Covering the eyes with the palms of the hands for a few minutes is the oldest therapeutic exercise for resting and relaxing the eyes
Set aside a few minutes a day for exercises that will sharpen your vision, preserve your vision and strengthen your eye muscles. Aging also causes changes in eye sight. People with diabetes already have 10% to 15% of retinal blood vessel damage (or retinopathy). These damages are dangerous because patients do not immediately notice the damage. Visual impairment develops gradually and does not affect the deterioration of vision for a long time. The best protection is a regular visit to the ophthalmologist, for people with diabetes to keep HbA1C under control at 6.5% and have blood pressure within normal limits. The branched network of eye nerves and muscles rarely has a chance to relax and strengthen. Simple exercises stimulate circulation in the eye area, relax the eye nerves and strengthen the eye muscles. Exercises should be performed by all people (especially people who are focused on one thing for a long time a day doing some work, for example sitting in front of a computer).
Exercises are useful for preventing headaches caused by eye fatigue, but also for long-term preservation of eye health from weakening and other diseases

1. Changing the focus – this is a good exercise to strengthen peripheral vision. Extend your arms with clenched fists and thumbs up. The focus is at eye level above the thumbs. Change focus according to the scheme: the space between the eyebrows (third eye), then the left thumb, back to the third eye, the right thumb, then to the middle. Repeat 10 to 20 times. Breathe every time you look in the middle (to ensure the best possible flow of oxygen to the eye muscles). Exhale when looking at the left and right thumb.
2. A break is mandatory – especially if the sun is at its zenith or setting, then the sunlight is too strong for the eyes. Occasional breaks from sunlight will be good for the eyes if you spend a lot of time outdoors during the day. With your eyes closed, look up and down 10 times and then left and right 10 times. After that, roll your eyes 10 times from left to right and 10 times from right to left. With this exercise, you simultaneously rest your eyes from the light and strengthen your eye muscles.
3. Massage – eye breaks are mandatory for students and workers in China. Experts believe that this practice will soon be mandatory everywhere in the world. Acupressure points on the eyes are massaged during a 2-minute break. This exercise relaxes the muscles and improves vision. With the index finger and thumb, massage the forehead exactly at the hairline, then the inner corners of the eyes, then the cheekbones at the level below the pupils. Run your finger on the outer ends of the eyebrows, the area behind the ears on the upper part of the neck and the earlobes.
4. Notice the “third thumb” in this exercise cross your eyes but with willpower and control. Extend your arms in front of you and make fists. Raise your thumbs and move them about 2 cm apart. Look between your thumbs at some distant point and you will feel your eyes cross. You will notice the third thumb after some time. Try to look at the third thumb as long as possible while moving the thumbs to the side and in front of each other. Do the exercise for 1 minute.
5. Muscle relaxation – looking in one direction for a long time can cause spasms in the ciliary muscle. Cover your left eye with your right hand and focus on one point on the palm of your free hand. Slowly move your hand towards your eye, staying focused on the “invisible point”. Return the hand to the correct position while maintaining focus. Repeat 5 times, then repeat the exercise with the left hand.
6. Blinking – the eyes dry out and blood flow is reduced after prolonged reading, watching TV or a screen. Open and close your eyes rapidly for one minute to quickly stop staring. The muscles of the eyes will be activated and the secretion of tear fluid will moisten the eyes.
7. Exercise 20-20-20 – this simple exercise is good for all eye muscles and useful to reduce eye strain. Open your eyes as wide as possible and look into the distance about 600 to 700 meters in front of you. There is no need to focus on any goal/subject. The exercise lasts at least 20 seconds. Repeat several times a day if you often work in front of the computer.
8. Write the name in the air with your finger – the speed of the eyes increases with exercise, as well as the strength of the body. This is quite useful especially in situations where there is a lot going on around you. Place your index finger 20 cm in front and look at the tip. With slow movements, write the name and numbers in the air without losing the tip of the index finger from focus. Gradually increase the speed of the movement until you can no longer follow the index finger. Try to do the exercise faster each time.
9. Rest for the eyes – covering the eyes with the palms is one of the oldest therapeutic methods for relaxing and resting the eyes (after reading, hard work/day, or assembling small parts of an object/picture). Rub your palms together until they warm up. Then place the warmed palms over the eyes without touching the eyelids. Stay like that for 2 minutes.
10. For better focus – place your thumb 30 cm in front so that the eyes can better adapt to rapid and constant changes in focus. Look at your nose, thumb and repeat 10 times before closing your eyes for a few seconds. This exercise strengthens the adaptation of the eye’s focus to the rapid changes in between proximity and distance.
11. The inner part of the eyes – people who have used to manually adjust the camera lens know that the inner lens contracts and expands as you search for the best focus for what you want to photograph. And the eyes have a similar circular ring (called the ciliary muscle) – which contracts and expands to adjust the diameter of the eye’s lens so that a person can clearly see near and far. The other two muscles (sphincter and dilator of the pupil) control the size of the pupil, the expansion and contraction of the pupil so that the person receives more or less light. Six external muscles control eye movements in all 4 directions.