Make a face, stay young!

Facial yoga is trending, and in case you’re wondering which new trend passed right under your nose and you missed it, it’s something about… well… looking under your nose!

Face yoga or facial yoga is a way to lift years of your face by giving it 10-12 minutes of exercise every day. Just as Yoga helps your body tone itself and gain flexibility and agility, so also facial yoga helps your face muscles regain their strength and shape; in the process, years of aging fall away, leaving you looking much fitter and younger than before!

Facial Yoga is not just about making faces. There are specific exercise that achieve specific results – some pull in your double chin and delineate your jawline more clearly, others enhance your cheekbones, and still other work on wrinkles, helping to lessen crow’s feet or forehead lines.

These results Facial Yoga brings about by working separately and effectively on the three skin layers of your face – the outer epidermis, the middle dermis and the lowermost layer – the hypodermis. This it does by increasing blood circulation, which will in turn, trigger more oxygen and nourishment to reach the cells. It also stimulates the middle layer of the dermis to produce more collagen and elastin, which will lend your face suppleness and a healthy glow.

Here are five simple facial yoga exercise you can try at home. Work it into your everyday routines and see marked difference in the form of compliments from those around you!

The following exercises work on your cheek muscles.

Oh-Oh!

With your mouth closed, drop your jaw as far as it will go. Make a small “o” with your lips. Now open your mouth and lips to make the biggest “O” possible. Hold each “O” for about 8-10 seconds. Repeat 10 times, bringing your face back to normal in between in each pose.

Fish-face

Start with a smile. Then suck your cheeks between your upper and lower jaws on the sides of your face. Return to normal. Repeat 5 times.

The following workouts are to reduce double chins:

Kiss the ceiling

Look up at the ceiling and pucker your mouth as if about to kiss something. Hold for 5 seconds. Repeat 5 times.

Stick our your tongue

Stick out your tongue as far as it will go down from your mouth. Hold for 60 seconds, relax. Repeat 3 times.

You can combine these two exercise as well. Look up at the ceiling, stick out your tongue, hold for 10 seconds. Repeat 5 times.

The next few exercises work directly on your wrinkles:

Crow’s feet

Bring your hands to your eyes. Position your middle fingers near the nose, at the inner corners of your eyes. Place the index fingers near the outer edges of your eyes, towards the temples. Now look up at the ceiling holding your face level, and strain your lower eyelids till you’re squinting hard for 5 seconds, relax. Repeat 6 times. When finished, shut your eyes as tight as you can for 10 seconds.

Forehead lift

Ignoring your thumbs, place all your fingers on your forehead, tips touching at the center. Slowly draw your fingers outwards, applying a little pressure to tighten the skin on your forehead. Repeat 10 times, bringing your hands back down after each rep.