Our hectic lives are dominated mainly by screens, from computer screens to mindless social media scrolling and binge-watching. This has severely affected the eye health of people of all ages, causing them to experience strained eyes, blurred vision, dry eyes, and other eye issues.
The ancient practice of Yoga offers a holistic and natural way to boost eye vision and improve overall eye health. Simple and quick yoga eye practices can help strengthen eye muscles, reduce eye strain, improve vision, and protect eyes from common eye problems like dry eyes and straining.
In this article, we discuss 5 different Yoga Asanas to transform your eye health and how they can significantly contribute to maintaining healthy eye vision.
Connection Between Yoga and Your Eye Health.
Our eyes are considered to be the window to the world; from the time we wake up until we sleep, they are working non-stop. Our vision is associated with more than half of the brain tissues, allowing the brain to receive information.
However, excessive screen time, deficient lighting, eye fatigue, stress, and ageing can cause exhaustion, discomfort, and poor vision. Regular yoga exercises for eyes support eye muscle flexibility, relaxation, and circulation to the eyes, relieve eye strain, and enhance overall well-being.
Adding Eye Yoga to Your Daily Routine
Yoga poses involve simple movements and exercises that relax and rejuvenate the eyes, enhancing visual activity and coordination between the eyes and brain. Practicing these simple yet effective eye exercises offers numerous benefits for your eyes for years to come.
Yoga Exercises to Enhance and Maintain Eye Vision & Overall Well-Being
Try these simple yoga exercises every day to maintain eye health:
Palming (Hasta Mudra)
Palming or Hasta Mudra, a rejuvenating Yoga for good eyesight, provides comforting relief for eyes that are over-stressed and promotes deep relaxation. It involves rubbing your palms against each other until they are warmed and then gently placing them over closed eyes. Allow the warmth of your hand to be absorbed by your eyes to relieve tension and stress. Palming the eyes is a great exercise for blurred vision and tired eyes. It helps lower the tension in your eye muscles and helps them relax.
Benefits of Palming Yoga:
- Palming Yoga helps to combat the negative effects of prolonged screen exposure. Placing the palm on the eyes creates a dark space, allowing the eyes to relax from constant blue light.
- It helps reduce eye strain, headaches, and issues associated with prolonged exposure to screens.
- It rejuvenates and relaxes the optic nerves and improves brain function.
- Placing warm palms on the eyes activates the nerve endings and energizes the entire body.
- Practicing palming helps to improve vision, promote mindfulness, and enhance concentration and self-awareness.
Blinking (Sarvangasana)
Blinking or Sarvangasana is an excellent eye Yoga exercise that can be added to your daily routine to help reduce eye strain and maintain optimal vision. To practice Sarvangasana, simply sit down comfortably with your eyes open and start blinking rapidly 10 to 15 times. Then, close your eyes and relax for some time while focusing on your breath. Repeat this sequence 3 to 5 times. Blinking is the best Yoga for dry eyes as it lubricates the eyes and prevents them from drying, which is crucial for clear eye vision.
Benefits of Blinking Yoga
- Blinking exercises help to improve poor blinking patterns and dry eye.
- It also helps to protect against digital devices.
- It promotes blinking reflexes to become more spontaneous
Regular blinking Yoga exercises relax eye muscles.
Eye Rotations (Netra Vyayam)
Eye rotations, or Netra Vyayam, is an eyeball exercise that relieves eyeball strain, reduces strain and pressure, and improves flexibility and muscle strength. To practice this Yoga to increase eyesight simply sit upright with a straight spine and hands resting on your lap. Roll your eyes in a clockwise, counterwise, up-down, and side-to-side movement. Repeat these movements for 5-10 minutes in each direction. Netra Vyayam is an excellent exercise for eye muscle flexibility and blood circulation to the eyes and promotes better coordination for sharper vision.
