How the participants of a Yoga Prana Vidya YPV) eye camp experienced vision improvements: A case study

Introduction: Yoga Prana Vidya (YPV) system based on ancient yogic practices, is an integrated approach known from experience to heal diverse human diseases and sicknesses holistically. This case study presents the outcomes of vision improvements of participants through Yoga Prana Vidya (YPV) healing techniques by conducting a two-week eye healing camp at Bangarpet, Karnataka. Materials and Methods: This is a case study method going into details of how the YPV eye camp was conducted. The YPV team collaborated with eye doctors of the local Government hospitals who screened and helped to identify a sample of 27eye patients. YPV healers performed healing daily on each patient. In addition, the patients were trained to practice some YPV techniques on daily basis. Patient feedback reports were also taken at the end of the intervention. Results: After receiving healing, vision improved for 23 participants from 80% to 100% within 5 to 10 days of healing. Seven of them could read without spectacles. However, for one patient cylindrical and spherical values were found to be higher than at intake, which needed further investigations. Three participants could not participate fully in the camp and discontinued for personal reasons. Conclusion: It is observed that the YPV process caused other positive effects also besides improvements in vision for most of them, indicating the holistic nature of YPV healing. Participants who regularly attended forgiveness prayer and breathing exercises had better results. A participant who had been suffering from insomnia reported getting quality deep sleep.


Introduction
Yoga Prana Vidya (YPV) is a non-drug and non-touch healing system that has been a proven and established discipline in healing various ailments, physiological and psychological. 1 It is used as complementary to main stream medicine systems such as Allopathy, Ayurveda, Homeopathy etc., and also used as standalone process in the treatment of certain health conditions. Its popularity in the recent times is attributable to satisfaction expressed by those healed and confirmed by their family members. YPV is also known to heal psychological sicknesses as well as physical sicknesses (authors, 2019a; 2019b) 2,3 Literature Survey: Vision Problems Imperfections in the focusing power of the eye are called refractive errors. There are three primary types of refractive errors: myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. Combinations of myopia and astigmatism or hyperopia and astigmatism are common. With age, presbyopia and cataracts can also impair vision (Lasersight, 2019). 4 Persons with myopia, or near-sightedness, have clear close up vision but have more difficulty seeing distant objects. In Hyperopia, or farsightedness, near vision blurs first and then distance at a later stage. Astigmatism is a distortion of the image on the retina caused by irregularities in the cornea or lens of the eye. Presbyopia is a condition that everyone develops at some point. People over the age of forty suffer from increased difficulty in reading.
Canadian scientists are of the opinion that healthy eyes can prevent the development of dementia in individuals (Arpita De, 2018). 5 In the literature we come across common eye health problems which are treated through mainstream medicine and also healed through the use of alternative medicine such as Yoga Prana Vidya in this case, called an energy medicine.
Many age-related vision problems stem from a gradual loss of flexibility and tone in the eye muscles, which get locked into habitual patterns and lose their ability to focus at different distances. To maintain existing good eyesight or to improve fuzzy eyesight, evidence suggests that yoga may have a solution (Ruiz, 2007). 6 The core exercises taught by the late celebrated ophthalmologist William H. Bates are yogic in nature and Bates claimed he could improve visual perception with palming, eyeball rotations, and vision shifting.
Dry eye syndrome is caused by a chronic lack of sufficient lubrication and moisture on the surface of the eye. Its consequences range from subtle but constant irritation to inflammation of the anterior (front) tissues of the eye. Dry eyes are also called keratitis sicca, which means reduced quality or quantity of tears. Similarly Keratoconjunctivitis sicca refers to eye dryness affecting both the cornea and the conjunctiva. Causes of dry eye syndrome may include hormonal changes, natural aging process, side effect of many medications such as blood pressure medications, Parkinson's medications and birth control pills and environmental conditions. Dry, dusty or windy climate may increase risk of dry eyes.
Blurry vision is always a concern for diabetes, whether transient or longer lasting. It may be indicative of blood sugar being too high or too low, and should be checked immediately (Pietrangelo, 2016). 7 Although blurry vision may be a result of diabetes, there are other reasons you might have blurry vision. Some common causes include: Dry eyes Near-sightedness Low blood pressure Inflammation, or infection Certain prescription drugs If you spend a lot of time in front of a computer monitor or handheld electronic device, you may find your vision getting blurry. This is called digital eye strain. Your eyes may be feeling the strain of poor lighting or the glare of the digital screen. If you're not seated at the proper viewing distance, that can add to the problem. Other signs of digital eye strain include headache, dry eyes, and neck or shoulder pain. You may be able to correct the problem by adjusting your workspace and taking frequent breaks.
Blurred vision can also be a symptom of certain immune system disorders, such as multiple sclerosis and lupus. Treating the disease may ease symptoms like blurry vision.
Symptoms of eye infections may include redness, itching, swelling, discharge, pain, or problems with vision. Treatment depends on the cause of the infection and may include compresses, eye drops, creams, or antibiotics. (Medlineplus, 2016). 8 Amblyopia is the medical term used when the vision in one of the eyes is reduced because the eye and the brain are not working together properly. The eye itself looks normal, but it is not being used normally because the brain is favouring the other eye. This condition is also sometimes called lazy eye (National Eye Institute, 2013). 9 Squint [Strabismus] is a condition in which there is a misalign-ment of the eyes (Dr. Agarwal's Eye Hospital, 2019). 10 In other words, the two eyes are pointed in different directions. One eye may be looking straight ahead while the other is turned inward, outward, upward or downward. Muscles of the eye control movements of the eye. If one muscle is stronger than the other, the eye will be turned towards that direction. This is how a squint is formed. To treat this, one has to weaken the stronger muscle and strengthen the weaker muscle.
Yoga for healthy eyes can help improve their functioning and even overcome various eye-related problems such as short-sightedness and longsightedness. Our eyes are one of the most important organs in the human body, allowing us to view the world around us. However, we often neglect to take care of them, but yoga exercises for eyes aim to improve various disorders that affect eye muscles (Andre, 2017). 11 Benefits of yoga for vision improvement has been studied by some investigators. 12-14 Relaxation appears to be the single most important element of eye health. In an experiment applying the muscle relaxant curare to the eyes, patients experienced dramatic eyesight improvement (Ruiz, 2007). 6

