Ayurveda and Yoga Practice for Best Eye or Vision Care
Ayurveda, Yoga and Herbal Medicine in North America show us abundance remedies available
for Vision Health.
Vision is the most beautiful of all senses as it allows us to experience the
world around us and the people we care for. Therefore, we must take good care of our eyes.
In Ayurvedic Medicine, Yoga and Herbal Medicine urge you to improve your vision. I will
discuss here tips, remedies, foods, and herbs that can improve many aspects of your vision
health.
If you are a follower you already know I suffer from significant vision loss due to a genetic
condition Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). It is a complex disease that requires a lot of managing.
However, for the purposes of this blog, I am only going to mention other conditions and how to
improve them such as night blindness, nearsightedness, blurry vision, fatigued eyes, watery
eyes, cataract and headaches due to straining the eyes. I believe you can significantly improve
these conditions.
Night Blindness (Nyctalopia): Inability to see in dim light or at night. Night blindness can be due
to Vitamin A or zinc deficiency, cataract, glaucoma, side effects of medications, RP or from
birth.
Nearsightedness: Inability to see things clearly unless they are relatively close to the eyes,
owing to the focusing of rays of light by the eye at a point in front of the retina
Blurry Vision: Lack of sharpness of vision with, as a result, the inability to see fine detail.
Fatigued Eyes: Due to many hours spent in front of the computer, phone, TV or other devices.
Watery Eyes (Epiphora): tear persistently or excessively; could be caused by inflammation or
dry eyes.
Cataract: A medical condition in which the lens of the eye becomes progressively opaque,
resulting in blurred vision.
Dietary Care for Vision Health
1. Remove foods that contain refined or white sugar, white flour, refined or hydrogenated
fats, food additives, food colors, and toxic chemicals.
2. In Ayurvedic Medicine, it is recommended to follow the shape and color of the food to
understand which part of the body it is good for. Almond laid horizontally looks like
eyes, blueberries look like eyeballs and carrots cut in round looks like eyes. These foods
are amazing for vision health due to antioxidants, fatty acids, and Vitamin A and E
content.
3. Adding foods that are organic and pesticide-free fruits and vegetables.
4. Adding colorful foods – red, orange and yellow will provide a wide range of vitamins,
mineral, and carotenoids. Carrots, yellow-orange squashes, pumpkin, sweet potato,
tomatoes, papaya, oranges etc. are excellent for vision health.
5. Adding leafy greens meals once a day is utmost important for Vitamin A and B Vitamins.
Leafy greens such as kale, collard, spinach, Swiss chard, mustard greens, rapini,
watercress, arugula, cilantro, parsley are top choices. There are also beet greens, turnip
greens, bok choy, romaine lettuce that are also available. In Bangladesh, a purple color
leafy green called “laal shaag” was extremely popular for vision health.
6. Diet rich in Essential Fatty Acids such as flaxseed oil, evening primrose oil, black seed oil
or algae oil. A 1000 mg will change your vision health.
7. Adding turmeric to food or as a tea can boost the vision health and the immune system.
8. An easy way to combat vitamin and mineral deficiency without cooking is if the client
owns a high-speed blender they can make a vision health smoothie for themselves. I will
share in another blog post.
Lifestyle Improvements
Triphala Eye Wash: Make a decoction of Triphala powder in water. Stain and put the water in a
glass dropper bottle. Amla juice or ghee is also suitable options. Apply a few drops a day of the
herbal remedy of choice. Speak with a practitioner before you attempt this.
Sunglasses: Wearing sunglasses may help protect the retina from ultraviolet light and help slow
vision loss.
Quit Sugar: White sugar, simple carbohydrates, and baked goods can cause glaucoma or
cataract. I highly recommend removing it. Add honey, molasses or stevia instead.
Quit Smoking/Being around Smokers: Increases the chance of getting cataract or making is
worst, damages the optic nerve and accelerates macular degeneration. This is important for
night blindness, fatigued and watery eyes.
Anti-Glare Screen: A monitor screen that is treated to reduce glare from light sources. This may
be an important protective device for people working in front of a computer. This is important
for blurry vision, fatigued and watery eyes.
Eye Yoga: Clients with vision loss may experience a gradual loss of flexibility and tone of the eye
muscles. Some of the best practices are a visual perception with palming, eyeball rotation and
vision shifting. See video below by Yoga Vidya
Other Yoga: Surya Namaskar/sun salutation, spinal twists, triangle, cobra and Shavasana/rest
pose.
Palming: Rub both hands to create heat. Close your eyes and gently place palms on each eye.
Repeat this a few times.
Moon Sighting: In yoga practices sun gazing is popular however with RP clients eyes are too
sensitive so, moon gazing (indirect sunlight) could be beneficial for this condition.
Acupuncture: A study was published in 2011 wherein it was discovered that acupuncture
protects the optic nerve from damage caused by intraocular pressure by alleviating stresses on
retinal and optic nerve axonal ultrastructure. Chinese medicine improves retinal cone activity
for patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa, even in advance cases.
“TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) treatment could also enhance the bioactivity of (the) nerve
network and therefore have a definite significance in retarding the progression of disease and
keeping the central vision.” – Health CMi
I will be sharing a fantastic Vision Health Smoothie recipe and a Vision Health Herbal Tea recipe
soon.
Please let me know if this blog helped you and what do you do to keep your vision health intact.
Always remember before making any changes you speak with your primary health care
practitioner. We are all unique individuals and not every remedy is suited for all.
