An Awesome Japanese Technique to Make Your Eyes Look Younger — It Only Requires One Minute

Looking in a mirror we can see that our age starts to show in our eyes, making us look tired and sad. The brows, upper eyelids, and the outer corners of the eyes go down and small wrinkles start to appear on the face. They might even become deep because of facial swelling. A special massage called Shiatsu can help rejuvenate and “restore” the area around eyes to its initial state. Shiatsu differs from other types of massage because its only movements are pressing certain dots on the face. It is mostly performed by Japanese women and perhaps that’s the secret of their beauty and youth.

We at Bright Side became interested in this type of massage that is becoming more and more popular around the world, even though it’s only officially been recognized by Japanese medicine. An everyday Shiatsu massage will take only 1 minute. It should be performed in the morning, in the evening, and whenever you feel that your eyes are tired.

What Shiatsu is all about

The name of the massage comes from 2 Japanese words — “pressure” and “finger.” It was created by Tokujiro Namikoshi at the beginning of the 20th century. The massage was based on the knowledge of anatomy and the secrets of Tibetan medicine and the creator used it to treat arthritis. This simple and effective method was liked and accepted by Japanese people and was officially recognized by the country’s medical authority. It is still actively used in Japan, including in the sphere of cosmetology. Interestingly enough, the author of this method lived until the age of 95 and looked much younger than his real age for the rest of his life. He used to say that this massage is also based on our instinct to rub and warm the spots that hurt.

So how does it work? There are certain spots on the face and body that, when pressed, help blood and lymphatic fluid circulate better. It also speeds up metabolism in the tissues, making it more effective. Because of this, the natural process of body rejuvenation starts.

You shouldn’t massage zones, but just the spots, when performing the massage by yourself (the zones can be done by a specialist only). Apply pressure with medium intensity so that you feel a slight discomfort.

If we are talking about the zone around eyes, this massage will help to:

• strengthen muscles;
• smooth wrinkles;
• increase the skin’s elasticity by stimulating the accelerated production of collagen and elastin;
• normalize oil production.

1. Raising brows

Pressure area: the inner and outer ends and the middle of the eyebrows

Place index, ring, and middle fingers on these spots and press. In order to “restore” the brows back to their place you should apply direct pressing movements to the brows, pushing slightly upward.

​​​​​​Time: 7 seconds

2. Removing “crow’s feet”

Pressure area: outer corners of the eyes

Place your index fingers on the spots, warm up the zone a bit, press, and release. You can pull the muscles toward the temples slightly, not taking your fingers off. Pay attention to ensure that it’s the muscles and not the skin that is being pulled.

Time: 3 seconds

Repeat: 3 times

3. Getting rid of swelling

Pressure area: the inner corner of the eye between the eye and the nose bridge

Place your index fingers on the spots and make a perpendicular movement not stretching and not moving the skin. You can also make a “fork” with your middle and index fingers and press both the outer and the inner corners of the eye simultaneously.

Time: 3 seconds

Repeat: 3 times

4. Removing wrinkles on the nose bridge

Pressure area: between brows, on the zone of the “third eye”

Tightly join your index, middle, and ring fingers together. Press the 3 spots between the brows with your finger pads.

Time: 5–7 seconds

Repeat: 2 times

5. Rejuvenating the skin under eyes

Pressure area: under the eyes on the bone

Put index, middle, and ring fingers on the spots and press.

Time: 10 seconds

Repeat: 2 times

These exercises can be done separately or performed as a full face massage with the Shiatsu technique. They can also make any other type of massage or face exercises more effective.

Have you ever performed Shiatsu by yourself? Please share your experience with us in the comments!