Letter To Cynthia Rowland

My letter to Cynthia Rowland

(I had nothing to do tonight, so I Googled myself and found this.  I swear, the internet is such a hoot.  There is absolutely no privacy!)

May 2003

August 2006

Hi Cynthia!

Well, it has been over a year since I last saw you.  At that time, you could not find my starting photo taken at the Learning Annex workshop that I attended.  I think that workshop took place near the end of May 2002.  It might have been 2003, but I do remember that it was late May because I had visited a local LA plastic surgeon just a few weeks earlier in May to get an estimate on what it would cost to fix my face.  I left his office in a total state of shock after hearing his estimate of $35,000 and that was just for a few basic critical problems, not even the entire face!  The photos I include were taken before hearing the estimate. I hate to think of how I must have looked afterwards.  I do remember dissolving into tears after his financial consultant assured me that it could be financed.

It is said that “thoughts are things”…in other words, thought has power.  Thought is a form of prayer.  I was frantic for an alternative.  Not only was surgery completely beyond my reach financially, I was terrified at even the thought of it.  I began to hunt for an alternative.  I remembered being contacted by e-mail years earlier regarding miraculous facial exercises which came in the form of an e-book.  I had purchased it, but in all honesty, I did not understand what to do.  I did not understand the proper placement of the fingers in each exercise.  So, it went unused. Then, a few days after visiting the surgeon, I was having lunch at my favorite little deli where there were copies of the Learning Annex booklets outside.  I had nothing to read, so I grabbed one and went in.  That’s where and how I stumbled across your class.  It was as if my mindset had opened the door to the answer to my prayer.  There you were.  I couldn’t believe it.  In fact, had I not already been primed by that e-book years before, I might have discounted your methodology.

There are 4 photos attached, 2 from the surgeon and 2 in approximately the same angles taken in the last two weeks.  Have fun.  I do every time I look at them.  I put them up side by side on my computer screen just to entertain myself.  Look at them and let me know what you think.  Personally, I think you are a gift from God.  I am  turning 56 in August and as I recall, you are an August baby also, so let me wish you a very happy birthday to come.  You helped me to change my future.  I can never really thank you enough.

With the deepest gratitude

Adriaen Ito

Anti Aging Product Reviews

Image via Wikipedia

I have done more than my fair share of experimenting with various products associated with anti aging.  There are nutrients, devices, skin serums and creams, and HGH products galore.  Having researched and tried so many things, I am now quite the expert on this topic and I will be reporting on my findings and experiments in future postings.  So if you are interested in finding out what works and what doesn’t, please bookmark the site and add your email to “subscribe” at the very bottom of the blog to receive email alerts as reviews are added.  I do not sell the email addresses and everything that I will be reporting on has been personally tested and evaluated.  Much of what is out there is a waste of time and money, but there are some very effective and affordable products out there as well.

I am not sure which is worse; the aches, pains and deterioration of aging or looking in the mirror and not recognizing one’s self anymore.  I have been there and I have managed t reverse that which time hath wrought. I’d like to share what I have learned with you.

Plastic Surgery

English: Photo of Mini Facelift Cosmetic Surgery Procedure being Performed by Facial Plastic Surgeon. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Why Plastic Surgery Is a Bad Idea

It is shockingly expensive, can result in death or disfigurement, and fails to address many of the changes that take place in one’s face.  Why take such a big chance with your life and health?

In terms of your face, over time, you can look forward to multiple major changes:

Loss of skin tone, stretching and enlarging of pores, a dulling of the complexion,  loss of fat. slackening of  muscles. formation of deep lines and furrows and decrease in skull size.  Yes, decrease in skull size. (Whenever you get too acidic, your body steals calcium from your skeleton to keep you alkaline….otherwise your kidneys die.  It is the underlying cause of loss of bone density and osteoporosis.  But more on that in a future post).

Plastic surgery approaches this like a tailor altering a suit.  Identify the areas of excess, take suit apart, snip away excess fabric,  stitch back together. The only difference is the sedation, medication bruising and swelling.  Well, that’s what happens when you are treated like a suit, which of course, you are, but you are a living suit.  Your fabric hurts.  Not only that, but you will still have enlarged pores, dull skin and a shrinking skull.  Most lines will still be there as well.  (You will then have fillers recommended to you which will add an extra thousand or two to your bottom line, or rather, your surgeon’s.)

