Face yoga trend can help you look younger
WE ALL are particular about our fitness, we hit the gym and do yoga or any other form of exercise to keep our bodies in shape, but most of the time we forget a major part that also needs exercising and toning – our face.
There are 42 individual muscles on our faces that are responsible for our facial expressions and the way we smile and look. It’s important to keep all these muscles toned so you always look young and slow the ageing process.
Facial yoga is the latest fad that people are teaching and talking about. Many say practising it is as good as getting Botox done, if done regularly and correctly.
I have been practising facial yoga for years now and the results, though not instant, are effective and longlasting. The best thing is you can do facial yoga anywhere and at any time.
Start with reciting the vowels – A, E, I, O, U. Say them in an exaggerated manner so you stretch all your face and neck muscles.
¡ To begin with, say the 5 vowels each 10 times in a day, then slowly build it to 20-30 times in a day. This is a complete exercise for your face. A second exercise: close your fist and place it under your chin. Now try opening your mouth while pressing your fist up to close the mouth. This is a great exercise to get rid of the double chin. Once you start doing it, you will feel the stress on your jawline.
To avoid getting wrinkles under your eyes and on your forehead, place both your hands on your forehead so no muscles move. Now blink your eyes in an exaggerated manner about 10 times. Blinking will strengthen your eye muscles. Also for strengthening eye muscles: place your index fingers and your middle fingers on either side of your eyes, one at the inner corner and the other at the outer corner, and blink. Do this 10 times a day.
To pull up saggy and chubby cheeks, pull everything to one side. It’s like doing a sideways kiss, stretching your cheek muscles and helping in making them firm.
We all worry about our laughter lines, as they become more visible. The perfect solution to reducing laughter lines is to place your fingers firmly over your laugh lines. Now smile as widely as possible, and remember to keep your lips apart. Hold this for 5-10 seconds and repeat the exercise 20-25 times. This will help to remove creases around the cheek and lift your cheeks. A major thing to remember while applying daily moisturiser is to always apply in an upward motion, especially around the cheeks and on the neck. If you do it otherwise, you are pulling your skin down making it saggy. Another exercise you can try is placing your thumbs under your chin and massaging your cheeks in an upward motion (ending at the temples), using your fingers. Do this 5 times. It helps smooth out smile lines and promotes blood circulation.