Tired or itchy eyes? Tight shoulders and neck?

Have you been noticing that your eyes are tired or feeling itchy? Do your shoulders and neck feel tight and full of knots?

I sure have! My eyes have been bothering me all week. Not sure if it's spring allergies or fatigue from looking at computer screens all day. It might be a combination of both.

My eyes (and probably yours too!) have never spent as much time focusing on electronic screens as they have over the past year. It seems that my entire day is spent in front of screens, from multiple Zoom meetings, to watching Netflix, to reading books on Kindle. No wonder my eyes are strained from focusing fatigue.

To reduce your risk of tiring your eyes by constantly focusing on your screen, eye doctors recommend the "20-20-20 rule": every 20 minutes, look away from your computer for at least 20 seconds and look at an object that is at least 20 feet away. Looking far away relaxes the focusing muscle inside the eye to reduce fatigue.

Another exercise is to look far away at an object for 10 seconds, then look at something up close for 10 seconds. Then look back at the distant object. Do this 10 times. I guess one could call this the "10-10-10 rule" 😉. This exercise reduces the risk of your eyes’ focusing ability to “lock up” after prolonged computer work.

Both of these exercises will reduce your risk of computer eye strain. Also, remember to blink frequently during the exercises to reduce your risk of computer-related dry eye.

Now that we've taken care of our eyes, how are your neck and shoulders feeling? Mine always feel so much better when I take just a few minutes to stretch them. To help you, I have recorded a 5-minute video with simple seated shoulder and neck stretches. This video is part of my new Yoga Bites series. I hope you enjoy it:

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​Click to watch my video of shoulder & neck stretches

Best,
Christine

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