We all understand how important it is to maintain our vision as we age. Many people incorporate certain foods and vitamins into their diet in order to avoid vision loss, but did you know there are simple eye exercise you can do as well? Each exercise takes no more than a few minutes and the benefits are well worth it. Give them a try!
- Look in 4 Directions
This simple exercise is fantastic for helping strengthen the optical muscles and nerves. To do this exercise, stand up in a straight and comfortable position. First look to your right and pick an object to focus on, next look to your left and do the same thing. Then, look up and focus on an object or area of the ceiling, and finally look down and focus your eyes.
- Changing Focus
For this exercise all you will need is a small object, such as a pencil or a coin. To start, stretch your arm all the way out while holding the object in your hand. Slowly move your arm closer to your face while maintaining focus on the object you are holding. Continue doing this until the object is about three inches from your face. Then do the reverse and slowly begin stretching your arm back out while focusing on the object you are holding. Do this exercise 3 or 4 times daily.
- Palming
This exercise feels great when your eyes need a little rest. Sit comfortably in a chair and prop your elbows up on a desk or table. Next place the palm of your hands over your eyes without applying too much pressure. Hold this position for a few minutes in order to reduce tension in your eyes and relax the muscles.
- Near and Far
Start this exercise by looking at something close to you, about 8 to 10 inches away from your face. Once your eyes have adjusted, pick another object in the room further away and adjust your eyes to focus on that object. Repeat that process going back and forth between close and far objects in order to strengthen your nearsightedness or farsightedness.
Doing each of these exercises every day will help protect your eye health and ultimately your vision. In the same way it’s important for us to exercise the muscles in the rest of our body, it’s equally as important to exercise our eye muscles. With cell phones, tablets, TV and computer screens constantly around us, we need to make sure to take a break and protect our eyes from stress, tension, and weakness that can develop as we age.
