Rare is the person who wouldn’t want a few years wiped off their appearance. What if doing so cost nothing, didn’t require surgery, injections, or special creams, and you could do it in the comfort of your own home? The answer to this seemingly miraculous rejuvenation is facial yoga.
Are you interested? So were scientists on the lookout for charlatans or those making unverifiable claims. That is where things got interesting because a study using a group of volunteers found facial yoga works.
How Does Facial Yoga Work?
People that work out in the gym repeatedly put their muscles under strain to strengthen them. Fit muscles are plump muscles, and this is what we see as toned biceps or defined thighs. Indeed, the difference between a couch potato and a bodybuilder is plain to see precisely because of the work (or lack of) their muscles are put through.
A similar principle applies to facial yoga. By making specific repetitive “faces,” it’s possible to work, tone, and condition different muscle groups in the face. When practiced for a half-hour a day (or every other day) the result is firmer, more well-toned facial muscles which peel back the years and promote a more youthful appearance.
Youth vs. Age
Skin and muscle lose elasticity with age. To add insult to injury, the fat pads that give a plump, youthful appearance start to sag and slide, which is where gravity can be so cruel.
But by firming the cheek and chin muscles with facial yoga, it can give the face back some support and structure. Put simply: exercising the face helps fight the signs of aging.
A Smile a Day
Why not give facial yoga a go? It’s not hard. Neither does it have to dominate the day. You can practice facial yoga in the shower or while preparing a meal. Indeed, you don’t even have to take your makeup off for this exercise because you’re not going to work up a sweat.
As a teaser, here are two examples of simple facial yoga exercises, the “happy cheeks” and the “cheek lifter.”
• Happy cheeks — To do this exercise smile, but keep your lips together. Now exaggerate the smile to use the cheek muscles. Hold this exaggerated smile for 20 seconds, and then repeat eight times.
• Cheek lifter — This move involves making an “O” shape with the open mouth. Now move the upper lip down and over the top teeth. Now smile to lift the cheeks. Relax and repeat in a slow pumping movement.
The good news is that these exercises can make a real difference to face shape and the perception of age. In the scientific study, before and after photos were taken. Then dermatologists used a facial aging scale, which looks at 19 separate indicators of aging, to score or age each photo. The results showed an average reduction of three years between the before and after pictures.
Better than this, the participants felt and looked much better. They could see the difference in their lifted cheeks and firmed chins, and were delighted by the results of this free, non-toxic anti-aging exercise. All of these are excellent arguments for smiling more.
The next time you’re stuck in traffic, consider spending the time practicing facial yoga. Make the most of the delay by restoring your youthful look.
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