Do you tend to wear your stress on your face? Most of us do and might not even realize it. In today's interview with Louise Breton, we discuss why facial expressions matter. We also talk about the natural option of face yoga that anyone can benefit from. In our interview, she leads us through an awareness exercise to see how we might be handling our stress and follows it up with a sample guided technique. This facial exercise together with conscious awareness, focus, clear and relaxed procedure and breathing helps us reduce frown lines, tired looking eyes, laugh lines, can even out skin tone and more symmetry… You can work on the turkey neck or double chin. Overall it will boost confidence and lower your stress. I was surprised to hear that it can improve your speech because of the work that you do with your jaw and your face muscles. When you look better, you feel better. She also has a gift for our listeners: a procedure of five steps and I think that you'll really want to take advantage of that. So call in beauty from the inside out. Stop contributing to the manufacturing of cosmetics and go for the natural way with “Call IT in With Dar”!
Before we jump into this great topic of “facial expressions matter “ with face yoga, would you please tell everybody a little bit about yourself and how you got into this interesting work?
● Absolutely. So we'll take you back to 2017. I was working in a wellness clinic. So my background is a registered holistic nutritionist. I've always been in the health and wellness industry. And back then, during that particular year, I was in a job feeling unfulfilled, really stressed and overworked. And I was just really noticing a lot of the tensions building up. I was getting, I was experiencing all this tightness in my body. And I felt especially tight in my scalp area. And so I also started to see the effects on my face. So I started to get these kinds of lines, my face was starting to say, like, you know, drooping my eyes, everything's just kind of starting to go south. So I was literally wearing my stress on my face. And being in the health and wellness industry, I've always gravitated towards natural options. And I began searching for scalp releasing exercises. And then I came across face yoga. So I started to try out some of the poses. And I really felt this internal shift, and I was much happier, uplifted. I was laughing more. So it just started to feel much lighter. And also, I had a lot of people who were just starting to notice and started to compliment some of these changes. So yeah, it didn't take long I was hooked. And I love that pretty much anyone could benefit from this natural modality.
Well, thank you for sharing your story. And I'm sure some of our listeners can identify with wearing stress on their face. So could you talk a little bit about why facial expressions matter?
● Okay,I will, I'm going to let you know what I'll do, I'm going to lead you through a little awareness exercise just to kind of connect us with our, you know, our facial expressions. So what I'll have you do all have everybody, the audience, if everybody would just kind of close their eyes for a moment, we're just going to make the connection between our thoughts, emotions, and our facial expressions, and how it can impact our wellbeing. So just have your eyes closed. And then I'm just going to ask you to kind of take your fingertips, and we're just going to slide it in a sliding downward motion from the forehead all the way down to your jaw line, you just bringing it back up and repeating. So as you close your eyes and do this kind of sliding down motion. I just want you to think of a situation where you know something particularly where maybe you were stressed out. Maybe it was you know, you slept past the alarm and now you're running late for a very important meeting or point or appointment. You know, maybe your hot water shuts off, you're forced to take this cold shower, or maybe spilled coffee on your new blouse. You can't find your phone, you know, you're driving in traffic and you're hitting every traffic light. You get to your destination, you can't find a parking space, you're feeling frazzled, your adrenaline is running high, your muscles start tensing up. So as you think of that scenario, I want you to notice now where you feel that tension in your face. It could be maybe your scalp area, you know, maybe you're frowning thinking about it. Your jaw, right? Are you tensing your jaw, maybe your shoulders are coming up? Again, just notice your face, it doesn't feel tight. Are you contracting? Right as you keep running this pull-down sensation. So just notice what you're feeling now. It might be irritating; you might be patient. Maybe you're annoyed, right, these feelings in our face or in our mind and these things are happening daily, but they show up on her face. And you know when you look at yourself in the mirror, right? This sets the tone for the rest of your day. So you know first thing in the morning when you look at your face most women you know they kind of just want to wash your face quickly brush their teeth and get out they don't want to look at themselves. They have a you know, they make You're like, Oh, who's that looking in the near right there's a stranger. So just noticing that, right, that sets your tone for the entire day. So that's what I kind of want you to notice. Now let's kind of shake this off, and let's change the scenario. So with your eyes still closed, I want you to just take like the back of your fingers to your fingernails. And we're just going to rest them above the brow line. And we're going to make these sweeping motions upwards over the scalp. Again, just closing your eyes is relaxing. And then imagine maybe you're getting a relaxing massage, you're listening to the ocean sounds, maybe your favorite vacation spot. You know, you're by the cottage, by the lake, there's water, you're listening to sounds of nature, you're reading a good book, looking at the blue sky, life is good. So imagine these really good bait could be petting your dog, you're looking at a baby to something that makes you feel light. Now I want you to notice again, take notice of your feelings, take notice of your face, your scalp, your scalp and eyes, your jaw, your neck, shoulders. Those are the area's main areas that we tend to call tension. And do they feel more relaxed? Do you feel softer? And just notice the difference between the two different scenarios? Darla? Did you notice any tension in your face? And how did that feel?
