Millions are spent each year by otherwise sane folks injecting neuro-toxins and synthetic Hyaluronic Acid (sounds bad, but its natural counterpart is actually found in a youthful face) into their faces and other body parts to stave off the ravages of time.
And, while the ravages spare no one, perhaps, like me, the idea of needles filled with sickness and goo being injected into into your body is even more oogie than the perpetual frown that is steadily developing… “Are you mad, mommy- why do you always look mad, mom?”
But, hey! All is not lost to those of us who reject the costly, rather frightening and, let’s face it, frustratingly impermanent medical solutions.
Thanks to the drive to stay looking younger naturally there is a cheaper, non-medical, and let’s face it, frustratingly impermanent, yogic alternative!
As with yoga as a regular practice to keep our muscles strong and limber, staving off the inevitable fraying with time, the age-old practice is effective with our facial muscles as well. It can be the alternative to the more invasive needle procedures that can be financially prohibitive not to mention just plain gross.
Developed by Annelise Hagen, of New York Yoga, who wrote a book on mastering what she calls the ultimate facelift, facial yoga provides a wonderfully natural and invigorating way to stay looking younger.
As Annelise explains, there is a particular technique to making the faces that make up the unique practice.
In an interview with “Good Morning America, “If you just made weird squirmy faces randomly you’d get more wrinkles,” she said. “We’re trying to tone and lift the muscles of the face. It’s been scientifically proven that the muscular activity helps to prolong the production of collagen and elastin, which makes your face firm and springy.” Hagen maintains that this practice of yoga for the face allows people to guide the way their face ages from the inside out.
In addition to the regular needle treatments and other procedures, Dr. Neil Sadick, the lucky go-to dermatologist to some of the wives of “The Real Housewives of New York,” does, in fact, also recommend yoga for the face to his patients, saying it promotes the production of collagen.
Face yoga stimulates muscles, Sadick said, adding that “although there’s not great science around it compared to other technologies like chemical peels or Botox, we know that by stimulating any component of your face like your muscles you’re going to have a beneficial effect in terms of your overall appearance.”
And there you have it…. looking younger may not have to mean endless costly visits to the cosmetic surgeon or dermatologist, numbing and plumping with disease and fillers. There may actually be an alternative that promotes not only looking younger, but actually doing it gracefully… for free!
Back from Thanksgiving and, Idon’t know about you, but I’m finding the need for balance, in diet- navigating my way from abundant meat and cheese (until Christmas, creamy fondue and Calabrese salami!) and back to hot rice cereal, greens and lean protien… and practice! Whew! Moving on in the series we find ourselves moving from grasping our toe 
