DrSamBerne

Many people have been asking me about my unique approach to improving physical vision.  I would say that the key is that the clearer we can see inside ourselves using inner vision, the clearer our physical vision will become.  The conventional model says let’s fix the defective eyeball by prescribing a lens to correct the blur.  This approach only freezes the visual pattern.  I believe what we need to do is explore the programming behind the eyes and become aware of the patterning in the brain, body, and energy fields that caused the “defective eyeball” in the first place.

The new medicine of vision involves using a homeopathic lens to help balance clarity with blur.  Applying the mind-body process called Vision Therapy helps us become aware of old attitudes, belief systems, and limited perceptions that created the eyeball problem.  Any eye prescription is really a history on how we have reacted and responded to life situations through our vision.  If we know the story, then we can begin to dissolve the deeper patterns that have caused our vision to let us down.

Many of our responses to life reside in our pre-verbal state, which is why I invite people to explore primitive reflex integration movements that help release reptilian brain patterns.  When our reptilian brain is dominant, we may respond to life in a hyper-vigilant state, and we may apply this state to our eyes.  Some common adaptations that may be a response to this vigilant state include myopia (turning inward away from life), hyperopia (pushing life away to avoid the present), and Astigmatism (twisting our body and perceptions because of our confusion).

Even if we don’t have overt eye adaptations, vision therapy can help us become aware of the perceptual filters we project onto the world.  When we become aware of our projections, we can then be in choice about dissolving these filters so we can see with fresh eyes, moment by moment.

Another way to understand our vision is by looking at our energy.  When I measure people’s energy fields and chakras, we can discover together how these energetic patterns impact our visual system.  Many of these patterns uncover subconscious or unconscious beliefs, attitudes, and health situations that can be improved.  Simply seeing these energetic patterns may validate our life experience, creating a healing by itself.

Recently, while teaching at The Esalen Institute, I made the following proposal: Instead of looking at life, allow life to look at us, and notice the difference in how our eyes, mind, and body feel.  Try it yourself!

We’ve added a new article from the Fulcrum Magazine to the articles section of the website:

Research Study Organized by Dr. Sam Berne at The Esalen Institute:
The Effects of Craniosacral Therapy has on the Energy Fields
and Chakras Using Electrophotonic Imaging

Excerpt:
"Dr Berne and I worked with three clients. None of the
clients had previously had CST and all reported feeling a
deep sense of relaxation, alignment and integration after the
hands-on treatment. The images and measurements taken by
electrophotonic capture all showed significant improvements
in the integrity of the energy fields and the balance of the
chakra system - even after just one short CST session.
Electrophotonic images for one of the clients, 'Adam', can
be seen below. These show in detail the 'before' and 'after'
imprint of Adam's energy field (EF) and chakra system.
Note the change in size and alignment of the chakras and
the more complete energetic imprint (with fewer spikes and
indentations) after the session."

The average American reads at an 8^th grade level.  As a culture, we are reading less and watching more TV and videos.  I am concerned about our reduced reading proficiency.  Over many years of helping children and adults improve their reading, I have found there are three main factors in reading efficiency: being able to recognize words, being able to break down words, and being able to understand what we read. One of the effective strategies I have employed is teaching people how to visualize when they read, i.e. seeing with the brain to process language and thought.  Excellent visual imagery skills have a direct correlation to how we think critically, comprehend and express ourselves through the language channel.

There are many effective educational reading programs offered in today’s school systems.  My intention is to educate parents to find a reading program that matches a child’s learning style. For example, are we primarily a visual, auditory, or proprioceptive (feeling) learner? No matter what our learning style is, a well functioning visual system (tracking, focusing, and visual coordination) is a pre-requisite for becoming a proficient reader.

One great way to improve visual imagery with your child is to read to her and then ask specific questions about the story.  Thus, she begins to “make her own movie” about what you have read.  For example, some questions like: “Can you tell me what the people look like in your story.  Can you describe the place where they are? What do you feel hearing this story?”

