Cleansing Blog

 by Su Avasthi

Pucker up. Touch your tongue to your chin. Scrunch up your face.

These are surely some of the exercises — or yoga postures, if you will — that are designed to soothe the tense facial expressions that might lead to wrinkles.

Welcome to the latest trend in yoga: Face yoga.

One such class is known as Revita-Yoga, according to an article in the New York Times, and it seems to be a fairly popular class at the New York Health and Racquet Club. They wanted to call it Yo-Tox, but apparently ran into some legal red tape.

And it seems that it’s just the first indication of what could be a big “face yoga” trend, which includes spa sessions, classes, books, and most likely DVDs. In fact, it seems that it’s even possible for a yoga teacher to get certified in something called “facial toning.”

The premise is that yoga and facial exercises can help fight wrinkles, frown lines, sagging skin, plump up the lips, and even just bring a rosy blush to the cheeks. (Downward dog is particularly good for that, thanks to all that blood rushing to the head.)

People who support the trend say it’s a natural alternative to cosmetic surgery, Botox, and other procedures that seek to reverse the aging process (or, at the very least, preserve us in time.)

The medical community, however, has yet to be convinced. But, they’re not really knocking either. The general consensus seems to be that it can’t hurt any of us to give it a try.

Meanwhile, several well-known yogis, including Rodney Yee, aren’t too sold on the idea because it strikes them as too much of a marketing ploy.

Personally, I’m not quite sold either. I love the glow that I get from regular yoga practice. But I’m not sure that squinting is the path to bliss. (Although, the same can’t always be said for puckering up.)

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