Makeover at your fingertips

Posted on 2009-05-16
Savina with Minal Potnis an MBA in Human Resources Management had held a workshop in Goa titled Aiyana (the Eternal Blossom) Holistic Workshop. Before one says…. ‘Hey this is some spiritual cum yoga exercise funda,’ I beg to differ, cause it is a first to be held in India.
Savina has been practicing Yoga and Taoism since 2000. Her skill is using holistic therapy -a non-invasive gentle touch to influence the human energy system. Before that goes above your head, let us focus on your face. ‘Without focused muscle activity, over time your face and neck muscles tend to lose their elasticity. There are 57 muscles there,’ says Savina. Smile and use those muscles. Isn’t that what all people say? But Savina has a more scientific approach. ‘You have more muscles and nerve connections in your face than in any part of your body,’ says she. Now I had never thought of that. Yes, I do go for facials to stimulate the circulation and massage the muscles, but is that any different from Yoga Facial Toning?
Savina a journalist for a prominent Slovenian Health magazine and an educational editor for Cosmopolitan works with the biggest wellness and medical companies in Slovenia and Croatia as Head of a Project Management team putting together the wellness, physiotherapy and medical rehabilitation programs with a focus on medical bio photonic chambers for cellular regeneration.
Now all this terminology went the proverbial six inches above my head, although she is at present sharing her views with the doctors of Nair hospital in Mumbai. So I requested her to share the secrets of her magic mantras. But this was no yoga mantra, but magic at the fingertips.
‘Along with the large number of nerves your face also contains acupressure points along the meridians (107 meet in the head) which by simple pressure techniques are stimulated,’ she explains. ‘On stimulation, the life force flows into their related glands and organs. Our workshop teaches one to activate the number of vital acupuncture points on the face, neck and head,’ she explains.
I think about the thin lines of wrinkles along my face. The curse of age… So what does one normally do? Innumerable facials, perhaps even Botox? I ask her for her opinion. ‘Facials are good,’ she confirms, ‘but Botox… after the use of Botox, the muscles sag even more when the period is completed. Yoga Facial Toning helps lift not only these sagging muscles but also the surrounding muscles. We have a number of Botox patients who are referred to us by plastic surgeons.’ So how does Yoga Facial Toning help in cases like this? ‘When you use the vital acupressure points on the face, neck and head, it activates the Endocrine system which turns back the clock to erase the wrinkles. Also by activating the muscles, which get re-toned, the sagging of the face disappears and with it the wrinkles.’ She places her fingers into her eye socket to demonstrate the muscles to be toned there.
‘You mentioned plastic surgeons recommending the use of your technique?’ I ask her. She nods. ‘For a face-lift, the muscles of the face are tightened….we use a non-invasive technique for this. This technique is also used successfully on paralytic and facial palsy patients.’ She explained a case where a patient with a stroke in which one side of the face was paralysed was able to regain movement using her technique. Her demonstration to the doctors of Nair Hospital would focus on this.
Now at 28 she writes and lectures about this holistic technique but confesses that she learnt her skill as a child from her mother who worked as a nutritionist for Internal Medicine and travelled all over the world. Her belief is in Taoism, a philosophy of ancient China and India relating to alchemy and acupuncture.
‘So is this methodology only for the people on the wrong side of 40?’ I wondered aloud. She shakes her head. ‘The program is easy to learn and works with anyone regardless of age, fitness level, gender or ethnicity,’ she explains, ‘the YFT system basically used the dynamic facial muscle resistance and includes effective relaxation techniques with specially selected yoga poses and breathing exercises.’
‘However at 50, the menopause stage, there is not enough energy in the organs so hormones are not produces in the quantity required, YFT helps the body create the balance to activate the glands through exercise,’ she states. ‘One hour working on the face is like a three hour workout in the gym,’ she smiles.
So I decided to get some feedback from some of the participants who attended this first-of-its-kind Aiyana. Says Smita Parulekar, ‘I never expected this workshop was designed in consultation with Doctors in the USA. Savina is a fantastic trainer and she created good vibes for the group. The workshop had a holistic approach to wellness and health.’ Now that was just after the training. Pooja Naik, a Director of Vaibhavi Shipping says, ‘I feel good after doing the exercises. The dark circles under my eyes have lightened and I feel energised.’
Her Guru is Lao Tzu who wrote, ‘I don’t do anything, but everything is done.’ Simply put says Savina, ‘we have to do the right things so everything is in place,’ a lovely mantra from a person has a makeover at her fingertips.