Winter Qi Chats | Week 3
Do you really need to do eye exercises?
This week we broaden our scope of how/why vision training can help you beyond just the eyes.
Seeing is believing.
We go to the eye doctor to have our annual check in. They run a comprehensive eye exam searching for any vision changes, eye-related health problem & perhaps an update on your prescription. Most of the time, your provider will give you results from your eye exam right away. If you need glasses or contacts, you’ll leave the appointment with a prescription. You’ll also have information about your vision, eye structure and eye health. Sometimes your provider may recommend a follow-up appointment or additional tests.
At most, you might leave with eye drops or a new prescription for your glasses.
Most of us can say that we’ve never left the eye doctors with a list of visual exercises. I doubt if any of us were to perform any movement in relationship with our visual acuity. Has your Optometrist ever thrown something at you? Have you ever been asked to perform any spinal mobility while moving your eyes?
There’s a void when it comes to ‘checking out our eyes’ and how vision plays a role in how we move. If you see ‘okay’ then you must be fine, right?
Your eyes role in movement
Most people only think about their eyes in terms of how they help them see the world around them. And while that's certainly important – who doesn't want to enjoy driving their car into their later years or read a restaurant menu with ease? – but vision has a much wider impact on our lives than just our ability to perceive images.
In fact, our vision affects our posture, movement, pain levels, athletic performance, and even our day-to-day emotions. Improving your vision can create significant changes in areas of your life that may seem unrelated to your eyesight. Don't underestimate the power of seeing clearly!
Todays we’re going to go over some visual exercises that should be a part of your weekly, if not daily routine. I’m also going to show you how you can use your vision to help calm your mood, improve your movement & potentially reduce pain!
Visual Exercises - gaze fixation - smooth pursuit - near far - pencil pushups - saccades
Calming Exercises - OCR - oculocardiac reflex + Vision reset
Visual Movement Exercises - OMR - ocularmotor reflex + saccades + light + peripheral training
Neuro-Qi Tip o’the day!
Look around more often!
When you find yourself stuck at the computer screen or reading a book for over 30 minutes, look off into the distance & take a long breath out.
Roll your eyes like you’re an adolescent (ex. 3-18x each direction, every morning)
Blink. Yes. Don’t forget to blink!
*Video posts every Friday by 11:30am MDT
Resources:
High Performance Vision book
Effect of four weeks of ocular-motor exercises on dynamic visual acuity and stability limit
