Paul McCartney recently told The Times that he does eye yoga so he doesn’t need glasses. In an interview, he revealed that he got acquainted with eye exercises in India a few years ago and has been practicing them ever since.
He believes that by exercising the eye muscles, you will reduce the need for glasses. Macca demonstrated some of these techniques on YouTube.
So what is eye yoga and can eye exercises really prevent the need for glasses?
Different types of eye yoga have been practiced for thousands of years. One example, tratak kriya, originating in India, is part of yoga meditation practiced in the belief that it develops higher states of consciousness and spiritual awakening. The Sanskrit word “tratak” means “to adjust one’s gaze” and involves staring at an object such as a candle flame without blinking while tears flow.
More recently, in the late 1800s, Dr. William Bates, a New York ophthalmologist, published the Bates method for better vision without glasses, in which he stated that eye exercises could obviate the need for glasses.
He believed that any spectacle correction could be overcome by exercises involving eye movement and visualization techniques such as looking at the eye chart, focusing on the outlines of the letters, blinking frequently, closing the eyes to visualize the letter and imagine it blacker and sharper. The Bates Eye Practice website promotes his work to this day.
However, the premise of Bates’ theory that the eye changes shape during movement and focus is physiologically untrue.
A 2018 study in the International Journal of Yoga compared visual acuity (the smallest letter that can be seen) and refractive error (a person’s eyeglass prescription) in groups that practiced either Bates exercises or rataka yoga for eight weeks. The study concluded that neither exercise made any difference in refractive error or visual acuity.
The Bates method has been rejected by ophthalmologists not only because of a lack of evidence, but also because it is potentially harmful, promoting “solarization” (staring at the Sun), which is dangerous and exposes the retina to sunlight.
To understand why eye yoga or Bates theory exercises won’t fix your vision, it’s helpful to understand the eye and how we see.
Why do we need glasses?
The need for glasses arises when light rays are not focused on the retina. When the focus point is in front of the retina, it is myopia or myopia. When the focus point is behind the retina, it is hypermetropia or farsightedness.
Astigmatism occurs when the curvature of the front surface of the eye resembles a rugby ball rather than a sphere, causing blur at all distances. And presbyopia is a normal aging process where the eye’s lens hardens and can’t focus as well on nearby things, which is why most people need reading glasses in middle age.
Part of the focus of the eye is achieved by the cornea (the front surface of the eye). But the sensitive focusing structure is the crystalline lens, which becomes more bulbous or convex when focusing on close objects and flatter when focusing further away.
The size of the pupil and the convexity of the lens are controlled by the ciliary muscles and ligaments inside the eye. In contrast, the muscles involved in eye movement are on the outside of the eye (extraocular muscles).
While the intrinsic and extrinsic eye muscles work together to some degree—reading involves both convergence and focus—moving the eyes to different gaze positions does not change the shape or size of the eye or focus. So the mechanics of using eye exercises to change refractive power don’t add up.
However, specific eye exercises are often prescribed by orthoptists (professionals who diagnose and treat eye movement disorders and problems with how the eyes work together) for certain conditions.
One example is “convergence insufficiency,” where people experience double vision up close because they have trouble moving their eyes inward. Practicing smooth convergence of the pen, where your eyes follow the pen as it slowly moves towards your nose, can help.
When adults too young to read glasses struggle with close focus, this can be improved by focusing on a small letter or text, holding and moving slowly towards the nose.
It is also normal for adults to find it increasingly difficult to look far up as they age. We look up a lot as small children and meet the gazes of the adults around us. But without training, the eye muscles get tired, so unless you have a job or hobby that requires it, like pool, it can be uncomfortable to look up a lot as you get older.
But while such exercises may help some aspects of vision, there is a lack of evidence to support any significant delay in presbyopia through exercise.
Image by Scott Bairstow / Alamy
It is understandable that people want to care for and improve their eyes and vision. Eye yoga won’t hurt if you do it for just a few minutes and then relax your muscles by looking into the distance. But other lifestyle changes can help your eyes more.
Regular visits to the optometrist (usually every year for children and every two years for adults) to check your glasses prescription, eye pressure and retinal and eye health ensures that any early signs of conditions such as glaucoma can be detected and treated.
Taking regular breaks from screens helps reduce dry eyes. You can follow the 20:20:20 rule: take a 20-second break every 20 minutes and look more than 20 feet away. Spending time outdoors is good for your eyes, and children who spend time outdoors are less likely to be nearsighted.
Eat well. Some evidence suggests that a Mediterranean diet and green leafy vegetables such as kale and spinach help prevent macular degeneration. A diet rich in omega 3 can help dry eyes. Sleep well and wear good quality sunglasses in the sun.
If you suffer from dry eyes or use screens for long periods of time, meibomian gland massage could help – a simple technique where a warm compress is followed by a gentle downward massage of the lid to bring the sebum that builds up in the lids to the surface of the eye. , so it’s more convenient. Read in good light and if possible read larger volumes of text on a computer rather than a phone.
Eye yoga won’t change or eliminate your need for glasses, but there are other ways to take care of your eyes and vision.