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We have all heard of yoga as a form of exercise to improve our health and mind, but did you know eye yoga can do wonders to our vision too?
Eye yoga enables us to use our eyes to their fullest capability, something which does not occur in our day-to-day life. Whilst many of us are used to looking at a computer screen for at least eight hours a day, and then heading into busy areas with buildings everywhere, our vision becomes limited as a result.
How does stress affect our eyes?
Stress can affect our minds and bodies in all sorts of ways, however did you know it can have an impact on vision too? The impact of stress on our vision can vary from a mild discomfort, all the way to severe debilitating vision loss. Prolonged and repeated ‘close distance work’, which many of us do daily, can cause near-point stress.
Symptoms of near-point stress include:
- Eyestrain
- Eyelid twitching
- Burning or watery eyes
- Difficulty concentrating on work that is within our close vision, for example reading, writing and using computers
How can eye yoga improve our vision?
Yoga exercises for the eyes help improve their functioning and can improve eye-related problems such as short-sightedness and long-sightedness. Improve Eyesight HQ state that eye yoga can be so effective it can help people regain back their natural eyesight.
With our eyes being one of the most crucial organs in our body, enabling us to see the world around us, it is important we do not neglect them on our busy schedules, and start putting time in for these top three yoga exercises.
Exercise One: Stretching
For all types of exercise, it is important you warm up first. Increased circulation in our eyes will reduce any aches or pains occurring in the eye.
- Look straight ahead, and then lift your eyes to look all the way up. Counting for two seconds, follow your eyes and look all the way down, counting again for the same amount of time
- Next, move your eyes as far left as possible, holding the position for two seconds. Do the same on the right
- Now you want to move your eyes to the four diagonal corners of your vision in the following order: Top-left, bottom-right, top-right and end with bottom-left.
- Repeat this exercise for one minute. Remember to try and keep your head as stationary as possible, it is your eyes that are having the work-out, nothing else!
Exercise Two: Focus Switching
This exercise will work on your eyes ability to focus on different things, also known as the accommodation reflex. For those that wear glasses, this is a particularly useful exercise as spectacles can weaken this reflex and the strength of the eye muscles as a result.
- Hold something containing small letters, like a book or newspaper at your normal reading distance
- Covering up one of your eyes (keeping the covered up eye open to avoid fatigue), focus on any of the small letters in front of you for a couple of seconds
- Look up from this letter and focus on something at least 6 metres away, again for two or three seconds. It is important you try to relax your eyes as much as possible during this so try not to strain your eyes
- Repeat the steps four to six times and repeat the whole cycle changing which eye is covered up
Exercise Three: Palming
This exercise if a fantastic way to cool down the eye muscles you have been working on. Did you know that a huge cause of eye stress is from the constant exposure to light? The easiest way to reduce this stress is simply to take a deep breath, cover your eyes and relax.
- Find a table and chair which you can comfortably place your arms on
- Rub your hands together to create a warm sensation. With your eyes closed, cover both your eyes with your hands. Be careful not to press your hands against your eyes, but rather let them sit in the cup of your palm
- Hold the position for one minute, or longer if you wish
Performing these simple, and quick eye yoga exercises will help improve not only your sight, but also your stress levels. Give it a go yourself!
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