Overcoming Eyestrain

Eyestrain is one of the underlying causes of many vision disorders. The opposite of eyestrain is eye relaxation, which essentially comes from the mind.

Develop your mental awareness to change your bad vision habits that cause eyestrain.

Shifting: Train your mind to edge or trace the outline of any visual object with your eyes. Form this good vision habit to avoid “staring” or “eye fixation.”

Eye balancing: Wear an eye-patch (obtainable at a pharmacy or local drug store) over your stronger eye in order to strengthen your weaker eye.

Periphery: Use a two-eyed patch to cover your eyes to enhance your peripheral vision. Make a two-eyed patch out of a strip of stiff cardboard (3” x 1”), with a small part cut off in the middle to accommodate your nose.

Sunglasses: Avoid wearing sunglasses to avoid “squinting.”

Mind Relaxation

The eye conditions are constantly changing such that they can be adversely affected by any emotional or mental stress, resulting in eyestrain that can cause vision blur. By the same token, you can significantly improve your vision if you relax your eyes completely through relaxation.

Using a Relaxed Mind to Relax the Body, and hence the Eye

It is almost impossible to relax just your eyes, while the rest of your body remains tense and stressed. Total relaxation begins with the mind first, and then the rest of the body, including the eyes. Use your mind to relax your body, and then your eyes -- the best way to achieve mental relaxation.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau