Do Eye Exercises Improve Vision?
* Remove your glasses or contact lenses.
* Bathe your eyes or add a few drops of lubricating solution so that your eyes are not dry and scratchy.
* Relax and breath deeply, focusing on your eyes.
* Exercises your eyes regularly, preferably at least 2-3 times each day.
A Work-Out For Eyes
These exercises help to strengthen the muscles which will give you clearer vision and prevent eye strain. You should start to notice a difference after only a few days of exercising.
* Rolling Round The Clock
Look straight ahead of you. Imagine that you are looking at the face of a giant clock. Keeping your head still, move your eyes slowly to each number on the clock face in a clockwise direction. Now repeat this movement in an anti-clockwise direction. Next, look up at the number twelve, stretching your eye muscles as much as you can, now down at the six. Then stretch to the three, and across to the nine.
* Squeeze-Stretch
Squeeze your eyes into as tight a ball as you possibly can and hold then there for three seconds. Now open then and stretch them as wide as you can for three seconds. Repeat this exercise five times.
* Focus Shifting
Hold up a finger or a pencil in front of you, about 6 inches away. Choose another object, e.g. a chimney or tree etc. at least 20 feet (6 metres) away. You can then use these as your near and far points respectively. Then you should alternate between the objects both near and far, you should look at each for around two seconds at a time. Repeat this exercise for 2-3 minutes.
* Cupping
Rub your palms together until they are warm. Place your cupped palms over each open eye and hold them there for 20-30- seconds. Allow your eyes to relax in the darkness. Take long deep breaths then remove your hands and blink slowly.
* Temple Contemplation Place your fingers gently on your temples and rub them with a light rotating movement. Close eyes and focus on the feeling of your upper eyelids touching your lower eyelids. Open for 3 seconds. Repeat 10 times. Now keep your fingers still and blink lightly and quickly as fast as you can 10 times. If you feel any movement under your fingertips then you are blinking too hard. This is a sign of stress.Sit comfortably on a chair. Rub your hands together until they feel warm. Close your eyes and cover them lightly with your cupped palms. Avoid applying pressure on your eyeballs. Place your palms so that the nose remains uncovered, and the eyes remain behind the slight hollow of the palms. Make sure that no light rays enter the eyes, and leave no gaps between fingers or between the edge of the palms and the nose. You may still see other lingering traces of colors. Imagine deep blackness and focus on the blackness. Take deep breaths slowly and evenly, while thinking of some happy incident; or visualize a distant scene. After your eyes see nothing but blackness, remove your palms from your eyes. Repeat the palming for 3 minutes or more
1. Sit comfortably on a chair. Rub your hands together until they feel warm. Close your eyes and cover them lightly with your cupped palms. Avoid applying pressure on your eyeballs. Place your palms so that the nose remains uncovered, and the eyes remain behind the slight hollow of the palms. Make sure that no light rays enter the eyes, and leave no gaps between fingers or between the edge of the palms and the nose. You may still see other lingering traces of colors. Imagine deep blackness and focus on the blackness. Take deep breaths slowly and evenly, while thinking of some happy incident; or visualize a distant scene. After your eyes see nothing but blackness, remove your palms from your eyes. Repeat the palming for 3 minutes or more.
2. Close your eyes tightly for 3-5 seconds, then open them for 3-5 seconds. Repeat this 7 or 8 times.
3. Close your eyes and massage them with circular movements of your fingers for 1-2 minutes. Make sure you press very lightly; otherwise, you could hurt your eyes.
4. Press three fingers of each hand against your upper eyelids, and hold them there for 1-2 seconds, then release. Repeat 5 times.
5. Sit and relax. Roll your eyes clockwise, then counter-clockwise. Repeat 5 times, and blink in between each time.
6. Sit about 6 inches (200 mm) from the window. Make a mark on the glass at your eye level (a small sticker, black or red, would be perfect). Look through this mark and focus on something far away for 10-15 seconds; then focus on the mark again.
7. Hold a pencil in front of you at arm’s length. Move your arm slowly to your nose, and follow the pencil with your eyes until you can’t keep it in focus. Repeat 10 times.
8. Look in front of you at the opposite wall and pretend that you are writing with your eyes, without turning your head. It may seem difficult at first, but with a bit of practice it is really fun. The bigger the letters, the better the effect.
9. Imagine that you are standing in front of a really big clock. Look at the middle of the clock. Then look at any hour mark, without turning your head. Look back at the center. Then look at another hour mark. Do this at least 12 times. You can also do this exercise with your eyes closed.
10. Focus on a distant object (over 150 feet or 50 m away) for several seconds and slowly refocus your eyes on a nearby object (less than 30 feet or 10 m away) that’s in the same direction. Focus for several seconds and go back to the distant object. Do this 5 times.
11. Focus on an object in the distance (as far as possible) with a low contrasting background. Do this for a few minutes every half hour or so. This does not improve your vision, nor does any other technique. It can, however, maintain your best eyesight level during the day and prevent significant further vision deterioration.
Tips
* It’s more important to do the exercises regularly than to do them for a long time. Even 30-60 seconds of eye movement every hour is very helpful. For example, when your computer takes its sweet time to do something, most people just swear at the poor thing and waste the time, but you can make a few circles with your eyes. Even the first day you do this, you should notice that, when you finish working, your eyes aren’t as tired as usual.
* Taking short breaks from near work (e.g. staring at a computer monitor) to stare out to the distance also relieves some strain.
Warnings
* Consult your optometrist (eye doctor) before doing any of these exercises. The last thing you want to do is add further strain to your eyes, or damage them permanently.
* When doing these exercises, make sure that you’re not facing anybody, or that they know you’re doing eye exercises. Otherwise they might think you’ve gone nuts.