My first experience with iridology was when I was only seven years old. My mom’s friend had offered to pay for me to see a holistic doctor because I had a degenerative disease that began at age 5 and was finally diagnosed as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. I had been in and out of hospitals the entire time, not getting any better. My first visit with Dr. DeVaux was unlike any doctor’s visit before. He was very friendly and did things like have me walk across the room and then check my muscle strength by pressing on my arm. Or looking into my eyes with a magnifying glass. And I was most happy to hear that I wouldn’t need to have any blood drawn to visit him. He looked in my eyes and could identify areas of toxicity and inflammation. He said that you can even tell if someone has parasites. This was fascinating to me! I learned at a very young age that you can see what’s going on with the health of the body through the eyes.
Fast forward 15 years, and I had the opportunity to study iridology at the Washington Institute of Natural Medicine in Washington, DC. I was so excited to finally learn this incredible holistic modality, and to understand more about the tools that Dr. DeVeaux used to help me as a child. I had been looking at people’s irises ever since I was 7, wondering how Dr. DeVeaux did it. How could he tell what nutritional recommendations to make or what supplements to muscle test me on based on my eyes? I learned that iridology is a practice that shouldn’t be used alone for determining recommendations, and that there are other things to look at within the body that give us clues. This, in addition to talking to the client and understanding their lifestyle to gain greater knowledge about the case, allows a practitioner to make the appropriate assessment of the condition of the client and give recommendations. Once I learned more about the philosophy and science behind iridology, I decided to purchase an iridology camera for Thrive Wellness Center when we first opened in 2011. You can’t imagine my excitement when we finally got the camera set up and were able to take the first accurate iris photos! Remember, back in 2011, cell phones didn’t have great cameras yet. This camera cost almost $5,000 and came with software that I couldn’t even figure out how to work!
The really exciting news is that today, pretty much any phone camera can capture a pretty incredible iris photograph. It might take a little practice and maneuvering to get the right lighting, to reduce the glare on the iris, and to give a full clear visual of the iris, but it is totally possible! It’s hard to imagine that just 14 years ago, you needed a huge camera with a big long lens mounted up with a flash attached to it to just capture a clear image of the eye. We used to use this camera not only for working with clients, but also for teaching the iridology classes at Thrive. Because of this, I was really able to spend a lot of time utilizing iridology in my practice, and to this day, it still never fails to amaze me at how accurate the readings are. I can see things in the iris that help me to understand multiple layers of the condition of health of the client just by looking at the iris fibers in the eye.
To help you better understand how this works, the iris is made of muscles and nerves. This system works on its own without you having to think about it, because it’s a part of the parasympathetic nervous system. The iris helps to control the size of your pupil, the small black opening that lets light into your eye, and the exposure of light. And just like the muscles in your body can atrophy, so can the muscle fibers in your iris, and this is what causes distinct markings in your eye. Something interesting is that the map of your iris is like a fingerprint! It’s not just the color, it’s also the perforations in the muscle fibers of the iris. The various openings of the muscle fiber, the colors of toxicity, and the shapes and direction that the nerve wreath goes in, will always be unique to you, just like a fingerprint. Nobody else in the world has the exact same iris map as you do, so it is just as accurate as a fingerprint. That’s why iris scans are up and coming as a means of identification. Your iris squeezes or releases your pupil to change the amount of light that reaches the rest of your eye. The constant change in size helps you see in lighter and dimmer places. This is also affected by your adrenals and fluctuations in stress within your body. When this happens repeatedly for years, it can cause a permanent ring in your eye, known in iridology as a stress ring.
Your eye color depends on how much melanin or naturally occurring pigment your body makes, and of course certain genes. The genes that determine your eye color are passed down from your biological parents. Once again, the iris is made of muscles and nerves that work on their own without you having to think about them to control the size of the pupil. One of the interesting things that I’ve noticed sometimes in certain eyes, is that even when we are being exposed to a bright light the iris relaxes and the pupil enlarges, even with a bright light shining in the eye. This is a sign of adrenal fatigue, and is one of the things I look for during an analysis. I also look for lymphatic stagnancy, where you can actually see the lymph nodes inflamed. Sometimes you will see them like a strand of pearls going around the outer limit of the iris, this is called a lymphatic rosary. Sometimes it’s acute and sometimes it’s more chronic. As the condition becomes more chronic, the color of the inflammation spots actually becomes more yellowy-brown in color. When it’s new inflammation, it’s going to be brighter white showing up in the iris tissue.
Not only can you see inflammation and weakness in various parts of the body including the nervous system, but you can also see if a person has high tension and stress, stomach imbalances (including being over acidic or under acidic), and weakening of various organs throughout the body. We can see if there’s an effect on brain health due to lack of oxygenation. You can also see where there may be some genetic weaknesses that were passed on from previous generations. You can see areas of the body where toxicity is present and even to the point of knowing what type of metal toxicity is present based on the discoloration in the iris. You can also see drug deposits for individuals who take a lot of medications. You can see the condition of the bowel and whether or not it is toxic and affecting other parts of the body.
