Maintaining youth forever has always been a dream to chase for humans. Go back to any ancient culture, & history is the proof that women worldover devised their own ways to beaitify & maintain their youth till eternity. Be it Cleopatra from the ancient Egyptian culture who is famous for milk bathing, or Noorjahan from ancient Indian culture who is famous for rose water bathing, every women in every era has always wanted to remian young forever. The wish to attain eternal youth in modren times still remains the same, however, what changed was the way to achieve it. Where ancients have always banked on nature for all their beautification needs, the millaneials are injecting neuro-toxins within the body to get rid of those bulgy skin portions & fats. Where skin & hair issues in modren times are a staple for each woman, the problem associated with adipose tissue seems to be a major source of anxiety in women today.
When it comes to external beauty, what women do not realize is that the cause of any beauty issue may be deep lying. Those ugly-looking dark circles may have found a niche under your eyes due to constipation, or lack of proper sleep or being in-front of the computers for a long time. Hair loss & disturbed skin issues may have its roots in stress & hormonal imbalances. That piling-up adipose tissue on your mid-waist area may be a manifestation of an emotional problem leading to emotional eating or compulsive eating disorder. And those skin rashes may have nothing to do with skin per se, but with negative pschycological state of mind. External solution do help soothe & heal the skin & hair, but may not be potent permanent solution & may keep arising as the root of the beauty problem lies somewhere else & the root is being actively fed unknowingly. The only permanant solution to radiance, vitality & beauty lies in healing the roots of the issue than keep fixing it externally!
The ancient science of Yoga is one system that can help create internal beauty & radiance for the fact that it helps optimize the internal body functioning that shows on the skin's surface as glow, radiance or clear skin.
Science Behind Yoga, Body, Mind & Beauty:
Someone rightly said, 'Glamour is Glandular', & the deep connect between yoga, body, mind & beauty goes like this...
The natural soft moisturizing layer on the skin is maintained by sebum, which is a lubricant secreted by a set of glands called sebaceous glands. These glands are scattered all over the skin including scalp. Overactive sebaceous glands give you thick skin, open pores & oily appearance while underactive sebaceous glands are responsible for dry skin surface till deep within leading to the most dreaded skin problem-wrinkles! In the open pores, the dirt clogs & traps the oil inside, & makes skin prone to bacterial intervention leading to acne, blackheads & whiteheads. In case of hair under production of sebum leads to dry hair while overproduction leads to limp, dull, oily hair.
The skin & hair problems in today's times are much to do with malfunctioning of the glandular system or endocrine system. This system is responsible for secreting hormones. Imbalanced hormonal activity shows its external impact in the form of disturbed skin conditions & hair loss. No wonder almost all women today have hair issues, simply because the hormonal system is jeopardized due to wrong diets, stress & other lifestyle factors. The male & female set of hormones exist in all human beings. When in a female the male hormones become overactive, signs such as facial hair begin to show up. Alternatively ,if excessive female hormones are secreted by a woman, scanty hair & hair loss happens.
Thyroid gland is one of the most important glands having a direct impact on beauty, skin & hair. Thyroid hormone secreted in excess leads to profuse hair, while too little secretion of thyroid hormone leads to thin & lack luster hair condition. Where a sluggish thyroid thickens the body, leads to dry itchy skin & puffy face, the overactive thyroid gland make the eyes bulge & look ugly.
When it comes to external beauty, it is important to understand the thyroid gland. Thyroid is controlled by pituitary gland that affects ones appearance & is controlled by hypothalamus. Quite interestingly, hypothalamus is influenced by the 'STATE OF MIND', creating the beauty inside out an equation as:
BEAUTY -> GALNDUALR SYSTEM -> PITIUTIARY GLAND -> HYPOTHALAMUS -> MIND -> THOUGHTS
Yoga is a great natural tool to normalize glandular functions, purify blood, trim the body & tone the entire body system. It increases the flow of life force within the body & relaxes mind. It clears the psyche trims body & creates a sense of positivity & harmony with oneself. As a result the mind becomes stable. A stable mind impacts positive thoughts. Positive thoughts impacts hypothalamus, pituitary gland & thus thyroid gland, making these glands function in a balanced way. A balanced glandular system is what creates radiance & beauty externally! Yoga is a great medium to arrest the aging process considerably & slow it down.
To summarize, the Yogic way to beauty creates perfect mental state leading to glandular health, thus leading to perfect beauty!
Recommended asanas for beauty:
- 10-12 rounds of Surya Namaskar or sun salutation gives a good workout to the entire body & helps balance hormones, thus leading to a great physical appearance.
- Paschimottanasana impacts the liver & digestive organs, stimulates & massages them to perform better & get rejuvenated.
- Setubandh Asana helps divert circulation towards the upper side of the body & head to improve circulation in the upper part of the body. The enhanced circulation towards the head & neck & the pressure created in the neck doing this asana rejuvenates thyroid & pituitary glands, thus helping balance hormones. It helps create luster on the face & head area while also relaxing the mind deeply.