How Face Yoga Can Help Your Acne

Acne, a common skin condition, can be a source of frustration and embarrassment for so many individuals. Whether you're a teenager or an adult, dealing with acne can take a toll on your self-esteem and overall well-being. I am regularly asked by people suffering from acne how they can practice face yoga and not touch the skin on their face which would further disrupt their acne.

We have a lot of members in the My Face Yoga Gym who have significantly improved their acne conditions by doing regular face yoga. How do they achieve these results? The reason for this is that we increase circulation to the skin and by changing some key habits alongside the face yoga, acne becomes a treatable condition. With the right approaches, you can heal your skin and regain your confidence!

In this blog post, I will delve into various effective strategies and tips for healing acne with face yoga and lifestyle changes, which will in turn empower you to achieve clear, healthy skin.

The cause of acne can be many things; it could be hormonal, it could be dietary, like allergies, it could be environmental, the weather, the products you use, or stress. One of the key areas that face yoga focuses on but that assists the acne is opening up the Lymphatic system, which boosts the circulation to the face. 

Face yoga will help the face deal with the inflammation caused by acne. So although it may not fully clear away the acne, it will lessen its impact on the face. This effect will also depend on whether your symptoms are dormant or still actively creating the acne.

For example, let’s say you have an allergy to milk or dairy products, and you continue to eat dairy and do face yoga at the same time. Face yoga is going to help your body deal with the inflammation, but you’re food habits are going to keep promoting the inflammation all the time. 

So you cannot just do face yoga and then expect the acne to go away. It is a full lifestyle overhaul that has taken place.

In saying that, we have had some people in the My Face Yoga Gym who have found if the acne is hormonal, that the body can deal with it just by doing face yoga. The exercises can help it completely clear away. If that is true for you, there is a possibility to have the face yoga heal the acne - that depends on the individual situation, and how the acne is forming.

How does this work? Face yoga opens up the pathways through the face and the lymphatic system, activating the lines where it runs superficially underneath, in, and throughout the skin. The exercises will get into the deep layers of the skin, working on drawing out inflammatory factors, moving through the lymph vessels, and then working the newly opened lines down to the organs and just out of the body. 

So when we do face yoga, we open up all the blood vessels and skin tissues around the jaw joint, which is important. We have a lot of lymph vessels and lymph nodes in that area. We also work with the area underneath the mandible so on the neck and underneath the jaw, which is also an area that is important to have flow of the lymphatics. This also runs on the side of the nose, down to the mouth, and so on. 

The multimodality oncologic evaluation of superficial neck and facial lymph nodes

I also like to warn my face yogis who suffer acne that they can expect a flare-up within the three first weeks of doing face yoga, because they may have stored inflammation deeply under the skin. This kind of tissue that has been encapsulated is released and that can cause a flare - not always, but it can happen. The best way I can explain this occurrence is a muscular ‘stall’. As you start to process the inflammation through the face yoga, what has been stored for some time needs to release or go somewhere in the face. So it is either absorbed into the lymphatic system, then into the body, and then out, or the body starts to push the inflammation to the surface of the skin - which causes the flare-up.

This is an example of some of the ways that inflammation can be removed from the body. Either out through the skin or even through the lymphatic system, the body is dealing with it in that either of those two ways. For some, this is the easiest way the body can get rid of the inflammation, is by pushing it out to the superficial layer of the skin. This is when the person suffering the flare-up will see an increase in redness or pimples. So even if you have acne or pimples, which you thought they may have recovered from, if there's still some inflammation stuck in the skin, face yoga can potentially work this inflammation out on the surface of the skin. 

This is why some of the face yogis can see that they may have more pimples in the beginning when doing the facial exercises. And it's a natural process. It's a really good process because either way, your body is getting rid of stored-up inflammation and toxins in your skin. 

It works to keep the inflammation in there. It creates what is popularly called inflamed ageing. So chronicle inflammation in the TBS of the skin. And that can be also just from normal cell turnover. We have these inflammatory factors and if the body is not able to deal with them, they just lay in there and they can also cause ageing of the skin, acne, and so on. 

So it's really good to have good circulation of the skin. It's like when you think about the other organs, we don't want them to be congested or stagnant or stall. We want that to be like the good juicy flow of everything. 

And that's how it works. So everyone can do face yoga, even if they have acne. Of course, if you experience heat, redness or pain when you do the face yoga, then you need slow down and to take it easy. It’s better to start with areas that you can fairly comfortably move through.

You may also feel a little bit of stretching over the skin. It's a little bit provocative for the skin, almost agitating to do face yoga in the beginning, even if you don't have acne, so this is a very natural new sensation. 

But as long as you don't feel that you have heat and pain when you do face yoga, then start gently and do a few exercises without using your fingers and then slowly increase as well. 

In the My Face Yoga Gym you can find a series of acne focused videos, such as the ‘Face yoga workout for acne and sensitive skin. No touching the face’, which looks like this:

Some other helpful ways to manage your acne are:

Be Mindful of Your Diet:

While no specific food directly causes acne, some dietary choices can exacerbate the condition. It's important to:

a. Reduce high-glycemic foods: Foods like white bread, sugary snacks, and processed carbohydrates can spike your blood sugar levels, leading to increased oil production and inflammation. Opt for whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins instead.

b. Limit dairy and processed foods: Dairy products and heavily processed foods can trigger hormonal imbalances and inflammation, contributing to acne. Consider reducing your intake or opting for alternatives like almond or soy milk.

Practice Stress Management:

Stress can wreak havoc on your skin, triggering hormonal imbalances and inflammation. Incorporate stress-reducing activities into your routine, such as exercise, meditation, yoga, or engaging in hobbies you enjoy. Adequate sleep is also crucial for managing stress levels and promoting skin healing.

Avoid Touching and Picking:

Resist the temptation to touch or pick at your acne, as it can worsen inflammation, spread bacteria, and lead to scarring. Keep your hands off your face and avoid squeezing or popping pimples.