I'm approaching 50, and I still don't need reading glasses! One of the things I've been doing regularly to maintain my good eyesight is exercising my eye muscles.
Just as we exercise the muscles in the rest of our body, I believe it's worth keeping our eyes active, too. I have been doing these exercises for years, and I'm very happy with my eyesight.
I'll share different eye exercises here on my blog, but today I want to show you one of my simplest routines. You can do it almost anywhere, whenever you have a few spare moments. And there's a wonderful bonus: I also use these same eye movements to help myself fall asleep!
Exercise Your Eye Muscles
This exercise is wonderfully simple. You don't need any equipment, and you don't even need to get up from your chair.
Keep your head still and move only your eyes.
- Look as far up as you comfortably can.
- Now look as far down as you can, without moving your head.
- Look as far left as possible.
- Then look as far right as possible.
- Repeat the movements a couple of times: left, right, up and down.
- Now move your eyes in a circle, clockwise, a couple of times.
- Then reverse the direction and move them counterclockwise.
I like to explore the full range of movement of my eyes. Try looking towards the upper left corner, the upper right corner, the lower left and the lower right. Some of these positions feel surprisingly unfamiliar!
Move your eyes as far as is comfortable, without forcing them or causing pain.
It's a lovely little exercise for those boring moments when you're waiting for something and have nothing particular to do.
Practise Focusing Near and Far
Another exercise I regularly do is focusing on objects at different distances.
Hold up one finger in front of your face and focus your eyes on your fingertip.
Slowly bring your finger closer and closer to your nose, keeping your eyes focused on it as long as you comfortably can.
Then move your finger farther away again.
Now look beyond your finger, as far into the distance as possible. If you're outside, look towards the horizon. If you're indoors, look out of a window at something far away.
Then return your gaze to your fingertip and bring it closer to your nose again.
Repeat this several times, alternating between looking at something very close and something very far away.
Afterwards, I often repeat the eye movements: up, down, left, right, clockwise and counterclockwise.
My Eyesight at Almost 50
I've been doing these exercises regularly because I want to keep my eyesight as good as possible for as long as possible.
And so far, I'm delighted with the result. I'm approaching my 50th birthday and still don't need reading glasses!
Of course, I can't know how much of that is thanks to my exercises and how much is simply my eyes. Age-related difficulty focusing on close objects, called presbyopia, is mainly caused by the lens of the eye becoming less flexible, and eye exercises haven't been proven to prevent it.
Nevertheless, I enjoy exercising my eyes and intend to continue. It's such an easy habit to incorporate into everyday life.
And Here's the Bonus: Falling Asleep!
Now comes another wonderful use for these same eye movements.
When I want to fall asleep, I do the exercises with my eyes closed.
I lie comfortably in bed and move my closed eyes up, down, left and right. Then I move them in circles, clockwise and counterclockwise.
I once read a study about a neurological connection between eye movements and relaxation. Unfortunately, I've forgotten the exact explanation. I remembered the practical idea, however, and have been using it ever since.
I find these movements wonderfully calming, especially when I wake up in the middle of the night and have difficulty falling asleep again.
My Trick for Stopping Circling Thoughts
When I wake up at night and my thoughts start going around in circles, I combine the eye movements with something else.
I start naming completely random things in my mind.
A house. A dog. My neighbour. A bedsheet. Ice cream. A holiday.
The words have absolutely nothing to do with one another. That's the whole point!
With every word, I move my closed eyes in another direction. Up, down, left, right, or around in a circle.
You can also use random numbers instead of words.
The random words interrupt those repetitive thoughts that can keep us awake. Instead of thinking about tomorrow's tasks or yesterday's problems, my mind is occupied with completely unrelated things.
This technique of deliberately thinking of unrelated words or images is sometimes called cognitive shuffling. I combine it with my eye movements, and for me the combination works wonderfully.
Very often, before I've even gone through many words, I've fallen asleep again!
A Simple Habit I Love
What I particularly love about these exercises is that they cost nothing, require no equipment and can be done almost anywhere.
During the day, I exercise my eyes to keep them active and practise focusing at different distances. At night, I use gentle eye movements with my eyes closed to relax and fall asleep.
I've been doing this for years, and I certainly intend to continue!