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Facial yoga refers to non-invasive methods of facial exercises 1that strengthen the skin. It focuses on massaging the facial muscles to lift the skin. It targets all the 57 muscles of the face, reducing aging, fine lines, sagging skin, and many other issues with skin. Many people around the work practice face yoga to achieve a healthy glow.
Origin of Facial Yoga
Facial yoga2 originated in the most beautiful island country located in the east of Asia, Japan. This country is known for hot springs, anime, sushi, and many more, and it is also known for facial yoga exercises.
What is Facial Yoga?
Facial yoga is a group of facial massages that are used to relax the muscles or even tone the facial muscles. It is a way of toning and training your skin for healthy, young, and tight skin. It involves a set of massages or exercises that enhance circulation in the skin and lymphatic muscles3.
Face yoga is known to increase the oxygen supply to your skin, thereby enhancing your facial glow. Like varied yoga poses, a set of yoga exercises targets the face alone. This can be added to your regular yoga routine, enhancing your entire routine.
Benefits of Face Yoga Exercises
1. Skin Tightening
Doing the right facial exercises can strengthen the facial muscles of the face, especially the cheek muscles, making the skin look younger and tighter. Experts have stated through research that face yoga is known to impact the structural appearance of the skin positively. Yoga here is known to enhance the skin’s elasticity, so there is no sagging skin. Tight skin is possible if the individual carries out regular facial yoga.4
2. Wrinkle Reduction
Isn’t it fascinating to know that facial yoga can reduce stubborn wrinkles on your face? Facial yoga is known to also reduce the wrinkles on the skin by making the skin firm and smoothening the fine lines on your skin. Make facial yoga a part of your self-care routine to see the magic of face yoga on your skin.
3. Enhances Blood Circulation
We all know that exercise generally enhances the blood supply to the muscles, thereby increasing the supply of oxygen. Similarly, facial yoga enhances blood circulation, thereby giving your face that natural radiant glow. It reduces every wrinkle, like forehead or frown lines on your skin. Radiant skin is just a few facial yoga exercises away.
4. Reduces Tension
Face yoga can reduce any tension in the muscle. When the muscle is exposed to a specific stress, tension accumulates in that muscle that can be reduced through face exercises. It stimulates the lymphatic system and other skin muscles enabling them to relax. So the exercise pushes you towards holding specific patterns that help in de-stressing.
5. Radiant Skin
Any exercise enhances blood circulation, thereby improving the glow. After the gym, a glow is caused due to the rich supply of oxygen and excellent blood circulation. Facial yoga drastically enhances your face’s circulation, giving you radiant and glowing skin.
6. Anti-aging
It is known to give you that young skin. Skin conditions with aging are wrinkles, saggy skin, fine lines, etc. Face yoga tackles all these problems, hence indirectly helping an individual achieve that anti-aging goal.
7. Firm Cheeks
The muscles become firm through the practice of these facial exercises. The muscle has good elasticity that keeps the skin firm and tight.
Face Yoga Techniques
Before beginning any kind of exercise, it is essential to warm up. A warm-up prepares your body5 for the tension or stress you will give it. If you do not do an excellent warm-up, you will end up shocking your muscles which can cause harm or injuries. Hence, start facial exercises with some sort of warm-up.
Here are some facial exercises:
1. For the Jawline
If you suffer from a double chin, sagging chin, or jawline, then simply follow this exercise. Make a fist and place your elbow against a table or desk. Keep your jaw or chin on top of your fist. Push the fist upward and simultaneously try to open your jaw. Hold this position for 5-8 seconds and slowly release. Repeat this at least five times.
2. Eye Exercise
This exercise is called the blinking eye exercise. This exercise reduces your eye puffiness as it works on the muscles around your eyes. To do this exercise, simply open your eyes as widely as possible and hold them for a few seconds. Now quickly shut your eye tightly. So open and squeeze is what we are doing here. Keep doing this exercise 3 times and take a break of three to four minutes.
3. Cheek Exercise
To get good tight, and firm cheeks, there are multiple types of exercises. Here’s one for you. All you need to do for this exercise is breathe. Yes, take a deep breath, and make a puff in your cheek using that breath. Stay with the puff for a few seconds and slowly release your breath through your mouth. You will begin to feel the stress your muscle holds.
This exercise can be done anywhere while driving, doing your everyday chores, or when you are busy typing on your laptop. Sit in any comfortable position or even stand to do this exercise. Blowing a balloon also holds similar effects.
This exercise strengthens your cheek muscles and protects them from thinness. This simple exercise will help you achieve good healthy yet tight cheeks. Do them at least 5-6 times as a part of your routine.
