Love your face
I was asked a question lately at the end of one of my body/mind Yoga experiences. What is face Yoga? I said simply, it’s yoga for the face. For those who practice bodily yoga, you know the many health benefits and how good it makes you feel, well, multiply that by 100 and you can kind of guess the feel-good factor from practicing face yoga.
There are thousands of face yogis all over the world feeling better and looking better because of this practice. It’s not only about wrinkles, as we know we are going to age but to become aware that we have the choice available to us right now in how we feel on the inside and look on the outside. This is not a superficial practice, this is an in-depth holistic, self-loving practice that can only bring good to you. Got to try it though!
You might ask why did I want to get into face Yoga? Well, first of all, your face is a very important part of our body and it’s what’s displayed every day, first thing in the morning when we look in the mirror. Your facial expression can tell a thousand stories, everything we experience can show on our face. The, laughter, stress, grief, worry, and habitual non-helpful habits/gestures all show on the face over time. Now we have an all-natural method to understand what lies underneath the skin, regain our fresh energetic look and put a spring in our step at any age. It’s truly self-empowering. Love it!
It all started a few years ago when I was getting a lot of comments e.g “you look tired, are you ok?” I must have heard it a thousand times. Although it can be a bit of a drag hearing that and your ego gets hurt, I flipped it on its head and took a look at myself and you know what it was true, I was drawn and tired. Hearing that from another person can be hard cause let’s face it (excuse the pun) many of us can be a little sensitive/insecure about the way our face looks. Where did that come from? That’s a whole other conversation for another day. As it goes, I now thank my commenters as they got me looking into what could I do about this tired face and what was causing it.
Our Yoga, wellness & fitness industry primarily focus is on the body and the face and neck are often left out. Somewhere along the line we totally forgot about the face where we have between 40 – 60 muscles. Learning about the anatomy of the face is fascinating and is crucial for a successful face yoga practice. It’s not as simple as ABC, but it’s simple, once you know how.
I started asking the question, surely, if you can tone your body, you can reshape and tone your face with the right method. That’s when I came across the face yoga method. I started doing some freebies first to get a feel for it. After scouting google I came across this wonderful lady called Fumiko Takatso. Wow, she is a petite force of nature who spoke to me through the screen with such clarity and such heart. I was sure this was for me, every cell in my body said yes, no questions, I signed up straight away. If you feel something in your gut so strongly that your credit card is out before you know it and it’s paid for in nanoseconds, this is a sign you are on the right track (but be careful about that one, haha).
This all started at the beginning of Covid, so as covid was going on outside, I was discovering how to feel and look good naturally, putting this time to good use. The practice is 100% natural and it gives you more than the eye can see and does not break the bank. I was feeling better each time I practiced and I received my certificate last November. I start my day with hot water and face yoga for 15 mins, what a great start. We all think we have no time but when we want something, we have time, just like brushing our teeth. Imagine if you said you were too busy to brush your teeth, what would happen?
In recent years, people of all ages as young as 20 are opting for fillers and botox. Why is this? I feel so sad when I hear this, handing over our beauty and our lives to others. Constantly living by appointment in a world that could possibly fill you with more anxiety and low self-esteem. Is it really sustainable for the rest of your life? I don’t know if people understand the consequences long-term and this concerns me. If you are about to embark on any of those treatments, please do your research and know exactly what is in the liquid going into your face and how much experience the therapist has. This is not about whether you do or don’t, it’s completely up to you, no judgment here, this is about being responsible. Ask the questions so there are no regrets in the years to come. Beauty comes in all forms and real beauty comes from within and that is what face yoga offers. We get in touch with our inner self, we breathe (a lot) we take care of ourselves, we grow in confidence, boost self-esteem and go on to live the life we love. It is not a selfish act, it’s not a silly act, it’s an act of self-love and I love it.