Eye Yoga – Powerful Ways To Improve Your Eyesight

When the initial work-from-home regime started, it was actually not all bad. People from all over the country with a lot of uncertainty, moved to their native places taking their laptops with them. Little did we know that we were all entering a new normal. The world changed in more ways than one – ways we never dreamt of even in our wildest dreams. Working from home meant longer hours (in some cases almost working round the clock). On one side when dads and moms were struggling with their hectic schedules, the children of the family entered a new normal too – online classes. The same parents who refused to give their smartphones to their kids for entertainment gave access to technology because of these online classes. What is happening there is a topic for another day. With respect to this work/study from home routine, a common challenge we are all facing are eye problems which only seem to be growing with each passing day. There is a simple way to deal with this – EYE YOGA. But before delving deeper, you need to know a little more about your eyes.

How to protect your eyes

Your eyes are an important part of your body. We interpret the world around us using our sense organs among which the eyes play a dominant role. With the advent of technology, there has been a steady increase in the cases of a variety of eye problems, no matter the age. It is worrying to see small children spending so much time on smartphones. Parents should pay special attention to them. Barring a very few hereditary and genetic eye factors, the strain that is created by excessive usage of devices can be corrected and controlled by easy measures.

Here are some practical and sure-fire ways to protect your eyes.

• Eat food rich in vitamin A (Green leafy vegetables like spinach and yellow/orange vegetables like carrots). They improve eye health
• Sleep atleast for eight hours regularly. Blurred vision is the most common problem among people who do not get adequate sleep.
• Break away from technology occasionally. Here is what happened to me when I tried it.
• Engage children in board games instead of video games. Have actual conversations instead of online chats.
• Colors like sky blue and watery greens are proven to have a soothing effect on your eyes thereby enhancing your mood. Try incorporating such colors in your work space.
• Engage in digital detox once in a while

Benefits of eye yoga exercises

Eye yoga is a set of simple exercises that involve shifting your eyes in different directions. In addition to it, you will be focusing on objects big and small. All these exercise the eye muscles and reduce the accumulated strain on it. Doing these eye yoga regularly will improve vision. But eye yoga is a supplement to other important factors of eye health like nutritious food and good sleep patterns. So make sure you focus on all three to get the best benefits for your eye.

You are glued to your smart phone for work, entertainment or online classes. Your eyes become extremely tired from all that light and stress from using the smartphone. So with that in mind, here are some simple eye yoga you can do with just twenty minutes of your time everyday.

Simple Eye Yoga

Palming

• Sit cross-legged in a comfortable place with no noise
• Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and be aware of your body
• Rub your palms together till you feel the heat between your palms
• Now cover your eyes with your palms till the heat from your palms is transferred to your eyes.
• Repeat the same process ten times.

20-20-20

This is a simple and effective eye yoga just like palming. It is highly recommended for professionals who spend hours together on their computer screen. All you have to do is stare at an object that is 20 feet away after spending 20 minutes on your computer. This will decrease the digital eye strain and help you focus on your work better.

Blinking

• Sit cross-legged in a comfortable position
• Rapidly blink 10 times
• Relax your eyes for twenty seconds
• Repeat the procedure five times
• Blinking is an eye yoga that cleans the surface of your eye. It also provides ample lubrication and gets rid of dry eyes.

Rolling Up and Down

In this eye yoga you have to look up and down alternatively at a pace that is comfortable for you.

• Look at the ceiling
• Now look at the floor
• Again look at the ceiling
• Now look at the floor
• This eye yoga has to be done with minimal movement of your head. Move only your eyes upwards and downwards.

Rolling your eyes

Yes! Rolling your eyes actually has a great benefit if you do it systematically and with attention to your eyes.

• Move your eyes slowly in clockwise direction.
• Repeat this five times.
• Now move your eyes in the anticlockwise direction
• Repeat this five times
• Take your time and do it comfortably.

Imaginary eight

This eye yoga involves imagining a big number 8 about a few feet away from you. Not imagine tilting this number sideways and focus on the shape. You should roll your eyes as you would draw an eight sideways.

Focus shifting

• Cover your left eye
• Keep the left eye open in order to reduce strain. Just cover it with your left hand.
• Hold out your right thumb. Your arm should be right in front of you stretched fully.
• Start moving the right thumb towards the right side of the body as much as you can stretch.
• Follow your thumb with your eyes when you start moving the thumb.
• Only the eyes should move. Avoid moving your head.
• When the thumb goes out of your eyesight, start moving the thumb towards the left
• Follow the movement of your thumb with your right eye.
• Repeat this slowly for five times.
• Now cover the right eye and move the left thumb following the same procedure.

Yoga

The importance of yoga lies in its focus of being aware of our body and bodily functions. Be it the surya namaskar or meditation techniques or eye yoga, yoga is an easy and effective way to fitness. Other than the eye yoga here are some easy yoga exercises you can try with your family.

You have to work on your physical and mental fitness everyday. And fitness need not only mean complicated gym equipments and high intensity workouts. Try these and you will really see a difference in your eye health.