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The right moisturizer — one with effective ingredients — can work wonders to smoothen and hydrate skin and make you look younger within seconds. But don’t underestimate the power of exercise to do your health — and skin — wonders.
You may not be keen on going for a 2-mile run right before bed every night, but there are calmer, gentler exercises that you can do at home that can make a huge difference in the state of your skin. This is the one exercise you should do before bed to take 10 years off your face overnight.
Yoga
Yoga is an amazing stress-busting workout — one that has a major impact on your skin. According to Prevention, yoga can minimize wrinkles, slow weight gain, and ease pain, among its many, many other benefits.
Know how a great yoga session can make you feel loose and relaxed – like you just visited a spa? Turns out, all of that muscle relaxation can help you look younger.
According to Prevention: “Yoga can reduce stress by nearly a third, reports a German study of 24 women. As a result, clenched jaws and furrowed brows relax, helping to smooth away wrinkles. Yoga may also rejuvenate skin's glow by reducing oxidative stress, which breaks down skin's elasticity. In an Indian study of 104 people, oxidative stress levels dropped by 9% after just 10 days of yoga.”
And that’s not all it can do.
A 45-minute or hour-long yoga session before bed can calm you and prep your for a more restful sleep. A healthy diet and plenty of quality sleep are better than expensive serums when it comes to skincare.
"Poor sleep can lead to increased stress hormones in the body that increase the severity of inflammatory skin conditions such as acne or psoriasis,” Jessica Krant, MD, MPH, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and founder of Art of Dermatology in New York, told Everyday Health. “In contrast, skin conditions and sleep quality can also improve together. Getting a good night's sleep will help to clear up skin, which allows sleep to improve and, in turn, will improve skin health."
A little bit of time spent in Warrior II each night can reduce anxiety and muscle tension — which makes your skin look immediately more youthful. Add a cup of chamomile and an essential oil balm and you'll feel like you're spending the evening in a 5-star hotel.
