Henry David Thoreau, an American poet and philosopher has rightly said, “The eye is the jewel of the body.”
Eyes work from the very moment we wake up till the time we go off to sleep. Our eyes are one of those precious gifts that most of us take for granted. Many people fail to consider eye health a priority in their overall health schemes especially if they have a 20/20 vision. The only time we realize its value is when our vision begins to fail.
It has been researched that over the last decade there has been a considerable increase in the number of people who wear glasses. This is because most of us spend our time staring at the computer screens in the office and watching television over extended period of time at home. Children are addicted to video games and hence strain their eyes.
Most individuals experience headaches or blurred vision when their eyes are strained for a longer duration of time. These symptoms can be reduced through a combination of correcting posture, supplements and eye exercises.
Team Medimanage suggests a few relaxing eye exercises that would help you relieve your eye strain.
1. Palming /cupping
The Palming or cupping exercise helps to relax your eyes.
Rub your palms together for about 15- 20 seconds or until they feel warm. Then place your cupped hands softy over your closed eyes without leaving any gaps between the fingers so that no light enter the eyes. (It is important to check that you do not apply pressure on your eye balls). Sit quietly with your hands over your eyes for one to two minutes and experience the darkness with your closed eye. Perform this exercise at least twice a day.
2. Concentrating on an object
Hold the pencil at an arm’s length from your eyes. Concentrate on the tip of the pencil. Slowly bring the pencil toward your nose and then back to the original position. Follow this exercise slowly without blinking your eyes. Perform this exercise 2-3 times in a day.
Place a bowl of hot water and a bowl of cold water in front of you. The hot water should be hot but not so hot that it burns you, while the cold water should be ice cold. Put a clean soft cloth in each bowl. First place the cloth from hot bowl on your closed eye for 30 seconds. Then do the same with the cloth from the bowl of cold water. Continue to alternate the hot and cold cloth for at least 5 times. Finish by gently massaging your eye with a dry towel.
4. Head Rolls
Close your eyes and take a deep breath. As you exhale, move your chin slowly to your chest. Relax your neck and shoulders. As you inhale, slowly and gently roll your head around to the left, and then back to your chest, keeping the shoulder still and relaxed. Now exhale as you roll your head to the other side and down to your chest again. Repeat this sequence twice. This exercise will help you relax your neck, head and eye muscles.
5. Near far focus
Focus on a nearby object which is less than 10 m away for 10 seconds and then slowly refocus on a distant object over 50m away . Focus for several seconds on the distant object and then move your focus to the nearby object. Repeat this process for 5 times in a day
6. Up- down eye movements
Keep your face forward and without moving your head, focus your eyes as high as they can go. Then slowly move your eye line down to as low as they can go, without moving your head. Perform this exercise 8-10 times in a day.
Blinking is a very simple eye exercise. Blink your eye every 2-3 second for two minutes continuously and you will keep your eyes refreshed. This exercise is generally recommended to individuals who work on the computer for a longer duration of time.
Benefits of eye exercises
- Eye exercise help to relieve the stress of looking at a computer screen for a longer duration.
- The ophthalmic nerves receive a richer supply of blood which makes the eye muscle strong and active gives a clearer and better vision.
Ms Hansaji head of The Yoga Institute says, “In our routine lifestyle, we generally have a straight vision, we rarely use our side vision and hence the side muscles from our eyes are not well exercised and becomes lazy. Exercising the eyes by rotating the eyeball (and not rotating the neck) helps to exercise all the eye muscles.” She adds, “Awareness about using the eye is very important to relieve its stress. It is necessary to alternate your vision by seeing closer objects and then moving your vision to a distant object. This helps to relax your eyes.”
Dr Nayan Thakkar, well Known Ophthalmologist from Nova Medicals has a different perspective. He says, “No exercises are needed to rest the eye. Closing the eye for a couple of minutes helps to relieve stress.”
Exercising your eyes is as important as exercising your body, if you do not exercise your eyes you are more likely to suffer from eye strain. It is important to follow these exercises even when you are not experiencing any symptom of eye strain as these exercises will make you less susceptible to any strain in the future.