Yes, what a difference I noticed between the eyebrows. Definitely a furrowed, kind of a furrowed brow in the beginning, I guess you would call it and then rolled in the rolled in shoulders. And then in the second scenario, it was too high and I didn't even feel those creases that I had felt. In the first scenario between the eyebrows. They weren't even there; everything was a little softer. And what a difference, changing the mindset changes the facial expression.
● Exactly. So that's kind of why I like facial expressions, our expressions, if we do it a lot I'm very expressive personally, and i Where are you? You know, where are my expressions on my face? So it's just taking notice, and how that can shape the rest of your day. Right? And what you're my output to the world as well. Right? So not only to my looks when I'm looking in the mirror at myself, but also with others as well. So just reflecting on that.
Yes, that was a great visualization to bring us through. And then now we can take a look at the tool. So talk a little bit about face yoga for us.
● Okay, so I get a lot of people who think face yoga is more like facial exercises than it is. But it's much more than that. And, you know, we say yoga, most people are familiar with yoga. And yoga is, you know, the ultimate goal of yoga is about Self Realization. And it's very much a meditative practice. So I will give you a brief definition of face yoga. It's a blend of yoga like body postures, facial exercises, together with conscious breathing. So it's designed to help tighten, tone and lift the face naturally, but it also boosts self-confidence and it offers you a new awareness from the inside out.
Yeah. So what are some of the benefits then? The known benefits of face yoga.
● Okay, so we're all familiar with the benefits of exercising our bodies to feel good, right, we get more oxygen traveling to the body and the brain and it leaves you more focused and clear and relaxed. Well, the same applies with face yoga. So it's just here's just some of the benefits you can expect so physically, again, we were talking Darla about the frown lines right so prevent reducing frown lines, the 11 lines, helps with droopy, tired looking eyes. You know those smile lines we get crow's feet, puffiness, dark circles under the ice, laugh lines, even the skin as well the skin is much more smoother, more even tone and it works on making the face more symmetrical. So a lot of things we do in our daily habits causes A more symmetrical face. Plus, of course, the double chin and the turkey neck. So those are physical benefits, the mental as well, as I mentioned, a boost of confidence. So when you start to do the work, you start to notice the changes. And when you know, you see the changes, you feel more in control, more empowered. So when you're also lowering a lot of stress, as they said, We're doing a lot of conscious breathing. So this is where you see the shift in the face. So we're really relaxing the muscles, also to improve speech, because we're using muscles we're not used to using as well. So this can result in clear, confident speech. Um, and even people who've got TMJ as well. And Bell's palsy was another benefit to it as well.
Wow, there were some unexpected benefits there. Cool. So let's, let's have some of those benefits in a few quick minutes together. And I will have you lead us through an exercise to give us a sampling.
