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.
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
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:
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.
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.
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:
This will strengthen the muscles in your eyes over time and improve your vision overall.
This is another one of my favourites as it is very easy and quick to do.
Instructions for zooming:
This exercise will strengthen your focusing skills and your eye muscles in general.