October 27, 2025 - EyeClarity Blog
*by Dr. Sam Berne*
Most people believe that screen time is the reason their eyes feel tired, tight, or dry. But the truth is, it’s not the screen—it’s the state of your nervous system behind the screen.
When we stare at a phone or computer, our visual system narrows into a tunnel. We stop blinking, our breath becomes shallow, and the muscles around the eyes and neck contract. This pattern doesn’t begin with the screen—it starts with **stress**. When your sympathetic nervous system (“fight , freeze, or flight”) takes over, your body automatically shifts into survival mode. The eyes stop scanning the periphery, and your visual world collapses inward.
This chronic contraction builds fatigue, not just in the eyes, but throughout the entire body. Your pupils stay slightly dilated, your breathing stays restricted, and the extraocular muscles that direct eye movement lose their fluid rhythm. You may call it “screen strain,” but the deeper cause is **nervous system strain**.
Here’s the encouraging part: your eyes can reset themselves when your body feels safe. When you pause and soften your gaze, you send a signal to your brainstem—*”I’m not in danger.”* Your vagus nerve responds by slowing your heart rate, your breathing deepens, and blood flow returns to your eyes.
Try this short exercise right now:
1. Close your eyes. Feel your breath move in and out through your whole body. Notice the inhale and exhale—is one part of the breathing longer or shorter than the other. Is the breathing rhythm fast or slow, shallow or deep? Notice, what part of the body you are breathing from (the diaphragm, the chest, the pelvis, the head?)
2. Bring gentle awareness to your eyes. Don’t try to fix anything—just notice. It is easier to notice the eyes when they are closed. Notice your thoughts as you feel into your eyes. Are you experiencing fear, overwhelm, anger, tiredness, dryness or something else?
3. Inhale as if you’re breathing *through your eyes.* Exhale and imagine your eyes relaxing back into their sockets. (do with eyes closed)
4. Open your eyes softly and let your gaze rest on something far away. Notice how your body begins to settle. Invite the object you are gazing at to look at you. Notice how this mindset helps you open up your peripheral vision. Instead of chasing, let life come to you. The flow finds you! The nervous system resets. When we receive, we relax! Can you learn to receive the world through your vision.
The more you regulate your nervous system, the more resilient your vision becomes—no matter how many screens you use. Vision isn’t just optical; it’s emotional and neurological. When you calm your system, you literally change how you see.
The next time you feel eye fatigue, remember: your eyes aren’t the problem. They’re the **messengers** of a body asking for rest, movement, and breath.
Want to learn more?
Join me for my upcoming **5-week online course, *From Diagnosis to Direction***, where I’ll teach you how to relieve eye strain, reduce anxiety, and reconnect your vision with your whole body.
👉 Register here: https://www.drsamberne.com/workshop/from-diagnosis-to-direction-5-weeks-of-eye-health
Or join my Master Class on Essential Oils
https://www.drsamberne.com/workshop/online-see-clearly-now-essential-oils-natural-protocols-for-vision-renewal/
And if you want to work with me in -person, join our class on November 8th
https://www.drsamberne.com/workshop/the-eyes-never-lie-a-one-day-healing-immersion-with-dr-berne/