Holistic Beauty from the Inside Out (8 page)

Eye Yoga Exercise
: For the eye exercise, hold your head steady, and then shift your eyes seven times each in each direction: right-left; up-down; upper right lower left; upper left-lower right; clockwise circles; counter-clockwise circles; then touch the thumb to the tip of the nose, focus on the thumb while slowly reaching the arm forward to full arm’s length, then focus on the far wall, then back to thumb, then bring thumb to nose—seven times total.

Facial Lift Yoga Exercise
: Squeeze the muscles of your face in toward your nose and close your eyes tightly, then open your mouth and eyes widely, spreading out all the muscles of the face. Repeat several times. You can do the facial yoga exercises even when stuck in traffic or waiting in a queue (although the Facial Lift Yoga Exercise may cause a few surprised glances from people nearby). But for the best antistress bang for your fitness buck, head to the park or any other green open space. Even a five-minute workout in the open air is proven to improve your mental fitness. Any open space will give your mood a lift, but green lawns near water are most favorable.

Antistress Massage
: Self-massage is the quickest and easiest way to boost your energy levels and dissolve tension at the end of a difficult day. The following massage technique from a massage therapist Suzy Amato will boost your circulation and revive your tense facial muscles. You can add a few drops of the Face Relief Oil below to your fingertips for increased smoothness, and to invigorate the skin.

FACE RELIEF OIL

Essential oils in this recipe are rich in a substance called eugenol, which works as an antistress phytochemical. Eugenol may cause a release of stress-busting neurotransmitters and help combat negative effects of chronic stress.
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Please keep in mind that eugenol can cause skin sensitivity, so it is very important to cleanse your face thoroughly after massaging if you suspect you may be allergic to any of the recipe components. If you think you may be sensitive to eugenol, please do a patch test first. Dilute the essential oil with base oil (1 drop essential oil to 10 drops of the base oil), and then dab the mixture slightly into the crease of your arm. If no irritation occurs within 24 hours, feel free to explore this recipe.

Ingredients

3.3 oz. (100 ml) cup jojoba or grapeseed oil
5 drops melissa essential oil
2 drops clove essential oil
2 drops nutmeg essential oil
2 drops cinnamon essential oil

Method

Combine all ingredients in a glass (not plastic!) bottle and shake well. Store in a cool dark place for up to 12 months.

1. Eye Awake
   . Sit with your shoulders relaxed, hands placed on your thighs. Close your eyes and firmly press your eyelids together. Do not squint. Count to three, then open your eyes and count to three again. Repeat five times.
   
2. Face Tap
   . Using fingertips saturated with Face Relief Oil, gently tap your face starting at the forehead and moving down to the cheeks and jaw. You can also tap your scalp area, which helps release tension and may help promote hair growth.
   
3. Cheek Lift
   . Using your middle fingers, press firmly into your jaw muscles located under your cheekbones near earlobes. Hold the pressure counting to five, and then relax. Repeat five times.
   

As you incorporate these simple stress-relieving techniques in your daily beauty routine, remember that the ultimate form of health and beauty is the daily encouragement of positive emotions. Love, compassion, and joy are vital for wellness. On a physical level, they cause your muscles to relax, normalize your breathing, and promote stronger blood flow. The expression of compassion, love, and joy triggers your body to increase the production of serotonin, a natural antidepressant. But the true stress relief is impossible without a good night’s sleep. In the next chapter you will learn why your daily slumber is your most powerful antiaging, skin-rejuvenating tool.

Chapter Two Quick Tips

1. If your mood dwindles after you have missed the only parking spot available, or broken a nail before an important date, tackle the issue head on. Remove irritants, relocate your car to another parking garage, and file your nails to perfection. When you
   take care of the problem right away
   , you enjoy lifted mood, and an added bonus of an accomplishment.
   
2. Artificial lighting and dark office spaces with no windows can contribute to low moods. If natural sunshine is a luxury for you, for example, in the middle of the winter,
   just twenty minutes of being outside in natural sunlight can help make a depression-free mind-set a reality
   .
   
3. For most of us, taking a break from work or any other activity involves grabbing a coffee and logging in to social networking. If you are feeling overwhelmed, a quick chat with a good friend can be a much better remedy. But if you often socialize with people who complain and whine all the time, it can also contribute to your stress. Instead of worrying about someone else’s problems, or reading news (another stress trigger),
   get up and take a brisk walk, or close your eyes and listen to classical, lounge, or meditative music
   . Most important, never skip your breaks. After just ten minutes of a recharging activity, you will be far more productive than if you plow through the day with no relief.
   
4. Make conscious efforts to eliminate sugar, caffeine, or alcohol addictions
   . If you are successful at stabilizing your blood sugar levels, you will eventually get off that mood roller coaster that most of us ride on all day.
   
