Exercises to relax the neck and head region

More and more people are either wearing glasses or contact lenses to rectify their eye problems.  The eyes are like any other muscle in the human body or rather, the lens of the eye is a muscle which needs to be exercised and kept flexible in order to perform its function properly throughout your life

All nerves connecting different parts of the body have to go through the neck to reach the brain. So, today, we will start with some simple neck exercises to relax and exercise the entire neck and head region. These will tone vital nerves, loosen the cervical vertebrae, neck and shoulders, improve blood flow to the brain and therefore, help reduce tension and calm the mind. The eye exercises that follow improve the focusing power of the eye muscles and help develop concentration

Caution: For exercises one to three, move your head very gently and only as far as it is comfortable.  Those with very high or very low blood pressure or with extreme cervical spondylosis should not do these. Those with moderate cervical spondylosis should avoid bending the neck forward.

Exercise 1

• Sit in padmasan (or any comfortable position) with your back straight and the body relaxed

• Slowly move the head as far back as comfortable. Do not strain

• Slowly bring head up and move it forward so that the chin touches the chest.

Exercise 2

• Gently turn the head left so that the chin is in line with the shoulders

• Now gently turn the head to the right as far as it is comfortable.

Exercise 3

• Raise your arm keeping the fist clenched and the thumb at eye level

• Focus on the tip of the thumb without blinking

• Now, keeping the eyes focused on the top of the thumb, move the arm to one side as shown

• Now move to the other side

• Repeat three to five times.

Exercise 4

• Rub the palms of both hands together till they feel warm

• Place the palms over both eyes and feel the warmth spread from the palms to the eyes

• Feel the eyes relaxing and focus for a minute on the soothing darkness

• Hold the position until the warmth of the palms has been transferred to the eyes

• Repeat three times.