You can also learn about a client’s constitution from looking at their iris. A person’s constitution is the fundamental baseline level of strength and energy that someone is born with. If you have a very strong constitution, that usually means that your body is more resilient which can actually lead to individuals having more self-destructive behaviors, including having cigarette or alcohol addictions. That’s because their body can handle the wear and tear more easily than an individual with a weaker constitution. When I teach students about the art of iridology and understanding how to analyze a client’s constitution, I recommend that we rate the quality of their iris fibers from 0 to 10. 0 being the weakest and having the most space in between each fiber and ten being the strongest, where muscle fibers are very close together and they’re linear, straight, and very little space in between them. That’s what a stronger constitution looks like in an iris. The weaker the constitution, the more space between the muscle fibers and you’ll see many openings in the tissue. Neither one is better or worse. They both have their benefits and they both have their downsides. Don’t feel bad if you don’t have a perfect constitution, but know that if you do have a weaker constitution, it will likely take more time for your healing process than individuals who have a very strong constitution.
Another thing we can see is how the body is detoxifying and clearing toxins through the skin. I can actually see when people have a lot of toxins built up and would benefit greatly from doing sauna therapy. Another interesting thing about iridology is that in the iris there is a ring that goes around the pupil, and the scientific name for this in the practice of iridology is the autonomic nerve wreath. This nerve wreath, in iridology, is a representation of the bowel and the nervous system. It is the visual representation of the nerve plexus of the digestive system which connects to the rest of the body along with the intestinal tract. If you think about it, your nervous system and stress response are very closely tied to how your bowels respond. Immediately upon learning this I had a much greater understanding of the benefits of supporting a healthy nervous system when there are digestive issues at play.
There are numerous scientific research studies being carried out by teams of scientists to validate and show the connection between iris markings and health conditions. There’s one study in particular that comes to mind done by a team of Japanese scientists about the sodium ring, which forms around the outside of the iris as people age. In iridology, this is the indication of over consumption of sodium or over absorption of sodium in the tissues. What they discovered in this research paper is that the level of thickness and opacity of this white band that is forming around the iris directly correlates with the Reynold’s Risk Score, a number that is calculated using the results of several different tests that indicates a person’s level of risk for developing heart disease. They found that the thicker and whiter the salt or sodium ring was, the higher the risk number. That’s just one study that validated the use and practice of observing that particular patterns or signs in the iris have a legitimate link to the state of health of an individual. There is so much more to be discovered about this incredible practice and I believe it is worth pursuing for your own health knowledge.
When you look at a cross-section of the iris, it actually has a topography, almost like a mountain, with peaks and valleys and openings in the muscle fiber that indicate weakness in that particular area (See the iridology map). The most popular iridology map used today was produced by Dr. Bernard Jensen. You could safely say he is the modern father of iridology. His practice and research helped to bring the science and study of iridology to a whole new level in the United States and throughout the world. One of the great successors to Dr. Bernard Jensen is Dr. David J Pesek, who was a student of Dr. Jensen and studied very closely with him for many years. Dr. Pessic founded the International Institute of Iridology and through his doctoral study with Dr. Jensen found patterns in the iris that not only give us information about the physical body, but also about the mental and emotional side of an individual’s health and life pattern. To me, this is just another testament to how incredible the human body is and how it is always speaking to us and showing us information that we can utilize to be sure to have greater health. It’s telling us where there are red flags, signs, and signals that we need to pay attention to. I am so grateful to know and understand the practice of iridology and to be able to utilize it in my work with clients. This practice helps me to identify more effective nutrition and supplement protocols, and to also help my clients have a greater understanding of their body. Knowledge is power, and if you know where potential weaknesses lie within your systems and organs, you can take preventative action. This helps people to be more mindful and empowered when it comes to their health and self-care practices.
But remember, as helpful as iridology is, it is not a diagnostic tool. It cannot tell you if there’s a missing organ or a missing limb. It can’t tell you for certain if there’s a specific disease in the body and it can’t tell you what types of medication a person is taking or if they’ve done drugs. It can’t tell you if a person is pregnant. It can’t tell you if you have any diagnosed diseases or any genetic predispositions for a disease, but it can tell you patterns of the digestive system, the lymphatic system, the brain and mental health, the circulatory system, the liver, the spleen, the adrenals, and the thyroid. It can help you look at those particular patterns and areas on the iris map and identify if there are weaknesses in these areas to help create a more focused program and protocol to help people recover and rebalance their bodies.
I recommend picking up any book by Dr. Bernard Jensen if you have interest in learning more about iridology! My favorite book by him is a simple reference guide called “Iridology Simplified”, and he goes through all of the most prominent iridology identification patterns and shares about embryology and the development of the embryo in the womb and how our spinal cord and our optic nerve are connected. It is absolutely amazing that we have ways to assess health and help people that don’t require any cutting or invasive practices in order to learn about their state of health. As a person who had a childhood illness and spent a lot of time in and out of hospitals, I can tell you, anytime there are diagnostic tools that do not require an invasive procedure, it’s a true blessing to the individual who is sick and who is constantly being poked and prodded. I loved the fact that when I went to see Dr. DeVeaux as a child, I knew that nothing that was going to transpire in our visits would hurt. He always checked my eyes. He would look at my skin and my nails. He would look at my tongue, and he would do muscle testing with me. These are all very gentle and noninvasive practices, henceforth one of the main reasons why I love using this modality in my practice with clients. I hope you find it as interesting as I do and educate yourself on things you can look for in your iris so you too can start making better lifestyle choices based on what your eyes are telling you! It’s been there all along, you just didn’t know how to read the language of your eyes, but now you know you can!