Exercises for your eyes

When January rolls around, it becomes gym season with everyone trying to frantically work off their Christmas indulgences. With all this focus on the health of our body, why do we not pay more attention to our eyesight?

Our eyes can benefit just as much from exercise as our body can, helping to keep your eyes healthy and strong. We take a look at some of the best exercises you can do for your eyesight and how exercise can help to improve the health of your eyes.

1. Shifting focus (zooming)

This is one of the easiest and discreet ways of exercising your eyes. All you have to do is focus on something at a distance and slowly focus on something closer, in order to change your depth of field.

Changing focus like this helps to wake up the muscles in the eye, but try and do it slowly, too quickly and you could end up making yourself feel a bit seasick!

2. Shifting from one side to the other

Rather than shifting focus, you can also move your eyes from side to side and up and down to give your eyes a workout. Simply look from one side to the other, again slowly, to stretch out the muscles in the eyes.

This exercise can be a great stress reliever and it is often incorporated into yoga sessions to help wake up the face.

3. Figure of eight

Similar to the exercise above, you can also do a figure of eight with your eyes to give them a more dynamic stretch. Again, this can make you feel a little dizzy if done too quickly, so take things slow to really feel the benefit.

4. The 20-20-20 rule

The 20-20-20 rule is something that a lot of professionals, working with computers or other screens, like to practice during the day. Our eyes were not made to focus on one specific thing for long periods of time, and they can become strained when working with screens.

To help give your eyes a much-needed break throughout the day, try the 20-20-20 rule. 20 minutes of screen time, then take a break, look at something 20 ft away for 20 seconds and then resume. This helps to break up the amount of time your eyes have to focus on your screen and can stop your eyes from becoming strained.

5. Exercising your periphery

Exercising your peripheral vision is something not many people think to do. To give it a refresh, we can look into the distance and attempt to focus on our peripheral more than what is directly in front of us.

Another technique, which is best left to the comfort of your own home, is to place a piece of card or paper directly in front of your eyes, leaving only your peripheral vision. Pay attention and focus on the objects that surround you.

There is limited evidence as to whether eye exercises can improve or ‘cure’ your eyesight ailments, but exercises like this could help to prevent eye strain, headaches and can also help to reduce stress.

If you’re in need of some new glasses to help you combat eye strain, why not take a look at our new arrivals?