● Okay, great. It's exciting. Okay. So first of all, I'm just going to get you started with posture. So because everything is connected, it is so important that we pay attention to our posture. So it's not like we're just, you know, Spot training, we're just correcting the face, everything that happens below the face below the head affects and works its way up and can affect the faces and can create some unwanted line. So we want to always be mindful of our posture. So I'm just going to kind of do a little posture check with everybody. So imagine you're sitting up nice and tall. And we got, let's say, like a string coming from the top of the head, and we're gonna draw a line down the center of the body. So we're gonna go down the center of the forehead, tip of the nose, peek at the lips, the chin, your collarbone, sternum, belly button, pubic bone, and tailbone. So just imagine a nice, even even lined right across there opening up the chest, relaxing the shoulders. And then we're going to do a breathing exercise. So I'm going to have you, we're going to breathe in through the nose, and out through the nose. In and out, we're going to watch, we're going to breathe in, we're going to hold for four counts out for four counts. So Nasal Breathing is super beneficial because it creates a lot more oxygen to the lungs. So sitting up tall, let's take a regular breath in and out through the nose and out through the mouth. And x hail. One more time, inhale through the nose. And exhale. So this time, we're just going to breathe in for four counts through the nose, hold it, and then out through the nose for four counts, and I'll lead you through. So breathing in through the nose for 1234. Hold it for three to one, exhale through the nose for 4321. Inhale for three to one and hold for three to one. And exhale for three to one. Last time, inhale for 4321 and hold 4321 and exhale it all out for 4321. Let's take a regular breath in through the nose. And exhale out. Ah, and just close your eyes for a moment. And just again, start to notice the sensations. Maybe you're feeling a little bit warm, maybe feeling a little bit of tingling. Again, it's all but a lot of awareness. So we're going to do a little warm up pose. Um, this one is called the wild pose. I call it the happy pose. So you want to imagine that you're seeing something incredible. So you know we see something and we're like, wow, so W O W so breathing in through the nose. And then wow and Breathe in. This really wakes up the face muscles. So just like exercising the body, we do these warm up poses. So breathing in, I try to keep the eyes open and. And breathe in. Breathe in. Let's do two more times in, through the nose last time and breathe in. And then close your eyes, hands on your lap and just Yeah, notice the sensation might now you might feel your face really turning red, you feeling the heat turning up, just notice what you feel. And we're going to move into a post that's called the instant pick me up and it's for the forehead in the eyes. So it lifts the forehead, opens, sees eyes and wakes you up. It also has a little bit of lymphatic drainage as well. So we carry a lot of stuff on our lymphatic system, thus it helps reduce inflammation. So it's also a really great exercise to really lift the spirits. Again, your posture sitting up tall, open the chest Relax, we're going to take our thumbs on the top of the head and our fingers in the hollows just below the eyebrows so your elbows are at your side, relax the shoulders. And you're going to open the chest, push down at the shoulder blades and relax your shoulders. As you breathe out through your nose. We're going to breathe in through the nose, and we're going to slide the fingers keeping contact up towards the hairline. This lifts the forehead keeping fingers in contact with your scalp. Again, slowly move your chin up. while breathing out, we're going to place the hands and the side of their palms to the side of your head. And we're just going to slide them down inside of the neck in front of the neck towards the chest towards the armpit and all the way down the side of your body. And relax. Imagine lifting your spirits up and just feeling that sensation in your neck, face and neck. So let's try this one more time. Again, close your eyes. Again, you can really go internally. So placed both thumbs on top of the head, fingers just up the hollow below the eyebrows. Chest open, push down the shoulder blades, relax. Breathe out first through the nose. Now breathe in through the nose. Slide the fingers up towards the hairline. gammer lifting up the forehead, slowly lift your chin up. While breathing from the nose. Slide the palms down the side of your head down down towards the neck, front of the neck, the chest towards the armpit and all the way down the body. Close your eyes and come out of the pose. Just relax. Darla, how did you feel about that?
Wow, I find it very interesting when you talked about from the chin down being affected and everything kind of rising up into the face. I really noticed it during that.
● It is amazing. Like things can be happening down like getting the lake area and again, it just climbs its way up right? Like you think when you've sprained your ankle, now you start to, you know, work on the opposite leg. And now you're putting more pressure there and it just creates this, this imbalance in the body. So yes, it's very interesting. So just to quickly summarize, you know, we adjusted our posture, we consciously breathe, we move the face muscles correctly, right in the right way. Thus, we increased circulation, we increased more oxygen and nutrients that's feeding and nourishing the skin. So when we look better, we feel better. And this expands in every other area of our lives. So whether you know it's a you're hosting a Zoom meeting doing a live you're getting a headshot or photo shoot. You know just this expands out in every other area of your life.
Awesome and when We talk about expanding out into other areas of our lives, this would be a great time to ask you without, you know, violating client confidentiality then include some information for us about some client transformations that you've encountered.
