Touch Up - facial massages and exercises

Vegetarian Times, Nov, 1999 by Paula Hunt

Natural hands-on tips for giving your face a little lift

How convenient that nature's 10 best tools for taking care of your face are literally in front of you. Your fingers are a mini-massage machine that you can use almost any time or place for unfurrowing your brow and relaxing your jaw. And by relieving tension and reducing overall stress, you can improve the appearance of your skin. Mind-body .disciplines like Ayurveda, acupressure, massage and yoga all have do-it-yourself beauty exercises you can use for a holistic face-lift.

ANCIENT INDIAN SECRETS

In the thousands-year-old science of Ayurveda, massage is key in maintaining skin health and preventing wrinkles. The Indian tradition holds that nurturing the body, mind and spirit creates inner harmony and that balance is reflected in one's health and appearance. Ayurvedic facial massage includes use of therapeutic herbal extracts and essential oils, which fight infection and are also rejuvenating to promote youthful-looking skin. "Essential oils are nourishing," says Pratima Raichur, New York City-based naturopath and author of Absolute Beauty: Radiant Skin and Inner Harmony Through the Ancient Secrets of Ayurveda (HarperCollins, 1997), "and they even work for people with oily skin."

Exercise

Using the massage oil recipe below, start by slightly sweeping the fingers on your right hand horizontally across your forehead from your left temple to your right. Alternate with your left hand, stroking your forehead from the right temple to the left. Raichur says to do this for one minute, once a day, either upon waking or before bedtime.

Store mixture in sterilized amber glass container in a cool, dark place. Because essential oils have antibacterial qualities, the massage oil will keep for several months.

GET TO THE POINT

The following acupressure eye-lift stimulates chi, the Chinese word for life force, invigorating skin tissue and making the face look more youthful, says Steve Shimer, L.Ac. and co-author of Healing with Pressure Point Therapy (Prentice Hall Press, 1999). In Western terms, the method tones up facial muscles to prevent sagging.

Developed by Mercedes Martin, a Los Angeles acupuncturist and described in Shimer's book, this exercise focuses on diminishing fine lines and wrinkles around the eyes.

Exercise

First, open the flow of energy to your face by holding your left hand palm down, fingers out straight. With the thumb and index finger of your right hand, pinch the weblike area between the thumb and index finger of your left hand. Continue to squeeze for 5 seconds, and then switch hands. Note: This part of the exercise should be skipped if you are pregnant.

Do the entire exercise every other day for a month; after that, do them once a week for maintenance. Unless otherwise noted, use both middle fingers and apply medium pressure for one minute.

* Press upward on the points just under the inner edge of your eyebrows, near the bridge of your nose.

* Push upward on the points located about a thumb's width above each eyebrow and over the center of your eyes.

* Press the points located at the outer edge of each eyebrow, right on the brow line.

* Press upward on your temples.

* Place finger pads on the ridge of the bone just below each eye socket in line with the center of your eyes. Press gently.

* Press the points located beneath the center of your eye and at the level of the upper border of your nostrils.

* Using your index fingers, press on the points just outside the corner of your lips in the groove that's formed when you smile (in the creases).

* Clench your teeth and find the muscles that bulge on each jaw. Relax your jaw and press these points using your index and middle fingers.

* Press the slight depressions located under your cheekbones near your hairline.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

Regular facial massage is not an indulgence but a basic beauty treatment for Russian women. "Massage is maintenance," says Stalina Glot, a Russian aesthetician at New York City's Haven Spa. "It stimulates the muscles, which keeps the skin in place."

Exercise

To give yourself a mini neck massage, lightly apply moisturizer to your neck. Then, using the backs of your fingers on each hand, stroke upward firmly (but not hard) under the chin for 3 to 5 minutes. Do this once a day, either in the morning or at bedtime.

EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE

Tension headaches from clenching your jaw and squint lines from peering at computer screens are just two beauty "booby traps" that can be alleviated by practicing yoga relaxation exercises, says Julie Lusk, a certified yoga teacher and author of Desktop Yoga (Perigee Books, 1998).

Lusk's favorite is the Lion pose, which boosts blood circulation to your head, thereby increasing nutrient-rich oxygen to the face and helping eliminate toxins.

Exercise

1. Sit in a chair with both feet flat on the floor and hands resting on your knees.

2. Expel all of the air out of your lungs by drawing your stomach in toward your spine.

3. Take a deep breath in, bug your eyes out, stick out your tongue and spread your fingers, stretching the palms of your hands against your knees. You can either hold your breath the whole time or release it with an "ahhhhhh" sound as you make the lion face. (Imagine how a lion looks when he roars.) Repeat three times and do at least once a day.