Effective Eye Exercises

The eyes are used constantly, from looking at far distances to items up close. With the increased use of electronics, such as smart-phones or computers, eyes are straining to see words and colors. Eye exercises are effective in reducing eye strain, so that you may relax the muscles behind the eye. Taking a few minutes many times throughout the day to exercise the eye muscles will help reduce strain and keep eyes healthy.

Yoga

• Yoga for the eyes is ideal to strengthen muscles and reduce muscle tension. In addition to reducing tension, keeping eye muscles strong may prevent poor eyesight later in life. Once the muscles of the eye lose tone, there is a reduced ability to focus on objects located at different distances.

  The optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain, may increase feelings of tension in the head if it is already feeling tense. Using eye exercises is an effective way to reduce tension behind the eye, thus relieves a good deal of general tension in the head.

  For the most effective toning of eye muscles, try to incorporate yoga exercise into daily life especially throughout the day after staring at a computer screen.

Eye Exercises

• One relaxing exercise may be done each night as you are winding down for bed. Sit crossed-legged on the floor or bed, and sit up straight. The idea of yoga for the eyes is to keep the body relaxed, and the only part moving is the eyes. Look up at any object in the room, so that you may still see it without lifting up the eyebrows or strain the eyes to look at it. Keep the head and face relaxed while looking at the object, and then lower eyes slowly to an object on the floor that you may see without moving the head down. Do this 10 times, being sure to inhale and exhale for relaxation.

  Exercise the nerves behind the eye by looking from side to side as far as you can without straining. Look to the left side, hold and then slowly look towards the right side. After doing these four times, blink a few times to relax the muscle and then do another two or three sets.

  Incorporate exercises to tone up vision changes. Use a pencil and hold it away from you, an arm's length away. Bring it in slowly to the center of the nose, keeping your eyes on it the entire time. Slowly move it back to an arm's length away, keeping your focus on the pencil. You may also exercise the eyes for vision change by focusing on an object around you, and then look at an object across the room. Switch between the two objects four to five times to relax the tendons behind the eyes, as well as provide exercise. The Mayo Clinic suggests the pencil method for those who suffer from convergence insufficiency, which is when the eyes of an individual do not turn inward to focus on objects, during such activities like reading.