Do you know eye yoga? This gentle practice could help relieve eye strain, an increasingly common problem associated with excessive screen use.
PC, tablet, smartphone... We no longer count the hours spent in front of screens, and even less the ailments that can be associated with them. If you spend your days in front of one of these devices, you have probably already experienced discomfort in your eyes, especially at the end of the day, which can result in dryness, irritation, blurred vision, or even a headache. Symptoms are likely to evoke asthenopia, or visual fatigue. This is not a serious problem, but it can cause some discomfort on a daily basis. This is why some ophthalmologists now recommend eye yoga, a practice with multiple benefits.
What is eye yoga?
Like any form of yoga, this kind of eye gymnastics is based on a series of eye exercises designed to train and strengthen the muscles associated with this area. According to the Institut Laser Vision Noémie de Rothschild, which specializes in refractive surgery, eye yoga is a technique "inspired by traditional Ayurvedic medicine [and] developed by Dr. Bates and Dr. Agarwal in 1920, [which] aims to improve visual function by relying on the anatomy of the eye and the natural functioning of the eyes."
Like other muscles in the body, with training, the oculomotor muscles tire less quickly, thus reducing long-term visual fatigue and other symptoms associated with excessive screen use. Many health professionals also agree that eye yoga is beneficial for attention and even more so for sleep.
Two exercises to do at home
While it is advisable to practice eye yoga with a trained professional, there are several exercises you can do at home to strengthen your eye muscles or fight dryness, starting with blinking. It may seem trivial, but blinking can help to better distribute the tear film on the surface of the eye and thus better clean and protect it.
The Institut Laser Vision Noémie de Rothschild recommends the pencil exercise, which consists of holding a pencil at eye level between the index finger and the thumb. The object is then brought closer to the face, without letting go of the gaze, while breathing out, then moved away in the same way while breathing in. A movement to be repeated several times to relieve the visual tiredness and to ensure that this one does not return too frequently.
If eye yoga appears to be beneficial in the fight against eye fatigue, it also seems necessary to look for all the causes. If the problem is recurrent, a consultation may be necessary to verify if your optical correction is (really) optimal.
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.webp "Have you ever tried eye yoga? Here are two very easy exercises to do!")