Reading is an essential skill in learning, and our visual system is a key component in that process. Vision is much more than being able to read the 20/20 measurement on an eye chart.  Vision is how we process information with our brains and bodies.  Movement, balance, posture, and memory are components of vision.  Vision is a learned and developed skill.  To learn more about vision and learning, visit my website.

The November, 2010 Hawaii Dolphin Wellness & Vision Retreat was a “swimming” success!

Read on!

Introduction

Swimming with Manta Rays

Encounters with Dolphins & Babies – Bottlenose & Spinners

In the recent Ode Magazine, there was an article on the healing qualities of sunlight.  The writer reported how critics of natural sunlight claim that the sun is dangerous and harmful to our health.  I strongly disagree.  Since we are made of light does this mean we have become alienated from ourselves?  Fortunately, there has been a great deal of research reporting the benefits of light.   I have been treating patients with light therapy for twenty-five years and the results speak for themselves.  Light is a food and when we invite the colors into our eyes, the light helps balance our endocrine system, our nervous system and it opens up our peripheral vision.  The more open our peripheral vision, the present we are.  On a biochemical level, natural full spectrum light helps convert Vitamin D into cholesterol in the skin.  Vitamin D aids in the absorption of calcium in the bones and boosts the immune system.  Natural sunlight also can affect our moods and neutralize SAD (seasonal affective disorder).  I have used light and color therapy to help reverse certain types of eye diseases like macular degeneration and glaucoma.  I have also been successful applying light/color therapy to children diagnosed in the Autism Spectrum Disorder Syndrome.

Thanks to Dr. Konstantin Korotkov, a brilliant and innovative  biophysicist from St. Petersburg, Russia, I am using his Electrophotonic Imaging Camera to measure the affects of light/color therapy on the energy fields and chakras.

Exposure to fifteen minutes of natural sunlight everyday is a great preventative measure for wellness!  A safe practice is looking at the sun with your eyes closed before 10 AM and after 4 PM.  Happy fall!!

I am responding to the article on Autism in this month’s Los Angeles Magazine.

I was so thrilled to see your obvious commitment to educating readers about the necessary holistic approaches for the treatment of this epidemic.

As a holistic health practitioner and author, I have been recognized as a leading expert in the field of Behavioral/Neurodevelopment Optometry and Vision Therapy for than twenty-five years.  I have developed an innovative method called Developmental Learning Program (DLP), a revolutionary approach that offers alternatives to families and children who suffer from all types of learning and behavioral disabilities including children and adults diagnosed in the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

My intention has been to offer holistic therapies and help people understand them and use them to make their lives better. I have helped over 5,000 families using a combination of holistic therapies that have been very supportive and have helped patients function in a more neurotypical way.  Understanding each child is like solving a puzzle.  It requires a combination of science, intuition and spirit while working with the child and the family as a unit.   Together we look at levels of health that involve the interweaving of physical, emotional, spiritual and psychological aspects.

I have utilized a Neuro-Developmental philosophy, which means that I assess and compare the child’s chronological age to the developmental performance age and enter with interventions at the child’s developmental age.  For example, if a 7 year old has not extinguished his primitive survival reflex patterns and the school is pushing for tutoring math and reading, the child is not going to progress.  It is far better to meet the child where he is developmentally than to try to force him to function at the “expected chronological” age level.

If heavy metals are found in the patient’s system in a lab test, chelation therapy may create more stress if a child’s immune and detoxification systems are depleted.  Instead, using other forms of detoxification processes that are gentler can not only help release toxins from the body but also boost one’s immune system at the same time.  We must quit giving shot gun approaches and really assess the variety of risk factors and treat each child on an individual basis.

As discussed in your powerful article, the current dogma  that says “the window”  for sensory motor processing has to be acquired in the first three or four years of a child’s life or it will never be acquired is not true.  I am so glad that the writer persevered!  The brain has enough plasticity (even in adults) so that sensory motor processing can be acquired.

We must recognize that any type of birth trauma such as inducing birth, C-Section, Forceps Delivery, or Fetal Distress affects neurological development.  Manual therapies like Craniosacral Therapy can help release birth traumas that can stimulate a child’s motor and cognitive processes.

