Forget Botox. Make Forward Folds Your Daily Dose With A Goddess Pose For Good Measure

Vogue Australia asks: Is yoga the new facelift?  Instead of Botox or other procedures you probably can't afford, consider that practitioners of yoga are known for having youthful looks, and not only because the practice yoga diminishes stress and body-ravaging inflammation. 

Renowned Aussie yoga teacher, nutritionist and author Lola Berry says, “Yoga poses can play a big role in our beauty regime, when you increase blood flow to the face it can result in naturally lifted and plumped skin.” Specifically, “Forward folds—where you are bending at the hip and letting your torso hang towards the ground—and inversions—downward facing dog, shoulder, head and hand stands—where blood is sent to the head and face,” says Berry, will achieve this kind of natural facelift.

Celebrity Sydney-based facialist Jocelyn Petroni, whose client Miranda Kerr has the glow, says “The overall health benefits of practising yoga show in your complexion. By doing yoga you help ease stress and the tension lines that show in the face, like furrowed brows. It’s also fantastic for improved circulation, pumping blood and oxygen flow to your skin to give a glowing complexion!”

ArtofLiving.com adds to the convo, recommending at least 20 minutes of facial yoga exercises every day at home to tighten the face muscles. Okay, 20 minutes is a lot but perhaps we can double-duty with other poses. "Massage your jaws to reduce stress, massage your eyebrows for a dose of instant relaxation, try the 'kiss and smile technique' (push out your lips as though to kiss a baby and then smile as broadly as you can) to exercise your face muscles."

Health.com adds a series of yoga poses that help you look years younger. 

Yoga is also especially good at battling sag, notes Janiene Luke, MD, associate professor of dermatology at Loma Linda University in California. "The skin is like a drape for the underlying musculature," she says, "so if those muscles are toned, you'll look firmer and your skin will be less baggy."

A few minutes a day can make a big difference, says Kristin McGee, Health's contributing yoga and wellness editor and a yoga instructor in New York City. McGee puts together a few of her favorite gravity-fighting poses. There's no way I can master a side crow while blowing kisses at the same time. Yet, it seems that taking the plunge into yoga makes so much good sense.

Let's all master the goddess squat. On the subject of vitality, mastering this position seems key in best-self maintenance for flexibility, balance and keeping all the energy flowing through our womanly bodies.