Eye Yoga: Can Exercise Help Improve Vision?

 

 

 Eye Yoga:

Do you wear glasses due to poor eyesight, but is the desire to get rid of the burden of glasses also frequent in your heart?

Musician Paul Mack Cartney recently told, “The Times Magazine” that he practices eye yoga (exercises) to get rid of glasses and prevent further vision loss. In this interview, Paul Mack, a former member of The Beatles, revealed that he learned about special eye exercises in India a few years ago and has been practicing them ever since.

Singer says that the need to wear glasses can be minimized by exercising the eye muscles. Mack Cartney has demonstrated some practical eye yoga exercises on YouTube.

So, what is eye yoga? And can exercising your eyes minimize the need to wear glasses?

Step-by-Step Exercises

Various forms of eye yoga have been practiced for thousands of years. An example is Tratak Kriya Yoga, which originated in India.

While doing this practice, the first step is to instill in yourself the belief that doing so will help you develop higher spiritual abilities within yourself.

The Sanskrit word “Tratak” means “to see” and this yoga involves staring at an object, like staring at a candle flame without blinking until the eyes water.

New York ophthalmologist Dr. William Bates published in the late 19th century “A Method for Improving Eyesight” in which he argued that eye exercises could prevent the need for glasses.

The doctor believed that the need for glasses could be overcome through eye movements exercises and visualization techniques.

Such as focusing on the outline of letters while looking at an eye test chart, blinking repeatedly, closing your eyes to look at the letter imagining it deeply, and seeing it black and clear.

A website containing the eye exercises of Dr. William Bates still vindicates his work today. However, William Bates' theory, that the eye changes shape during movement and focusing, is not correct.

A 2018 study in the International Journal of Yoga compared visual acuity and refractive error (a prescription for a person's eyeglass number) in two groups who practiced William Bates exercises for eight weeks.

The study concluded that neither exercise made a difference in these two conditions.

William Bates' method of promoting solarization (looking at the sun) has been rejected by ophthalmologists not only for lack of evidence but as potentially harmful.

To understand why Eye Yoga or Bates Theory exercises improve vision or not we need to understand how the eye works.

 

Why do We need Glasses?

Lenses are needed when light rays are not focused on the retina.

When the focus point is in front of the retina, it is myopia or nearsightedness. When the focus point is behind the retina, it is hyperopia.

Astigmatism causes distant objects to appear blurry and occurs when the front surface of the eye is curved more like a rugby ball than a sphere.

Presbyopia is a common aging process in which the lens of the eye hardens and becomes unable to focus on close objects. This is why most people need glasses in middle age.

The central part of our eyes is the cornea (the front part of the eye), but the lens is the part that is sensitive and becomes more convex or convex when focusing on close objects and when focusing on distant objects. So, it gets spot on.

The size and dilation of the pupil are controlled by the ciliary muscles and ligaments on the outside of the pupil. In contrast, the muscles involved in eye movement are located outside the eye.

Intrinsic and extrinsic eye muscles work together to some extent (involves both coordination and focus during reading), affecting the shape or size of the eye or focus by focusing on different objects or looking far away. It doesn't happen.

So, eye exercises are apparently of no use.

However, orthoptists and eye specialists often recommend specific exercises.

An example is the “convergence or lack of focusing on one point” in which people experience double vision. A pencil exercise is recommended in which the eyes focus on the pencil, and it is slowly brought towards the nose.

For young children who cannot wear glasses but have trouble focusing on an object, it is helpful to practice focusing on a small letter and gradually bringing it closer to the nose.

Adults may experience problems looking up as they age. At a young age, we all love to look up, but the eye muscles get tired without exercise.

It is believed that if you are not doing something daily that exercises your eyes, without it (exercise) and as you age, it may become difficult to look up.

Although these exercises can correct some vision problems, there is little evidence that exercise helps to control presbyopia (where distant objects appear clear and sharp while near objects appear blurry).

 

How to Protect the Eyes?

We all want to take care of and improve our eyes and vision. Just a few minutes of eye exercise and relaxing your eye muscles by looking at the distance will not hurt your eyes.

But lifestyle changes are more helpful.

Having an eye exam with an optometrist (usually every year for children and every two years for adults) to check the number of glasses, eye pressure, retina, and eye health ensures that glaucoma is not a problem. Like other diseases, treatment can be started on time by detecting the early symptoms.

In addition, reducing screen time also helps reduce dry eyes.

It is recommended to follow the 20:20:20 rule: that is, take a 20-second break every 20 minutes and look no further than 20 feet (6 meters).

Spending time outdoors in the open climate is also good for the eyes and children who spend time outdoors playing sports are less likely to develop poor eyesight.

Evidence has shown that the Mediterranean diet and green leafy vegetables such as spinach protect you from macular degeneration.

A diet rich in omega-3 helps in curing dry eyes.

Good sleep and wearing good quality dark sunglasses in sunlight are also recommended.

If you suffer from dry eye disease or have been using screens for long periods, massaging the eye glands can help ease the discomfort.

A simple method is to gently press a warm cloth on the eyelids and massage towards the lower part of the eye to draw the oil produced on the eyelids to the surface of the eye. Doing so will make you feel relaxed.

Reading in good lighting is best for eye health and if possible, try to read on a computer rather than a phone.

Eye exercises cannot reduce or eliminate the need to wear glasses, but there are other ways to take care of your eyes and vision.

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