Eye yoga exercises for your dry, tired eyes

Ever heard of eye yoga? Apparently, it does exist, and it is said to be the best way to ease and prevent eye strain.

Unang Hirit host Lyn Ching tries eye yoga exercises / Source: Unang Hirit

Eye strain often results from too much time spent in front of the computer. And nowadays, it's inevitable to spend hours on your laptop, tablet or smartphone, since many are still doing remote work and distance learning.

However, in a recent episode of Unang Hirit, ophthalmologist Dr. James Rommet Luz shared a new fitness trend this 2021 that's all perfect for preventing and addressing eye strain: the eye yoga.

He explained how eye yoga can be beneficial for those who are prone to eye strain.

“Itong mga exercises na ito sa mata na base sa mga pag-aaral, nakakapagpalakas at nakakakondisyon ng ating mga mata.

“So, nakakatulong siya, 'yung ibang mga exercises para ma-relax ang mata, then 'yung iba naglu-lubricate and nagmo-moisturize ng ating mga mata.

“At bukod dun, 'yung iba naman pwedeng makatulong sa pag-refocus ng ating mga paningin after using gadgets.”

Here's some of the eye yoga exercises that Dr. Luz shared.

1. Focus shifting

Stretch out one arm with the thumb up. Inhale and move your arm up, with your eyes following the thumb. Then exhale as you move your arm down, with your eyes still following your thumb. Do it five times, then do it also on the other side.

2. Figure 8 exercise

Look into the distance and imagine drawing the number eight or an infinity sign with your eyes. Move your eyes accordingly to help refocus your vision.

3. Palming

Rub your hands against each other to make it warm, then place it on top of your closed eyes. This exercise will help your eyes relax.

4. Eye rolling

Move your eyes up, then to the right, then down and to the left and up again. Moving your eyes in a circular motion will help moisturize them.

5. Blinking

Another way to moisturize the eyes is to blink your eyes ten times in rapid succession then close your eyes for 30 seconds.

As an additional eye care tip, Dr. Luz recommends blinking every four seconds or 15 times every minute.

Then he also advised people to follow the 20-20-20 rule, which means for every 20 minutes spent in front of your gadget, you must have a 20-second break while looking into the distance, at approximately 20 feet away.

Dr. Luz also said that you should adjust the brightness of your computer, according to how bright or dark your surroundings are.

Also, your computer should be an arm's length away from you or 25 inches away.

For more eye care tips, you can watch the full feature on eye yoga in the Unang Hirit video below.

Want to learn more about fitness trends like this? Watch Unang Hirit from Monday to Friday at 5:30 a.m. on GMA-7.

And for more lifestyle content, head out to GMA's Lifestyle page.

Check out also these work-from-home stretches.