Introduction

Our eye is controlled by 6 ocular muscles that help in eye movement. Like any other muscles in our body, the eye muscles need regular exercise in order to keep them healthy and strong.

We all know that swimming, jogging or going to the gym keeps our bodies fit. But do you know that you can exercise human eyes as well?

Eye exercises will strengthen the eye muscles, improve focusing, eye movements, and stimulate the vision center of the brain.

In many cases, eye exercises is used for physical therapy for both the brain as well as the eyes. When you do these exercises it will help to strengthen your eye muscles and improve your vision.

There are many exercises that can be performed without the need for any equipment, making it a free method to improve your vision.

Through a series of progressive therapeutic exercises, you can be instructed on how to control your eye muscles and improve your vision.

Remember that your eyes are made of muscles and that muscles need to be worked regularly to stay in good condition. Your eyes can really benefit from doing some regular exercises.

Let’s help our eyes with these simple eye exercises :

Exercise 1 : Focus Exercise – Near and far focusing

This exercise is done to improve the flexibility of the eyes as they change from distance viewing to near visual focus. This exercise will strengthen the muscles in your eyes over time and improve your vision overall.

Instruction :

1. For this exercise you’ll need to be sitting down at the end of a room of at least 6m by 6m, and you will also need a pencil.
2. Hold the pencil about six inches away from the tip of your nose. Don’t stare at the pencil, instead quickly glance at it and then change your vision to an object which is on the opposite side of the room which is 10-20 feet. Do this for a few seconds and then go back to the pencil for a few seconds.
3. Repeat this process 10 times and do it every day. As your eyesight starts to get better, start focusing on objects that are farther away from you.

Exercise 2 : Blinking exercise – Reduces eye strain

Blinking is a simple way to keep our eyes fresh and helps them to focus for a longer period of time. Computer users and television watchers tend to blink less, especially when they are intently focused on something. This situation makes eyes fatigue in addition to other symptoms of dry eyes.

Whenever we blink, our eyes are going into a brief period of darkness which helps to keep our eyes fresh and discharges previous information to make them ready for new information, which reduces eye strain.

What we have to do is just fully close our eyes tightly for 3-4 seconds, and then open them for 3-4 seconds. Repeat this exercise for 7-8 times, every time you feel tiredness in the eyes.

Exercise 3 : The “Figure Eight Exercise” – Strengthen eye muscle

The Figure Eight.

This a great exercise for your eye muscles. This exercise increases the flexibility of eye muscles in a relaxed way.

How to practice the ‘Figure Eight’ :

1. Imagine a giant figure of eight (8) in front of you about 10 feet in front of you.
2. Now turn the figure eight on its side.
3. Trace the figure of eight with your eyes, slowly.
4. Do it one way for a few minutes and then do it the opposite way for a few minutes.

This exercise helps you increase your eyes flexibility if done regularly. This exercise will strengthen the muscles in your eyes over time and improve your vision overall.

Exercise 4 : Palming

This exercise helps relieve stress around the eyes and gives our eyes a much needed break.

When we placing our palms around our eyes, we are stimulating very powerful acupuncture points which help to calm the mind, relax the muscles around the eyes and channel healing energy to the eyes. (Marc Grossman).

How to do Palming :

1. Make yourself comfortable while leaning forward on a desk or with your elbows resting on your knees.
2. Place your two hands over your eyes with the cup of your palm covering your eyes, your fingers on your forehead and the heel of your hand will rest on your cheekbone. Make sure you can blink freely and are not putting too much pressure on your eyes.
3. Remain in this situation for a few minutes (3-5 minutes)

Palming gives you the opportunity to rest your mind and your eyes for a few minutes at a time. It may not sound like much of an exercise but it can make a big difference in your working day if you stop for a few minutes and do this exercise.

Position during palming exercise

Exercise 5 : “Zooming”

This exercise is a very effective eye focusing exercise, in which you have to constantly adjust the length of your focus. This helps strengthen your eye muscles and also flexibility of the eye movement.

How to practice “Zooming”:

1. Sit in a comfortable position.
2. Stretch out your arm in front of you while rolling your finger tightly into your palm with thumb up.
3. Focus on your thumb as your arm is outstretched.
4. Now bring your thumb closer to you, focusing until your thumb is about 3 inches (6 cm) (5 minutes) in front of your face.
5. Now move your thumb away again until your arm is fully outstretched.
6. Do this for a few minutes at a time throughout the day.

Conclusion

In a study by Rathod Vandama J et.al it was concluded that, eye exercises are effective in improving near focusing but not improving any blurring of vision.

Eye exercises can help in a number of different ways :

• Increase eye function and help you focus better
• Reduce eyestrain
• Reduce sensitivity to light
• Increase or strengthen your eye muscles
• Help with other aspects of vision such as hand-eye coordination, depth perception, peripheral vision, etc

Your lifestyle will also play a big role in the effectiveness of exercises. If you continue to have poor visual habits, like looking at the computer screen for prolonged periods with no breaks, then the effectiveness will also be reduced.

References

1. Dr Jacob Liberman; “Exercises your eyes”. www.exerciseyoureyes.com
2. Marc Grossman; “ Strengthen vision with eye exercises” www.byregion.net
3. Rathod Vandana J et.al; Effect of eye exercises on myopia: Randomized controlled study. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences (JPBMS) Vol.10, Issue 10.
4. Rob Murphy, Marilyn Haddrill & Gary Heiting, OD; “Do eyes exercises improved vision? www.allaboutvision.com
5. Stephanie Kayle; “5 Effective Exercises to strengthen your eye muscles.” www.fullhealthandwellness.com