yoga for skin

Admiring those glowing faces in beauty cream advertisements, we often wonder if we too could have a skin so young and beautiful. Well, it’s not a far-fetched dream anymore! Now even you can flaunt healthy, radiant skin that draws attention. And the good news is: no chemicals and no pricey beauty packages. Just a simple four-letter word – yoga – and a long-lasting glow on the face is yours to keep.

But before we talk about the solution, let’s first understand where skin problems such as wrinkles and dark spots stem from.

Some women start wrinkling premature, primarily due to stress or unhealthy
lifestyle practices such as smoking, alcohol, drug addiction and wrong food
habits.

Acne is common among women of all age groups. Sometimes, it could occur
due to hormonal changes in the body. In this case, there’s nothing to worry
about because it heals itself with time.

Improper digestion also shows up in the form of pimples.

1. Practice asanas (yoga postures), particularly inverted poses and forward
bends, which help increase blood circulation to the head and face area.
examples are Cobra Pose, Fish Pose, Plow Pose, Shoulder Stand, Triangle Pose, and Child Pose. These postures also increase oxygenation to the system; as such are called chest openers.

2. For women with oily skin, acne becomes a problem in summer. Cooling
pranayamas (breathing exercises), such as Sheetali and Sheetkari, provide
cooling effect and retain skin glow. Also, learn the Jalneti technique at Sri
Yoga and practice it everyday. It facilitates physical and emotional cleansing. The Shankh Prakshalan process taught at the course is also very effective in this regard. Make sure to do it once every six months.

3. To improve digestion, Wind-Relieving Posture (Pavanamuktasana), Kneeling Pose (Vajrasana), Bow Pose (Dhanurasana), Nadi Shodhan pranayama (Alternate Nostril Breathing), and Kapal Bhati pranayama (Skull-Shining Breathing Technique), are good on empty stomach. Kapal Bhati, an effective detoxifying technique, is aptly named so as Kapal means forehead and Bhati means glowing. Detoxification happens through forceful exhalation, the first effect of which shows in the form of naturally glowing skin.

4. Meditate twice a day. The more you do, the more you will radiate from within and without. Who needs makeup then? Meditation will be your natural makeup that lasts long and makes you look beautiful!

5. Practice at least 20 minutes of facial yoga exercises everyday at home.
These will help tighten face muscles. Massage your jaws to reduce stress,
massage your eyebrows for a dose of instant relaxation, try the ‘kiss and
smile technique’ (push out your lips as though to kiss a baby and then smile as broadly as you can) to exercise your face muscles. To naturally remove toxins from the system, doing some fast-paced yoga exercises such as quick rounds of Surya Namaskar, which make you perspire, is also a good idea.