Yoga Poses for Improved Eyesight
Your eyes could use a little yoga love, too!
Our eyes are muscles that, like any other muscle, begin to weaken as we age. Most people experience a decline in their vision over time, not to mention more complicated eye problems like lazy eye and double vision.
Believe it or not, we do have the ability to improve our vision and keep our eyes healthy even after they begin to weaken. Yoga exercises can help you with this! Do some simple eye exercises each day to literally tone your eye muscles and improve your vision. Below are four key exercises to try.
1. Palming
Palming is an easy exercise to provide deep relaxation for your eyes, which in turn helps relieve eye strain and tension. Palming also reduces tiredness and puffiness of the eyes and improves the blood circulation.Let’s try it:
- Begin seated in a comfortable position
- Rub both your palms together until you feel heat from your palms
- Gently cup your palms over your eyes
- Be sure your eyes are completely covered so no light gets through
- Take a deep breath and feel the warmth coming from the palms
- Enjoy for a few breaths, then repeat if desired
2. Trataka or Concentrated Gaze
The practice of Trataka, meaning a concentrated gaze, is simply gazing at an object continuously for a fixed period of time. This fixed gaze will help strengthen your eye muscles, which can help improve nearsightedness. Trakata is also a wonderful practice to improve concentration and develop your intuition.Let’s try it:
- Begin in a comfortable seated position in a dimly lit room
- Place a lit candle about two feet in front of you
- Begin gazing at the flame as long as you can without blinking
- Gently close your eyes when needed and visualize the flame in your mind
- Don’t worry if you don’t see the flame in your mind right away
- Repeat this practice a few times
3. Kapalbhati Pranayama
Kapalbhati Pranayama is a very powerful exercise that increases circulation throughout your entire body. Improving the circulation of oxygen helps reduce the mental strain and tension in the eye muscles, which helps improve eyesight.Let’s try it:
- Begin in a comfortable seated position. Option to sit with your back against the wall for extra support
- Close your eyes and place your hands on your belly
- Focus on your lower abdomen to activate conscious breathing
- Inhale quickly into your belly and immediately exhale the air from your belly
- Continue this quick breath for about 20 seconds and gradually begin to increase the cycles
- With practice, you can eventually reach 100 repetitions
4. Eye Rotation Exercises
A simple yet effective practice of moving the eyes helps keep the eyes healthy and improve vision overall. Practice these exercises listed below for just a few minutes a day to maintain optimal vision.Movement 1: Eye Movement Up and Down, Left and Right
Let’s try it:
- Make a fist with your right hand and extend your right thumb (give yourself a thumbs up!)
- Gaze directly at your thumb, and then follow it as you move the hand up and down
- Repeat the same exercise, but now move the hand left and right as you follow the thumb with your gaze
Movement 2: Eye Rotation Clockwise and Counterclockwise
Let’s try it:
- Begin in a comfortable seated position and rest your hands on your knees. This exercise only uses your eyes, so you won’t need your thumb
- Begin to draw big circles with your eyes, looking slowly in every direction in a clockwise circle
- Repeat this several times through and then reverse the direction and take your gaze counterclockwise (be sure you do the same amount of rotations in both directions)
