, this was a major breakthrough for her to understand that on a functional level, her left eye and her right eye were not working together. And in fact, the right eye was doing most of the work. The other thing that was really amazing about this is that her current eyeglass prescription. I had to read the chart, and she could read all the way down to the very bottom line, which unless you’re going to be an astronaut for NASA is really overkill. It’s unnecessary. So when I gave her a reduced prescription immediately, she said, Oh, my eyes feel more relaxed, and I can still see the eye chart. So this was a signal that she was wearing a prescription that was way too strong for her. And I blame this on how the eye exam is done. And I’m just as guilty because it’s the way I learned it. It’s the method I learned. And it wasn’t until I met some mentors who told me about how to prescribe based on looking at the whole person that changed the way I prescribed lenses. So in any event, what we’re going to do is we’re going to reduce her prescription. And that’s going to take away a lot of the eye stress. And that should be a game changer for her in terms of how she feels about her eyes,   10:13 it could be even a contributing factor to some of these soft glaucoma symptoms that she’s having as well. So this was another major breakthrough for her that was entirely missed. The last thing I’m going to say is that, you know, if you ask your doctor, is there anything naturally integrative medicine wise that you can do for glaucoma? And he or she says, No, there’s nothing you can do. That is actually not true. Because there are many, many things that you can do to slow down the progression of glaucoma. I’ll name a few, first of all, to check into your oxidative stress and your inflammation in the eyes and also in your body, your stress levels, what kind of prescription you’re looking through? Is it a bifocal trifocal, or single vision lens? If you have myopia, maybe you’re over prescribed. These are all, you know, risk factors that can be removed that can actually improve the eye circulation and your peripheral vision. In addition, making sure you’re hydrating your eyes with natural eye drops. Also feeding your eyes with all those great antioxidants that I talk about, especially lutein, zeaxanthin, astaxanthin and vitamin A. And then in terms of optic nerve health, making sure you’re getting enough healthy fats and or oils, Omega three gingko bilberry, taurine just to name a few, that are really important for optic nerve health. And if you do have a pressure problem problem, there is an herb out there called coleus, which you could look up. And there have been small studies done to say that when you take this herb, it actually reduces your eye pressure. Jumping on a mini trampoline has been shown to bring high pressure down getting cranial sacral therapy changes the relationship of the cerebral spinal fluid into the eye that can lower the pressure, even meditation. I’ve done a video blog, you can Google it, where I talk about how meditation actually can bring down your eye pressure. So there’s lots of things that you can do. It is a serious condition. It’s it’s very important that you track it. But the eyedrops and the eye surgery are the court of last resort. And to make sure that if you’re going to somebody, they have a deep experience on recognizing what is glaucoma, and can they definitively diagnose it, and also the delivery and how they give it to you is in such a way that you they’re not just gonna walk out of the room like this doctor did. And you know, maybe he was having a bad day or again, you know, he was burned out who knows. But the thing is, is this is collateral damage with this person. This is happening all the time, and I care practices. And I think that if you’re delivering some very serious news, you want to at least hang out so that the person has some time to process it at least to some degree. Okay, well, that’s my lesson for today. That’s our show for today. Again, I want to thank you for your support. Thanks for tuning in. And until next time, take care   13:51 Thank you for listening. I hope you learned something from the EyeClarity podcast show today. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure to subscribe on iTunes or Spotify and leave a review. See you here next time.