Spa day? Cha-ching. Facial? Cha-ching. Gym membership? Cha-ching.
These days, pampering oneself has become a bit more pricey, but without all the costs, you can still indulge in self-care. For those who seek to keep their physical beauty up, as well as maintain a healthy emotional well-being, there’s face yoga and meditation.
Face yoga and meditation focuses not only on your outer self but your mind, body and soul. The two techniques help regain the balance and brightness of the face as well as bring the sense of peace into one’s life.
Together, they form a very effective regimen that will bring you health and beauty in one package. Read on to discover what face yoga and face meditation is, all about its benefits, and a step-by-step guide on how to incorporate them into your routine.
What is Face Yoga?
Face yoga exercises and poses are a set of movements aimed at strengthening facial muscles thus tightening the skin, minimizing wrinkles and enhancing circulation. Face yoga is different from many other facial treatments because it naturally firms and tightens your skin without the use of surgery or chemicals. You tone your face as well as reduce the signs of aging if you practice face yoga on a regular basis.
The Benefits of Face Yoga
1. Reduction of Fine Lines and Wrinkles
Collagen production reduces as we age and as a result, the skin loses its elasticity. There is a series of face gymnastics, like the ‘Cheek Lifter,’ or ‘Forehead Smoother.’ These face yoga movements wake up the collagen and elastin production, so the skin becomes tight and invisible fine lines disappear.
2. Improved Circulation
Face yoga can help improve blood circulation and enhance aeration, which in turn enhances provision of oxygen and nutrients. Improved circulation can also aid in the regeneration of cells hence improving and giving you a healthy skin and face.
3. Facial Muscle Toning
As with the regular physical exercise, practicing face yoga contributes towards building the muscles of the face. A toned face not only gives it a defined shape but in the long run it minimizes cases of the formation of sags on the face.
4. Stress Relief
Stress is a common cause of tension, especially on the muscles that are usually around the face, including the jaw and forehead. This eliminates tension, and if done routinely, prevents the formation of wrinkles due to tension on the face.
Key Face Yoga Exercises
To incorporate face yoga into your self-care routine, start with these beginner-friendly exercises:
1. The Cheek Lifter
Target area: Cheeks
How to do it: Pretend that you are making an “O” with your mouth and put your upper lip on the top of your oral cavity. Smile to lift the cheek muscles during the kiss and make sure to cover the lips. Hold for about ten seconds and do this five rounds.
2. The Forehead Smoother
Target area: Forehead
How to do it: Put both your hands on your forehead, which means your fingertips should be touching the hairline. This one shall involve making slight pressure on the face as you attempt to lift the eyebrows up. Take a pause for a 10 seconds duration and repeat five times.
3. The Jawline Definer
Target area: Jawline and neck
How to do it: Raise your head up to the ceiling direction and look up at the ceiling. Try to move your lower jaw to the forwards until you develop a mild pain along your neck and jawline. Pronounce it 5 times taking every 10 seconds in between.
There are many expert resources like FaceYoga.com to start consistency and find regular practices, and can even give you a personal program specific to your habits and age.
The Power of Meditation for Inner Beauty
There are many ways to begin finding comfort within our surroundings and ourselves, just like when you upgrade to make a cozier living space. But beyond our surroundings, face yoga targets not just our body’s exterior. Meditation takes care of your soul, enhancing mental health and wellbeing.
The Benefits of Meditation
1. Reduced Stress
Meditation has been found to decrease cortisol, a stress hormone. Stress in particular not only boosts your overall mental and physical health but also results in skin problems such as acne, eczema, and skin aging.
2. Improved Emotional Well-Being
Health can look different for everyone – it can start from going for non-alcoholic drinks, to doing hard core exercise. Regardless, emotional well-being is something different from physical well-being and must not be ignored.
Doing mindfulness meditation will help one embrace emotional strength hence handle all the difficulties in everyday life easily. Stress-free and balanced conditions have an influence on people’s health, and it presents themselves not only in illnesses but our physical condition, like our skin.
3. Better Sleep
Staying relaxed before sleep can be effective, especially if you are prone to sleeping issues like insomnia. Practicing meditation before going to bed offers significant benefits for the skin.
4. Enhanced Focus and Clarity
Practicing meditation strengthens decision making daily. When the mind is at rest, one can be fully focused mentally, and less prone to distractions.
Types of Meditation to Try
1. Mindfulness Meditation
This meditation is all about paying attention to the current moment. Mindfulness meditation can be learned by finding a comfortable position, closing your eyes and breathing normally. If you find your thoughts have strayed, just acknowledge that and return your focus on your breathing.
These are skills that may be simple to practice, but they can go a long way towards helping with anxieties and achieving clarity of mind, even at times of stress.
2. Guided Visualization
Self-generated positive thoughts are used in guided visualization in order to free the mind and help it wander in a positive way. It is beneficial for those who suffer from obsessive thinking or high stress and anxious thoughts.
3. Loving-Kindness Meditation (Metta)
Loving-kindness meditation helps you focus on spreading positive and loving energy towards yourself and others. This practice results in positive feelings which positively affects your health and makes us feel connected to society.
Combining Face Yoga and Meditation for Maximum Results
With that in mind, let’s learn how to combine face yoga and meditation into a self-care program.
1. Start with Meditation
Relax for 10-15 minutes with mindfulness meditation. This assists in clearing your thoughts and refocusing them, which begins the whole process of practicing yoga. Regardless of whether you use mindfulness meditation or guided visualization, this first stage sets you up to start your face yoga exercises fully.
2. Move to Face Yoga
Immediately after inner space travel and meditation, move on to your face yoga. It is advised to make slow movements and remain relaxed while exercising. The yoga exercises should be done slowly while taking deep breaths. This helps to make sure you are relaxed throughout the process.
3. End with Relaxation
After the face yoga is done, make sure you spend a few minutes either resting and lying on your back, or sitting in complete stillness. You can even follow a short body scan meditation where you run through your body and the reader is assured all tension is released.
Creating a Daily Routine
Start doing this regularly to see the full results that you stand to gain by doing both face yoga and meditation. Ideally, both techniques should be performed for at least 20 minutes each day. You can start shorter as you start your day and work your way up to a longer time. Make it a habit to either set a relaxing routine in the morning or just before going to bed.
Bonus Tip: Incorporate Aromatherapy
Go through deep relaxation by adding essential oils such as lavender or chamomile. These calming scents can enhance your effectiveness of meditation practice and face yoga as it provides an even more relaxing atmosphere as you do your practice.
Conclusion
The beauty of face yoga and meditation is that they are a great way of taking care of the body and soul while providing external facial benefits.
If you take a few minutes a day to dedicate to your skin and mind, you’re bound to look happier and healthier while improving your mental and physical health in the process.
This self-care practice therefore serves to remind us that true beauty starts from within, so start investing in yourself and pass your beauty on to the world!
