Paul McCartney told The Times lately that he practices eye yoga to keep his spectacles free. He said in the interview that he had been practicing the eye exercises ever since they were introduced to him in India a few years prior.

He thinks you can lessen your need for spectacles by strengthening your eye muscles. Some of these methods have been demonstrated by Macca on YouTube.

What exactly is eye yoga, and can practicing eye yoga really help you avoid wearing glasses?

Eye yoga has been done for thousands of years in many forms. For instance, the Indian practice of tratak kriya is a type of yoga meditation that is believed to promote spiritual enlightenment and higher levels of awareness. “Tratakak” (meaning “fix your gaze” in Sanskrit) is the practice of looking at something, such a candle flame, without blinking until tears start to fall.

More recently, in the late 1800s, New York ophthalmologist Dr. William Bates proposed that eye exercises could prevent the need for spectacles in his book The Bates Method for Better Eyesight Without spectacles.

He thought that eye movement and visualization exercises, such studying an eye chart, concentrating on letter outlines, blinking regularly, closing the eyes to envision the letter, and seeing it sharper and blacker, may overcome any glasses correction. Even now, Bates’s work is being promoted on the website for eye workouts.

Nevertheless, Bates’ theory’s central claim—that the eye’s shape changes as it moves and focuses—is physiologically false.

In 2018, a study published in the International Journal of Yoga examined the relationship between refractive error, or the prescription for glasses, and visual acuity, or the smallest letter that can be seen, in groups who engaged in either trakata yoga or Bates exercises for eight weeks. According to the study’s findings, neither exercise improved visual acuity nor refractive error.

In addition to being unsupported by data, ophthalmologists have rejected the Bates approach because it may be damaging and encourage “solarization,” which exposes the retina to excessive amounts of sunshine.

It’s useful to understand the eye and how we see in order to comprehend why eye yoga or Bates-theory activities won’t improve your vision.

Why are glasses necessary for us?

When light beams are not focused on the retina, glasses become necessary. Myopia, or shortsightedness, is when the focus point is in front of the retina. Hypermetropia, or long sight, occurs when the focus point is behind the retina.

When an eye’s front surface is curved more like a rugby ball than a sphere, it is known as astigmatism and results in blurry vision at all distances. When a person ages, they typically require reading glasses because presbyopia, a normal aging process, causes the crystalline lens in their eyes to stiffen and make it harder for them to focus on objects in close proximity.

The cornea, or front surface of the eye, is responsible for some of the focusing power of the eye. However, the crystalline lens is the responsive focusing structure; it gets flatter when focusing farther away and more bulbous or convex when focusing on close objects.

The ciliary muscles and ligaments within the eye regulate the size of the pupil and the convexity of the lens. On the other hand, the extraocular muscles, which control eye movement, are located outside the eye.

Moving your eyes to different places of gaze has little effect on the size, shape, or focus of your internal or external eye muscles, even though reading requires both convergence and focus. Therefore, it is not mathematically possible to alter refractive power with eye exercises.

Nonetheless, orthoptists—specialists who identify and treat abnormalities in eye movement and issues with the coordination of the eyes—frequently recommend specific eye workouts for certain illnesses.

One instance is “convergence insufficiency,” a condition in which a person’s inability to move their eyes inward causes them to see double up close. It can assist to practice smooth pen convergence, which involves tracking a pen as it moves smoothly in the direction of your nose with your eyes.

When individuals who are too young to use reading glasses have trouble focusing up close, they can try holding and carefully moving a small letter or word closer to their nose.

It’s also common for individuals to find that as they become older, gazing far upward gets harder. As young children, we frequently look up, meeting the gaze of adults around. However, without practice, eye muscles tire, so as you age, gazing up at a great distance may become painful unless you have a profession or pastime that demands it, like snooker.

However, there is insufficient data to suggest that exercise can significantly postpone presbyopia, even though it may improve some elements of vision.

It makes sense that people desire to take better care of and enhance their vision. If you practice eye yoga for just a few minutes and then look off into the distance to ease your muscles, it shouldn’t harm your eyes. However, other lifestyle adjustments may benefit your eyes more.

Making an appointment with your optometrist on a regular basis (every year for children, every two years for adults) to have your eye pressure, retinal health, and glasses prescription checked guarantees that any early indicators of disorders like glaucoma can be identified and treated.

Regular screen timeouts assist in lowering dry eyes. Observe the 20:20:20 rule, which suggests looking more than 20 feet away, pausing every 20 minutes, and taking a 20-second rest. Being outside is beneficial for your eyes, and kids who play outside are less likely to develop myopia.

Consume healthfully. Green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale, as well as a Mediterranean diet, may help prevent macular degeneration, according to some research. Omega-3-rich diets may be beneficial for dry eyes. Get enough sleep, and when you’re outside in the sun, use sunglasses.