Your eyes work tirelessly every day, guiding you through life's adventures. Did you know that like any other muscle, your eye muscles can benefit from exercise too? Eye exercises are designed to strengthen your eye muscles, assist you in focusing, ease the movement of your eyes, and activate the vision center of your brain. Vision therapy, which consists of eye exercises, can improve eye coordination and lead to better overall visual performance.

Do eye exercises really work? Let’s explore:

Although While there are no specific eye exercises that work specifically against for myopia, some eye exercises can help be performed to alleviate the symptoms of eye strain. Regular eye exercises may not be effective in slowing down the progression of myopia but would be expected to reduce the decline in uncorrected distance visual acuity as a result of increased myopia that is typically observed among children as they age as a result of increased myopia.¹

Here are some eye exercises that are good for eyesight:²

• Focus workout- In a seated position, hold one finger a few centimeters from your eyes and focus on it. Gradually move your finger further away, while continuing to focus. After a quick break, look back at your finger and keep it focused as you move it back towards your eyes.

• Focus workout - This is a similar exercise, but with a wider range. It involves switching your focus between an object around 20cm away, and one around 5-10m away. For best results, repeat 5 times in one sitting.

• Figure-of-eight exercise - Sit looking at the floor. With your eyes focused aton a point around 5 meters from your seat, trace a figure-of-eight pattern. After 30 seconds, reverse the direction of your figure of eight.

Eye exercises and myopia

A study was conducted on including students who were made to undergo completed the eye exercises atof acupoints. Traditional Chinese "eye exercises of acupoints" have been a standard practice for easing visual symptoms and reducing myopia among school children. These exercises is were is done for five minutes in the morning and again in the afternoon. Those individuals who participated in performed the eye exercises on a consistent basis showed signs of a potential preventive impact against myopia, which translated to a lower degree of progression in myopia. After making adjustments for the students' s age, gender, and the average refractive error of their parents, as well as the amount of time spent doing near work and outdoor activities, this protective impact became statistically significant.¹ In addition, when compared to students who never performed the eye exercises, those who performed them seriously less than three times per week and those who performed them every time per week had a reduced risk of developing myopia.

Students who never performed eye exercises had the highest risk of developing myopia. After accounting for the same potential confounding factors, it was discovered in the study students who practiced the eye exercises of acupoints seriously each time per week had a lower risk of having myopic eyesight. In addition to this, it was found that students in grades one and two who performed the eye exercises with a "serious attitude" had improvements in their visual acuity.³

Natural Ways for Better Vision

Remember, eye health is a journey that involves multiple factors. Combining eye exercises with healthy habits and a nutritious diet or yoga can create a holistic approach to improving and maintaining good eyesight naturally.

Simple practices such as using good lighting when reading or working, following the 20/20/20 rule: resting the eyes from the computer or close-up work every 20 minutes by looking at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds helps promote good eye health and vision.⁴

Eye exercise helps to strengthen eye muscles, help to improve focus, ease eye movements and stimulate the brain’s vision centre.² However, They can not replace the vision corrections methods such as glasses using glasses, or contact lenses or surgeries. Hence, it is important to practice the good healthy habits and correction methods along with eye exercises for good vision.

Yoga exercises for eyes have been advocated as beneficial to eye health. While yoga can't directly remove glasses, certain eye yoga exercises are believed to help relax eye muscles, reduce strain, and improve focus.^5,6However, it's important to note that the effectiveness of yoga on eyesight varies from person to person. Yoga can complement other eye-care practices but might not eliminate the need for glasses entirely.

Prioritizing eye health through exercises, good habits, and regular eye examinations can lead to a lifetime of clear and vibrant vision. Let’s cherish those precious eyes!

References:

• 1. Wang H, Qian Y, Congdon N, Boswell M, Rozelle S, Ma X. Effect of Chinese eye exercises on change in visual acuity and eyeglasses wear among school-aged children in rural China: a propensity-score-matched cohort study. BMC complementary medicine and therapies. 2020 Dec;20(1):1-9.
• 2WebMD [Internet]. Exercises for Your Eyes; [cited 2023 Nov 6]. Available from: https://www.webmd.com/eye-health/eye-exercises
• 3. Lin Z, Vasudevan B, Fang SJ, Jhanji V, Mao GY, Han W, Gao TY, Ciuffreda KJ, Liang YB. Eye exercises of acupoints: their impact on myopia and visual symptoms in Chinese rural children. BMC complementary and alternative medicine. 2016 Dec;16(1):1-7.
• 4. Mayo Clinic [Internet]. Nearsightedness - Diagnosis and treatment - Mayo Clinic; 2022 Sep 16 [cited 2023 Aug 31]. Available from: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/nearsightedness/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20375561
• 5. Telles S, Naveen KV, Dash M, Deginal R, Manjunath NK. Effect of yoga on self-rated visual discomfort in computer users. Head Face Med. 2006 Dec 3;2:46. doi: 10.1186/1746-160X-2-46.
• 6. Gupta S, Aparna S. Effect of yoga ocular exercises on eye fatigue. Int J Yoga [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2023 Aug 31];13(1):76. Available from: https://doi.org/10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_26_19

FAQs

Q1. Do eye exercises really work?
Ans. Do eye exercises really work? Let’s explore: While there are no specific eye exercises that work specifically against myopia, some eye exercises can help alleviate the symptoms of eye strain. Regular eye exercises may not be effective in slowing down the progression of myopia but would be expected to reduce the decline in uncorrected distance visual acuity as a result of increased myopia that is typically observed among children as they age.¹

Q2. What exercises are good for eyesight?
Ans. Some eye exercises that are good for eyesight:²
• Focus workout- In a seated position, hold one finger a few centimeters from your eyes and focus on it. Gradually move your finger further away, while continuing to focus. After a quick break, look back at your finger and keep it focused as you move it back towards your eyes.
• Focus workout - This is a similar exercise, but with a wider range. It involves switching your focus between an object around 20cm away, and one around 5-10m away. For best results, repeat 5 times in one sitting.
• Figure-of-eight exercise - Sit looking at the floor. With your eyes focused on a point around 5 meters from your seat, trace a figure-of-eight pattern. After 30 seconds, reverse the direction of your figure of eight.

Q3. How can I improve my eyesight naturally?
Ans. Natural Ways for Better Vision
Remember, eye health is a journey that involves multiple factors. Combining eye exercises with healthy habits and a nutritious diet or yoga can create a holistic approach to improving and maintaining good eyesight naturally.
Simple practices such as using good lighting when reading or working, following the 20/20/20 rule: resting the eyes from the computer or close-up work every 20 minutes by looking at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds helps promote good eye health and vision.⁴

Q4. Can yoga remove glasses?
Ans. While yoga can't directly remove glasses, certain eye yoga exercises are believed to help relax eye muscles, reduce strain, and improve focus.^5,6 However, it's important to note that the effectiveness of yoga on eyesight varies from person to person. Yoga can complement other eye-care practices but might not eliminate the need for glasses entirely.