Yoga and Skin Care
Glowing Skin with Yoga
Glowing skin is an invaluable beauty and health asset. Glowing skin is fresh looking and has an even texture. For people of all ages glowing skin enhances the appearance and draws appreciation to oneself. The practice of Yoga has gained immense popularity worldwide as a natural and safe alternative in achieving youthful glowing skin.It is an old adage that skin reflects the inner condition of the body. People resort to various methods in their quest to achieve a flawless and glowing skin. Yoga offers a holistic approach which include pranayamas (breathing techniques), Asanas (bodily postures) and meditation which aim to correct the root cause of the problem. A proper balance between the body and mind coupled with healthy lifestyle is the key to achieve a healthy glowing skin naturally.
Causes of Uneven Skin Tone and Dull Skin
- Clogging of pores with dead skin cells and sebum
- Excess oil production
- Hormonal fluctuations in puberty, pregnancy, menopause, use of birth control pills
- Aging which causes thinning of skin, loss of collagen and shrinkage of oil-secreting glands
- Photo aging from prolonged sunlight exposure, ultraviolet radiation, tanning beds
- Air pollution
- Bad lifestyle choices which include eating junk food, fatty food, excess alcohol, coffee, less of fresh vegetables and fruits, lack of physical activity, and cigarette smoking
- Medical conditions due to infections, allergies, inflammations, auto immune diseases
Short-Term Methods to Achieve Glowing Skin
- Chemical: Bleaching creams, local applications containing retinoic acid, azelaic acid, kojic acid or chemical peeling
- Lasers:Thermal Resurfacing, Intense Pulsed Light
- External Application: Fuller's earth, chick pea flour, curd, tomato pulp, honey, lemon, turmeric, milk, rose water, essential oils, cosmetics and beauty packs
- Massage: Using olive oil, jojoba oil, almond oil, tea tree oil, coconut oil and facials
Long-Term [Lasting] Methods to Achieve Glowing Skin
- Holistic: Yoga, Naturopathy, Homeopathy, Ayurveda
What is Yoga?
Yoga is an ancient Indian science, widely practiced for health and relaxation. It includes breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures. These techniques make our body supple, strong and reduce mental stress. Yoga also improves our body's resistance power to ward off illnesses.Effect of Yoga on Skin
- Asanas improve blood and oxygen circulation and also detoxify the body keeping the skin healthy and glowing
- All inverted postures and forward bends make blood flow into the face faster, bringing with it oxygen and other helpful nutrients that encourage skin cell renewal and give your face a rosy glow
- Asanas improve digestion
- Asanas tone the muscles and improve flexibility
- Pranayamas help eliminate toxins accumulated in your body through breathing
- Meditation reduces your stress levels and helps stabilize hormones. This reduces drastic fluctuations in stress hormones like cortisol, responsible for a host of mental and physical illnesses.
Recommended Asanas for Glowing Skin
Inverted postures
1. Sirsana (Headstand) - King of the Asanas
How To Perform:
- Interlock your fingers and place forearms on the floor
- Place the crown of your head between the interlocke hands
- Raise hips and knees slowly off the ground
- Straighten legs
- Transfer the body weight to the interlocked hands and head when balancing
- Lift off the ground and bring it in straight line with trunk
- Breathe slowly and deeply
- Stay in the final pose for 2-5 minutes. Come back by flexing the knees and sliding them down to the floor in reverse order
How To Perform:
- Lie on the floor. Inhale, raise the back and legs. Lift legs to 90�
- Lift waist and trunk off the floor placing the hands on upper back for support
- The chin should rest against the chest.
