BLOG 253: FEEL ANXIOUS? 3 FACE YOGA TIPS FOR FRESHER SKIN AND A CALMER MIND
Feb 07, 2024
Face yoga is great for making your skin look fresh and vibrant. But what I love most about this practice is how it can help to calm and centre you too.
Even just a short face yoga sequence can make you feel calmer and more grounded by connecting you to your breath, nourishing yourself with your loving touch, and releasing some of the emotional tension held in your face.
I find this especially helpful when I’m feeling nervous or worried about something. We all get those moments of anxiety – perhaps you need to stand up in front of loads of people at a public speaking event or perhaps there’s a party or an event you are feeling nervous about attending.
Whatever it is that has your mind racing and your heart feeling fluttery, face yoga is a beautiful way to help you calm down. And, of course, it has the added benefit of making you look and feel your best too, which is great for confidence.
In this post, I’m sharing three face yoga tips that promote calmness and soothe nerves. These are not a substitute for medical advice – if your anxiety is very high or is affecting your quality of life, please speak to a professional who can help you with that.
But for those moments of everyday nervousness, these techniques are wonderful for bringing back your sense of calm and balance.
Getting Started
As always with face yoga, make sure you have clean hands and a clean face before starting this sequence, and apply some moisturising serum to help your fingers move easily over your skin.
Find a comfortable place to sit or stand. Bring your attention to your breath and start by just taking a few deep inhales and exhales through your nose.
As we move through this practice, try to keep that focus on breathing deeply and slowly – it’s amazing how much the simple act of breathing can calm our minds and relax our bodies.
Tip 1: Tapping
Form your hand into a loose fist and gently thump against the centre of your chest – this is great for immediately calming us down.
Then, use your fingertips to tap over your chest area, moving your hands around to cover the full area.
Stop for a moment to take a deep breath in through your nose. Then, sigh out through your mouth, making an “ahh” sound to release some of that nervous energy. Repeat that one more time.
Bring your index and middle fingers onto the acupressure point between your eyebrows and tap to stimulate the point. This is known as the third eye point, and it is one of the best acupressure points for reducing stress and tension.
Next, use your index fingers to tap the acupressure points at your temples – again, these points are great for calming the mind and helping us to relax. You can also use your fingers to massage these points in a circular motion.
2. Eye Pulse
When our anxiety is high, it can really affect our adrenaline levels and we often find that we feel a bit heavy under the eyes. This tends to happen when the adrenals are fatigued. So, this technique aims to address the eye area and encourage the flow of life force energy (prana in yoga or Qi in Traditional Chinese Medicine).
Bring three fingers under each eye and very gently tap or pulse. As you do this, say to yourself “I am relaxed”. Repeat this three times in total.
This little pulsing motion really helps to stimulate lymphatic drainage, reducing puffiness and dark circles under the eyes.
3. Jaw Release
Hopefully, you are already starting to feel calmer and more relaxed. But if you are still feeling some of that stress and nervous energy, you may want to release the jaw next.
This is an area where many of us hold a lot of tension and stress, and it can become very tight. To release some of that tension, bring your thumbs underneath your chin and glide outward and upward, following the line of your jaw.
When you get to the corners of your jaw, lift your thumbs off and replace them at your chin to repeat the move.
Then, place your index fingers on the acupressure point just beneath your ears and massage into that point in a circular motion. After 10-30 seconds, switch direction and repeat.
Finish
End the sequence by forming your hands into fists and holding them by the sides of your face. Close your eyes and mouth. Inhale through your nose. Then, breathe out forcefully through your mouth, sticking out your tongue and making a “haar” sound like a lion’s roar. At the same time, open your eyes wide and spread out your fingers as if you are making claws.
This breathing technique is called Lion’s Breath, and it is great for releasing stress and worry. Repeat it one more time.
Then, place your hands on your heart centre. Close your eyes. Focus on your breath, inhaling through your nose for a count of four and exhaling for a count of six. Do that a couple more times.
Open your eyes – and we are all done!
This should only take around five minutes in total and you can do it whenever you feel nervous or stressed.
If you prefer, you can also follow this sequence as a video over on my YouTube channel.
As you can see from this, face yoga has way more benefits than just lifting and toning your face (although it can certainly help with that too).
If you would like to learn more about the benefits of face yoga, how to build different routines for different purposes, and even how to teach these amazing techniques to others, I have a teacher training course available that gives you everything you need to know.
It is a great way to deepen your own practice, and certifies you to teach face yoga to others, whether in groups or one-to-one.
