Eye yoga

Eye yoga – this is what the exercises bring

Myopia is a widespread disease, say many doctors. Kind of logical when you spend all day looking at book pages, screens and other objects that are right in front of your eyes. The remedy for this? Glasses or contact lenses. But if you think about it, they don’t really help in the sense that they could cure your eye problems. The good news is that your eyes aren’t “sick,” they just need exercise! Eye yoga, for example, strengthens the muscles around the eyeballs so that we can “focus” our vision again. Of course, yoga for your eyes is not a cure for all eye problems, but a regular workout won’t hurt!

Here’s how to work out with eye yoga

Start with a few loose exercises, moving your gaze up and down. Be sure to alternate between looking as far as you can toward the ceiling and the floor without moving your head. After a few repetitions, change direction and let your gaze move alternately to the left and right. After that, let your gaze wander clockwise. Through the movements you loosen the muscles evenly. This can be a bit of a drag, but you’ll get used to it if you do it regularly. Switching between short- and long-distance vision is especially good outdoors. Find a nice view and focus on a point in the distance, then hold your hand a few centimeters in front of your face and concentrate on it for a few moments.

What is Eye Yoga Nakagawa?

The eye yoga exercises we have introduced to you were developed by ophthalmologist Dr. Kazuhiro Nakagawa and therefore bear his name. Nakagawa wants to fight myopia with the eye training. For most of us, eye problems are not genetic – we simply stare at small screens for too many hours a day.

Eye yoga for a variety of eye problems

According to Kazuhiro Nakagawa, eye yoga is not just for myopia. In his book Eye yoga: the Nakagawa method for a life without glasses he also shows exercises to help with strabismus, farsightedness and cataracts. He also explains the anatomical structure of your eyes.

Strained ciliary muscles

The so-called ciliary muscles are responsible for sharp vision. When we look far away, they are relaxed, but when you focus your gaze on a near object, they tense to make the lens bulge. So, for most of us, the ciliary muscles are under constant tension and therefore, over time, they can no longer relax and provide sharp vision in the distance. In addition, the eye muscles lose their elasticity due to one-sided strain, which can lead to farsightedness in old age.

Exercise briefly but regularly

Eye muscles are small, so you shouldn’t overwork them. Nakagawa recommends 10 minutes of eye yoga a day. The convenient thing is that you can do it almost anywhere. So why not consciously leave your phone in your pocket during your next break at work and do your eye exercises for 10 minutes? If you do it regularly, you’ll also notice how your eyes relax and you won’t be so tired after a long day at work.

Can eye yoga cure myopia?

Eye yoga against the screen gaze

Especially if your refractive error comes from looking at the screen or small things near you for many hours a day, eye yoga will help you regain muscle strength and elasticity. Even though there are no scientific studies that clearly confirm the effect: Some nearsighted people have already been able to improve their vision by several diopters just with the help of these exercises.

Consult a doctor

Nevertheless, eye yoga is by no means a substitute for a visit to the doctor. It’s like any other exercise: even if you do a lot of sports, you should not forget a regular health check. In case of severe vision problems or if you are unsure about an exercise, you can ask your eye doctor to check your eyesight every two years. This way you can also find out if your eye yoga exercises were successful!

Does eye yoga help against cataracts?

Eye Yoga is not a panacea

Just as with nearsightedness, yoga is not a medicine. So you may be able to improve your vision with regular eye yoga, but maybe nothing will happen. Unlike nearsightedness, cataracts usually require surgery. Your ophthalmologist will advise you to take it easy on your eyes, especially in the beginning. Even “normal” yoga is partly taboo for the time being. After all, cataracts are caused by high eye pressure, and if you stand on your head, for example, this pressure will increase even more.

With eye yoga against cataract

Nevertheless, there are some patients who have started eye yoga after surgery and enthusiastically tell of improvements. How your body reacts to the exercises cannot be said in general. Therefore, be sure to check with your ophthalmologist if eye yoga is okay for you and be careful when trying new exercises.

Why does eye yoga work?

Relaxation and sunlight

Our eyes are designed to be able to see into the distance. We needed sharp vision into the distance especially in the past. Since this is no longer a part of our daily routine, we need to consciously give our eyes time to relax. With eye yoga you fix your gaze on a distant point and thus relax the eye muscles that are overloaded in everyday life. Fresh air and sunlight are also good for your eyes. To prevent eye strain in the first place, make sure you have good lighting when you’re working, reading or doing other tasks around the house. You can do this with reading lamps, for example.

Exercise

Your eyes are controlled by muscles and you can train them. Due to the one-sided strain, some muscles are permanently tensed, while others are not needed and regress. Eye yoga helps you to make the eye muscles elastic again and to train movements that you normally don’t do so often. For example, the quick change between near and far vision.

The brain sees with

It may sound crazy at first, but your imagination also helps you see. Think about the famous “blind spot” we all have in our eye. The reason why we always see a complete picture is that our brain simply fills in the blind spot. In the same way, your brain can help you with non-natural vision problems. For example, if you learn to focus on one point, your eye can focus better. Eye yoga also helps your brain relax, for example, when you focus on a specific point or close your eyes and try to paint a picture in your mind’s eye. But even otherwise, mindfulness exercises will help you relax while focusing on what’s important.