There are so many other things you can do that will benefit you systemically, working with your body rather than against it.  And you will look more like you did when you were younger. Plastic surgery can make you look somewhat younger, but rarely does it make you look like yourself at a younger age. I hope you see the nuance here.  Plastic surgery tends to modify your features, not put them back as they were twenty years ago.  Once you have reached the point in aging where your muscles have thinned and you have lost significant facial fat, it can’t.  Nor can plastic surgery remove facial lines nor perk up dull skin. So, just how young do you think you will look once the swelling goes down?

Surgery is an invasion and there are many cases of infection, adverse reactions to anesthesia, failure of tissue to heal and permanent disfigurement (there are many crucial facial nervesburied at varying

Facial Nerves (Photo credit: rosefirerising)

depths and even the slightest nick of a scalpel renders them permanently useless). It is also outrageously expensive and many people do not quite look like themselves following the procedure. The muscles get shortened, and although they may be tighter, they are also thinner and more flat. Contour is often lost.  Restoring contour calls for facial fillers like Radiesse (calcium hydroxyapatite gel) or Juvederm (a hylaluronic acid filler).

(Look for a future post centering on fillers. They are interesting and can be very helpful for certain problems for those seeking a moderately priced quick fix.)

The best approach is actually facial exercises. and I will tell you why.   By using facial exercises, you create a piezoelectrical effect which helps to preserve the bone density of your skull which means that your facial skin will continue to fit and not hang in saggy pouches.

Piezoelectricity (pronounced /piˌeɪzoʊˌilɛkˈtrɪsɪti/) is the charge which accumulates in certain solid materials (notably crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA and various proteins)^[1] in response to applied mechanical strain. The word piezoelectricity means electricity resulting from pressure. It is derived from the Greek piezo or piezein (πιέζειν), which means to squeeze or press, and electric or electron (ήλεκτρον), which stands for amber – an ancient source of electric charge.^[2] Piezoelectricity is the direct result of the piezoelectric effect.

(definition courtesy of Wikipedia)

And facial exercises are quite inexpensive to learn.  There are all kinds of books, videos and teachers out there for you to choose from.

continued here: http://adriaen22.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/facial-exercises/

Facial Exercises

Image by robswatski via Flickr

I came to learn about this when I needed it most.  As the saying goes, when the pupil is ready, the teacher will appear.  At age 52, I finally decided to do something about my always out of control weight and it took me about a year and a half to lose 130 lbs.  But as I was standing at the mirror one day roughly midway along in this process, I noticed something awful….that my fat had been masking horrifying changes that had been taking place in my face.  I was looking at a reflection that was at least ten years older than my chronological age. I couldn’t believe my eyes.  I burst into tears.  Why bother getting all that weight off then?  I wanted to look fabulous. To keep myself motivated, I told myself that I would look great, that it was worth it to skip that piece of pie.  Instead, I was looking like somebody’s grandmother.  My crying went on for weeks, every time I looked in the mirror.  I was devastated.

I had always had a little contempt for people that submitted to plastic surgery, but here I was giving it serious consideration. I just couldn’t recognize myself, not in the slightest and I couldn’t stand it.  My face looked like melting candle wax, as though everything was sliding downward and my cheeks were totally flat.   My hair was dry and wiry, something like Brillo. My eyes and mouth sagged downward and I had a drooping chin, jiggly jowls and that loose turkey flap running down my throat..  I decided to at least get an estimate and I found a highly skilled Beverly Hills surgeon, braced myself and showed up for the appointment.  I think I used half a box of Kleenex after they gave me the cost estimate.  There was no way I could ever spend that kind of money on a cosmetic procedure.  I wouldn’t even spend that amount on a car. And the whole subject terrified me anyway.  Too many horror stories for my delicate psyche.  “Don’t worry”. the surgeon said, patting my hand. “I can give you a discount”.  Ridiculous.   “Don’t worry”, I thought.  “I can find another way”.

