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Greetings! Don’t you just love those puppy eyes?
This past week I remembered something I did every morning as part of my “begin my positive day” routine. This is an eye exercise along with eye relaxation. During several years of my personal training business when I was in my 50’s, I also would teach my clients what I am about to explain and have them practice while stretching at the end of our sessions. Isn’t it interesting how the practices we learn and teach sometime get misplaced or forgotten only to return another day and time? ….and that is a good thing!
There are six muscles surrounding the eyes and they need to be considered as much as the rest of our bodies. Not only do we need to blink more often to moisturize and relive eye pressure, as I mentioned in my book, but those muscles need to be “range of motion” strengthened and then relaxed. Maybe strengthened is not the right word, but rather “lengthened” away from all the staring and straining we do from mobile devices, computers and watching TV.
The eye muscles are the fastest and most active muscles of the human body according to my latest fitness journal. (Sept 2018; VSP 2018) Also mentioned in this journal was that the eyes are 100 times stronger than they need to be. (Lenstore Vision Hub 2015) I find that information quite interesting given the fact that so many people suffer from eye vision “weaknesses” along with cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration.
The good news is that the research points to better eye health by moving more. There was a 15 year study done on nearly 4,000 older adults. They found the active people who exercised 3-4 times a week were less likely to develop macular degeneration. (Knudtson, Klein & Klein 2006). Another study suggested that walking 2-3 times a week results in less eye pressure which damages the optic nerve (Read & Collins 2011). Increased eye pressure can lead to Glaucoma. Remember, as I said above, to blink more. The average is 12 times a minute (VSP 2018) and that is not enough to help relieve eye pressure. So if you want better eye health get up and move more while blinking.
There is controversy about whether eye therapies work. According to pubmed.com there are doctors who claim they do.
“In 1920, a doctor named William Bates, MD, wrote a book called Perfect Sight Without Glasses. In it, he questioned whether glasses were the only way to fix a person’s vision. He decided they weren’t and created the Bates Method. It’s a way for people to improve their sight without glasses that’s still used today. But not all eye doctors are sold on the idea.”
“Leonard Press is an optometrist in Fair Lawn, NJ. He practices visual therapy. It’s a kind of physical therapy for your eyes and brain. The goal is to develop, heal, or improve how you see. Vision therapy can help certain conditions other than nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism.”
According to Greg Marsh, a certified natural vision coach, clear vision is achievable to virtually everyone, even if you’re already wearing strong corrective lenses.
https://articles.mercola.com/
Now back to my “range of motion” movements for eye health. Here is how you can do this and it only takes about 2 minutes for the first part. This is something you can do while resting during the first easy (non) movement. Before you begin, take notice of how your eyes are feeling.
Part 1:
Hold each position for 10-15 seconds.
Look straight up toward your eyebrows.
Now look down toward your cheeks.
Look left.
Look right.
Look diagonally up to the left..
Look diagonally down to the left.
Look diagonally up to the right.
Look diagonally down to the right.
Now slowly circle your eyes clockwise.
Then circle your eyes counterclockwise.
Look to the upper left and slowly bring your eyes to lower right like you were drawing a diagonal line. Then repeat lower right to upper left.
Repeat this from upper right to lower left, Then lower left to upper right.
(Envision you have made a big circle 2 directions with a large X in the middle)
Now look straight up toward your eyebrows and slowly draw an imaginary vertical line downward toward your cheeks. Repeat back up.
Then look left and draw an imaginary line vertically to the right. Repeat right to left.
Part 2:
The second part only takes another minute or so. Rub your hands together to bring warmth to them for about 15 seconds. Then cup them over your eyes and hold for about 45 seconds. Take note again of how your eyes feel after just these few minutes. What an easy great way to increase the health of them.
Here are a few other things you can do:
Focus
Hold your finger or a pen at arm’s length while you focus your eyes on it. Now slowly bring the pen/finger closer until it’s about 4-6 inches away from your nose. Then slowly move it back while maintaining your focus. Do this several times.
Massage
Use your finger tips to gently massage your temples in small circles, 10 to 20 times in one direction and then the other. Repeat the circling action just above the mid-point of the eyebrows. Now do this below the eyes right on the rim of the bony structure of your eye. Then move to on the sides of the bridge of the nose.
Rest
Cool your eyes while resting. Use a soft eye cover that you keep in the freezer, sliced cucumbers or refrigerated moist tea bags. Go into in a comfortable position and rest for 3-5
I hope you enjoyed this information. For great tips and strategies, download my free eBook 30 Intentions in 30 Days.
Click here for a free phone consultation to find out more about the Body Re-Design Program and how I can assist you to achieve optimal posture for optimal heath. Body Re-Design is not only about corrective exercise for good posture, but also about becoming functionally stronger with resistance exercises done effectively and efficiently. There is no obligation, only information and a time to answer your questions. If you enjoyed the videos and quick fit tips in my eBook, please subscribe to my YouTube Channel, as I will continue to add more ideas. Also follow me on Facebook to get the latest health and fitness information.
Wishing you a healthy pain free life,
Jacque
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