I Did Face Yoga for Two Weeks, and Now I See Why It’s Worth It

As we age, our face loses its original profile, and you might start to notice the appearance of wrinkles. Some people are comfortable with these age-related changes, while others would like to stop the passage of time and restore their faces to their former shape. In addition to radical surgical methods, there are some possible solutions that are milder in comparison. Among these is face yoga, which involves a series of different exercises designed to strengthen the muscles.

Hi, I’m Maria, and I’ve decided to try out some of these yoga techniques, exclusively for CHEERY, to figure out exactly how effective they really are.

A little about face yoga

Most instructors point out that these exercises alone won’t correct all the changes. A proper routine, a healthy diet, and an active lifestyle are also necessary. That said, small studies carried out in this field have shown that women, who regularly practiced facial yoga, noticed positive changes in their appearance after a few months, and were pleased with the results.

Like many other ladies, I’m a little embarrassed by my rounded, oval face, crow’s feet, and laugh lines. So, I’ve decided to see if a set of special exercises could help me fight these age-related changes.

Exercise 1

This technique was supposed to help me get rid of bags under my eyes and crow’s feet. Spread your index and middle fingers out in a “V” shape. Then lightly press the middle fingers against the area just above the bridge of your nose, while pressing the index fingers against the corners of the eyes on the outer side of the eyebrows.

Once you’ve assumed this position, look up, while tensing the lower eyelids. Holding this position will likely make you blink, tensing the muscles around your eyes. After several blinks, relax your eyelids. Repeat the exercise a few more times.

Then, close your eyes and continue blinking while holding this position. Once you’ve repeated this step a few times, relax and take a deep breath. This exercise was quite easy, but the frequent blinking made my eyes hurt.

Exercise 2

This exercise helps to reduce laugh lines, tighten the cheeks, and define better the chin line. Press your lips tightly against your teeth, so you’re lightly biting down on them. Then open your mouth in an “O” shape.

After that, stretch your lips out in a smile. This took me some effort. Repeat these two positions a number of times, alternating between the “O” shape and the smile.

Then, put your index finger on your chin and, pressing it down slightly, begin to open and close your mouth. This move reminded me of the fishies from a popular children’s toy, which you had to catch with a magnet attached to a fishing rod.

Holding this position, slowly tilt your head back until you’re looking straight up at the ceiling. Hold, and return to the starting position, repeating the move a few more times.

I had no particular difficulty with this exercise, but my housemates couldn’t stop laughing at my expressions. So, in the future, I decided to practice my face yoga away from prying eyes, especially children’s ones.

Exercise 3

The following exercise was supposed to partially smooth out the forehead wrinkles and increase blood circulation in that area. This is probably the easiest and most pleasant exercise. Lightly press the fingertips of both your hands against the centre of your forehead.

Use gentle strokes to slowly massage the forehead away from the center and towards the temples. If folds of skin are gathering under your fingers, try using less pressure.

Exercise 4

This exercise is designed to reduce bags and wrinkles under the eyes, as well as strengthen the lower face muscles. Press your index fingers against your nose about midway, just at the start of the bone.

Pull the lower jaw downwards, tensing the cheeks. Raise your eyes, so you’re looking up at the ceiling, and start blinking frequently. Then, relax your face for a few seconds, and repeat. I didn’t feel like the movements themselves caused any discomfort, but my eyes did get tired quite quickly.

Exercise 5

Use this exercise to strengthen your neck and chin muscles. Tilt your head back slightly, and stretch your neck. Place your fingers under the chin, and gently massage your neck in a downward motion.

Then, press your fingers just above your collarbones, and stretch your neck as much as possible, tensing the muscles and raising the chin. Hold this position for a few seconds. You’re supposed to repeat this exercise a few times, but after the second try, I noticed a terrible pain in the back of my head. Needless to say, I did not carry on with this exercise.

Exercise 6

If you want to reduce eye puffiness and improve blood circulation in that area, you can try the following exercise. Place the pads of your ring fingers under your eyebrows, on the inner side. Then, gently tap your fingers towards the outer side.

Press your fingers against the temples for a few seconds, and continue tapping just under the eyes, above your cheekbones, and towards the nose. It’s worth spending about 30 seconds on this exercise.

Exercise 7

The next couple of moves required a bit more effort from me. Probably, because they involved several muscle groups at once. I started with the eyebrows. Using three fingers (index, middle, and ring finger) raise your eyebrows, stretching your eyes as wide open as you can.

After that, smile, while simultaneously trying to lower your eyebrows. Hold this position for a few seconds, then close your eyelids and roll your eyes back. You’re supposed to hold this position for 20 seconds. After three goes, my cheekbones were aching. A lot.

Exercise 8

The following exercise is supposed to strengthen your cheek muscles. For this one, try to smile, while closing your lips tightly, without showing your teeth at all. Pucker your lips up, like you’re making a duck face. Then, raise the corners of your mouth. This step, I must admit, I wasn’t very good at. I felt like I was doing it right, but it turns out, all I managed to pull was a straight face.

Then, press your index fingers up to the edges of your mouth, and gradually lift them toward your cheekbones and temples. I had to feel the tension in my cheek muscles here. You’re supposed to “anchor” your fingers at the top of your cheeks and hold the position for 20 seconds. After 3 repetitions, both my cheeks and lips were sore.

Exercise 9

For this exercise, first, open your mouth in an “O” shape, completely covering your teeth with the upper lip.

Then, try to smile, without pulling your lips away from your teeth. Place your fingers above your cheeks, near the lower eyelids, and follow by first relaxing your cheek muscles, and then tensing them again. Adjust the resistance of your fingers if necessary.

You’re supposed to repeat this exercise 10 times and then tense your muscles once more, holding the position for 20 seconds. While I might have managed to pull through to the end of the first part of this exercise, the last part was a complete failure. My cheek muscles would go weak after about 10 seconds.

Exercise 10

This exercise is meant to strengthen the muscles around the temple area. This one was the one I had the most trouble with. Put your fingers on your temples and clench your teeth, lifting your chin. Then, you’re supposed to pull your ears back, all the while clenching your teeth tightly. Neither of these was going to happen for me, but some finger muscles did tense.

Exercise 11

The final two exercises are supposed to improve blood circulation. They also help some people to relax and fall asleep more quickly.

Place your index finger on your forehead, between your eyebrows. Pressing gently, make a few circular movements in a clockwise direction, then repeat in the opposite direction.

Exercise 12

To help relax the facial muscles, use three fingers to gently pinch your chin, cheeks, cheekbones and ears along the profile line. This sensation was quite pleasant, but my cheeks did not become any less sore.

Conclusion

At first, face yoga had no visible affect on my appearance. I only noticed that my cheeks and cheekbones would burn and ache for a few hours after each session, so I would sometimes avoid smiling or using other facial expressions.

However, after a couple of weeks, my face really did brighten up and my profile became more defined. But, as I found out, some people should exercise caution. Working out these muscles can cause wrinkles to get deeper. After all, most of them appear precisely because we often change our expression when smiling and frowning.

What do you think, is it worth spending time doing face yoga? Or are there better options?