One may posit that long-term molecular approaches like drug therapies disconnect the child from mind-body integration.  Subtle Energy Therapies like light/color/sound/homeopathy, essential oils, flower essences, herbs  can have a supportive and positive effect on children with ASD.  I use Electrophotonic Imaging, a Science and  Mathematical Russian technology that monitors the biofields where we can see many imbalances before physical symptoms occur.  I can monitor what subtle energies are working and fine tune what is the best treatment modality based on the biofield measurements.

And finally on vaccinations, we are in the beginning stages of all the biological mechanisms and genetic factors involved in vaccine-induced, Neuro-immune dysfunction that can cause autism in some children.  We all must make a commitment to explore how exposure or lack of exposure to viral and bacterial infections and environmental toxins interact with vaccines and genetic factors to increase chronic disease and disability risks for children.

The key to prevention and successful treatment of autism lies with the scientists and doctors with vision and integrity who will conduct research that will answer questions that remain about the disorders on a patient-by-patient basis.

Recently, there was an article in the LA Times on the long term impact of head injuries for former NFL players.  I know that my approach has helped many people diagnosed with acquired brain injury.  Below is a response to the article.  I welcome your comments!

I am responding to the article in the LA Times on the seriousness the NFL is taking on the long-term impact on concussions.  I was thrilled to see your obvious thorough commitment in reporting the link between dementia and depression to former NFL players who have suffered head injuries.

As a holistic health practitioner and author, I have been recognized as a leading expert in the field of Behavioral/Neurodevelopment Optometry and Vision Therapy for more than twenty-five years.  I have consulted with many hospitals and rehab centers using my innovative method called Vision Rehabilitation, a revolutionary approach that offers treatment modalities for neurologically and cognitively challenged people who have suffered head trauma.

There are several issues that exist for a person who has suffered a head injury.  Some of them like dementia and depression have been reported in the article.  However there are other symptoms that occur also that include dizziness, loss of balance, double or blurred vision, peripheral vision loss, short and long-term memory loss and confusion.  In addition, due to the stress of the trauma, many people also suffer significant biochemical problems caused by poor digestion, poor diet, or both.  Many of these symptoms may not be observed using CAT scans, MRI’s, and routine blood tests as the trauma exists in the soft tissues of the nerves, muscles, connective tissue, the cerebral spinal fluid, and the brain.

I enter the rehabilitation process with a patient through the eyes since the retina is brain tissue, and the visual system has a direct connection to the brain.  Here’s how:  the assessment measures the functional skills such as body balance and midline awareness, visual motor and peripheral vision, vestibular (inner ear) responsiveness, and perceptual and cognitive aptitude.  Although some of the current dogma says the brain cannot be helped, this thinking is not true.  There is a strong degree of neuro-plasticity of brain function especially using functional therapies like Vision Rehabilitation.  II apply modalities such as vision therapy, movement patterns that rebalance the brain, vestibular stimulation,  craniosacral therapy, color/light and other subtle energy therapies, and a biomedical assessment of the biochemistry of the body.  All of these modalities, together can help release trauma and  synchronize the sensory motor systems with the brain.

My concern with long-term molecular approaches like drug therapies is that they only treat symptoms but never address the causative factors of the head injury.   Subtle Energy Therapies like light/color/sound/homeopathy, essential oils, flower essences, herbs  can have a supportive and positive effect on people who suffer head trauma and brain-injuries.  I use Electrophotonic Imaging, a Science and  Mathematical Russian technology that monitors the biofields where we can see many imbalances before physical symptoms occur.  I can monitor what subtle energies are working and fine tune what is the best treatment modality based on the biofield measurements.

Vision Rehabilitation is a functional re-education of the brain and sensory motor systems using a variety of activities that parallel the physical therapy approach.  VR  can help release and repair the trauma and offer people the opportunity to re-enter society in a more balanced way.

