After staring at your computer or phone all day, do you ever get that feeling that your eyes are tired and exhausted and you can't possibly look at a screen for even another minute? You may be experiencing eyestrain, which is a fairly common eye condition that happens after staring at a screen, driving, or carrying out any other activity that requires intense focus of the eyes.
Fortunately, eyestrain typically isn't a serious concern and usually goes away after you rest your eyes or do something to reduce the eye discomfort.
One way some people reduce eye strain is by engaging in a practice called eye yoga. Curious to learn more? Here's everything you need to know about eye yoga. And no, you won't need a yoga mat or any props for this one.
Meet the Expert
Eye yoga is a practice of eye movements and exercises that claims to bring all sorts of benefits, like strengthening the eye muscles, decreasing eyestrain, reducing stress, and possibly even improving vision.
Eye yoga exercises are fairly simple—think gazing, focusing, eye rolling, and shifting your point of focus. Unlike a yoga class that takes an hour or so out of your day, each of these exercises can be completed within a few minutes or less. You can choose just one exercise, or combine them.
With all the time we spend staring at screens these days, taking a minute or two to look away every once in a while for an eye yoga exercise may provide much-needed rest for the eyes.
There's not much evidence to support many of the supposed benefits of eye yoga, but some of the exercises can help to reduce eyestrain by exercising the muscles that help your eyes focus, experts say. Some eye yoga exercises may also temporarily alleviate dry eye.
"Palming exercises will definitely soothe eyes and also help spread the tears and help dry eyes," Hilal-Campo says. "Blinking yoga exercises will express the oil from the meibomian glands that surround the eyelid into the tears and will help with dry eyes."
Additionally, some of the eye yoga exercises include a breathwork focus, which may help alleviate stress. "Eye yoga may reduce eyestrain related to increase screen time and reduce stress levels associated with the modern work environment," Dello Russo says.
Eye yoga may be able to reduce eyestrain, but it's not going to correct or cure eye conditions like myopia hyperopia, astigmatism, or presbyopia in a way that allows you to ditch your glasses or contacts.
"Eye yoga will not cure myopia, farsightedness, or astigmatism," Dello Russo says. "Nor will eye yoga independently cure any diseases of the eye."
Ready to try eye yoga? Read on for some simple, eye-doctor-recommended exercises.
"There are many people who suffer from eyestrain and eyestrain headaches, and it is actually from poor convergence, or convergence insufficiency," Hilal-Campo says. "Ophthalmologists have these patients do similar exercises to improve convergence and decrease strain—for most patients this really works."
"Closing the eyes allows the tear film to distribute on the ocular surface, and the warmth is very soothing," Hilal-Campo says. This is a great one for soothing dry and tired eyes after staring at screens all day.
"This relaxes the focusing and the convergence reflexes of your eyes and can help with eyestrain," says Hilal-Campo, who recommends this exercise every 20 minutes or so when using screens.
"Eye doctors often recommend blinking exercises for dry-eye patients and patients who are prone to blockage of the oil-secreting glands," Hilal-Campo says. "This will absolutely soothe eyes."
"This exercise is great for creating calm and improving relaxation by simply breathing in and out," Dello Russo says.
Eye yoga won't correct your vision or cure any eye conditions, but it may bring temporary relief for eyestrain. If you tend to log a lot of screen time and suffer from eyestrain or dry eyes, some of these eye yoga techniques may be worth a try.
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