“How to relieve eye strain?” is unfortunately becoming a very common question across the world. However, there are some very simply eye exercises that can be performed to bring relief to eye strain symptoms and overcome the feeling of eye fatigue that so many of us experience.
Eye Strain Exercise 1 – Distance Looking Eye Exercise
Although this sounds like common sense, it is surprising how many people forget to look into the distance after spending many, many hours looking near. When we want to focus on a close object the muscles in our eyes contract. This rounds the lens allowing the image to be focused on our macula, which is the part of the retina responsible for seeing crisp, clear, detailed images.
How to Relieve this Eye Strain
Like any muscle this is fine for a short period of time, but as the hours build, the muscle fatigues and becomes weak. Before long eye strain sets in. So by performing the Distance Looking Eye Exercise we allow the muscles in our eyes to relax. We relieve eye strain.
Eye Strain Exercise 2 – Obstruction Eye Exercise
When discussing the causes of eye strain in podcast episode #61 | What Causes Eye Strain we discussed how unbalanced use of our eyes is a big contributor to the strain. Everyone has an eye that they favor just like we favor our right or left hands. Over time this imbalance puts excessive strain on the stronger eye and further weakens the weaker eye.
How to Relieve this Eye Strain
So by performing the Eye Obstruction Exercise you obstruct the stronger eye allowing it to get some much needed rest, helping you overcome the fatigue. At the same time you are encouraging the brain to use the weaker eye, restoring visual balance.
Eye Strain Exercise 3 – Peripheral Vision Eye Exercise
Overly favoring one eye over the other can cause eye strain; so can favoring our central vision over our peripheral vision. As previously mentioned it is our central vision that sees fine detail. The periphery is more for movement and to see in low levels of light. When trying to focus on reading a book or on watching some form of electronic media with our central vision, the world around us can seem like a visual distraction. As a result the brain ignores the periphery and focuses on our central vision.
How to Relieve this Eye Strain
It is easy to see how, over time, this imbalance can fatigue the eyes. By performing the Peripheral Vision Eye Exercise we can bring relief to eye strain by resting the central vision and by reengaging the periphery, restoring balance to our eyes.
Eye Strain Exercise 3 – Blinking Eye Exercise
When focusing on an object the eye lessens the rate of blinking so we can absorb its content more easily. Overtime this creates eyestrain along with the symptoms of sore, red eyes that feel itchy and dry.
How to Relieve this Eye Strain
The best way to help this eye strain is to BLINK. We know it sounds obvious but so few of us do it. By following the Blinking Eye Exercise we can help lubricate and rejuvenate our eyes.
Eye Strain Exercise 5 – Sunning Eye Exercise
After successfully developing a societal fear of the sun many people have weakened the eyes ability to function normally under natural sunlight. Squinting and reaching for sunglasses are clear signs that you have difficulties adapting to the sun. This inability to adapt to sunlight can quickly lead to eyestrain.
How to Relieve this Eye Strain
Performing the Sunning Eye Exercise can bring relief for eye strain by allowing the eyes to adapt naturally to sun by constricting our pupils fully and by waking up the cone cells in our retinas.
Eye Strain Exercise 6 – Palming Eye Exercise
After working all day we come home to rest our muscles and minds with leisure activities. However, most of these activities do not rest the eyes. Watching television, reading and surfing the web do not rest the eyes; they actually lead to even more eye strain.
How to Relieve this Eye Strain
To help relieve this eye fatigue we want to perform the Eye Exercise called Palming. When we Palm we completely rest the visual system by preventing any light from entering the eyes. We also bring healing attention and energy from our hands.
Question of the week
In the question of the week we discuss the difference between scanning and shifting.
Audio Version
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Thankyou for the help on relieving eyestrain! I feel this will really help me improve my eyes by using them naturally. I have one question, however. I have been doing the myopia program for high myopia several months. It says to do sunning, palming, and DISTANCE looking. But I recently bought your recommended book “Vision for Life” by Meir Schneider who I think you guys are practitioners for. In the book under Myopia, it said to do night walking, periphery exercise, palming, and shifting for Myopia. This seems more like it is for RP? It never mentions distance looking for this condition, but I would really like to know which exercises to do since I’m spending several hours a day. Please help? Should I spend the most time on Distance looking, or should I do the other exercises more like periphery and shifting? Thanks 🙂
Hi Brandon, although we are practitioners in the Meir Schneider method we can not say why Meir chose those specific exercises in his vision for life book, but we are sure he has a good reason for it. The best way to find out is by contacting the School for Self Healing via phone or email and see if you can get a response. If you are further uncertain you might want to try his program for a while a see if you notice anything. Best wishes.
Why after doing the distance looking eye exercise for about 1 hour I will notice a stiffness around my eyes, like there is a strain. Please help me!
There could be many reasons for your eyes feeling strained after distance looking. Try palming for 20 minutes before to see if you notice the same strain, this can also help relax the eyes before distance looking. You should also try palming after distant looking and see if this helps to reduce the strain. Finally try physical exercise after to also reduce strain. Best wishes, W and R