Now try flaring your nostrils. This involves the Depressor Septi and Levator Labii superioris.
Purse your lips as if kissing and feel the circular muscle surrounding the mouth. This is the Orbicularis Oris.
Protrude your lower lip and wrinkle your chin as if sulking. The muscle that controls this expression is the Mentalis.
Place a finger slightly away from the corner of one side of your mouth and smile to that side. The muscles you can feel are the Zygomaticus major and minor.
express yourself
Now that you’ve become familiar with some of your facial muscles it’s time to look at how they work together to create certain expressions. This is not just a learning process but also very good exercise. It’s best to stand in front of a mirror so you can see how the muscles function. By doing these exercises regularly you’ll become familiar with your face, your skin will take on a healthy glow, and there will be a fresh vitality about you. As soon as you can feel the muscles, let go and assume the next expression.
case study
Name: Rita
Age: 38
Occupation: Executive assistant
Rita first heard about the treatment from an article in a national newspaper and was interested because, quite naturally, she wanted to look as young as possible for as long as possible. As she believes prevention is better than cure, she started the therapy from a relatively young age to avoid wrinkles developing.
Rita was particularly concerned about the area around her eyes due to laughter lines and her tendency to pull the area when removing make-up. She was also worried about the lines on her forehead caused by her habitual expression.
After the first treatment Rita felt a sense of calm no other therapy had managed to achieve. She found the treatment very relaxing and felt great about being able to do something that she knew could keep her looking younger. Her face felt taut after each treatment but not in an uncomfortable way. After just one session her mother noticed something different about her but couldn’t quite put her finger on it. After an initial course of eight treatments Rita felt she looked younger and her confidence grew because she was doing something to improve herself.
She definitely recommends face lift massage, as it’s an excellent non-surgical way to look younger. Although she is 38 most people think she’s about 30!
CHAPTER 3 skin, lymph, and energy pathways
beauty is more than skin deep
Your face is made of many separate elements that fit together like a jigsaw to make up the face you see in the mirror. As you’ve already seen, the facial muscles play a vital part, and later on we will consider the role of the lymph system and also the energy pathways that, in all Eastern therapies, are considered crucial to your appearance and good health.
Nevertheless, the skin is also important and by learning how and why the skin changes with the passing years you’ll start to appreciate why it is necessary to take good care of this vital organ. In the process, you’ll discover new ways to delay, or reverse, the ravages of time and keep a youthful appearance for longer.
why skin is important
When you look at your reflection in the mirror usually the first thing you notice is the condition of your skin. You may have spent so long looking at your skin from a cosmetic point of view that you find it hard to think of the skin as a living organ. But the skin isn’t there just to cover you up and make you look good. It has many vital functions that protect you and keep you alive. It is also a pretty accurate indicator of your state of health. When you feel dreadful, your skin usually looks off color. Healthy-looking skin is a sign of good physical health – and good mental health, too. Once you study the skin in detail, you’ll begin to appreciate how complicated it is.
The skin is the body’s largest organ. Spread out, it would cover about two square metres. It is constantly renewing itself, producing fresh cells and shedding dead ones as, for example, your clothes brush against your skin or you dry yourself with a towel. It is said that people shed what amounts to the entire surface of their skin once a week – no wonder that 80 percent of household dust is made up of human skin! If dead cells are allowed to accumulate they give the skin a dull, scaly appearance. So this is just one reason why a regular skin care regime, including exfoliation (see page 123), is important.
the role of the skin
The skin is highly intricate. Each tiny section of skin is packed with cells, nerves, blood vessels, hairs, sensory cells, and oil and sweat glands. The skin varies in thickness from only 1/5 in (0.5mm) around the eyes to 1/4 in (6mm) or more on the soles of the feet, where it has to cope with the increased wear and tear of walking. It also thickens anywhere on the body where extra protection is needed, such as on the hands of manual workers. But the basic functions of the skin are the same wherever it is. These are: to regulate body temperature, protect against damage and disease, remove waste products, monitor your surroundings, and produce vitamin D.
temperature regulation
The skin plays a key role in regulating your temperature. If you get too hot, perhaps because you’ve just entered a warm environment or have been exercising hard, the blood vessels in the skin dilate to allow more blood to pass through them. This allows excess heat to escape from the surface of the body through convection and radiation. It is the increased flow of blood through the skin that makes you look flushed. As an extra measure against overheating, the sweat glands produce perspiration that seeps on to the surface of the skin through