Stress, Wrinkles, and Premature Aging

You can actually smile away stress! It turns out that the best wrinkle prevention is stress reduction! Wrinkles are caused by holding our muscles in a particular expression over time. Yes, that “old wives tale” is true! Worry causes tightening of muscles groups in your face that will create lines over time. Smiling will also create wrinkles, but which ones would you rather have?

There is a way to keep your present wrinkles from getting deeper. I’m going to suggest an alternative form of wrinkle prevention.  STOP WORRYING!

“Worrying is like pre-paying a toll for a bridge you may never cross!”

Scientists have found that blocking the ability to move the body causes changes in emotion and even more amazing, in our thoughts! Researchers found that subjects using Botox treatments were significantly less depressed!  This is known in psychology as the facial feedback hypothesis, that says when you’re smiling, the whole world smiles with you. The research actually suggests the opposite: When you’re not frowning, the world seems less angry and less sad.” If you hold a happy expression on your face, the rest of your body responds to that expression, and you start feeling the emotion. Mindfully practice holding a happy expression can even have change your immediate negative thought reaction to things you read, see or hear that are more potentially stressful. That means if you smile, you’ll feel happier, and may even stay younger looking, age slower, and be healthier!

This mindful exercise may not relieve the etched in wrinkles on your face right now, but it can change your habitual expression, and keep those furrows from deepening. The problem is, you wait until the damage is done to even observe the effects from stress.

If you’re not into wrinkle creams, you can still  focus on joy, you change your facial expression which will have an effect your wrinkles, and perhaps keep the ones you have from getting worse. Smiling and happy body language also affects your autonomic nervous system, and your positive thoughts, increase your happiness and improve your health and feeling of well-being! Focusing on gratitude is the practice that you do with the biofeedback type of device called Emwave. You can actually see how your focus on joy can change the way your heart beats, which is a indicator of stress. It’s a wonderful practice that makes you feel happy, and improves your health.

When your expression is habitually frowning, even when you are concentrating, it can be tough to soften that furrow on your own. Sure you can try to be mindful and relax your forehead and eyes, but most of the time you are actually not conscious of your expression. And at night, even when you are sleeping, that wrinkle is still there. There is a product, called Frownies, that can actually help you break that frowning habit even in your sleep.

It’s not an injectable like Botox, and it works by flattening out the wrinkle. When you wear this every night, it can start by making your more aware of the time that you are frowning during the day. Then you can consciously relax those muscles, because you are aware of when you are doing it. And if you’re not near others, or don’t care what they think about what you’re doing (which is the best alternative! LOL) you can keep it on during the day until you retrain yourself to smile, instead of frown. Those are much nicer wrinkles, aren’t they?

I’d love to hear about your experience with them. It’s a LOT cheaper and safer than Botox!
Think about it:  Chose to be happy, and you’ll improve your looks, and your health.  That sounds like a winning combination to me!

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