Emma van Hinsberg discovers the rejuvinating effects of face yoga
Can you give yourself a natural face-lift in just two weeks? I met up with a friend of mine recently who I hadn’t seen for a couple of months. I kid you not; she looked like a completely different woman. Her face was taut and line-free and she was positively glowing with good health. Had she found herself a new boyfriend, I enquired (yes, it was that sort of glow), or maybe a new plastic surgeon? Nothing of the sort, she beamed back at me; it was all down to face yoga .
Having been in the industry for longer than I care to remember, I’ve heard consistently good reports about this popular holistic technique over the years. It’s the celebs’ go-to treatment when they want a natural pickme-up – both Jennifer Aniston and Gwyneth Paltrow are fans – but I’ve always been put off by the weird facial exercises which involve contorting your face to look like a cross between a Toby mug and an All Blacks rugby player doing the haka. However, if it gets results like that, I don’t care what I look like, count me in!
The theory behind it is that just as your body needs regular exercise to stay toned and firm, the 57 muscles in the face and neck also need to be exercised. And of course it makes sense – if a hundred squats a day will give you the glutes of an Olympic athlete, it stands to reason that a few dedicated contortions will have the same effect on your face. Leading face yoga expert Danielle Collins who created the Face Yoga Method which combines yoga, acupressure and relaxation techniques explains: “As your face muscles become stronger through exercise they are lifted and firmed and the skin attached to the muscles is also lifted and tautened, therefore reducing lines and wrinkles.”
Of course, everyone has different faces so the time it takes to see changes varies from person to person. As a general rule you will start to see more of a long-term improvement in your face and neck after two weeks but you’ll notice bigger changes as time goes by and devotees swear it can knock 10 years off. What’s more, it’s the perfect natural antidote to pumping your face full of Botox and fillers. The technique involves 18 short exercises that take no more than 10 minutes a day. They can be done anywhere (although you might get a few funny looks gurning away on the number 22 bus), and they’re dead easy. I’ve been doing them for a few weeks now and already I’ve noticed a difference. My jaw line looks firmer and my cheeks look plumper and slightly lifted.
For more information go to faceyogaexpert.com
