PRIME TIME
May 2017
Table of Contents
FEATURES
5 Older Americans Month 2017:
6
7
11
13
22
Something For Us To “AOL” About
Annual Conference On Aging
Opens Registration
Railroad Memorabilia On Display
At Albuquerque Rail Fair
Recipe Box
NM Author’s Corner
Savvy Senior
COLUMNS
8 Shannon Wagers
15 Bugman
20 Dr. Muraida
EVERY MONTH
16 Classifieds
17 Crossword
19 Calendar
Wake Up The
Forgotten Muscles
In Your Face
By Nichole Humphrey, RYT
I
n yoga, we spend the bulk of
our time focused on the body
and spirit. As teachers, we offer
alignment cues and help class
participants to keep the focus on
the breath. However, quite often the
muscles in our faces contract without
awareness, especially when entering
a challenging posture. Even in our
daily life, we might be concerned
to a degree about the way our face
looks or how an expression might be
received.
Any of this can lead to tension in
the face. Yet, we don’t often spend
time stretching the facial muscles.
Let’s spend some time today
waking up these forgotten muscles
with a few easily repeatable
movements. Once you have these
memorized, you can do them
anywhere. These will boost blood
flow to the small muscles in the face
and increase elasticity.
To begin, sit up tall; you can sit on a
block if you like. Just be sure you are
in a position where you can relax and
keep the spine tall.
Buddha face: Fold the tongue over,
let the tongue touch the roof of the
mouth, and close the teeth. Close your
eyes and sit for five breaths. Notice
how your jaw begins to relax and the
muscles of the face release as you
breathe. Continue breathing, and relax
the cheeks, the forehead, the nose and
the eyes.
Temple Dancer: Shift the gaze off
to the right for a full breath, and on
the exhale, bring the gaze back to the
nose, then shift the gaze to the left.
Repeat for eight rounds. This will help
to expand the periphery of the gaze
and stretch the skin around the eyes.
Cheek Puff: For 10 rounds,
holding breath in the mouth like you
are swishing liquid from one side
of the mouth to the other, puff the
cheeks.
Fish Face: Much like it sounds,
suck the cheeks in to the middle of
your mouth, and then attempt to smile
simultaneously. Hold the face like this
for 10 full breaths.
Baby Bird: Tilt the head back with
the chin headed toward the sky, like a
baby bird waiting for a meal. Hold for
five breaths and repeat.
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