Whilst you bring warm, friendly Irish vibes to Paris, I add a little French influence to London. I am so glad we had the opportunity to connect within the world of beauty to share the benefits of face yoga. It was such a rewarding experience offering people the opportunity to try face yoga during the recent event at Le Bon Marché in Paris using Relaxayvoo face oils. I was so impressed with your skills at managing to instantly ‘unplug’ and de-stress each participant during our workshop.

So tell us a little bit about you. When did you move to Paris and what drew you there? How does it feel to live in Paris in a different culture?

I discovered Paris at 14 on a school trip. Everything seemed so exciting, getting lost in charming back streets, the energy, language, culture and of course the nonchalant seductive nature of French women and men. When I finished my studies it seemed like a natural step to move there. My roots are deeply intertwined with southern Ireland and so I dreamed of having a life between both locations.

You have training in Yoga, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic and now have a focus on face yoga. Can you tell us more about your career path and how these activities complement each other?

For me it’s about passion. I feel so lucky to love and be engaged with what I love - it’s all about work and play - that’s everything. My personal approach is a culmination of years in training. Before I completely devoted myself to this work, I worked in the financial world for over 15 years & during this time I embarked on a lot of training (beginning with Yoga over 20 years ago).

Yoga du visage is still relatively new and my work today stems from a confidence (older & wiser) within that drew me towards creating something with all I have gathered to shape the career I really wanted. I feel very privileged to work with people who like me before, lead extremely demanding lives, always juggling (finding 5 mins for a face yoga routine can be hard) but I know how important these disciplines are and act like an antidote to really help to keep us balanced and energised especially through the more challenging times.

I agree, these ancient self-care disciplines are so complimentary, stemming from the knowledge that was being shared at the same time by travelling monks over 2,000 years ago from Asia and India.

What is your point of view on beauty and the effects of face yoga to help people look good and feel good? Do you think the conception of beauty has evolved over the last decade?

Physical and mental health for me have always been so entwined. I have always craved the release through yoga, both the challenging and more restorative practices. Today I think we realise how much our beauty is very connected to that sense of wellness and balance. I am passionate about sharing the best techniques to find and sustain radiant and glowing skin and health within. Face yoga routines are a wonderful opportunity to take care of our emotions. I talk about them always during my consultations. It’s extremely important for the beauty of our skin as emotions are deeply held in the lines of our face and can be worked on.

Yes, Beauty has evolved so much, I work with women of all ages from 20 to 80 years of age and learning to love oneself is such an important part of what I share. We are conditioned to think that when we hit 40, its downhill from there, but age helps us to realise our aspirations and when we are connected with what we love there is beauty there. I would even say that our inner strength from our life’s experience only enhances this. Who has not experienced the fabulous smile of an older, woman/man? Our skin can have a luminosity at every age. Haven’t we all felt this beauty that comes from inside, at some stage ? This is what I work hard to share in my practices, the ever giving gift of Face Yoga. Sustaining and nurturing that.

Tell us a bit about you and your background in wellness

I developed a strong connection with Nature early in my life thanks to my family roots. I have always been interested in beauty, glamour and femininity since I was a child, trying out my Mum’s potions or in the bathrooms of my aunts and friend’s mums. When I came to Paris and began sharing an office with French women I began to understand more about the French pared down aesthetic (you know who you are :). I was very impressed with how skin care routines were the Holy Grail, blemishes had to be dealt with, not camouflaged and the application of beauty products simple, natural.

When I had the opportunity to take a Face Yoga training in Paris, this moment really planted a seed as being able to combine my Yoga training, Yin & Ayurveda to promote care of our skin. This made such complete sense to me that I wanted to investigate it further. After completing many courses of training I am now delighted to be able to devote more and more time to sharing consultations on taking good care of your skin and the positive and empowering effects this has.

How can we best benefit from adding face yoga to our daily routine to improve our facial health and appearance?

Like eating well – we need to practice Face Yoga (5 mins) everyday. My life is high-energy and I am quite sensitive and absorb a lot in my work. If I neglect my own emotions, they end up showing on my face, with a dull skin, a more marked and less happy face. With a daily practice of 5- 10 minutes morning & evening I simply feel better, calmer, healthier and happier in this constant ever changing world this acts like a security blanket.

Do you always use face Guasha? If so which stone do you work with?

Every day is different, I use amethyst mainly but when I need some soothing its pink quartz. Black obsidian is grounding and regenerating, white jade for depuffing and harmonising and green jade for life force energy and promoting tone.

In this rushed and busy world, it is sometimes difficult to find the time to stay connected. If you were to give us just a few exercises to include in our morning routine what would they be?

Firstly, it’s so important to find a facial oil that speaks to you so that it will give you an added comforting aspect to your Face Yoga practice

1. Practice daily a good face massage (morning & evening) 5 mins this will naturally stimulate collagen in the dermis and improve skin density and glow.

2. Use daily eye exercices to diminish signs of fatigue, especially during peri-menopause and menopause. as we are often affected by lack of sleep, hot flushes during night etc. Also stimulating acupressure points around the eye is very depuffing and will also activate circulation here.

3. Marionette lines : Hold the corner edges of mouth and press upwards to stimulate the depressor muscles that gravitate downwards and lift mouth contours.

Find yourself a routine that works, adapt it to each season and the season of your life. Remember that face yoga contributes to our health and Health is everything.

My advice summed up in a quote by Susan West Kurz.

**“Your beauty, your health, and much of your youthful vitality can be recovered simply by listening to, and returning to, gentle waves of your inner world that is alive with feelings and thoughts”.**

FIND SHARON on Instagram @sharonyogaparis and on this website sharon yoga. Directly connect with her for group or private sessions of Yoga and Face yoga in English or in French.