Did you know that almost 60 muscles of your face are working at any given time? These muscles help you to smile, scowl, frown, chew or make a humorous expression.
However, like the rest of our muscles, these muscles degrade over time. You can spend hours in the gym working on your stomach and back, but no gym equipment is specifically designed to target your facial muscles. Here is when face yoga comes into play. In this article, we will learn about face yoga, its benefits, and some face yoga exercises.
What is Face Yoga?
Face yoga combines various facial exercises, with which you may work on your facial muscles, skin, and tissue drainage system all at once. These exercises target more than just the muscles you need to make facial emotions, so they're an excellent way to get your entire face and neck working.
You might be able to tighten your skin, improve jowls and reduce puffiness, fine lines and wrinkles by targeting and strengthening specific facial muscles. Another benefit of face yoga is that it may increase blood flow to the skin, and improved blood flow may increase collagen formation, which may result in a more youthful, healthy glow.
Does Face Yoga Work?
Many people have a question that does face yoga work. You are mistaken if you believe that working out your facial muscles will make your face appear leaner. Some facial muscles, notably those in your cheeks, have been demonstrated to grow in size with face yoga. Like any other muscle you could focus on at the gym, fuller, rounder cheeks result from larger facial muscles.
Even if you don't want a fuller, rounder face, think about what larger muscle sizes mean for your entire body. With the larger size, you get more definition in your skin, less drooping and a more youthful appearance.
Increased facial blood flow can also improve your complexion, lighten your skin, and lessen the appearance of dark circles and puffiness beneath your eyes.
However, these outcomes aren't assured, as with most activities. Other lifestyle factors, including food, fitness, exposure to the sun and wind, and heredity, all have a role in your results.
Benefits of Face Yoga
Let us see some of the most notable benefits of face yoga.
1. Reduces Wrinkles and Fine Lines
Skin can stretch over the surface of your facial muscles and smooth out wrinkles due to an increase in the volume of muscles. When we do face yoga, we increase our production of collagen and elastin, which provide our skin elasticity. Collagen formation begins to decline beyond 25, making this one of the essential benefits of face yoga.
Reduces Wrinkles and Fine Lines2. Reduces Face Puffiness
A puffy face in the morning is one of the women's most prevalent complaints. It's a sign that your lymph circulation isn't correctly working if you wake up with swollen lymph nodes. The accumulation of cellular waste and toxins in your body negatively impacts your beauty and health.
As a result, you must maintain a free flow of lymph. You should avoid alcohol and dairy if you want to lessen puffiness. Facial exercises are an excellent way to get the lymph flowing and keep it moving. The lymph can't flow freely because your muscles, face pads, and skin begin to drive under the influence of gravity, creating microscopic "gaps." It's also possible to seem puffy around the eyes if you have stress in your jaw muscles, which might block your lymph nodes.
No quick fix exists for this problem, no matter how many eye exercises you find online. All your other muscles must also be activated to get the best results. An excellent face yoga programme that engages all of the facial muscles is an investment worth making.
Reduces Face Puffiness3. Boost Your Energy
Practising face yoga increases the circulation of blood and oxygen throughout the body, including the muscles, skin, brain, and internal glands. It also increases the production of the feel-good hormone endorphin. Some face workouts are so potent that you can skip the morning coffee altogether if you like. You can also use them during the day when you need to focus and get things done. It is one of the great benefits of face yoga.
Boost Your Energy4. Helps in Reducing Stress.
Stress is inescapable in our daily lives because of our modern lifestyle. Although stress can be a motivator, prolonged exposure to stress chemicals can have serious consequences.
When our cortisol levels rise, it causes an imbalance in our bodies and minds that impacts our health, thoughts and general lifestyle. Stress management and adequate relaxation are essential skills to master.
It's only possible to do this if you take time to care for yourself, your body, and your mind. There are many ways to deal with stressful situations, but face yoga is the most powerful. Why? Because it directly affects the hypothalamus, pituitary, and pineal glands in your head. It's best to perform slow face muscle motions while taking deep breaths and releasing tension as you exhale.
Helps in Reducing Stress5. Helps Get Better Sleep
Cortisol, a stress hormone, may be to blame if you find it difficult to sleep at night. Stress hormone cortisol maintains your body "ready for action" in the event of a possible threat. As our bodies prepare for the day, our morning cortisol levels should be the greatest, followed by a gradual fall.
Helps Get Better SleepYou won't be able to sleep well if you live in a constant state of stress. The main reason for reduced sleep is the non-release of melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone, by the Pineal gland.
As a result, your body's ability to regenerate will slow down, hurting your health, well-being, and appearance.
Face exercises for the upper area of the face while lying in bed will help you sleep better if you have difficulties winding down at night. The neck and shoulders can be relieved by performing face exercises in a horizontal position.
Top Face Yoga Exercises
You can start practising face yoga in your own home without needing professional training or equipment. Face yoga is a relatively simple technique that can without much help from YouTube videos.
Don't forget to take a few deep breaths while working on your facial muscles, just like in regular yoga. Here are some top face yoga exercises you can start practising.
1. Cheeklifter
Open the mouth as big as you can comfortably manage, and then bring the upper lip down over the front teeth. Then, smile big and raise your cheek muscles as you do so.
Put the finger on each cheek to feel the muscles working. Relax the face, do the move ten times, and on the tenth time, hold the position for 20 seconds.
2. Forehead Smoother
Make two relaxed fists and put them in the centre of your forehead. The knuckles on your two middle fingers can be used to apply pressure on your skin. Apply as much pressure as you'd like by spreading your fingers apart till they're contacting each other at the base of your skull. Repeat it 4 to 5 times.
3. Jaw Stretch
Move your mouth to one side of your face and pucker your lips. You should be able to feel the full extent of your opposite cheek's extension.
Rotate your neck until you feel the skin stretching, then raise your head 45 degrees. Hold on for three seconds. Repeat on the other side of your face after you've switched sides.
4. Smile Line Smoother
Your tongue should be pressed on the inside of your cheek, towards the tip of your nostril, while you inhale and exhale. When applying pressure, place your hand as close as possible to the beginning of your smile line. Make a little circular movement with your tongue five times clockwise and then five times counterclockwise. Then turn your head to the other side.
5. Eyelid Lifter
Raise your right hand over your head and place your right fingers on your left temple. It will help if you rest your forearm on your head.
Use only one finger to gently touch the skin at the outside edge of your brow, lifting it as far as possible. Stretch your neck as far as you can toward your right shoulder. After holding the position for five seconds, switch sides and repeat.
Final Words
So this is all you need to know about face yoga, its effectiveness and its benefits. Therefore, we can conclude that face yoga benefits your face and entire body. So you must include it in your daily workout routine.
Also Read: Bedtime Yoga
