Brightening the eyes is considered an important part of keeping healthy and beautiful in Chinese medicine. In the modern world, we are constantly living and working in an artificial environment – central heating, air conditioning and staring at computers, mobile phones or other devices that can damage our eyes without us even noticing.

Here are my tips that will help soothe, refresh and prevent eye problems as well as maintain the well being of your eyes.

1. Using both middle fingers follow the bridge of the nose and firmly massage upwards towards the forehead until reaching the edge of the hair line.

2. Using the thumbs or knuckles massage along the eye socket and eyebrow until the pain diminishes and the muscles are relaxed. Be firm but careful not to touch the eyes themselves. I suggest you keep your elbows on a table so you can control the strokes.

3. Have a glass of water on your desk, this can maintain the moisture in the room which will benefit your eyes as well as your skin.

4. Every hour try to give your eyes a rest if you have been staring at your computer screen, reading or writing. You can do this by either closing your eyes for a minute or looking into the distance soothing the eye muscles and allowing them to relax.

5. Rub your palms together vigorously until they are warm then place the palms on top of your closed eyes for a minute. At the same time, move your eyes in a circular motion (with palms still over the eyes). This can help rejuvenate tired looking eyes.

6. Stand up and do some simple exercises every hour to improve your circulation and de-stress the neck, shoulder and back area. This is a great way to recharge your energy throughout the day, which also helps to calm your eyes. The simple exercises can include extending and flexing various muscles and rotating/twisting various areas such as your wrists and shoulders etc. You can even rotate your ankles whilst sitting down.

7. Try to consciously make yourself blink every now and then to increase the moisture in your eyes. This helps to avoid dryness and redness.

8. Mix a tablespoon of green tea leaves with a pinch of sea salt in lukewarm water. Then dip your face into the water with open eyes for a minute and with your face submerged move your eyes around in circular motions. This will help to relieve and freshen them.

9. Exercising your eye muscles can also help to revive and rejuvenate the surrounding eye area stimulating muscles that don’t get used very often.

Here are some simple exercises:

A. Imagine that your eyes are a pen, write out the Chinese character “rice” 米 with your eyes. (If this is too complicated, try Exercise B)

B. Turn your eyes in a full circle both clockwise and anti-clockwise, then move them horizontally side to side, then vertically up and down and finally use your eyes like a pen again to draw a diamond shape, moving both clockwise and anti-clockwise.