Recently at Suryalila, we were treated to a ‘face yoga’ workshop with Maryia and it was incredible! By gently massaging and stretching our faces with our hands, tension drifted away from our jaws, our bodies felt relaxed and our skin was glowing! We knew we had to share the magic of 'face yoga' with you at home, so we asked Maryia to share some of her top tips. Read on to find out why you'll love it too...
Maryia says:
“We love to nourish our bodies with yoga… it helps us to stay strong and flexible, to detoxify our organs, and nurture a sense of calm. But, our faces can also benefit from a mindful yoga practise."
Face yoga is a combination of exercise, massage, acupressure and lymphatic drainage using hands and/or various tools such as Guasha stones or face rollers like the ones you'll find in our Shakti Boutique - helps to strengthen the muscles, stretch and de-tangle connective tissue (fascia), and promote waste removal. As well as encouraging radiant skin, face yoga is incredibly relaxing. By helping to release pent-up tension and negative emotions in the facial muscles, it can help you to feel ‘lighter’ and sleep better.
Four ways to get started with face yoga at home:
Just like with any form of exercise, consistency is key. Attend a workshop or watch a few Youtube videos, learn some moves and create a short daily self-practice. For example, a basic Guasha sequence such as this one posted below is wonderful to de-puff the face and bring about a healthy glow.
Transform your face yoga into a self-care ritual. Use a divine smelling oil (you can make your own blend using jojoba as base plus a few drops of your favourite essential oils), put some music on, and imagine that with every move you are bringing loving, healing energy while releasing what has been weighing you down.
Multi-task. Either whilst cleansing your skin (I recommend using a cleansing butter or milk), or applying a cream or serum as part of your normal skin care routine, do a few de-puffing and sculpting moves.
Blend some face yoga into your actual yoga. As you are doing some of the more intense postures, particularly those with hands pressing into the floor (down dog for example), notice what happens to your face. The chances are that it is tense, as if somehow a clenched jaw will help your alignment! Let those 'dogs' or any other poses that make you tense be your cue to relax the face - try parting the lips or better still, dropping the lower jaw and sticking the tongue out! This tones the whole face (your neighbour won't see, don’t worry!).
Let us know what you think!
We hope you enjoy trying out ‘face yoga’ at home and feel stress and tension melt away. Let us know what you think. And if you're hankering for a deeper level of rest, relaxation and rejuvenation, come join us on a retreat, or as an independent guest, at our rural sanctuary tucked away in the Andalusian mountains. Be nourished with daily yoga, scrumptious vegetarian food, dips in our sparkling saltwater pool, hikes in the fresh mountain air and siestas in our softly swaying hammocks dappled by the Spanish sunshine whilst being welcomed by our warm, international yoga community.