4. Make an ‘O’- Anti-wrinkle Exercise
Make a long O using your mouth. This exercise is known to reduce your wrinkles and fine lines. Do it alone if you find it uncomfortable to do it before someone. Now push your lips inwards, over your teeth. Yes, you may look funny while doing it, but most facial exercises demand you to hold patterns that could seem funny. So once you send your lips inwards, use your hands to hold the chin in place. Keep this position for a few seconds, then release and rest. Then repeat this process at least five times.
5. Chewing
Do you know that chewing also helps your facial muscles? It focuses on the muscles in your jaw and near your cheeks. You can take bubble gum and start chewing it. You can do it anywhere and anytime. This simple exercise will work wonders for your skin. Chew for at least 5 minutes to see any visible result over time.
6. Tap your Face
The simplest of all the exercises is face tapping. Gently start tapping your face, starting with your forehead, and moving it all over your face. This will enhance blood circulation and result in glowing skin. Continue this to your neck and your shoulder. Gently rub your palms to generate heat, then place your palm on your face. Breathe gently and gently press. Do this for two minutes and enjoy the immediate glow.
When to do Facial Yoga?
Facial yoga can be done any time of the day. Most of these exercises do not demand any specific tool; instead, it is just stretching your muscles with your hands and fingers, so it becomes easy for us to do it anytime and anywhere.
However, it is advised to do it at night before bed or in the mornings. Add them to your daily exercise routine.
Side-Effects of Facial Yoga
Facial yoga can cause wrinkles if done inappropriately. Yes, the same yoga known to beat wrinkles can also create it if overdone. The moves done can potentially create crease lines and even crinkling. So do the exercise slowly and in the right way. Do enough research before stepping into any form of exercise. Know how a pose is supposed to be held theoretically before doing it practically on your face.
Patience is the Key
Do remember that this cannot be achieved in a day. Just as getting a toned abdomen or legs would take time, be patient in this process too. Continue practicing facial yoga regularly to see the results. The results will take time; it could even be months before you see any visible change.
When it comes to skin health, patience is the key. When you start using any skin care product, you don’t see the change overnight, do you? Even a cream recommended by your dermatologist will not work any wonders immediately. It would be best if you kept applying it regularly as instructed. You must keep applying it even if you don’t see any visible change. But as you keep going, you will notice the changes or benefits of those products. Similarly, to notice the benefits of face yoga exercises, you need to keep going and, above all, be patient.
Discontinue only in terms of any discomfort. Take it slow. If you perform a hamstring stretch, you begin holding the stretch for 30 seconds, and slowly through the course, you increase your stretch time from 30 to 45 seconds. Similarly, increase your stretches slowly. Take it slow and be gentle with your skin. Don’t rush. Doing everything at once will not only not give you immediate results, but it can also cause damage to your facial muscles, thereby doing more harm than good.
The skin on your face is more sensitive than any other skin on your body. Therefore, it is all the more vital for you to stretch your skin gently. Slow and steady will help you reach the goal. Apply this tactic to every exercise if you want to see a healthy outcome.
It is always essential that you focus on the long-term goal. 6Convert your practice into a lifestyle to make the most of these exercises. They will eventually not only add to your physical health but will also enhance your mental health. Yes, exercise and yoga, in general, are known to reduce stress and improve your mental health. Take all these benefits by slowly absorbing these into your life.
Facial yoga has immense benefits. It reduces stress lines, and double chins help the muscle of your lower lip, can also prevent acne, and increase your blood flow. It helps you release tension and takes care of the well-being of your skin. Many peer-reviewed studies have vouched for the excellent benefits of facial yoga. Aging is inevitable. But choose to age gracefully with the help of facial yoga.
- M. Smith, Abigail, et al. “Non-traditional and non-invasive approaches in facial rejuvenation: A brief review.” Cosmetics 7.1 (2020): 10. ↩︎
- Behere, R. V., et al. “Effect of yoga therapy on facial emotion recognition deficits, symptoms and functioning in patients with schizophrenia.” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 123.2 (2011): 147-153. ↩︎
- von der Weid, Pierre-Yves, and David C. Zawieja. “Lymphatic smooth muscle: the motor unit of lymph drainage.” The international journal of biochemistry & cell biology 36.7 (2004): 1147-1153. ↩︎
- Balwani, Rajani D., Vinod M. Choudhari, and Isha P. Wasu. “FACIAL YOGA FOR SKIN REJUVENATION.” ↩︎
- Faigenbaum, Avery, and James E. McFarland Jr. “Guidelines for implementing a dynamic warm-up for physical education.” Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance 78.3 (2007): 25-28. ↩︎
- Höchli, Bettina, Adrian Brügger, and Claude Messner. “How focusing on superordinate goals motivates broad, long-term goal pursuit: A theoretical perspective.” Frontiers in psychology 9 (2018): 1879. ↩︎
Last Updated on by Sathi Chakraborty, MSc Biology