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Meditation, Eye Health, And How To Develop Daily Habits For Preserving Your Vision
In recent years, meditation has emerged as a potent tool in promoting overall well-being. Regular practice has been shown to induce notable changes in brain structure, specifically increasing the volume of regions associated with positive emotions and emotional regulation. Moreover, meditation helps break the cycle of stress and worry by cultivating a heightened awareness of the present moment, thereby resulting in decreased levels of anxiety and enhanced psychological well-being.
Beyond these established benefits, there exists a surprising link between meditation and other parts of the body. Specifically, recent research has highlighted the potential role of meditation in preserving vision, offering a look at an intriguing connection between the mind and ocular wellness. Below, we take a closer look at how meditation helps with eye health, as well as tips for incorporating daily habits for vision health into your lifestyle.
Beyond these established benefits, there exists a surprising link between meditation and other parts of the body. Specifically, recent research has highlighted the potential role of meditation in preserving vision, offering a look at an intriguing connection between the mind and ocular wellness. Below, we take a closer look at how meditation helps with eye health, as well as tips for incorporating daily habits for vision health into your lifestyle.
Meditation And Eye Health
In late 2023, groundbreaking research funded by AMOSO confirmed meditation's capacity to reduce intraocular pressure (IOP) in individuals with glaucoma. Meditation was additionally found to be able to modulate key biomarkers, such as cortisol and reactive oxygen species, decrease inflammatory markers, including interleukin-6 levels, and increase brain-derived neurotrophic factors. This reaffirmed the potential of meditation for benefitting patients at risk of vision loss.
While these results may appear revolutionary, they are built upon a foundation of earlier studies that have consistently suggested a positive correlation between meditation and ocular health. A 2021 study in JTCM confirmed that mindfulness-based stress reduction helps reduce barotrauma and improve optic disc perfusion in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma. Similarly, 2021 and 2022 publishings in the American Journal of Ophthalmology have shown how mindfulness meditation can lead to a significant decrease in IOP as well as alter trabecular meshwork gene expression, improve distant visual acuity, alleviate ocular symptoms, and ameliorate diopter. These collective findings underscore meditation's potential as a compelling and accessible adjunct to traditional preventive measures for preserving vision.
In late 2023, groundbreaking research funded by AMOSO confirmed meditation's capacity to reduce intraocular pressure (IOP) in individuals with glaucoma. Meditation was additionally found to be able to modulate key biomarkers, such as cortisol and reactive oxygen species, decrease inflammatory markers, including interleukin-6 levels, and increase brain-derived neurotrophic factors. This reaffirmed the potential of meditation for benefitting patients at risk of vision loss.
While these results may appear revolutionary, they are built upon a foundation of earlier studies that have consistently suggested a positive correlation between meditation and ocular health. A 2021 study in JTCM confirmed that mindfulness-based stress reduction helps reduce barotrauma and improve optic disc perfusion in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma. Similarly, 2021 and 2022 publishings in the American Journal of Ophthalmology have shown how mindfulness meditation can lead to a significant decrease in IOP as well as alter trabecular meshwork gene expression, improve distant visual acuity, alleviate ocular symptoms, and ameliorate diopter. These collective findings underscore meditation's potential as a compelling and accessible adjunct to traditional preventive measures for preserving vision.
Preserving Vision With Daily Habits
While meditation plays a crucial role in nurturing vision health, it's also essential to cultivate daily habits that prioritize eye wellness to maximize meditation's benefits. For starters, you can incorporate eye yoga into your routine in five-minute increments. Eye yoga includes a range of exercises, including eye rolling, focusing, focus shifting, blinking, figure eight tracing, and palming — all of which aim at strengthening eye muscles, enhancing blood circulation, and alleviating strain. Practicing blinking, for instance, can help lubricate your eyes as you spend more time looking at screens, and it only takes a minute to accomplish each time.
Otherwise, it is imperative to maintain protection from environmental elements that can impact eye health. That’s why shielding your eyes from harmful UV rays by wearing sunglasses is paramount, especially during outdoor activities. To make this a habit, choose a design that you’d prefer and wear frequently, whether it’s Oakley Flak’s taller semi-rimless lens or Ray-Ban Aviator’s classic gold rimming. Afterward, you can opt to upgrade to polarized sunglasses for added protection against glare. This potentially adds an extra 10-15% to the sunglasses cost but is invaluable for everyday use and recreational pursuits such as fishing, golfing, skiing, or driving in adverse weather conditions. Polarization is also available for prescription sunglasses, catering to individuals with specific vision requirements.
While meditation plays a crucial role in nurturing vision health, it's also essential to cultivate daily habits that prioritize eye wellness to maximize meditation's benefits. For starters, you can incorporate eye yoga into your routine in five-minute increments. Eye yoga includes a range of exercises, including eye rolling, focusing, focus shifting, blinking, figure eight tracing, and palming — all of which aim at strengthening eye muscles, enhancing blood circulation, and alleviating strain. Practicing blinking, for instance, can help lubricate your eyes as you spend more time looking at screens, and it only takes a minute to accomplish each time.
Otherwise, it is imperative to maintain protection from environmental elements that can impact eye health. That’s why shielding your eyes from harmful UV rays by wearing sunglasses is paramount, especially during outdoor activities. To make this a habit, choose a design that you’d prefer and wear frequently, whether it’s Oakley Flak’s taller semi-rimless lens or Ray-Ban Aviator’s classic gold rimming. Afterward, you can opt to upgrade to polarized sunglasses for added protection against glare. This potentially adds an extra 10-15% to the sunglasses cost but is invaluable for everyday use and recreational pursuits such as fishing, golfing, skiing, or driving in adverse weather conditions. Polarization is also available for prescription sunglasses, catering to individuals with specific vision requirements.
Of course, contact lens users can choose to forgo adding a prescription to their shades. The key is to consistently utilize vision corrective tools as prescribed to mitigate strain and prevent exacerbation of vision issues. In that same vein, swapping between prescription glasses or sunglasses is perfectly fine if you are uncomfortable with contact lenses or find them inconvenient. You can get the former fitted with transition lenses, too, so that it naturally darkens in sunlight for comfortable vision.
By maximizing the benefits of meditation through building daily, eye-healthy habits, we can take proactive steps towards preserving our vision and maintaining optimal eye health for years to come. For more on meditation, check out our blog on Peace Inside Me.
By maximizing the benefits of meditation through building daily, eye-healthy habits, we can take proactive steps towards preserving our vision and maintaining optimal eye health for years to come. For more on meditation, check out our blog on Peace Inside Me.
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