How to Exercise Your Eyes

We all know how important it is to keep our bodies fit by doing things like going to the gym, jogging, and swimming. But, did you know that you can exercise your eyes as well? While eye exercising won't improve your vision, it will keep your eyes healthy and help minimize eyestrain.

Steps

1. Sit comfortably on a chair. Rub your hands together until they feel warm. Close your eyes and cover them lightly with your cupped palms. Avoid applying pressure on your eyeballs. Place your palms so that the nose remains uncovered, and the eyes remain behind the slight hollow of the palms. Make sure that no light rays enter the eyes, and leave no gaps between fingers or between the edge of the palms and the nose. You may still see other lingering traces of colors. Imagine deep blackness and focus on the blackness. Take deep breaths slowly and evenly, while thinking of some happy incident; or visualize a distant scene. After your eyes see nothing but blackness, remove your palms from your eyes. Repeat the palming for 3 minutes or more.

2. Close your eyes tightly for 3-5 seconds, then open them for 3-5 seconds. Repeat this 7 or 8 times.

3. Close your eyes and massage them with circular movements of your fingers for 1-2 minutes. Make sure you press very lightly; otherwise, you could hurt your eyes.

4. Press three fingers of each hand against your upper eyelids, and hold them there for 1-2 seconds, then release. Repeat 5 times.

5. Sit and relax. Roll your eyes clockwise, then counter-clockwise. Repeat 5 times, and blink in between each time.

6. Sit about 6 inches (200 mm) from the window. Make a mark on the glass at your eye level (a small sticker, black or red, would be perfect). Look through this mark and focus on something far away for 10-15 seconds; then focus on the mark again.

7. Hold a pencil in front of you at arm's length. Move your arm slowly to your nose, and follow the pencil with your eyes until you can't keep it in focus. Repeat 10 times.

8. Look in front of you at the opposite wall and pretend that you are writing with your eyes, without turning your head. It may seem difficult at first, but with a bit of practice it is really fun. The bigger the letters, the better the effect.

9. Imagine that you are standing in front of a really big clock. Look at the middle of the clock. Then look at any hour mark, without turning your head. Look back at the center. Then look at another hour mark. Do this at least 12 times. You can also do this exercise with your eyes closed.

10. Focus on a distant object (over 150 feet or 50 m away) for several seconds and slowly refocus your eyes on a nearby object (less than 30 feet or 10 m away) that's in the same direction. Focus for several seconds and go back to the distant object. Do this 5 times.

11. Focus on an object in the distance (as far as possible) with a low contrasting background. Do this for a few minutes every half hour or so. This does not improve your vision, nor does any other technique. It can, however, maintain your best eyesight level during the day and prevent significant further vision deterioration.

Tips

* It's more important to do the exercises regularly than to do them for a long time. Even 30-60 seconds of eye movement every hour is very helpful. For example, when your computer takes its sweet time to do something, most people just swear at the poor thing and waste the time, but you can make a few circles with your eyes. Even the first day you do this, you should notice that, when you finish working, your eyes aren't as tired as usual.

* Taking short breaks from near work (e.g. staring at a computer monitor) to stare out to the distance also relieves some strain.

Warnings

* Consult your eye doctor before doing any of these exercises. The last thing you want to do is add further strain to your eyes, or damage them permanently.

* When doing these exercises, make sure that you're not facing anybody, or that they know you're doing eye exercises. Otherwise they might think you've gone nuts.

* Extensive peer reviewed research has shown that visual clarity is not improved by exercise. Some people have weakness in the ability to turn their eye in or out. You may have esotropia (eye naturally turned in) or exotropia (eye naturally turned out). Exercise may help these conditions.

* Doing these exercises when you wear contacts may cause them suction to your eyeball. They might also move around and possibly become folded and/or dislodged, which can be extremely uncomfortable as well.

* Do not apply pressure on your eyes.

Things You'll Need

* Pencil

How to Start Walking for Exercise

Walking is great exercise that can be accomplished by almost anyone. This article describes how to start a walking program.

Steps

1. Set your expectations reasonably. If you have been sedentary for a long period of time, (i.e. your idea of walking is from your couch to your refrigerator and back) you will want to start out slow and go only a short distance.

2. Find a good place to walk. Many times you can just walk around your block, but what do you do if the terrain is too steep, curvey, or just isn't what you're looking for? There are some easy solutions. You can go to your nearest high school; most schools allow town residents to walk the track when not being used. Take your car to a park if it's too far away to walk; parks are always flat and very peaceful.

3. Pick an easy first walk. Make sure that no matter how far you get from your starting point, you are able to get back there. Walking on an oval track no more than a quarter mile around should be perfect.

4. Pay no attention to how far you walk. It matters more that you walk for a longer period of time. Faster and farther walks will come later.