5. Mind-soothing nutrition will lead to stable physical, mental, and emotional states.
   Enrich your diet
   with vitamins from the B group, vitamin C, zinc, copper, magnesium, and potassium. Best sources of these nutrients are fresh, wholesome foods, but, if necessary, feel free to add supplements to your daily intake of these stress-relieving nutrients.
   
6. Consider supplementing with mind-strengthening herbs such as rhodiola or Siberian ginseng, which
   help normalize your stress response and reduce the levels of stress-generated free radicals in your body
   .
   
7. Meditate daily to feel grounded, secure, and less prone to anxiety
   . Even ten or twenty minutes a day can do wonders for your complexion. Choose a meditation technique that fits your personal beliefs and state of mind.
   
8. Practice facial relaxation massage with soothing oils to
   promote the relaxation of facial muscles
   and revive a healthy glow.
   
9. Yoga is great for your metabolism and overall wellbeing
   . Learn the basics in a studio and try moving your sessions outdoors to absorb more oxygen and soothe your nerves.
   

THREE

Become a Sleeping Beauty

D
id you know that a good night of sleep is probably the most powerful rejuvenating cosmetic procedure available? Research shows that sleep really can enhance your appearance. According to a recent study, sleep-deprived people are perceived as less attractive and less healthy, compared with those who look well rested.
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Your physical beauty begins in your mind. We all know that worries and anxiety are bad for our health and that you can liter-ally worry yourself sick. But your lack of sleep can bring a whole new host of beauty worries for you. When you don’t sleep enough, your body needs to push itself twice as hard to survive on a brink of fatigue. Your body sends energy from already depleted resources where it’s needed most: to the heart, brain, muscles, intestines, and endocrine glands. Skin and hair are the last in the list of priorities when our body has access to very limited amount of a recharge time. A lack of healthy circulation to the skin leads to sallow skin, brittle nails, and dark under-eye circles.

When we feel sleepy, our body attempts to put us in a state called
“sleep homeostasis.” The amount of sleep each of us needs varies from person to person, but adults generally need around seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Any less than that, and you begin accumulating your “sleep debt.” This snowballing sleep deprivation has disastrous effect on our looks, including the following:

Red, puffy eyes and increased number of wrinkles around the eyes.
As we sleep less, our eyes are more prone to dehydration, which in turn causes micro-injuries to tiny blood vessels in the eye. Result? Redness, puffiness, and dark eye circles as the blood vessels in the lower lid area work hard and often get exhausted “serving” the skin around the tired eye with a fresh supply of oxygen and nutrients.

More blemishes and increased skin dryness.
The immune system is weakened without sleep. The number of white blood cells within the body decreases, as does the activity of the remaining white blood cells. The body also decreases the amount of growth hormone produced.

Wider waistline
. When sleep deprivation mounts, the ability of the body to metabolize sugar declines, turning more sugar into yet more fat accumulating in the abdominal area. Sleep deprivation reduces levels of leptin, an appetite-depressing hormone. These two changes could lead to abdominal weight gain and contribute to your risk of diabetes.

Sagging facial muscles
causing drooping eyelids and deepened nasolabial (nose to corner of the mouth) folds. With chronic sleep deprivation, blood circulation in the facial area is weakened. As a result, facial muscles get fewer nutrients to remain strong and flexible. The continuous frown of tired face becomes permanent, causing even more wrinkles and sagging.

There are less visible but even more dangerous effects of sleep deprivation:

• Increased risk of breast cancer;
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• Increase in stress hormones circulating in the blood;
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• Increased inflammation, one of the key elements in the development of heart disease;
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• High blood pressure, even in young people;
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• Reduced short-term memory and concentration;
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• Compromised verbal abilities;
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• Increased irritability, aggression, and hostility.
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Stroke, heart attack, diabetes—these are just some of the diseases that are triggered by sleeping fewer than six hours a night. During a massive European study involving more than twenty three thousand people over the last eleven years, German scientists found that sleep deprivation was a risk factor in the development of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and cancer.
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A similar study conducted by American scientists in 2012 found that people who reported sleeping fewer than six hours a day were more likely to have diabetes than individuals who reported sleeping six to eight hours.
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Surprisingly, nearly all of us ignore the simplest tool to determine the best time to doze off: the sun. Our body clock, known as the circadian rhythm, is a twenty-four-hour cycle in biochemical and physiological processes. Disruption of this clock has been implicated in various diseases, ranging from cancer to metabolic syndrome, heart attack, and diabetes.

Circadian rhythms are adjusted by external cues called
zeitgebers
, a term borrowed from German language meaning “time-givers.” The main “time-giver” for human beings is daylight. When the sun is up or when we create an artificial sunlight with lamps or candles, our eyes send the information on the lengths of the day and night to the pineal gland, a tiny structure shaped like a pine cone located on the hypothalamus. In response, the pineal secretes the hormone melatonin. Secretion of melatonin peaks at night and nearly stops during the day.