Yoga For Tired Eyes

Tired eyes are unfortunately an occupational hazard for a many of us. Whether it’s the glare of the computer screen or the hours we spend poring over documents or driving long distances we put a lot of strain on our eyes so we really do need to give them a break every now and then.

Yoga is great for helping us relax and restore our body and mind and this includes our eyes too. Here are some eye yoga exercises that can help ease the muscles in our eyes and help our eyes focus. The great thing about these exercises is that we can do them almost anywhere (preferably away from the computer and definitely not while driving!)

Palming

• Rub your palms together until they feel nice and warm.
• Place your warm palms on your eyes and hold them here.
• Allow your eyes to rest and relax and enjoy the soothing sensation. I find that focusing on my breath helps me relax my mind as well as my eyes.

Blinking

Experts tell us that ideally we should blink up to 25 times per minute but sometimes when we’re concentrating on something we can forget to blink or don’t blink as much as we should so it’s good to find some time during the day to give your eyes a rapid blinking workout.

• Open your eyes nice and wide.
• Blink quickly around 10 times.
• Close your eyes and rest for 20 seconds then repeat this sequence another 3 times.

Looking Up and Down

• Sitting in a comfortable position, looking straight ahead and your body relaxed, move your gaze upwards keeping your neck still.
• Then bring your gaze down.
• Repeat this sequence up to 10 times.

Looking Sideways

• Move your eyes from side to side; again making sure it’s only your eyes that are moving and not your neck. 

Eye Circles

• Start by taking your gaze towards the ceiling then slowly take your eyes towards the right in a clockwise direction.
• From the right bring your gaze downwards and move your eyes slowly to the left.
• Repeat up to 10 times to begin with and then increase to 20 repetitions, as you feel more comfortable with the exercise.

Shifting Focus

• Holding a pencil in an outstretched arm in front of you, focus on the pencil.
• Slowly bring the pencil closer to your face until it appears blurred.
• Repeat this sequence another 3 times.