- Fix the eyesight on the toes
- Stay in this final pose for 2-5 minutes
- Come back by slowly lowering the back
- Exhaling slowly lower both legs back to the supine position
How To Perform:
- Lie on your back
- Keep the palm flat on the ground
- While exhaling press the palm on ground and raise both the legs upwards straight then try to touch the ground just behind
- Breathe slowly and hold the posture for 1-2 minutes
- Now slowly return to original pose
Forward-bending Yoga poses:
1. Trikonasana (Triangle Pose)
How To Perform:
- Stand erect. Keep distance about 3 to 4 feet between your legs
- Extend your arms at the shoulder level
- Inhale and raise your right arm by the side of your head
- Now, bend your right arm,exhaling towards the left side by keeping your body weight equally on both the feet. Ensure that the right arm is parallel to the ground
- Maintain the position and come back to the original position by inhaling
- Do the same procedure with the left arm
- Perform three to five rounds
How To Perform:
- Kneel on the floor. Touch your big toes together and sit on your heels
- Separate your knees about as wide as your hips
- Exhale and lay your torso down between your thighs
- Lay your hands on the floor alongside your torso, palms up
- Stay in the pose from 1 to 3 minutes
- To come up, inhaling first lift the front torso, and then lift from the tailbone
3. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog)
How To Perform:
- Come onto your fours. Form a table such that your back forms the table top
- As you breathe out lift the hips up, straighten the knees and elbows, forming an inverted V-shape
- Keep hands shoulder width apart and feet hip width apart. Toes point straight ahead
- Touch the ears to the inner arms
- Look towards the navel
- Exhaling return to table pose
How To Perform:
- Stand with your feet hips width apart, toes pointing forward
- Inhale and lengthen your spine. Exhale and fold from your hips, bringing your head toward the floor
- Grab hold of your ankles
- Hold the pose for 1-2 minutes
- Return to initial position
Proper Breathing techniques help us provide our body cells with extra nutrients and oxygen. These detoxify the body imparting a natural beautiful glow to the skin. It also rids us of stress and tension making us calm, relaxed and think positively. These add onto the many benefits of physical postures. This encompasses the adage "Beauty from within".
1. Kapal Bhati (Kapal- forehead and Bhati- glowing)
How To Perform:
- Sit in a cross-legged pose keeping spine straight
- Take a deep breath and exhale forcefully
- As you exhale draw the abdominal muscles inward
- Make sure that your abdomen rises when you inhale and it caves in when you exhale
- Do for 5 to 10 minutes
How To Perform:
- Sit with your legs crossed
- Place the thumb of your right hand over your right nostril and close the nostril
- Draw in air through your left nostril slowly till your lungs are full
- Now exhale through the same nostril
- Then close your left nostril with your ring finger and inhale air slowly through your right nostril
- Exhale through the same nostril till your lungs are empty
How To Perform:
- Sit in the floor in a comfortable position
- Place your hands on your knees
- Hold the body erect
- Breathe in forcefully through both of your nostrils
- After inhaling completely, exhale through your nostrils with force, making a hissing sound
- Do for 3- to 5 minutes
Facial Exercises: [Repeat 3-5 times]
Facial Yoga also helps in toning and rejuvenating the face:
- Puff both cheeks by breathing from your mouth. Hold for 4-6 seconds. Release breath from mouth.
- Pout your lips. Smile as hard as you can with lips still pursed. Hold for 5 seconds.
- Suck in your cheeks with lips pursed. Smile as hard as you can. Hold for 10 seconds.
- Keeping your lips together, make a wide grin. Hold for few seconds.
Maximize the Effect of Yoga
- Vegetarian Diet - Include plenty of fresh seasonal fruits and dark leafy vegetables, whole grains, sprouts, milk, buttermilk, curd and fresh juices in your diet
- Eat freshly cooked food
- Get 8 hours of sleep
- Drink at least 7 glasses of water daily
- Use herbal or homemade products in your daily skincare routine
References:
- Yoga for Naturally Glowing Skin and Face - (http://www.artofliving.org/in-en/yoga/health-and-wellness/yoga-for-glowing-skin)
- Yoga Postures Step By Step - (http://www.aryasamaj.org/newsite/files_newsite/YOGA_Manual.pdf)
- Pranayamas - (http://www.yogaindailylife.org.au/pranayama)
Editor: Sushma Rao
Technically Checked by: Lingaraj