Eye Exercises

I found a post on the Coconut Oil Forum from a gal who's begun doing Tibetan Eye exercises to strengthen her eyesight. I looked it up & found this eye chart plus instructions - How fun!! The suggestion is to do these exercises twice daily, & to begin & end the session with eye 'palming.'
The author (name not cited) makes an interesting comment on the role rancid oils play in eyesight deterioration: "This type of damage is from the vegetable oils in the polyunsaturated configuration of the oils treated with hydrogen, (Trans fatty acids), [which] causes the rancidity (free radical damage) of cellular fats." - another reason to use coconut oil, don't you think?

My dad used a similar pattern regularly, & my kids recall his 'eye exercises.'. He was part Cherokee - did this come from something he learned growing up, or something he read??
Byrle's Eye Calisthentics didn't use a chart, each pattern involved looking to the very edge of ones' field of vision. They included: circling the eyes clockwise & counterclockwise, looking up & down, back & forth, & in a figure 8 pattern (which includes the diagonals in steps 4 & 5 of the Tibetan pattern!)

There is also a sweet acupressure self massage that I found in a calligrapher's cook book - 'Pots & Pens Three' these lovely drawings & text are by Andrea Heid.
I found the same Chinese set online here. There are also u-tube videos, inc. this one showing a child doing the exercises!

I remember reading an article about an elderly Chinese woman who did these daily, & could still do fine embroidery with out glasses into her 80s or 90s!

I include eye palming, face & self-massage at the end of my Tai Chi/Qigong class. It will be fun to add my dad's eye calisthentics into this pattern.