5 Eye exercises to improve your vision Over the last 10 15 years there has been a marked increase in the

number of peop le who wear glasses and contact lenses. This can be put down to drastically incr eased computer useage both at home and at work, and increased television watchin g. 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 othe r muscle in the body. The thing is, we take it for granted that our eyes will ev entually give up on us and we will eventually need glasses or contact lenses. Th is doesn t have to be the case if you regularly exercise your eyes. Also, if you s tart wearing glasses or contact lenses your eyesight will only get worse over ti me rather than get better as your eyes will get used to the new lense and need e ven stronger lenses to function properly. Everybody who wears glasses and contac ts 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 oppose d 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 trainin g 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 sor t eye exercise on a daily basis. Of course there are exceptions and a lot of people might need glasses or contact s due to congenital problems or some kind of trauma however I believe most peopl e who wear glasses do not need them or did not need them in the first place. I use the computer at home and not need glasses. This is only o advised I need them. Instead exercising my eyes, they have at work for an average of 9 hours per day and do because I have resisted listening to opticians wh I have exercised my eyes and after a few weeks of 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 a nd advise you, if you are a glasses wearer or contact lenses wearer to try the e xercises for a few weeks and let me know how you get on. What have you got to lo se? The exercises I use are pretty standard and have been in the public domain for y ears but they work for me and hopefully they will work for you. I have to give c redit here to Marc Grossman after finding his articles on eye exercises a few ye ars 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 s imple 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 s trained, 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 hel ps to keep your eyes fresh and discharges previous information ready for new inf ormation, this helps to reduce eye strain.

Your blink rate can also help with your communication skills. Think about someon e 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 b linking 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 inter val it s a sign of a relaxed and friendly listener. Check out people s blink rates t he 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 w hilst 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 elbow s resting on your knees. Close your eyes. 3. Place your two hands over your eyes with the cup of your palm covering your e yes, your fingers on your forehead and the heel of your hand will rest on your c heekbone. Make sure you can blink freely and you are not putting too much pressu re 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 b ig difference in your working day if you stop for a few minutes and do this exer cise. 3.Figure of eight This is to exercise your eye muscles and increase their flexibility. This is qui te a simple exercise but a good one. Imagine a giant figure of eight ow turn the 8 on it s side. Now Do it one way for a few minutes It may seem very alien at first 4.Near and far focussing in front of you about 10 feet in front of you. N trace the figure of eight with your eyes, slowly. and then do it the other way for a few minutes. but it s worth persevering with it.

This is one of my favourite exercises as you can do it almost anywhere, I say al most as I couldn t imagine doing it on the underground without getting strange loo ks from those around me. Instructions for Near and far focussing. 1.Sit in a comfortable position, or stand, this will only take 2-3 minutes at a time. 2.Put your thumb about 10 inches in front of you and focus on it. 3.Now focus on something else about 10 20 feet in front of you. 4.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

1.Sit in a comfortable position 2.Stretch out your arm with your thumb in the hitchhike position 3.Focus on your thumb as your arm is outstretched. 4.Now bring your thumb closer to you, focussing all the time, until your thumb i s about 3 inches in front of your face. 5.Now move your thumb away again until your arm is fully outstretched. 6.Do this for a few minutes at a time throughout the day. This exercise will strengthen your focussing skills and your eye muscles in gene ral. I hope this post has stimulated your interest in natural vision exercises and it leads you to research this subject more. I am by no means an expert on this sub ject so please do your own research. I can only tell you what works for me.