Author of this
article Steven Aitchison
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Over the last 10
– 15 years there has been a marked increase in the number of people who wear
glasses and contact lenses. This can be put down to drastically increased computer usage both at home and
at work, and increased television watching. Good
news for opticians around the world – bad news for us, but it needn’t be!
Our eyes need
regular exercise in order to keep them healthy, just like any other muscle in
the body. The thing is, we take it for granted that our eyes will eventually
give up on us and we will eventually need glasses or contact lenses. This
doesn’t have to be the case if you regularly exercise your eyes. Also, if you
start wearing glasses or contact lenses your eyesight will only get worse over
time rather than get better as your eyes will get used to the new lense and
need even stronger lenses to function properly. Everybody who wears glasses and
contacts will tell you their eyes have gradually got worse over time but they
have put it down to their eyesight getting worse which is not necessarily the
case.
This may sound
quite controversial to some people and a lot of people are opposed to this
advice when I have given it. Opticians are people of some authority so why
would someone listen to me rather than someone who has had years of training
and years of experience and have big fancy machines to test your eyes. Simple
answer is that 90% of opticians would not be required if everybody done some
sort eye exercise on a daily basis.
Of course there
are exceptions and a lot of people might need glasses or contacts due to
congenital problems or some kind of trauma however I believe most people who
wear glasses do not need them or did not need them in the first place.
I use the
computer at home and at work for an average of 9 hours per day and do not need
glasses. This is only because I have resisted listening to opticians who
advised I need them. Instead I have exercised my eyes and after a few weeks of
exercising my eyes, they have returned back to normal vision.
I know I will
get a lot of abuse for this post but I stand by what I am saying and advise
you, if you are a glasses wearer or contact lenses wearer to try the exercises
for a few weeks and let me know how you get on. What have you got to lose?
The exercises I
use are pretty standard and have been in the public domain for years but they
work for me and hopefully they will work for you. I have to give credit here to
Marc Grossman after finding his articles on eye exercises a few years ago.
5 Exercises to
strengthen your eye muscles and improve your vision
1.Blinking
Blinking is an
often overlooked yet simple way to keep your eyes fresh and being able to focus
longer. Computer users and television watchers tend to blink less, especially
when they are intently focused on something. Try it just now as a simple
exercise. For the next two minutes blink every 3 – 4 seconds. After you have
done this for two minutes, mentally take note of how your eyes feel, are they
strained, relaxed, tired. Now try and not blink for 30 seconds at a time for
two minutes. Do you feel any difference?
Whenever you
blink your eyes are going into a brief period of darkness which helps to keep
your eyes fresh and discharges previous information ready for new information,
this helps to reduce eye strain.
Your blink rate
can also help with your communication skills. Think about someone who looked at
you intently and you possibly felt threatened by them. What you may have missed
is the fact that they had stopped blinking. When someone stops blinking and
stares at you when you are talking it’s a sign of aggression. However whenever
you are talking to someone and they are blinking at a 3 -4 second interval it’s
a sign of a relaxed and friendly listener. Check out people’s blink rates the
next time you are talking. Check out this article for more info Dramatically improve your eye contact skills
2.Palming
This is done to
relieve stress around the eyes and as a way to relax your eyes whilst taking a
computer break.
Instructions for
palming
1. Take a few
deep breathes before you begin.
2. Make yourself
comfortable whilst leaning forward on a desk or with your elbows resting on
your knees. Close your eyes.
3. 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 you are not putting too much pressure on
your eyes.
That’s it.
Palming gives you the opportunity to rest your mind and your eyes for a few
minutes at a time. It may not sound 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.
3. Figure of
eight
This is to
exercise your eye muscles and increase their flexibility. This is quite a
simple exercise but a good one.
Imagine a giant
figure of eight in front of you about 10 feet in front of you. Now turn the 8
on it’s side. Now trace the figure of eight with your eyes, slowly. Do it one
way for a few minutes and then do it the other way for a few minutes. It may
seem very alien at first but it’s worth persevering with it.
4.Near and far focusing
This is one of
my favourite exercises as you can do it almost anywhere, I say almost as I
couldn’t imagine doing it on the underground without getting strange looks from
those around me.
Instructions for
Near and far focussing.
ü
Sit
in a comfortable position, or stand, this will only take 2-3 minutes at a time.
ü
Put
your thumb about 10 inches in front of you and focus on it.
ü
Now
focus on something else about 10 – 20 feet in front of you.
ü
On
each deep breath switch between focussing on your thumb and the 10-20 feet
object in front of you.
This will
strengthen the muscles in your eyes over time and improve your vision overall.
5.Zooming
This is another
one of my favourites as it is very easy and quick to do.
Instructions for
zooming
ü
Sit
in a comfortable position
ü
Stretch
out your arm with your thumb in the hitchhike position
ü
Focus
on your thumb as your arm is outstretched.
ü
Now
bring your thumb closer to you, focussing all the time, until your thumb is
about 3 inches in front of your face.
Now
move your thumb away again until your arm is fully outstretched.
Do
this for a few minutes at a time throughout the day.
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