Dr. Samuel A. Berne, OD, FCOVD, FCSO

As a craniosacral therapist, I am always striving to improve patient outcome. Combining craniosacral therapy with dolphins has shown good results in preliminary research.

My patient Linda suffers from debilitating spinal and brain abnormalities. She has been diagnosed with Arnold Chiari Malformation Type 1, Klippel-Feil Syndrome, Agenesis of the Corpus Collosum, Encephalomalacia, Encephalocele, Reynaud’s Disease, and Scoliosis.

Linda was one of 19 participants who came on my week-long Vision Therapy Retreat in Bimini, Bahamas. All the patients have a variety of neurological, visual, and health related issues. Each day, we spent two hours experiencing primitive reflexes, light/color therapy and/or vision therapy activities. Then we went out on the boat and swam with the wild dolphins.

I first became interested in the combination of craniosacral therapy with the dolphins swimming nearby through my craniosacral training. Dr. John Upledger’s research on using this combination shows that people responded very favorably to this type of treatment.1

Neuroscientist Dr. John Lilly also studied the effects of wild dolphins on humans for over 20 years. He found that they have helped people improve their health.2 Psychologist, Dr. David Nathanson, has completed research on dolphin interactions with neurologically impaired children. He reports that the human-dolphin interactions have changed and improved many of his patients’ health. 3 British doctor Peter Guy Manners has found that the sounds produced by wild dolphins has had a positive therapeutic effect on patients with mental depression and paraplegia.4

Linda described her experience of receiving craniosacral therapy from me in the water.

“As I entered the water with the dolphins for the first time, the first dolphin I encountered swam right past my head, coming first towards my left side where the worst part of my brain disease is. When experiencing the dolphin assisted craniosacral session for the first time, I felt an electrical-type surge go through my body. As my craniosacral therapist started therapy on my spine, the dolphin was swimming across my whole body very slowly, while other dolphins were above and below me. I began to shake and then breathe somewhat heavily. Another dolphin then proceeded to gently lie across my legs for a few seconds.

“The next day, I experienced this same type of surge, but a little less powerful, while my craniosacral therapist connected with my spine while the dolphins were circling me. There was also one time when I felt euphoric, as they were above me, around me, and below me, while emitting their echolocation (sound). I could barely move because my body was so relaxed.

“This therapy brought me great strength in my whole body like I have never felt before. My legs feel incredible and my body is much more limber. I was able to climb up onto the boat without assistance whereas I needed help before the dolphin connections. Overall, I feel more relaxed and at peace.

“I can definitely do more than I could before I came to this retreat. I am also sleeping much better, and I don’t wake up feeling tired. In the morning, I no longer have to wait an hour for my eyes to focus. They have been focusing most mornings without a problem in five minutes.”

The retreat was gave like-minded people a chance to live in community, interact with nature, and work with the metaphor of vision being about focus, clarity, intention, and spiritual expansion. The participants experienced holistic health.

About the Author: Dr. Sam Berne, O.D., is board certified in Behavioral Optometry and is a certified craniosacral therapist and a fellow in light therapy in The College of Syntonic Optometry. He has written three books and produced a DVD on holistic health, autism, and vision therapy. Learn more or contact Dr. Berne.

References:
1. Upledger, John, Cell Talk, Berkley, CA, North Atlantic Books, 2003.
2. Lilly, Dr. John C., Communication Between Man and Dolphin, New York, Julian Press, 1978.
3. Cochrane Amanda, Callen Karena., Dolphins and Their Power to Heal, Rochester, Vt, Healing Arts Press 1992
4. Ibid

Here’s a recent talk radio item:

“Adam welcomes back Dr. Samuel Berne, author of Without Ritalin, A Natural Approach to ADD, and Clayton Nolte, developer of the bio-photon water structuring device, to discuss our shifting awareness of the factor of energetics as a paramount factor in issues of health or disease.

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Dr. Sam Berne presented a five-day retreat on vision therapy at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur January 25-29, 2010. His Electrophotonic Capture (EPC) camera allowed participants to work with their chakra and body energy field measurements.

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