Simple Yoga Exercises for Healthy Eyes
Wednesday, April 11, 2018 - Author: Christin Lee
If the eyes are the windows of the soul, it's important to keep those windows in tip-top shape and running as smoothly as possible. Perhaps it's not as popular as your local cycling group or Pilates class, believe it or not, these 5 yogic eye exercises are surprisingly effective in relieving tension and refining visual acuity.
Contact-wearers, glasses-wearers, or even people with perfect vision are all susceptible to overworking and overexerting the eye organs on a daily basis. Eye strain is a common affliction of anyone hitting the books or staring at computer screens for long hours at a time. When the eye muscles tire from extended periods of intense visual activities, symptoms such as dry eyes, headaches, and even blurred vision can arise.
Try these 5 yoga eye techniques to help alleviate strain and give your eyes a well-deserved rest.
#1 Heated Palms
After staring at a computer screen all day, palming can help relax muscles and reduce tension.
- Rub your palms together to create heat
- Hold cupped hands, without pressing, over your eyes for 5-10 minutes
- Allow your eyes to relax in complete darkness and embrace the warm energy emanating from your palms
#2 Brisk Blinking
Intensely focusing and working up-close limits the eyes to blink less. Rapid blinking loosens eye muscles and prevents dry eyes.
- Loosen your jaw and separate your lips
- Relax any tension from your face
- Blink rapidly focusing on a point for 20 seconds
- Repeat 5X
#3 Circles for Circulation
Just as we swing our hips to warm up our pelvic joint or arm circles to bring circulation to your shoulder joint, moving the eyes in big circles helps release tension.
Circles for Circulation
- Keeping the head, neck, and spine still, relax your body.
- Slowly work your eyes in a clockwise motion around the numbers of a clock
- When you reach back to start, rest with the palming method
- Move in the counterclockwise direction
- Try at least 10 circles each direction
Burpees & Planks
- Relax your facial muscles and visualize a clock in front of you
- Start from 12 o'clock and move your way to 6 o'clock
- Repeat upward and downward movements 20 times.
- Close your eyes to reset and take 5 deep breaths
- Open your eyes and start again but this time making your way from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock
- Repeat lateral motions 20 times
#4 The Rule of Eye: 20/20/20
Breaking away from your computer screen every 20 minutes can help alleviate eye strain. A good rule of thumb is the 20/20/20 rule. Every 20 minutes take 20 seconds to stare at an object 20 feet away from you. Breaking bad habits and creating good patterns can prevent age-related visual conditions and improve visual acuity.
#5 Start a Trend with Blue Light Blocking Glasses
Part of the visible light spectrum, blue light exposure may increase the risk of macular degeneration by causing damage to the retina. Research shows that exposure to blue light suppresses the body's natural production of melatonin, the sleep-promoting hormone. Blue light glasses block more specific wavelengths of the blue spectrum improving your sleep and health. If you get headaches, sore-eyes, trouble sleeping from working on computers for long hours, picking up a pair of these orange lens glasses will filter out harmful blue light and have you sleeping like a baby.
If your eyes could speak, I'm sure they'd express major gratitude to you for undertaking these simple exercises. Although these movements are not exciting enough to arose interest in forming a communal eye exercise class, they are perhaps much more important for your self-care and individual yoga practice. Just like any other muscle in your body, the eye muscles can fatigue so prevent blurry vision by making a habit of these 5 simple eye exercises.
Christin Lee is a yoga instructor, entrepreneur, and lifestyle blogger living in NYC. She currently writes for InsiderEnvy with an emphasis and focus on fitness, health, and universal human rights.