Yoga for your eyes!

[Batu69]

Don’t laugh - it really might help you see better. FEMAIL tries the new trend which could relieve eye strain

• Eye yoga is a new trend which may help promote eye health
• It involves stretching, blinking and warming the eyes regularly
• Alice Smellie tries the exercises - and is happily surprised by the results

Before starting a workout, I stretch - as one must. I sit and close my eyes, then open them and move my eyeballs up and down and side to side. After a few minutes, I pop my hands over my face. That's my exercise done. The day can begin.

Sound a bit odd? Not as much as you might think. I'm tapping into a new trend for working out the eyes, known as eye yoga.

Potential benefits are said to be incredible. It is believed to relieve eye dryness, eye strain - suffered by up to 90 per cent of computer users - and alleviate the itchiness of hay fever. Some suggest workouts can improve long or short-sightedness - though experts do not agree.

Alice Smellie tries out eye yoga, which is believed to relieve eye dryness, eye strain - suffered by up to 90 per cent of computer users - and alleviate the itchiness of hay fever

So, how does it work? Six muscles move the eyeball, and eye yoga advocates suggest we ought to be exercising these in specific ways.

'Eye yoga has long been thought to help eye health,' says yoga trainer Lindsay Jay of Gymcube.com.

'My clients were surprised, but it makes sense yoga might improve the eye's strength and flexibility as well as the body's.'

Optician Dilip Darjee from Silhouette eyewear, which has developed a workout to help tired eyes, says: 'Research has suggested that eye exercises can help reduce strain. Try doing them for a week.'

I'm a cheerful wearer of glasses and contact lenses, but my eyes are often dry from staring at my computer screen, and they are made worse by hay fever.

I gave six exercises a go for a week and was astonished by the significant difference to my eyes.

MORNING STRETCH

An eye muscle workout could help to wake you up at the start of the day. Alice finds that her eyes look slightly brighter, but can't see any other benefits

THEORY: Wake up with an eye muscle workout.

THE EXERCISE: Sit cross-legged and concentrate on breathing. Look up and down five times and close your eyes. Open your eyes, look left and right five times, then close again.

Open your eyes, look to the upper right and the lower left five times, then close. Open again, look to the upper left and lower right five times and close. Rub your palms together then lay them on your eyes. This warms and moistens them.

Experts warn that if you feel any discomfort doing the exercises, you must stop immediately.

DOES IT WORK? I enjoy the deep breathing. It's like meditation, though I just feel sleepy. But it's an effort for my eyes at first - they feel as though I'm weight lifting. It gets easier.

I'm not convinced by benefits beyond waking up a bit. Perhaps my eyes look slightly brighter.

EXPERT: 'This is a relaxing start to the day and may wake you up,' says ophthalmologist Andrew Bridges, a director at Leightons opticians. 'Warming hands and placing them on the eyes may help stimulate tears and lubricate dry eyes.'

SUPERPOWER SIGHT

By focusing on objects at different distances, you exercise your eyes as well as providing relief from eye strain. Alice notices a distinct improvement in her close-up focus when she does this exercise for a week

THEORY: By focusing on objects at different distances, you exercise your eyes as well as providing relief from eye strain.

THE EXERCISE: Hold a pen at arm's length. Focus your gaze on the tip of the pen and slowly bring it closer to your nose.

Repeat five to ten times. This helps to improve focus over time - it is called convergence and strengthens the eye's muscles.

DOES IT WORK? Though I've been warned this is no panacea to reading glasses, I'm sure I notice a slight, but distinct improvement in close-up focus over a week.

EXPERT: 'This is great,' says Andrew. 'Day by day, aim to have the pen in focus closer towards your nose. Remember, this is not going to improve your long or short-sightedness.'

REST AND REFRESH

Closing your eyes and warming them with your palms could relax and rejuvenate your eye muscles. Alice says that after the exercise her eyes feel refreshed

THEORY: Relaxes and rejuvenates the eye muscles and stimulates fluid circulation.

THE EXERCISE: Close your eyes and rub palms firmly together until they are warm. Place arched palms gently over your eyelids without directly touching them. Repeat three times.

DOES IT WORK? Eyes feel refreshed and adding in deep breathing feels like having a midday nap.

EXPERT: 'This may be a good idea,' says Andrew. 'It might work even better with a warm compress placed over the lids. Then gently massage to stimulate oil glands.'

THINK, BLINK

Blinking hard is supposed to moisturise and relax eyes. Alice worries about creating wrinkles but she does think her eyes feel dry afterwards

THEORY: Many of us don't blink as much as we ought to. This moisturises and relaxes eyes.

THE EXERCISE: Press eyelids together firmly and tense eye muscles (below). Hold for three seconds then quickly release.

Blink a few times and repeat at least four times.

DOES IT WORK? I can't help thinking about the wrinkles that may form, but my eyes feel less dry afterwards.

EXPERT: 'This will lubricate the lid, but don't squeeze too hard as it won't help with certain eye conditions,' says Andrew.

'Extra pressure on the eyes may temporarily increase pressure on the fluid in the eyes.

'Prolonged rubbing may be an issue for those with glaucoma or at risk of glaucoma. Also avoid prolonged and vigorous rubbing if you have corneal issues.'

CRYING CLEAN OUT

Although triggering tears may help to clean your eyes, it's not advisable to look directly at a light source

THEORY: Making eyes water will clean them out, flushing away any debris.

THE EXERCISE: Do straight before bed. Sit cross-legged on a cushion, 1m away from a lit candle and stare at the flame until your eyes start stinging and tears run down. Then relax for ten minutes.

DOES IT WORK? I can't get this to work. My eyes don't water and just feel tired.

EXPERT: 'This will trigger tears, but I'm not sure I'd advocate looking directly at a light source,' says Andrew.

BANISH PUFFINESS

Fluid retention causes puffy eyes, so blinking vigorously could help to get rid of puffiness. While Alice doesn't think it reduces her puffiness, her eyes do feel less dry

THEORY: Fluid retention causes puffy eyes. When you sleep deeply you don't blink and fluid accumulates around your eyes.

THE EXERCISE: Blink vigorously for 30 seconds to dissipate fluid and get rid of puffiness.

DOES IT WORK? I blink for twice the amount of time, but am not sure this gets rid of my puffy eyes. However, it does make my dry and itchy morning eyes feel much more comfortable, which makes sense as the eye is being moisturised.

EXPERT: 'Blinking replenishes the tear film and removes debris from the surface of the eye,' says Andrew. 'It will certainly help moisturise dry and tired eyes.'

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[onlyme2]

First thing that came to my mind when I read the title "Yoga for your eyes!", was how can sitting cross eyed in the lotus position help in relieving eye strain. 

[humble3d]

I've used a similar protocol for years and it helps...