Fight Wrinkles with This Breathing Exercise
July 9th 2009 00:24
Signature Tune
From: Real Age available free online
Take a deep breath. Now let it out. Breathe in again. Breathe out. In. Out. Slowly. Evenly. Feel better? More relaxed?
Good. You might look better when you are done, too, because studies show that stress does more than rumple your mood. It may actually help rumple your face, too.
Time on Your Side
According to RealAge skin expert Amy Wechsler, MD, author of The Mind-Beauty Connection, stress can cause wrinkles. How? By increasing the production of cortisol -- a stress hormone that also stymies collagen production, one of the natural substances skin needs in order to plump itself, repair itself, and keep wrinkles at bay. In addition to deep breathing exercises, chill out with this fun activity from grade-school music classes.
Another antiwrinkle strategy? Increase your beta-endorphins.
3 More Feel-Better, Look-Better Tips
Don’t skimp on sleep. Sleep deprivation exacerbates stress and a haggard appearance. Try these sleep-inducing tips and tools.
Have more sex. Besides boosting beta-endorphins, making love and cuddling with your significant other increases levels of the tension-squashing, feel-good hormones prolactin and oxytocin. Find out how sex reduced people’s blood pressure in a study.
Exercise jacks up your beta-endorphins, too. And it also releases pent up energy and increases blood flow -- all of which your skin will love.
The Goal: Using the mind-beauty connection to fight stress aging and bring out the best in your skin and your looks. This is your starting point -- you are setting a course for revitalization.
The How: By making little shifts in the way you take care of yourself day by day.
The When: It helps to begin on a Saturday -- so you can bookend the week with two weekends --but you can start anytime.
The Plan: The 9 days get you in a new groove -- and have the same effects as a vacation. You’ll look and feel years younger, less stressed, and more energetic afterward. And, ironically, the more wired and tired you are when you start, the bigger the difference will be.
Dr. Amy's 7 Habits of Healthy Skin
Practice Deep Breathing
Shift your body's balance of oxygen versus carbon dioxide in favor of energizing, stress-squashing oxygen by doing slow, controlled breathing exercises. How often? Aim for twice a day.
Why do it? When you focus on your breathing, you're not focusing on anything else (your to-do list or the late babysitter). That mental shift helps remove stressors, bringing you to a deeper level of consciousness, a place where you can put things into perspective.
Get Active
Release the repressed anxiety trapped inside you by putting your body in motion for 30 minutes or more.
How often? Do something -- anything -- every day, because exercise only tames stress for a maximum of 24 hours. So to reap the most benefits, you need to do it daily. If you prefer, tuck 10-minute pockets of activity into your day -- at lunch, after dinner, right after you get up and the house is still quiet. Find ways to sneak fitness into your schedule.
Why do it? Staying active boosts circulation, which delivers more nutrients to cells and skin. It also increases lung capacity, so you can take in more oxygen; lifts your spirits and sense of well-being; and fights age-related diseases. Plus, for many, it's the ultimate stress reducer.
Beat the Foods That Beat You
Reduce the allure of sugary, fatty foods -- which are as bad for your skin as they are for the rest of you -- by eating more lean protein: fish, eggs, poultry, low-fat dairy foods, and even walnuts. Also, try to be more aware of what you reach for -- and how much you consume -- when you're stressed. Get some pointers on mindful eating.
How often? All day, but especially early on -- morning protein helps curb afternoon cravings.
Why do it? Protein is key to avoiding mood swings and energy dips. It helps you maintain a healthy blood sugar balance, which in turn keeps certain hormones (including insulin) in check. Bumping up your protein intake also gives you more energy and fights hunger pangs, which can play games with your moods.
Focus on the Good Things
Pick up a notebook you particularly like, and at the end of each day, make a list of things for which you are truly grateful. Or write down three things that went well, and why.
How often? Nightly, as part of your winding-down routine.
Why do it? Keeping a journal that records the good things in life helps shift your focus to what you're doing right, and that can put a brake on the stressful, negative chatter that often goes on in your head.
Stretch Out Your Sleep
Make it a goal to sleep as many hours as you need to feel alive and productive the next day -- all day.
How often? Every night.
Why do it? Sleep is free cosmetic medicine, pure and simple. When you ask Dr. Amy what single thing makes the biggest improvement in how a stressed-out person looks, she says, "Sleep." Nothing exacerbates stress and etches in lines like exhaustion.
Take a Time-Out
For most of us, life is so hyperscheduled and speedy that we never do absolutely nothing. It's rare to set aside time to simply be -- no agenda, no demands, no plan. (Just like a real vacation. See if you're due for one.) Find a comfortable, quiet spot to sit for 10 to 15 minutes every day, stop all your hustling and bustling . . . and simply, by yourself, be still.
How often? Try for once a day.
Why do it? Slowing down for a little while helps create a sense of spaciousness in your life, a break in the nonstop whirl that can open the door to new perceptions, new solutions, new possibilities. It gives your brain, your psyche, your whole being a break. Like one long, peaceful sigh.
Cuddle or Have Sex
Enjoy a little intimacy.
How often? At least once a week.
Why do it? All kinds of age-defying, beauty-promoting events happen during sex as three seductive hormones spill out of the brain: endorphin, a natural opiate, which contributes to that delicious high; prolactin, which gives you that relaxing, tension-zapping "ahhhhhhh"; and soothing oxytocin, which promotes feelings of affection and triggers a nurturing instinct.
Let It Out: 3 Breathing Exercises
To experiment with these exercises, sit in a chair with your back comfortably upright, feet on the floor, shoulders down, chest open, and hands resting in your lap. Let your abdomen expand with each inhale and contract with every exhalation. You may want to close your eyes and really focus on your breaths.
Exercise #1 -- Let it all out.
Take a deep breath through your nose, and let it out easily through your mouth. At the end of the exhalation, silently repeat “la-lala-la-laaah,” which effortlessly extends the exhalation, releasing more air from your lungs. Feel your abdomen inflate with the next inhale. Do 5 times.
Exercise #2 -- Take a pause.
Inhale and exhale through your nose, mentally counting "in-two-three, out-two-three," and then “pause-two-three.” During the pause, don't breathe in or out; just rest comfortably. Do 5 times. Over time, increase the count to four (“in-two-three-four, out-two-three-four”), then to five, until you reach a number that's comfortable to you.
Exercise #3 -- Hold it.
This technique can help you dial down a stressful reaction to upsetting news and can help you fall asleep, too. It takes a little practice, but people who use the technique swear by it. It's the four-seven-eight breath, a favorite of health guru Andrew Weil, MD.
Place the tip of your tongue just behind your upper front teeth; let it rest there gently for the entire exercise.
Exhale completely through your mouth, letting the air make a whooshing sound as it passes out.
Close your mouth, and inhale through your nose as you mentally count to four. Let the breath fill and expand your abdomen as you inhale, and then hold your breath for a count of seven.
Exhale through your mouth with a whoosh to a count of eight. That's one complete four-seven-eight breath. Do four times. To keep stress in check, do at least one of these breathing exercises twice a day.
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