Body Consciousness for Better Vision

There is body-mind connection in health and wellness, just as there is interrelationship between different body organs and tissues. Accordingly, your vision health is affected by your body as well as by your mind. A prerequisite of holistic health and wellness is acute awareness or body-mind consciousness. This is especially true when it comes to better vision and vision health.

What you see through your eyes is impacted by what your mind sees. Given that your body is connected to your body, your body movements, your expressive gestures, your posture and your breathing all play a pivotal role in the quality of your vision and hence your vision health.

A yoga instructor will tell you that you will not see as well as you should if your head is too far forward or tilted to the side, if your spine is not straight enough, if your shoulders are unbalanced or uneven, and if your torso movements are inappropriate due to incorrect breathing. In other words, you must align your head, neck, and torso if you wish to have better vision. To do this, you need constant consciousness of your body movements as well as your posture and breathing.

To enhance your consciousness for better vision, you need a relaxed mind, to begin with, to create a relaxed body. When your mind is too preoccupied with rambling and compulsive thoughts, it cannot focus, let alone remain conscious. Meditation is the best way to relax the mind. Living in the present is another mind-training exercise to keep your mind in full consciousness.

Mental consciousness holds the key to practicing body consciousness. With body consciousness, you can do some neck exercises to relax neck muscles, thereby instrumental in enhancing your vision.

To do the neck exercise:

(1) Bend your head forward and down towards your chest. It is important not to strain your neck. Hold this position for 5 seconds or more.

(2) Bend your head backward towards your spine. Without straining, hold the head position for 5 seconds or more.

(3) With your head facing forward, tilt it to the right side. Hold for 5 seconds or more, and then reverse the position to the left. Hold for another 5 seconds or more.

(4) Rotate your head slowly to the right and then to the left for several times.

If you have chronic neck problems, your nearsightedness may aggravate and reinforce your neck problems. Therefore, exercising your neck muscles will go a long way to helping you not only improve your vision but also your posture, which affects your breathing, your brain, and your vision.

Always be conscious of your posture by aligning your head and your spine. Be conscious of the position of your head: always tuck your chin in, instead of leaning your head forward  Be conscious of your shoulders: do not push them forward. Be conscious of your buttocks: squeeze and push them in.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau