You may know that you use your eyes for almost everything you do each day. But has anyone ever asked you how you use your eyes before? Have you ever analyzed how you use your eyes? There are only two possible ways you can use your eyes: in a strained way or in a relaxed way.

One of the first assignments I give my students is to begin bringing more awareness to how they use their eyes on a day to day basis. Everyday tasks that you have been doing for years are especially important to reanalyze because your mind and eyes may tend to go into “autopilot”. For example, how do you use your eyes when you brush your teeth, take a shower, cook food, do the dishes, clean your room, walk, run, sit, stand, drive your car, ride your bike, read a book, talk to a friend, watch a movie, use the computer, tend to your garden, perform chores, exercise, do yoga, or work at your job? As you read through that list, what did you discover about yourself? You may be surprised to find out how much eyestrain you hold onto throughout your day, even while doing seemingly relaxing activities.

A big part of the Integral Eyesight Improvement program is to discover how you use your eyes and change how you use your eyes. Let’s say that you discover that you strain your eyes first thing every morning when you take a shower because you are trying to avoid getting water and soap in your eyes, which is a habit you learned as a child after a negative experience of getting shampoo in your eye and it stung in a painful way. This is a great discovery because prior to now, you were unconscious of it. So does this mean that you have to stop taking showers from now on? No! I don’t think your friends would appreciate that option in a few weeks. Instead, you simply have to change the way you use your eyes when you shower. You have to learn how to relax your eyes instead of strain them when you shower. Since showering is the first thing you do in the morning, learning how to keep your eyes relaxed through the shower will ensure more relaxed eyes throughout the rest of your day, whereas before you were setting yourself up for a day full of eyestrain.

Do you see how this process works? You must begin analyzing the way you use your eyes during all hours of the day and night, discover any traces of eyestrain during those activities and replace that strain with relaxation. Start asking yourself these questions as you go about your daily routines: “How am I using my eyes right now?” “How do my eyes feel right now?” “Are my eyes relaxed?” “Are my eyes strained?” “Why are my eyes strained?” “What can I do to relax my eyes?”

Before you know it, these thoughts and questions will sink into your subconscious and you will be able to maintain relaxed eyes 24/7. In the meantime though, the Integral Eyesight Improvement website and blog are both full of great examples and tips of how you can start bringing more relaxation into your visual system. The greatest way you can start relaxing your eyes is through vision training lessons with Nathan, either online or in person. Click here to begin!