Vision Exercises to Improve Eyesight: Tracing

The ability of the eyes to focus at close or distant objects and to see them clearly is largely due to the action of the eye muscles. These muscles, along with the ciliary body (the circumferential tissue inside the eye), bend and flex the lens of the eye every time you are looking at something and bring it into focus.

Normally, the muscles and the ciliary body change the shape of the lens more than a hundred thousand times a day. In healthy eyes, the eye muscles have no troubles to adjust and re-adjust the lens whenever it's needed. However, staring at objects for long periods of time without a break puts an enormous strain on these muscles. Eventually, they loose their flexibility, eye movements become more rigid and we start to find it difficult to focus and make out things clearly. For instance, long hours of reading makes the muscles "used to" adjusting the lens only for near vision; they change its shape only that much and we start to experience troubles seeing things at distance.

Fortunately, there is an easy vision exercise that can help your eyes in a natural way. Tracing the contours of various objects is a simple yet effective way to improve your eyesight naturally. The following eye exercise is good for people with nearsightedness, farsightedness or presbyopia. In healthy eyes, it promotes eye health by reducing the tension in the eye muscles and maintaining their flexibility.

Here is what you need to do:

If you are inside

1. Close your eyes for a second and relax.
2. Start tracing the outlines of the objects around you. You can trace the outlines of virtually everything that is in the room – the picture on the wall, the table, the TV set and so on. Follow the contours of each object slowly, as if you want to draw it with your eyes.
3. Finish if with the Palming or Blinking eye exercise.

If you are outside

1. Find a convenient location.
2. Close your eyes for a second and relax.
3. Find a building or another object located in the distance and trace its outer contours with your eyes. Next, start tracing its windows and entrance.
4. Move your eyes to an object located half the distance of the first one. Trace its contours and the outlines of its details the same way you did with the first object.
5. Finally, move your eyesight towards something situated close to you. Trace it the same way you did before.
6. Finish with Palming exercise or Blinking exercise.

The whole exercise should take you approximately 3 minutes. It is a wonderful way to take a break from your work and give your eyes and your mind a couple of minutes to relax.

Focusing vision exercises are a great natural inexpensive way to improve eyesight. The following vision exercise is aimed at improving the focusing abilities of the eyes. It is great for those having troubles focusing at far objects as well as for all, who feel eye fatigue.

Since you will need to focus at objects located at different distances, the following focusing vision exercise is best performed outdoors. If you are unable to find an outdoor area with an unobstructed view of half a mile, you can perform the exercise at home, looking through the window.

Focusing Vision Exercise Steps

1. At the beginning of the focusing vision exercise you will be focusing on objects situated near you. Choose something at about three feet from where you are standing or sitting and start looking at it. Do not worry if you are unable to make out its contours perfectly the first time you try. Breathe slowly and calmly and look at the object until you can identify it properly.

2. The next step is to look at something situated further away. Go for an object placed approximately 30 feet away and look at it until you are able to see it well.

3. Once you have successfully completed the previous steps, focus on an object located at about 500 feet from where you are standing.  Stare at it until you can make it out clearly.

4. The final step of the focusing exercise will require you to fix your eyes on something really far away from your position. Look at an object of your choice until you can see it clearly.

Following the four easy steps above for this focusing vision exercise will help your eyes improve their focusing ability in a totally natural way. Do not get frustrated if you are unable to see far away objects the first time you try. Stick to this eye exercise and repeat it every day and you will surely notice some improvements of your eyesight.