Mexico City.- In line with the tendency to see and feel better in a natural way, and to “friend” with the passage of time without trying to stop it, the practice of facial yoga has been gaining supporters among those seeking to reduce the signs of aging without resorting to invasive techniques.
And if the technique was booming in the last time, it is a holistic practice based on traditional Chinese medicine which, understood as training the muscles of the body, skull and face, is not new. Some historians even claim that it helped Cleopatra keep her jowls in line.
I think that many celebrities, such as Jennifer López, Cindy Crawford and Meghan Markle assure that they owe their impeccable youthfulness to facial exercises, is one of the reasons for their current popularity.
“Facial yoga is a holistic practice designed together with doctors, dentists, physiotherapists and specialists in traditional Chinese medicine, which not only releases tension, activates and tones the muscles, and improves the condition of the skin, which, more importantly, restores vitality, helps to breathe better, improve posture, harmonize the nervous and hormonal system, in addition to helping to gain facial mobility and facial symmetry”. Carolina Winograd is a facial yoga instructor and that’s when she started explaining to Infobae about the practice that has gained followers.
For the aesthetic surgeon Johanna Furlan (MN 122.975), “facial yoga is without doubt a fundamental exercise that complements the daily facial routine as it strengthens, tones, lifts and relaxes the facial muscles that support the skin”.
In his opinion, “every healthy practice that is constantly carried out is a habit that deserves to be part of body health”. And bearing in mind that the skin of the face is the most exposed to external factors throughout the year, “amerita give it a 360 care ″, he considered.
So, according to Furlan, “in addition to the physical exercise itself, the monitoring of the treatments that can be carried out in the office and the skin care routine that is carried out at home, the facial yoga provides the feeling of well-being and is an aspect in the smallest, since through the massage you achieve harmony with the body”. “In addition, having a space of tranquility, which requires a break and dedication of time to one self, translates into our face immediately”.
And as it happens with these practices that become popular, the offer multiplies on social networks, so what to give with a good professional is key, so as not to fall into the hands of those who promise magical results in ten days.
“In the face of this boom in facial yoga in the world, a wave of pseudo experts has been unleashed on the subject who promise eternal youth, for example, to erase all wrinkles on the face in 15 days, through ‘massages’ or ‘facial exercises’ without any kind of knowledge of anatomy or facial functionality, which can do more harm than good”, highlighted Winograd, who among the effects not desired from a poorly performed practice can find “more wrinkles, more asymmetry, and above all, more disappointment. Because those who follow these facial movements with the hope of seeing themselves ten years younger, they are destined for disappointment ”.
And expanded: “When we practice a method certified by facial yoga specialists on a constant and regular basis, we feel renewed, and not because we have removed ten years from above, but rather, because we feel fantastic inhabiting our own skin. Which, in addition, thanks to daily muscle, blood and lymphatic activation, will look radiant”.
What she practices is the Glow In Face method, certified by one of the most recognized facial yoga schools in Europe. “Our practice and our training program activates, tones and sculpts all the muscles of the face, and it is different from any other program she —assured—. It is structured and composed in a unique way: we activate the muscles in an order and with a sequence that guarantees us the best results in the most effective way”.
When Infobae consulted the dermatologist Claudia Ponsone Bohn (MN 118.711) about the reasons for the boom that the practice is experiencing, he considered that “it is due to the greater exposition that the topic has achieved in the last time”. “As we know, information is power, and the better informed people are, the more use they can make of it,” opined the expert.
And after signaling that “everything that gives mobility to the safe organism brings more oxygenation because it improves circulation”, it means that “due to the fact that facial yoga oxygenates the skin, it is logical that as a result it provides texture and luminosity”.
Wake up to your knowledge of the functioning of the muscles and the skin of the face contributed: “In all regions of the face that there is movement there is always the appearance of wrinkles. This technique works on the anterior face of the face, which is the one that moves, the one that mimics, while the lateral face is the one that supports the anterior one”.
Four benefits of face yoga
About the main benefits of the practice, Furlan listed:
1- Muscular relaxation: relax the muscles where tension builds up as can be the masseter in the mandibular area or sprain. This is why it is considered that massages help to attenuate lines of expression because they help to release the accumulated tension that generates these wrinkles.
2- Decongestion: through the activation of the lymphatic system and the application of drainage maneuvers, we manage to decongest the face and relieve the retention of liquids that are concentrated mainly in the area of the eyes and nose.
