It must have been 18 years ago that I told Benita Cantieni, “Progressive lenses cause incontinence.” It was during my early days with CANTIENICA®. I was working at a vacation and therapy center. Word got around about the combination of gynecologist and pelvic floor training, and women often came to me for one-on-one sessions to address incontinence. I noticed how relaxed and open they were during the session, but a moment later, when I saw them again outside, their heads were tilted back, their pelvises were tilted forward, and their chests were sunken. During the session, I had asked them to take off their glasses, and after several such “incidents,” I concluded they were wearing progressive-lens glasses.

We don’t often look into the distance. At conversational distance, the point of sharp focus with progressive lenses is slightly lower than when looking into the distance. The eye seeks to focus clearly, causing the upper neck to contract slightly. If this happens unconsciously and over a long period of time, the small muscles in the upper neck can even become permanently tense.

Head posture and pelvic alignment are interdependent. That is the foundation of CANTIENICA®. A tilted pelvis makes it more difficult to engage the levator ani muscle.

The nuchal muscles are a fan-shaped group of small muscles that run from the uppermost cervical vertebrae to the occipital bone. Place the fingertips of both hands on either side of your neck where it meets the skull, and roll your eyes. You’ll feel the small neck muscles engage as you do this,

(In my CANTIENICA® basic training, we did the same thing with the pelvic floor. First, we activated the levator ani muscle, then rolled our eyes and felt the echo of the eye movement in the levator. That’s when you can really experience the direct connection between the eyes, the nape of the neck, and the pelvic floor.)

In the nearly two decades I’ve been working with the CANTIENICA® method, I’ve very often “freed” people from their progressive-lens glasses. Last week, a woman sent me photos of herself. She wanted to know if it was worth coming to see me about a uterine prolapse. You could see the effect of the progressive-lens glasses in her posture. I’ll quote Benita Cantieni here: “You’re wasting your money and my time.”

The woman is currently buying a pair of glasses for distance and another for near vision, and she’ll be coming in soon. She was really relieved that she could do something about it herself, and in hindsight, she noticed the timing connection between when she started wearing her progressive lenses and the onset of her uterine prolapse.

I now generally advise against progressive lenses, not just for pelvic floor issues. Their harmful effects also extend to organs and mental well-being. I recently saw a 36-year-old man who had been wearing progressive lenses for 7 (!) years. He had a severely hunched back and was suffering from depression. He immediately managed just fine without the glasses—after all, you don’t have to see everything in sharp focus—and was relieved.

I’d now like to quote Helga Pohl, *Unexplained Symptoms*, published by knaur-mens-sana, pages 150–151: “As an anatomical peculiarity, the short neck muscles have a very high number of muscle spindles and other proprioceptive receptors, which signal even the slightest changes in tension in these muscles to the brain … The upper neck, therefore, contains an extraordinarily sophisticated and complex motor and sensory organ, the existence of which we are usually unaware of. These receptors in the upper neck play a key role in coordinating head and eye movements. … This is also where our sense of balance is partly determined … there is a connection from the receptors in the neck to a region of the brain called the nucleus tractus solitarii, which serves as a control center for basic bodily functions such as blood pressure, breathing, and heart rate … Postural reflexes also radiate from the receptors in the neck muscles throughout the entire body …”

There are situations where progressive lenses are a huge help. I don’t think it does much harm to wear them for a few hours. On the other hand, there are many situations throughout the day when they aren’t necessary.

Finally, here’s my personal story:

I grew up wearing glasses. When I was 40, I got my first pair of progressive lenses. It was wonderful—to be able to read maps and phone books again. When I was 42, I got my second pair and realized how they were harming my body. I felt “electric shocks” in my brain. My colleague said, “That’s your vestibular system.” I kept wearing the glasses—after all, I “had” to.

At age 48, I stopped wearing glasses. That was two years before I started my C-level training. I bought three pairs of glasses: one for distance, one for close-up, and one for conversations. I only needed the third pair for a few months. It was exhausting and annoying for me and the people around me. I was constantly being told, “You’re always wearing the wrong pair of glasses!”

But, but, but: I could literally feel life flowing through me again.

I still have my old progressive-lens glasses. You don’t just throw something that expensive away. I haven’t worn them in ages, and whenever I come across them in a drawer, I still feel a little queasy.

Over the years, I’ve treated myself to several pairs of glasses. I don’t buy those expensive progressive lenses anymore. I have three pairs of reading glasses—one in our office, one on my desk, and one at the practice. Two pairs of distance glasses—one in the car, one in my purse. For years, I’ve been trying to go without glasses as much as possible. And when I need a pair, they’re right there.