Why I don’t wear specs

Post updated on 12 Jun 2015.

In the 3rd year of my engineering, I found that I couldn’t see the classroom blackboard clearly. An eye checkup revealed what was obvious – I had myopia and would need to wear spectacles. I had -0.75 in my left eye and -1.25 in the right.

I was surprised because I always assumed I had good eyesight.

Shunning traditional wisdom, I decided not to wear specs and maintain my eye power doing Yoga. None in my friend circle believed that it was possible. But I wanted to give it a shot.

Soon, I started practicing Tratak daily. Tratak is a yogic eye exercise wherein you stare at a candle till water comes out from your eyes. The condition being – while staring, you don’t blink. It isn’t as tough as it sounds. 🙂

I began doing it for just 30 seconds and within a period of 6 months, could do it for 5 minutes at a stretch.

It has been more than a decade now since I left wearing them. After the initial few years, I stopped doing Tratak due to time constraints. But I continue with basic eye exercises.

A few tips I can give from personal experience:

• Don’t overstretch screen time, take breaks every 20 min (I have installed eyeCare on my laptop)
• Spend as much time away from screens as possible, whether it is the laptop, TV or smartphone
• Learn and practice eye rotation exercises regularly
• Eat food healthy for eyes, like carrots.

I got another eye checkup done recently and found that the eye power has stabilized.

Is this a miracle? I don’t think so. Most of us probably underestimate the internal strength of our body and start believing what the society tells us.