3- Tissue nutrition/oxygenation: the massages increase the blood flow generating better circulation of nutrients towards the tissues favoring the cellular functioning.
4- Lifting effect: a correct muscle maneuver can help to temporarily reduce the facial ovale and achieve that the face looks more marked and the skin is healthier.
Is it possible to learn the technique to do it at home?
– Winograd: Of course! With proper guidance and technique, you can practice facial yoga wherever you are, since the only things we need are our muscles and our hands.
It’s harder to start. Once the first step is taken, and we begin to release tension and activate our muscles, the practice becomes part of one.
At first, it can be difficult since most of the facial muscles are weak, atrophied or overly tense, due to lack of use or overuse.
Our Integral Program of Bruxism & Facial Revitalize online is designed to train each one of the muscles of the face, the core and the skull in five weeks. Even though there are more than 50 muscles, we don’t need suel exercises to train them. With the correct postures and an anatomically functional sequence, a series of 15 postures are more than enough to experience astonishing changes and, above all, to gain well-being.
Five exercises to do at home and start practicing
It is well known that it is more difficult to incorporate a new habit into everyday life —which is already too busy for you to be— and that is precisely it: to incorporate it. And in the case of this type of practices, the idea that it will take much time can predispose us in a negative way by early.
According to the consulted instructor, “the method is designed so that the practice does not take more than 10/15 minutes a day”. “Our routine always starts relaxing the muscles of the body, shoulders and skull. Why? Because if these muscles are tense, we are not going to get good results on the face, even though we spend time doing facial yoga postures all day long”, explained Winograd, who highlighted that “the lymphatic system is activated so that it drains during the at the end of the practice is more potent”.
“Only after relaxing the most tense muscles and activating the lymph, we begin to carry out the facial yoga postures of our practice, in an order that guarantees us a conscious, controlled, pleasant, powerful and effective work”, said. And he shared five exercises to do at home and get started in practice.
1- Relajación cuello: with the feet supported on the floor, ass centered and relaxed shoulders, place the right hand over the left ear, bringing the head towards the right shoulder. Extend the left hand towards the bottom with weight. Breathe deeply through your nose for 30 seconds. Back to the center helping yourself with one hand. Repeat on the other side.
2- Relaxation of the back: intertwine the hands and place the palms on the back of the head, gently pushing it towards the bottom, feeling how the muscles of the buttocks and back are stretched. Maintain the posture for 30 seconds. Back to the center helping yourself with one hand.
3- Temporal: put the yolks of the fingers on the sienes and start to move the hands from the top down in an energetic way, moving the tissues and releasing tensions of the temporal muscles.
4- Full face lift. This pose rejuvenates, according to the instructor, “practically lifts and tones the 57 muscles of the face and body. It is the perfect posture to lift the cheekbones, reduce nasolabial wrinkles, volumize the lips, and eliminate tension in the face, especially in the masticatory muscles. It also balances the most important glands in the body —hypothalamus, pituitary, pineal gland, thyroid and thymus—. Incredibly smoothes and revitalizes the skin of the face, body and neck”.
The best time to implement this posture in the routine is during the morning, because it gives energy, wakes up and clears the mind.
How to do it?
– Breathe deeply and then raise the corners of your mouth and smile.
– Make a wide and narrow “O” with your mouth.
– Hold this posture for a few seconds, breathe and feel how your muscles stretch.
– Bring the upper and lower lips inside, covering the teeth with force and maintaining that position.
– Make sure that the “O” is also wide and narrow and that the lips do not close.
– Raise the cheeks as when you smile, and bring the corners of the mouth upwards. Be careful not to create wrinkles around your eyes.
– When the posture has been mastered, close the eyes and look towards the back to strengthen the lower eyelid and activate the hypothalamus. Do not raise the front, nor raise the upper eyelids, as the shoulders must be relaxed at all times.
– Keep holding the “O” longer and lift the muscles, then bring the head slightly towards the top and towards the back.
– To avoid wrinkles, put your fingers on the sienes, press the muscles and push towards the top.
5- Drain: form a V with the index and larger fingers and surround each of the ears with that V. Start rubbing the ears and count to five. Next, drag your hands up to the clavicle and with your fingers make five small circles above the clavicle. Repeat this sequence two more times.
