2 Vision Drills for Instant Improvement in Your Flexibility (Neurotraining)

Did you know that your eyes can instantly improve your flexibility? It might sound surprising, but your vision plays a crucial role in how flexible your body feels. In this blog, you'll discover two simple vision exercises that can instantly boost your mobility by calming your nervous system.

Watch this short video demonstration to see how it works:

Why Your Eyes Influence Your Flexibility

Your eyes gather about 70% of the sensory information your brain receives from your environment. When your vision is clear and precise, your brain feels safe and allows your muscles to relax, increasing your range of motion.

However, when your vision is blurry or inaccurate, your brain perceives a potential threat. To protect you from injury, it tightens up your muscles, restricting your flexibility and mobility.

The Connection Between Vision and Mobility

Here's what happens:

• Clear vision → brain feels safe → muscles relax → increased flexibility.
• Blurred vision → brain senses threat → muscles tense up → reduced flexibility.

That's why you might notice that when you close your eyes, your body automatically feels less stable, less flexible, and more tense.

Quick Test: Check Your Flexibility

Before you do these vision drills, let's quickly test your current flexibility:

1. Stand up straight with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Keep your knees completely straight.
3. Slowly bend forward and reach down towards your toes.
4. Note how far you can comfortably reach:
   • Can you touch your toes?
   • Can you reach the floor?
   • Are you a few inches away?

Remember your initial position, as we’ll retest after each drill.

Vision Drill #1: Thumb Convergence

This simple exercise improves your eyes' ability to accurately track objects close to you, helping your brain feel safer and improving flexibility.

How to do it:

1. Extend one arm in front of you at eye level, thumb pointed upward.
2. Focus clearly on the tip of your thumb with both eyes.
3. Slowly bring your thumb towards your nose, maintaining clear focus at all times.
4. Stop bringing your thumb closer as soon as it starts to become blurry.
5. Then slowly move your thumb back to the starting position.
6. Repeat this movement slowly and deliberately 10 times.

Retest your flexibility:
Stand up again and do the toe-touch test. Notice if you can now reach further or touch your toes more comfortably.

Vision Drill #2: Horizontal Eye Jumps

This drill trains your eyes to quickly and accurately switch focus, which also helps calm your nervous system and increase mobility.

How to do it:

1. Extend both arms straight in front of you, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, thumbs pointed upward.
2. Keep your head still and your neck relaxed.
3. Focus clearly on the tip of your right thumb.
4. Quickly but clearly shift your focus to your left thumb.
5. Alternate back and forth between thumbs, starting slowly and increasing speed gradually.
6. Continue this exercise for about 15-20 seconds.

Retest your flexibility again:
After completing this second drill, do the toe-touch test one more time. You should notice even more improvement in your flexibility.

Why These Exercises Work

These vision drills help your brain and nervous system:

• Improve depth perception and spatial awareness.
• Reduce perceived environmental threats.
• Relax tense muscles that limit your range of motion.

By regularly incorporating simple vision drills into your routine, you'll train your nervous system to relax, providing instant and lasting improvements to your flexibility.

How Often Should You Practice?

Practice these vision drills regularly, ideally once a day or whenever you feel particularly tense. They’re quick, easy, and effective, making them perfect for integrating into any warm-up or daily wellness routine.

By regularly calming your nervous system through these simple drills, you'll consistently improve your mobility, flexibility, and overall sense of physical ease.