The six muscles that control your eye movements are as follows:
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Lateral rectus - Primarily moves your eye outward, away from your nose.
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Medial rectus - Primarily moves your eye inward, toward your nose.
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Superior rectus - Primarily moves your eye upward.
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Inferior rectus - Primarily moves your eye downward.
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Superior oblique - Primarily rotates the top of your eye toward your nose.
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Inferior oblique - Primarily rotates the top of your eye away from your nose.
Your eyes are designed to move regularly. Frequent movement of your eyes is what promotes optimal blood flow and nerve tone to your eyes and the six muscles that control your eye movements.
What follows are several simple eye exercises that you can do on a regular basis to keep your eyes and vision as healthy as possible:
- Look as far to your right as possible for 3-5 seconds, then as far to your left as possible for 3-5 seconds. Rest for a few seconds, then repeat this sequence several times.
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Look as far up as possible for 3-5 seconds, then look as far down as
possible for 3-5 seconds. Rest for a few seconds, then repeat this
sequence several times.
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Slowly roll your eyes in a circle, first clockwise, then
counter-clockwise. Rest for a few seconds, then repeat this sequence
several times. Be sure to roll slowly - it should take at least 3
seconds for you to roll your eyes in a full circle.
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Hold a pen in front of you, about an arm's length away. Focus your
vision on the tip of your pen for 3-5 seconds, then shift the focus of
your vision to an object that is farther away for 3-5 seconds. The
greater the distance between your pen and the distant object, the
better. If you are indoors, look out a window to find a distant object
to focus your vision on. Repeat this sequence of going back and forth
between your pen and a distant object several times.
Just for interest's sake, this exercise is used by some professional baseball players to optimize visual acuity, which is essential for the hand-eye coordination that is needed to play pro ball.
If you would like more comprehensive guidance on how to improve and protect your vision as you age, I highly recommend that you read:
Relearning to See: Improve Your Eyesight - Naturally!
This is an outstanding book that offers a comprehensive array of exercises and information that can help you support your vision. And if you wear eyeglasses or contacts, following the guidance provided in this book may actually help you do away with your prescription eye wear or at the very least, help prevent deterioration of your visual acuity as you age.
Beyond doing the exercises described above on a regular basis, another way to reduce eyestrain and promote your best vision is to use your fingers to apply gentle pressure to three acupressure points that can help promote healthy blood flow to your eyes and the muscles that surround your eyes.
The best such acupressure points are as follows:
Bladder-2 (BL-2)
BL-2 is located under the innermost section of each of your eyebrows, in the top-inner region of each of your orbital sockets. When pressing on this point, you should feel direct contact with the bony surface of your orbital socket.
For those with knowledge of human anatomy: Application of pressure to BL-2 is meant to stimulate optimal blood flow and nerve function to the tendon of the superior oblique muscle, a number of smaller muscles that surround the orbital cavity, branches of the frontal branch of the trigeminal nerve, and branches of the supratrochlear and supraorbital arteries.
Stomach-2 and Stomach-3 (St-2, St-3)
St-2 and St-3 are located under the mid-line of each of your eyes. St-2 is about one finger-width under each eye, while St-3 is located at the bottom of each of your cheekbones. These points are described together because it is quite simple to apply pressure to both of them at the same time on both sides of your face by using your index and middle fingers.
For those with knowledge of human anatomy: Application of pressure to these points is meant to stimulate optimal blood flow and nerve function to the infraorbital nerve, branches of the facial nerve, and branches of the facial and infraorbital arteries and a number of muscles below and within the orbital sockets.
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