Exercise your way to strong eyesight
Believe it or not, exercise is highly beneficial for your eyes. Each eye is controlled by six extra-ocular (outside the eye) muscles that not only move it up and down and from side to side, but also orchestrate subtle movements that enhance focus as you change your gaze from one object to another. In addition to the extra-ocular muscles, tiny muscles, collectively called the ciliary body, control the lenses of the eyes, which are constantly changing and adjusting to bring things into focus.
One of the best ways to reduce stress and strain on the eyes, improve the flexibility and strength of the eye muscles, and, in some cases, actually improve visual acuity is to do eye specific exercises. Below are just a few of my top recommended eye exercises.
Exercise #1: A Palming Experience
When you’ve been at the computer, poring over a book, or doing close work such as embroidery for extended periods, take a break and reenergize your eyes with this old yoga technique.
- Get in a comfortable position, sitting or lying down. Rub your hands together briskly for a few seconds, close your eyes, and place your hands over your eyes.
- Rest your fingers on your forehead (fingers crossing or not — your preference) and the balls of your hands on your cheekbones. Your palms should cover your eyes but not touch them to avoid placing pressure on your eyeballs.
- Take a deep breath and relax, keeping your eyes closed and breathing normally, for one to three minutes, or longer. The warmth of your hands and the blocking out of light completely relaxes the eyes — and gives your brain a break as well.
You may repeat this exercise as often as desired.
Exercise #2: Roll, Roll, Roll Your Eyes
Here’s another exercise borrowed from yoga. This increases the flexibility and elasticity of the extra-ocular muscles.
- Close your eyes for a few seconds, relax, then open your eyes and begin this series of movements with your head erect and stationary.
- First, look down at the floor. Slowly roll your eyes to the left, then up towards the ceiling. Continue this slow circular movement until you’re looking up at the ceiling, then roll your eyes towards the right, and finally down towards the floor again.
- Blink a few times, relax your eyes, then repeat, moving your eyes in the opposite direction this time. Focus on making the circles with your eyes as large as possible and keeping your head still. Repeat this sequence a total of five times in each direction, blinking and resting for several seconds between repetitions.
Exercise #3: Eye and Facial Stretches
Another way to relax the extra-ocular muscles is by gently stretching the skin and connective tissues surrounding the eye sockets. Drs. Marc Grossman and Glen Swartwout recommend the following series of stretches in their book Natural Eye Care, An Encyclopedia (Keats Publishing, Los Angeles, 1999).
- With eyes open, place your index fingers on the skin just to the right of each eye (the outer edge of the right eye and the inner edge of the upper left side of the nose). Looking to the left, gently pull the skin to the right.
- Move your fingers to the left sides of the eyes and stretch the skin towards the left while looking right. Move your fingers just below your eyes and, looking upward, gently pull your fingers down.
Finally, place your fingers just below your eyebrows and, looking down, stretch the skin upward.
Time each stretch with your breath, inhaling as you pull the skin and exhaling as you release it. Repeat the entire sequence six times. Drs. Grossman and Swartwout also suggest practicing deep breathing during these stretches to further relieve stress and tension.