Eyes, just like the rest of your body need physical activity to maintain health, prevent deterioration, and to overcome damage that may have already taken place.

Your eyes are the direct visual link to the world around you. They let you see the beauty of nature, the sadness of strife and the joys on the faces of loved ones. Natural healthy eyes are constantly on the move searching and scanning to keep us aware of pleasures and dangers.

However, today’s modern indoor lifestyle of reading, television, and computers, forces our eyes to unnaturally strain to adjust focus and not move freely as they should. This is known as near point stress and may result in headaches, eyestrain and reduced vision.

A program of eye exercises and eye games will get your eyes moving again.

To keep your focusing system flexible do some near-far exercises. Hold your thumb at eye level as close as you can easily see it. Look at a spot on your thumb, hold and count to five, and then look at an object at least 20 feet away, like a wall clock, hold and count to five. Then look at your thumb again and repeat. Zoom in and out, in and out for a few minutes. If you are nearsighted, exercise working outward from near to far. Your effort will be to push your vision farther away. If you are farsighted, exercise working inward, from far to near. Your effort will be to push your vision as close as you can.

Another exercise to help our eyes move freely is eye rotations.

Pretend your eyes are going around a clock. Look at a spot straight ahead, then look straight up to an imaginary 12 o’clock position and hold for two to three seconds and then look at a spot straight ahead. Then look towards the 1 o’clock position and hold for two or three seconds then look straight ahead again. Continue looking straight ahead and then look towards the 2 o’clock, the 3 o’clock, and other numbers on the imaginary clock. After you have gone “around” the clock clockwise, then go counter-clockwise and repeat.

Also try to go around the clock with your eyes closed.

There are many more eye exercises you can do, but these exercises will start your eyes moving again and ultimately result in strong healthy eyes. Whether you are nearsighted, farsighted, suffer from astigmatism, or declining vision as you age, eye exercises can benefit you.

Really effective eye care means spending a few minutes every day exercising your eyes, just like you spend a few minutes every day brushing your teeth. The bottom line is that your eyes need exercise, just like the rest of your body.

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