What is really odd about this is that it was only a few days later while I was stopping for lunch at my favorite deli that I picked up a Learning Annex catalog so that I would have something to read while I ate.  I flipped through the upcoming classes and my heart jumped to the moon as I read “Facial Exercises-get better results than plastic surgery”.  The class was only two weeks away so I reserved a spot and went with an open mind.  The teacher was Cynthia Rowland, a woman in her late fifties who truly did not look it.  She brought before and after photos of some of her students and I remember one woman in her eighties who absolutely awed me. She could have passed for fifty and had she been slimmer, perhaps even for forty.  Face after face showed dramatic improvements.  I was very impressed and very, very hopeful.

continued here:  http://adriaen22.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/facial-exercises-part-2/

Facial Exercises-Part 2

Facial Exercises-My Story

It’s your choice

I attended Cynthia’s  class, purchased her DVD and went through some practice exercises that she taught us.  She had provided individual mirrors and complimentary cotton gloves for us and showed us six exercises. As I went through this process, I began to notice that I had lost virtually all the muscle in my face!  When I put my fingers in my mouth and pinched as instructed, there was no muscle there. I could feel my fingertips touching one another with nothing much more than skin in between.  No wonder I looked like I was melting.  I was obviously starting way back in the pack.  But I was determined.  I wanted a total makeover for myself and this was a critical challenge.  I had to succeed.

Unlike most who can expect to have reached 85% or better of peak results within eighteen weeks, it actually took me years.  I had no muscle left and had to rebuild everything.

Now that I know what I know, I would recommend that facial exercises be learned and put into practice starting as early as the late twenties. It is far easier to maintain what you have than it is to rebuild what was once there.  Trust me, you don’t want to let it go that long.

It took me six years to rebuild my face and in the end, it took a lot more than the exercises alone to get my muscles to thicken.  As we age, there is a drop in ATP which is a vital neurotransmitter.  In my case, my muscles simply weren’t “getting the message”.  I noticed that they were toning and tightening somewhat, but not thickening so hollows and bone prominences were still evident in the temple, eye and cheek area.  This sent me into a frenzy of research and personal trial with nutrients, human growth hormone, micro current, fillers and topical treatments and serums.  Articles on those topics will be forthcoming…

My letter to Cynthia Rowland with before and after photo of me:

http://adriaen22.wordpress.com/2011/08/14/letter-to-cynthia-rowland/

Link to “Facial Exercises Pt 3″:

http://adriaen22.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/facial-exercise-part3/

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Facial Exercise-Part 3

There are many books on the market as well as free how to videos on You Tube.  Here is a very informative introductory video and several exercises are demonstrated total freebie: If you look to the right on that You Tube page, you will find many, many very effective facial exercises video taped for you to access at no charge.  Look for the “Howdini” facial exercise videos but keep in mind that these are isolated samples and examples and can not be relied upon as your sole source for learning facial exercises.  There are many muscle groups in the face and neck and you need to address all of them, in proper order, and with proper technique.  And there are many techniques, so pay careful attention to the face of the teacher and then make a selection to learn what they know!

If you are ready for an entire regimen, look up Cynthia Rowland or Deborah Crowley. These ladies charge for their DVDs and classes, but you will be taught a comprehensive program by very expert people. You do not need the personal lessons (the DVD should do) unless you fail to get the results you want in a month or two.  And you should pretty much ignore any skin care products that you might see on either site. In a future article, I will be sharing about what is awesome and what is not.

And just remember, facial exercises do for you what plastic surgery can not, make you look younger. A DVD or lessons with a personal facial exercise coach costs a tiny fraction of what the surgery does and there are no risks and no unexpected consequences.  Your circulation will improve and therefore your skin color will get much of its former natural blush and glow back. And the act of engaging your facial muscles in tension based exercises goes a long way to preserving the bone scaffolding underneath. Remember the Piso-electrical effect described in part 1? Bone preservation is very important in preventing the drooping and sagging of the later years.

Upcoming articles:

Micro Current and other devices for the face

Wrinkle Creams

Human Growth Hormone (HGH)

Nutrients

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Coming next: Micro Current and Facial toning machines