Yoga exercises have been around for centuries and can help keep your eye muscles sharp and relax the eyes. These exercises are designed for people with generally healthy eyes, but who suffer from eye strain or strain, often as a result of prolonged computer use. Individuals with an eye condition, such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, eye disease, or any other condition, should consult a physician before doing these exercises.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Training the eyes
Step 1. Strengthen your eyelids
The muscles around your eyes can be strengthened just like the other muscles of the body. First of all, you partially close your eyes; the eyelids should only be closed halfway. You will notice that your upper eyelids will twitch from the effort. Try to stop this shaking.
- Hint: Stopping the eyelid twitching will become easier if you focus your gaze on more distant objects.
- After holding this for 10 to 15 seconds, close your eyes very slowly. Take a few deep breaths to increase the oxygen level in the blood. As you breathe in through your nose, imagine the fresh, oxygen-rich air flowing through the nose into the eyes. Then exhale through your mouth. Continue to do this breathing exercise for a few minutes.
Step 2. Do focus exercises
By focusing on objects at different distances, you train the eyes to focus at distances that are far and near, and refresh your tired eyes. There are two types of focus exercises you can try:
- 1) Hold a pen at arm's length away from you. Focus your gaze on the tip of the pen. Bring the pen closer to your nose at a slow and steady pace. Repeat this exercise 5-10 times.
- 2) Concentrate your vision on the tip of your nose. Then shift your gaze to an object further away, either at arm's length or 6 meters away. Then return your eyes to the tip of your nose. Repeat this exercise 10 times.
- Be inventive and challenge yourself. Choose objects at various different distances to focus your eyes on.
Step 3. Do horizontal and vertical stretches for the eyes
These exercises stretch and strengthen the specific eye muscles, which move the eyes from side to side. For example: When looking to the right, you use the lateral rectus of your right eye as well as the medial rectus of your left eye. When looking to the left, you use the lateral rectus of your left eye and medial rectus of your right eye.
- Sit in a relaxed but upright position. To start, look at the leftmost position (without moving your head) and hold it to stretch your eye muscles. Hold this for 5 counts. Blink your eyes and look straight ahead again. Then look at the rightmost position and hold it for 5 counts. Repeat 3 times, blinking between each held position.
- Then repeat this viewing exercise from top to bottom. Don't forget to blink.
Step 4. Do diagonal stretches
As with the previous exercise, the diagonal stretch requires watching a fixed position for a few seconds. However, extra muscles are put to work. For example, if you look to the left, you use the superior oblique of your left eye and the inferior oblique of the right eye.
Sit in a relaxed but upright position. Look up and to the right for 5 seconds. Then look forward again. Look up to the left for 5 seconds. Then look forward again. Look down and to the right for 5 seconds. Then look forward again. Look down and to the left for 5 seconds. Repeat 3 times
Step 5. Draw an infinity symbol with your eyes
Imagine an infinity sign or horizontal eight. Follow the eight slowly with only your eyes and about ten times, without moving your head. Blink your eyes between reps.
Step 6. Draw circles with your eyes
A useful way to do this is to pretend you are looking at the number 12 on a clock. Then follow the numbers of the clock with your eyes. Then go counterclockwise along the numbers.
Method 2 of 2: Relax your eyes
Step 1. Massage your eyes
Massage is a well-known treatment for relieving tension and stress because it stimulates blood flow to those areas. Gently massage your upper eyelids for 10 seconds. Then gently massage the lower eyelids.
- If you wear contact lenses, remove them before doing this exercise.
- Apply light pressure while massaging using the first three fingers of your hand. Make gentle, circular movements.
- The gentle pressure on the lacrimal glands, which produce most of your tears, helps to stimulate tear fluid in the eyes. This in turn provides soothing and all-important hydration to tired eyes.
- While massaging the lower lids, make sure to massage over the lacrimal bone, located on the inside of the eye (near the nose).
Step 2. Blink more often
Blinking provides much-needed breaks and moments of relaxation for our eyes. However, it is often something that most people ignore, as it is such an automatic activity that requires little thought. However, blinking more often can reduce eye strain.
- Blinking helps lubricate and moisturize your eyes. Not only does blinking remove toxins from the eyes along with tear fluid, but it also works to spread a thin layer of tear fluid evenly over your eyes. Blinking can thus help reduce dry eyes.
- Try blinking once every four seconds to keep your eyes from drying out.
Step 3. Take breaks
Give your eyes more breaks during periods of intense focus or concentration, especially on a computer screen, to reduce eye strain.
- Try the 20-6-20 method: every 20 minutes, look away from the screen at an object 6 meters away, and hold it for 20 seconds.
- If you find it difficult to remind yourself that you need a break, set an alarm as a reminder to rest and recover your eyes.
- You can also try opening and closing your eyes completely every now and then. Research suggests that this act can prevent the symptoms of eye strain, eyestrain and dry eyes.
Step 4. Use your palms to relax your eyes
Relaxing with your palms is very easy. Just cover your eyes with your palms for a few minutes.
- Sit comfortably in a chair with a straight back. Place your elbows on a table, on top of a pillow or blanket, for extra comfort. Before you start, rub your palms together to produce some heat - this will increase the relaxation of this technique. Make a bowl with each hand and close your eyes. Place a hand over each eye. Breathe normally and rest in this position for 5-10 minutes. You can set an alarm to keep track of the time.
- If you feel refreshed after the alarm goes off, then this is the right amount of time you should spend on the exercises. If you don't feel refreshed, add another five minutes and see what the difference is afterwards.
Tips
- When you first start with these exercises and relaxation techniques, you should practice them every day. Aim for 30 minutes daily for the eye exercises. If you notice an improvement in your vision, you can start expanding the exercises.
- Make sure your hands are clean when you touch your eyes. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water to avoid contaminating your eyes. In addition, make sure your nails are trimmed to avoid scratching or stinging your eyes.
Warnings
- If you experience pain, altered vision, dizziness or any other symptom, stop the exercises immediately. If these symptoms persist, consult your doctor.
- Continue to take normal eye care, whether it be taking medication or wearing your glasses and contact lenses.
- Know that while eye exercises can delay the need for glasses or contact lenses in some people, it can also be achieved by taking breaks when doing work that puts a lot of strain on your eyes (such as looking at a computer screen a lot). Training the eye muscles will not eliminate the most common eye problems such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and presbyopia (age-related lens stiffening) that make corrective lenses necessary. Eye exercises also absolutely do not help with glaucoma and macular degeneration. Ultimately, research suggests that non-medical eye exercises may not prevent you from needing glasses at some point, nor can they alter the course of an eye condition or disease.