7. Orbital Massage

The Idea: The orbit is a collection of bones, muscles, fat and nerves surrounding the eyeball. The orbital muscles control blinking—one of the most important actions to keep the eyes healthy. Tension in the orbit can result in problems with blinking, putting stress on other facial muscles and leading to headaches and deteriorated vision. Massaging the orbit helps keep these muscles relaxed and can relieve aches of the head, face and eyes. A few techniques are given here for massaging the orbits:

A. Upper Orbit Massage: Bring the tips of the thumbs to the corners of the eyes just inside the eye sockets on either side of the nose. Press the thumbs up on the orbital bones just below the eyebrows—you should feel small bumps and indentations. Massage these by circling the thumbs while pushing up with as much pressure is as comfortable for you. Move the thumbs over to the next orbital bump away from the nose and repeat massaging each point from 5–60 seconds.

B. Lower Orbit Massage: Repeat the above massage, but using the tips of the index fingers to massage the lower rim of the orbit, pushing index fingers straight down just inside the eye socket.

C. Sweeping Orbit Massage: Bring the fingers or thumbs into starting position for the above exercises, pressing down or up on the orbits. Keep pressing into the orbit as you draw the finger firmly from the inner corners of the eyes to the outer corners. This can also be combined with sunning, by bringing the right thumb or index finger to the inner corner of the right eye, then turning the head left, keeping the finger stationary in space and letting the orbit massage itself against the fingertip. Switch hands as the head turns to the other side, massaging the left orbit from inside to out.

Remember to Breathe: Breathing helps the body to relax and release tension, aiding the benefits of this massage.