Eye care exercises

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.

1. Lift the eyes to the ceiling and then to the floor. Repeat it for 10 times. Rest the eyes either by blinking rapidly or covering them with palms.

2. Look straight ahead at eye level, then slowly to left side at eye level and then to right side at eye level. Repeat it for 3 or 4 times.

3. Make a circle, first clockwise and then anti-clockwise, with the eyes. Repeat for 5 times.

4. Massage your temples with a circular motion. Try moving your eyes left to right or raising your eyebrows.

5. 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.

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

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

8. Sit about 6 inches 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

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