Eye yoga: 5 exercises to try

Do you feel eye strain or discomfort after spending long hours in front of screens? Discover eye yoga, its benefits, and the exercises we recommend to strengthen and relax your eyes!

Admit it, you also spend hours in front of your screens... And sometimes, you experience eye pain or headaches, dryness, irritation, or even ophthalmic migraines? You can relax, we have a super cool solution to help your eyes unwind after too much screen exposure!

Eye yoga: what is it?

Don’t worry, we’re not going to ask you to bend yourself in four! The principle is simple. It consists of different relaxation exercises and eye gymnastics that you can practice daily to relieve your eyes. Eye yoga is not just one of the latest trends we have invented. This practice was developed more than a century ago. It is perfect for reducing the symptoms of ophthalmic migraines.

What are the real benefits for my eyesight?

We keep telling you this, but screens can be harmful to your eyes… and yet it is difficult to live without them, whether at work or at home! Eye yoga helps relieve symptoms of eye pain or discomfort and prevent eye strain, especially during exams or at work. By strengthening the small muscles around your eyes, it allows you to gain flexibility and improve mobility. Over time, these exercises may help your vision by slowing down the progression of myopia or preventing presbyopia.

How to practice eye yoga?

That all sounds great, but how do you actually practice these exercises? Here are 5 exercises you can do daily for real long-term benefits!

The pencil technique

Goal? Help relieve eye fatigue

How does it work?

While sitting down, take a pencil and hold it between your index finger and thumb at eye level. Focus your eyes on the pencil and bring it closer to your face while exhaling. Then move it away from your face while inhaling, still keeping your eyes focused on the pencil. You can repeat this movement around twenty times while making sure to breathe properly.

The palming technique

Goal? Refresh your eyes

How does it work?

After warming up your hands by rubbing them together, place them over your eyes for one minute. Make sure not to let any light pass through your fingers so your eyes are completely immersed in darkness and can properly relax.

The alphabet technique

Goal? Loosen up your eye muscles

How does it work?

For this exercise, the goal is to “write” the alphabet with your eyes open. Without moving your head, try to draw the letters of the alphabet using only your eyes, in lowercase or uppercase. Be careful not to do all 26 letters at once! You can take a break every 5 to 10 letters by closing your eyes and breathing.

The tapping technique

Goal? Soothe your eyes

How does it work?

Tapping simply means gently patting. For this exercise, you will use your fingertips to apply small tapping movements. The goal is to relax the areas around your eyes, such as your temples, eyelids, under-eye area, and eyebrows. You can practice this gentle massage for about ten minutes while breathing deeply.

The rotation and movement technique

Goal? Strengthen your eyes

How does it work?

For this eye yoga exercise, sit up straight! Then perform back-and-forth movements from top to bottom and from left to right. Continue with circular movements clockwise and then counterclockwise. You can do this exercise for 5 minutes and don’t forget to breathe properly!