Eye yoga
The eye is the jewel of the body. ―Henry David Thoreau
👥 Serves: 1 person, 11-25 people, 2-10 people, 26-40 people, 41+ people
🎚 Difficulty: Easy
⏳ Total time: 1-10 minutes
🥣 Ingredients: Sturdy chair (or you can sit on the floor), some space in front of you
🤓 Wholebeing Domains: Awareness, Rest, Ritualising
💪 Wholebeing Skills: Focus, Mind-body-connection, Mindfulness, Movement, Non-performing, Pausing, Slowing down
Eye yoga
📝 Description
Quick exercises to stretch and rest your eyes.
If you spend many hours working in front of digital devices, using technology, or working in settings with artificial lighting, why not give your eyes a rest from time to time? Your eyes accumulate tension and tiredness, so eye yoga is a great practice! Yoga exercises for the eyes can bring relief from eye strain, boost concentration, and improve the overall functioning of the eyes. This recipe only takes a few minutes and can be easily integrated in your workflow, e.g. at the start of a team call, half-way through your day, or even at the end of the work day before shutting down your laptop.
👣 Steps
Step 1 – Set up (30’’)
Sit in a comfortable position, either on a chair or on the floor. Straighten your back but don’t hold tensions. Rest your hands on your knees.
Step 2 – Soften the gaze (30’’)
Begin by softening your gaze, looking forward but reducing the intensity with which you look at your surroundings.
Step 3 – Near–Far (30’’)
Extend your arm in front of you (left or right, you choose) and hold your thumb up. Start staring at your thumb, making contact and keeping it steady. Perhaps you want to stare at your nail, or at the knuckle. After a few seconds, switch your focus to an object far from you in the distance (e.g. at the other end of the room). Keep switching your focus between your thumb and the object far away. Do this for a total of 5 times.
Step 4 – Left–Right (30’’)
When you’re done, lock your gaze on your thumb and keep it there. Start moving your arm from left to right, always maintaining your gaze on the thumb. Try not to get distracted by other things as you move from left to right (and back). Do this for a total of three times (three times left and three times right).
Step 5 – Up–Down (30’’)
Instead of moving your arm from left to right, move it up and down and keep following the thumb with your eyes. Do this for a total of three times (three times up and three times down).
Step 6 – Corner–Corner (30’’)
Now move your arm diagonally (e.g. bottom left to top right and vice versa) and follow your thumb with the eyes. Do this three times in each direction.
Step 7 – Circles (30’’)
Finally, move your arm in circles and follow the thumb with your eyes. Again, three times in each direction. Come back to the centre and rest your hand on your knee for a few seconds.
Step 8 – Relax (1’)
Now bring your palms together and start rubbing your hands together to generate some heat. After 20 seconds or so, close your eyes and hold your hands gently over the eyes. Enjoy the warmth generated from your hands and take a couple of deep breaths.
Step 9 – Massage (30’’)
For the last step, use the tips of your fingers to give yourself a short self-massage. Tap gently your brows, your temples, your forehead… Notice where you hold tensions and bring some release through self-massaging. And if you are someone who speaks a lot in public, don’t forget about your jaw! Continue as long as you wish or until you feel more relaxed.