Benefits of Eye Rotation Yoga
- Eye rotation Yoga Helps to improve vision and lowers the risks of developing problems associated with eyes like Glaucoma, cataracts, and age-related issues such as macular degeneration.
- It also helps to reduce eye dryness, improve concentration, and boost peripheral vision.
- The Netra Vyayam exercise is renowned Yoga for eyes to remove glasses as it gives flexibility to eye muscles and improves focus.
- Long-term practice of eye rotation helps to clean the eyes, remove toxins, and keep them active.
- It is a great exercise for employees as it cultivates body awareness and inner presence and controls the mind from cluttered thoughts by controlling eyes.
Bhramani Pranayam
Up-down movement or Bhramani Pranayam (humming bee breath) is a popular Yoga practice that calms the mind and rejuvenates the eyes. It focuses on deep breathing to improve blood circulation and eye coordination. To practice the Bhramani Pranayama for eyes, sit in a comfortable position cross-legged and close your eyes and ears by gently pressing your thumb against them. Now, place your index finger between your eyebrows while the ring and little finger are at the base of your nostril. Breathe in deeply, hold your breath for a few seconds, and exhale slowly, making a humming sound. Repeat this 5 times. It helps to calm the mind and improve overall eye health.
Benefits of Bhramani Pranayam
- Bhramani Pranayam helps to increase the focus and coordination between both eyes.
- It promotes mental clarity and focus and improves eyesight by calming the nerves.
- It helps boost blood flow around the eyes, reducing dark circles and puffiness.
- Controlled breathing calms the mind and reduces eye strain.
Up-Down Movement Eye Yoga
The up-down movement is a relaxing Yoga practice that involves sitting straight on a flat surface and looking at the ceiling. Then, slowly shift your gaze downwards and look up again. Repeat this exercise for around 10 to 15 minutes, allowing connection with your eye movements and sensations of your body. If you are looking for what is good for eyesight, the up-down movement Yoga can help improve eye coordination and strengthen the eye muscles.
Benefit Up-Down Movement Yoga
- The up-down movement of Yoga helps to stretch and rejuvenate the eye area.
- It helps to improve peripheral vision and improves flexibility.
The up-down movement of the eyes allows them to unwind and relax. - It stimulates blood flow to the eyes to support optimal eye function.
How Does Yoga Help Improve Eyesight?
The holistic approach to eye health emphasizes physical and mental factors that can impact our eye health. Here are some ways Yoga can help improve eyesight and overall eye health.
Benefits of Yoga for Improving Eye Health
Relaxes Eye Strain:
The Yoga poses for eyes help to calm and soothe the eye muscles while reducing tension caused by prolonged screen time and stress.
Enhances Vision:
Eye Yoga can help improve eyesight and make them more sharper, reducing the dependence on glasses or contacts.
Improves Blood Circulation:
Enhanced blood circulation nourishes the eyes while promoting optimal eye health.
Improved Flexibility:
Eye Yoga practices help to enhance the flexibility of eye muscles, which can help improve focus and vision.
Reducing the Risk of Eye Diseases:
Eye Yoga practices help to enhance the flexibility of eye muscles, which can help improve focus and vision.
Ageing:
Yoga exercises can help improve age-related issues like macular degeneration and presbyopia.
Conclusion
The improvement of eye health is very crucial, especially in the wake of rising digital devices and increasing screen timing. Yoga Asanas ease eye strain, enhance focus, and promote deep relaxation. Adding Yoga into your daily life , a nutrient-rich diet, and a healthy lifestyle can help you maintain good eye health. So dedicate some time in your hectic schedule towards your health and practice Yoga exercises to maintain good eye health! Also to achieve overall well-being and maximising the effectiveness of any workout or exercises you follow combine meditation and exercise.
References:
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32409236/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6937872/
- https://www.tummee.com/yoga-poses/eye-exercise-palming/benefits
- https://www.tummee.com/yoga-poses/eyes-circles-close-up
- https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/health/ayurveda/practices/insight-for-sore-eyes/