Methods and Materials
This is a case study method andexamined all aspects of the YPV eye camp conducted and made qualitative assessment of the outcomes of vision and other conditions of the selected patients. The camp organisers obtained ethics clearance of the Institutional Ethics Committee of the Host Institution for field work.

The eye healing camp & screening of patients
The Eye camp was conducted from 5 December 2018 to 20 th December 2018 in Bangarpet in Kolar District of Karnataka (India). The camp organiser requested and obtained help of an Ophthalmologist from the local government hospital to work with the YPV team collaboratively for taking and recording sight measurements at the beginning, middle and end of the camp.

Camp demographics
A total of 27 eye-screened persons were registered for healing at the camp. There were 18 females and 9 males. Age of the participants ranged from 6 years to 64 years. The children were 7 and remaining 20 were adults. Out of the 27 registered, 24 participants completed full programme and gave final feedback. The other three participants could not complete the full programme because of personal reasons, and their data is incomplete and not included in this study.

Induction and orientation day programme
On the first day of the camp, induction and orientation of duration 2½ hours was conducted with brief introduction, and informing participants about the camp objectives and the schedule of activities. The participants were also educated to understand basic Eye Anatomy and health and YPV system. Participants learned Rhythmic yogic breathing, Forgiveness prayer, Metta meditation, Eye strengthening exercises, and Positive affirmations. Three demo healings were also done (with before and after vision readings) The process of healing included sensing the condition of relevant chakras, cleansing, energising and securing the energies of the chakras relevant with eyes. This process was repeated day after day to a point when the patient expressed satisfaction and recorded measurements corroborated by the eye doctors.

Results
After receiving healing for 5 to 10 days, vision improved from 80 % to 100% for 23 persons healed. Seven of them could read without spectacles. However, one patient in whose case cylindrical and spherical values were found to be higher than at intake, was referred for further investigation. A participant, who had been suffering from insomnia prior to attending this healing camp, reported that he is getting quality deep sleep. Five participants have stopped using spectacles after 3 days of healing.
The case summaries of the23 participants are presented in Tables 1 & 2.

What went well: From participants' experiences
From the feedback interviews given by the participants at the end of the camp, the following responses were recorded. 1. "more relaxed after healing" 2. "greater mental clarity" 3. "improved ability to focus" 4. "feeling more energetic while at school/work" 5. "feeling stronger" 6. "marked reduction in pain" 7. "100% improvement in blurred vision" 8. "Better sleep at night" 9. "Eye itching completely cured" 10. "Excessive blinking of eyes normalized" Other outcomes of the camp As a spinoff of this camp, the team was invited to conduct similar camps in two other towns. Many of the participants expressed interest in learning YPV healing. New healers who involved in camp, and gaining overall experience in healing camp and seeing its success, they showed interest in Arhat yoga & higher classes. The principal organiser, also the YPV instructor, gained hands-on experience in clearly documenting the results of eye healing camp and introduced YPV Sadhana app to camp participants.

Discussion
In this two-week eye camp study, the Yoga Prana Vidya healing methods and techniques were applied on patients screened by ophthalmologists thereby the results and outcomes were verifiable. Also, patient feedback reports at the end of the camp corroborated with outcomes. In addition, follow up enquiries conducted on the patients and their relatives 3 months after the camp ended, enabled to assess the improvements and other outcomes sustained over a period.

Conclusions
It is found from this study that the YPV process of healing worked well to improve vision problems for most participants. It also noted other positive effects besides improvements in vision, indicating the holistic nature of YPV healing. Some participants who regularly attended forgiveness prayer and breathing exercises had better results. Further studies may be conducted with targeted research methodologies for generating wider evidence base in the successful use of YPV for healing eye disorders.