5. Set a time. When you first start walking, decide how many minutes you will walk.
Choose a length of time you know you can make. Do not worry about how short that period is. Just keep moving until you reach it. 2-5 minutes each day is a good start. That time will increase from week to week.

6. Increase your time. Each walk, increase your walking time by thirty seconds to one minute until you are able to sustain a 10 minute walk. Again, do not fret if you can't go longer than the day before. Set the goal and keep at it and you will reach it faster than you think. After reaching 10 minutes, the increases may take a bit longer; however, try to increase your time by 5 minutes each week.

7. Work on speed and difficulty. After you are able to walk 45 minutes a day, you can work on speed and difficulty. Try moving off of the oval and onto the city streets: You will encounter hills and declines, and that will increase the difficulty of your walk.

8. Determine your target and maximum heart rate. See "How to Calculate Your Target Heart Rate". If you are under your target heart rate (THR), you need to increase walking speed for it to be beneficial; if you are above your THR, decrease your walking speed. Again, weight loss and aerobic health will come through sustained effort, not through increased speed or distance.

9. Try interval training. Walk at an increased rate for one to two minutes, then slow back to your normal rate for two minutes. Every day or two add an interval until you reach your desired total time, including rest periods. As you become more physically fit, reduce your rest periods until they are down to a minute or less.

Tips

* Bend your knees to find balance.

* Buy a pedometer to count how many steps you have walked each day. Write down the number of steps you have taken every night, and try to "beat" that number the next day. Walking programs often suggest 10,000 a day You can even organize yourselves into teams, perhaps with co-workers and have competitions to see which team walks the most steps over 5 weeks.

* Swing your arms as you walk.

* In the beginning it is not necessary to warm up, however once you really start to put stress on your legs, you should participate in some light stretching.

* Walk with a good posture. Stand completely straight, put your shoulders back, and take long strides.

* Try to walk no less than 3 times per week. 6-7 times is 'not too much.

* On weekends or holidays, try to increase your walking time to an hour or more. On some walks, try interval training by walking much faster for 30 to 60 seconds, then going back to your normal speed.

* Be sure to make notes about your walk: note your route, the weather; homes you appreciated; animals, wildlife or plant life you observed; and the thoughts and feelings you experienced. Keep them in a log along with your maximum heart rate, target heart rate, and the most time you've spent on a walk.

* Try using an iPod or other MP3 player to add entertainment to the walk. Books on tape make the walk go by faster and you may want to walk longer.

* When you are able to get, and stay, on your target heart rate, you will want to cool down a bit at the end of your walk. If you have been able to stay in the target rate for 20 minutes or so, spend about 5 minutes at the end of the walk trying to bring your heart rate back to where it was pre-walk. Slowing your pace down and doing some more light stretching can accomplish this. Do not stop walking to slow your heart rate in a cool down. It defeats the purpose of a cool down.

* You might find ways to incorporate walking into your daily routine if you can't find the time to go walking for the sake of it: take the stairs instead of the escalator or the lift; walk to the shops if they're close by; if you visit a friend who doesn't live too far away, leave the car at home. It's surprising how much difference it can make when you regularly climb a few flights of stairs and take frequent short walks.

* Remember that we live in an age that requires little physical activity. Now that we no longer toil in the fields or even (in most cases) factories, the avoidance of physical effort is not a gain, it's a loss. We should take advantage of all the small opportunities we can use to keep our bodies in shape, such as using the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator.

* Many people recognize the local mall as an excellent place to walk for exercise -- safe, warm and fun.

* Walking may cause cramps. If a cramp occurs, place your hands on your head and begin breathing through your nose and out your mouth at a slow steady rate. Be sure to bring a water bottle with you.

* If you drive, park your car a block or two away from where you live, that way you have to walk to or coming back.

Warnings

* Before undertaking this or any other exercise program, be sure to check with your doctor, especially if you haven't been physically active in more than 6 months.

* Be prepared for your walk. Take water with you. Also take along a whistle in case you get into trouble with dogs or unsavory people. Carrying a cell phone is also a good idea.

* If you are walking and become short of breath, slow down or stop. Ask for help if you need it.

* Don't carry weights with you as you walk. This extra weight throws your gait out of balance.

* Be sure to wear proper footwear. Sandals, flip-flops, and even fashion athletics do not support the various muscles, tendons, and joints in your foot and can therefore cause strain and injury.


Things You'll Need

* Drink water during walks of ten minutes or more whether you feel thirsty or not. (Yes, this applies to cold weather and warm weather.)

* Good, comfortable walking shoes or sneakers and thick socks. If you have thin socks you may get blisters.

* A cell phone for emergencies.

* A whistle to call for help should you run into trouble of the criminal type.

* A hat and sun block on sunny days.