Many people experience impaired vision with old age. As we get older, the muscles in our eyes become less flexible and start to degenerate resulting in a decreased sharpness of vision and ability to focus. Putting extra tension on our eyes day after day can eventually change their shape over a long period of time. Doing daily eye exercises can help eyes maintain their shape and can slow the rate of eye muscle deterioration. Eye exercises are easy and can be done anywhere.
Here are four simple exercises for naturally improving eyesight:
1. Tracing – Trace the outlines of the objects around you with your eyes. Practice following the contours of the objects with your eyes at various speeds. Doing this exercise for a few minutes each day can help strengthen eye muscles and increase their flexibility.
2. Blinking – Blinking exercises are extremely easy to do and help to lubricate, relax and strengthen the eyes. Close your eyes for a few moments, relax and then blink 15 times. Blink lightly, yet rapidly. If you feel like you are straining the muscles around your eyes or your eyelids, you should slow down.
3. Near Far Focusing – This exercise helps to restore the eyes’ ability to rapidly shift focus between objects at various distances. Start by focusing on something situated very close to you. Allow your eyes to linger on this object long enough for them to clearly focus before focusing on an object 30 feet away. Upon completion, try focusing on an object 500 feet away and even further. Repeat.
4. Zooming – Stretch your arm out in front of you with your hand in the “thumbs up” position. Focus on your thumb as your arm is extended out in front of you. Follow it with your eyes as you and bring your thumb closer to your face. Stop when your thumb is about 3 inches away from your face. Then, maintaining focus on your thumb, slowly begin extending your arm out in front of you again.