● I love this part. This is my favorite part. So I had a client, she was in her early 40s. And she came to me. She, I would say, was like one of your classic beauty product junkies, so she tried just about every product there was. Interestingly too, she also purchased another face yoga program from another teacher, but she wasn't getting the results she was looking for. She didn't need more clarity, she'd more direction and she wanted to really target her problem areas which were hooded eyes, under-eye bags. Actually, your under-eye bags were, you know, so bad that she actually wore glasses to cover them up as well. And she wasn't happy with her skin. So after going through my ultimate facelift Method program, her eyes became brighter, clearer, she they, her hooded eyes were now much more wide open. So she definitely had more definition, eyelids lifted, her skin looked so much more hydrated, smoother, and her mouth was much more relaxed. So she just was more natural looking. She also now could wear contact lenses again as well. So she did minimize a lot of her dark circles and was able to wear her contact lenses again. And then I have another client as well. She was referred to me by a physiotherapist. She had been dealing with Lyme disease. And she struggled with a lot of pain and tightness, especially in her jaw area. And when she came to me she wanted help with that. But she was also wanting to get her face looking more fresh because her daughter was getting married. So after completing my program, she was able to reduce a lot of the pain in her jaw. And she also really loved the way her skin felt. And she did a lot of changes with her diet as well. We worked a lot with her diet, too. Um, and then I had another client as well who was starting an online business. And she wanted help with looking better and feeling more confidence. So she could really get her message out there. She wasn't a fan of doing things and she was doing a lot of things. She was really procrastinating. She also wasn't a fan of mirrors. And, you know, in fact, she had them all removed from her home. She didn't like to look at herself in the mirror. So when we started to work together, I had to remind her that you know, it requires a lot of mirror work, you're gonna have to look in the mirror and practice your poses. So it was her daughter, her granddaughter who went out and bought her a mirror so she would practice the poses. And then after working together, darling's words, the third word is I feel pretty again. And she was actually really excited to get out and deliver her message by doing lies and going to her meetings. Everything that she had been procrastinating doing.
Yes, awesome. What a great variety from the product junkie to the eliminating pain with Lyme disease and then the final with the confidence in bringing mirrors back into her life and actually feeling pretty. Those were just beautiful examples. So how can our listeners take the next step with you? What do you have available? What would you recommend?
● Okay, I did put together a beginner's guide that I created. And my beginner's guide it's “Beginner's Guide to Face Yoga: erase fine lines without needles.” So it's a five step easy to follow process so it helps for smoother younger looking skin. And these tips and techniques will get you started to release the tight muscles that are responsible for unwanted lines. That will also help warm up the face and perfectly prepare them for movement. So when Face Yoga we have the four R's which are release, rebuild, relax and repeat. So this guide really is important to first release tightness Release the tension builds up, then we need to rebuild the muscle and relax it. So of course, repeat the process. And so this guide, really, this guy will really focus on releasing. And once you start to release a lot of the tension, things start to go back into place, and you'll really see a difference in your face. And then in there, I also in order to gauge our progress, so we don't have measuring tapes, or we don't have scales. So we use photos, this really captures the subtle changes that occur, because we're constantly looking at our faces, right. And the changes are very subtle. So I also have in there an offering, I, there's instructions here, how to take your pictures, your best pictures, and I'm offering feedback as well. And anybody who wants to send their photos in after there's a two-week challenge that I have in there.
Awesome, that sounds like such a great start. I'm sure many of our listeners are going to take advantage of that, before we close out, is there anything that you're feeling you would like to convey that we haven't talked about today?
● I guess I just want to. I want women to start to, you know, my, my, I've talked about doing this naturally. And I really want women to start first of all, you know, notice, Lotus themselves. I had one client, she was 72. And, you know, she was a beautiful, beautiful woman. And, you know, after we worked together, she had commented that she had never looked in the mirror as much as she did in our time working together. And it brought me joy, but it was also sad at the same time, Darla because, you know, we're all unique. And I know there's a lot of you know, out there in the media, and we've got to have this certain look and look this way, but I just really want women to honor their own beauty and to, you know, accept who they are. And why we say beauty is an inside out job. And I really think that's important that you know, especially for our younger generations and you know, to get them on the right track to help them with their self-esteem and their self-confidence.
Oh, beautiful. Beauty is an inside out job. Thanks so much for being with us today. I just appreciated our conversation.
● Thank you so much Darla, for having me
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