Eye Strain Remedies

15127487_sHave you ever counted how many hours per day you spend in front of computers? Or any other screens for that matter? It is not just computer monitors stressing our eyeballs… it is your smart phone, iPad, and any other handheld device you use regularly.

With all the screen time, most people began suffering from the consequences. Itchy eyes, tearing, blurred vision and even headaches – this is the price we pay for too much time in front of these devices.

Let us give a few very simple eye “exercises” that will remedy the situation. The best part you can do these at your desk, you don’t even have to wait for your company yoga class.

Most of the time when looking at screen, you focus on things directly in front of you. This puts a lot of strain on your eye muscles. Just think about it: your eyes are designed for both long distance and short distance use.

When was the last time you actually gazed into to distance? Urban living and office work cuts back on the opportunity for this. No wonder it is so easy to lose sight of “the bigger picture” in our lives.

Why don’t you look at the clouds for a minute or two? Try to focus on the clouds one by one. Look behind them. If there is no cloud on the sky, concentrate on “dipping” your eyes into the blue of the sky. You prefer trees or sky-scraper? No problem. Pick an object that requires you to look into the distance.

Your eye muscles need some exercise, too. Those muscles help you focus and keeping them flexible might improve your sight and keep your eyes healthy.

Let’s get back to the cloud or skyscraper you were gazing at in the last exercise. Now try to move your eyes around the edges of the object. Use your eyes as a paint brush or pencil and paint/draw the edges of the cloud. You don’t have to draw every tiny edge, though. If you look at a tree, your draw the trunk and an outline of the crown – this will give your eye muscles the necessary workout.

Go ahead, roll your eyes! Slowly circle your eyes around an imaginary clock. Make the movement smooth and slow in a clockwise direction a few times. Then repeat in the counterclockwise direction, too. Breathe in deeply and exhale twice as long during this exercise.

When exercising your eye muscles, speed is not desirable. You might get dizzy as a result. Take your time and rather do only 1 repetition than rushing to do 4.

It is best to practice these easy to do eye-loving movements every day. It takes only a few minutes at most and your eyes will thank you for it.

An extra tip: when looking on the clouds, get your creativity going. Try to come up with names for the clouds on the basis of how they look. Create a short story. Do you see any images, even faces? After taking a few minutes of creative gazing, you come back refreshed to your projects. Don’t be surprised if you find a few extraordinary solutions…
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Do you Live in a Friendly World or a Hostile One?

Have you noticed when you have more energy, you are more inspired and get more done?  You have happier thoughts, are in a better mood and find more creative new ideas?

Albert Einstein once said that whether you live in a friendly or hostile world was the most important question of our time.

I used to look outside and wait for others to be kind.  Guess what?  I was spell casted into believing that someone else would one day bring me my happiness.  As I practiced and taught more yoga, and opened up more about my true feelings of inferiority, I found that more people were drawn to me and inspired by my willingness to be authentic.  I realized that right in the middle of our stressors, it is possible to pause, and come back to my center, to discover the creativity, vitality and wisdom within.

And wow, did I attract lots of business, new clientele and have lots of energy.  No longer content with waiting for other people to change, I wanted to learn the tools to do that myself.  And I discovered many cool things changing in the workplace too!

In 2001, when I began teaching corporate on-site wellness, to be honest, I really did not have much idea about what I was doing except I had faith.  I believed that what I was teaching would one day bring about fantastic results and 10 years later after teaching 2,000 corporate yoga classes and training yoga instructors around the world, I believe that came true.

Since practicing yoga, I am lighter on myself and can even laugh at my own imperfections and weaknesses more somehow, just knowing, that is where the light is.  For example, I am a terrible driver; I just don’t enjoy being behind the wheel and going places, except for the good music that sometimes plays on the radio.  I also am not a very good cook.  Despite many halfhearted attempts, and with a very busy teaching schedule, my cooking over the past ten years has not changed very much.  But all of that is okay.  In fact that leaves lots of room to enjoy and collaborate with the strengths of others.

Enjoy another great corporate yoga video celebrating 10 years of success for St. Louis Corporate Yoga (Clayton Yoga Studio).

With the practice of daily breathing, I have the increased energy, and perspective to go past the daily dramas and labeling and evaluation of everything and just be in a state of gratitude and wonderment.  It is there that I understand how to prioritize better, laugh more and just lighten up!  As I do that I recover my spirit, feel even more energy and thank the sky, the sun, the moon, and these cycles that are teaching us, anyone can do yoga, anyone can experience profound love and anyone can fly!

Would you like to get more details on getting yoga classes started at your company?  Feel free to contact us at St. Louis Corporate Yoga  or call us at 314-630-1677 and get your corporate on-site wellness class started today!

 

 

 

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