12 Best Face Yoga Exercises for Aging Skin and Acne

We all heard of Yoga, the ancient Indian discipline that offers a plethora of benefits to the body and mind. But have you heard of the trending term – Facial Yoga? It is a type of Yoga, but for the face, which offers many proven benefits to the facial skin. However, face yoga doesn't have any postures or mudras and instead involves certain facial movements or muscle exercises to boost blood circulation to your skin.

It is more like a self-care anti-aging skin ritual that you can easily do at home to reduce wrinkles and aging signs. Regular practice of Yoga for face can cut down a few years off from your real skin age and make you look younger without having to go through the knife or needles.

In this article, you will learn about Face Yoga, its side effects, best time to practice, precautions and 12 Different face Yoga exercises with steps and benefits.

What is Face Yoga?

Face Yoga is a set of different Facial exercises in which you will isolate and focus on even the smallest muscles of your face inorder to tone them. The idea is to stimulate better blood circulation to individual muscles, which are all interconnected to improve the appearance of your facial skin. The process also helps in boosting collagen production which can make your skin look young and plump. Face Yoga also teaches us how to focus on our facial expressions that lead to wrinkles or folds and try to prevent them. In short, it is a holistic daily ritual to tighten your skin and make it look healthy.

What are the Side Effects of Face Yoga?

Before we learn about Face yoga exercises, it's important to learn about the side effects of doing face yoga. Studies show that improper techniques or methods while doing facial yoga exercises can cause more damage to the skin and worsen the ageing signs.

Here are the common side effects of Face yoga when done incorrectly:

Overdoing can cause Skin Sagging

Did you know that your skin like an elastic band? If you constantly pull and stretch it beyond it limit, the elasticity is lost and your skin starts sagging. Many people make a mistake of overdoing skin yoga exercises like lifting eyebrows or puckering lips which can cause permanent wrinkles or folds around the areas.

Skin can turn stretchy without enough moisture

The thumb rule while doing Facial yoga is to apply a moisturizer or a facial serum to hydrate your skin. Skipping this step and doing the exercises on dry skin can stretch it beyond it its limit, leading to skin sagging.

Strong movements can Cause muscle wear and tear

Strong and rigorous movements can damage delicate muscles in your skin and may even lead to muscle tears. Excessive massaging can also reveal the veins under the skin and may even cause the blood vessels to getruptured, resulting in clots.

Muscular pains or contractions

If you fail to follow the techniques and instructions correctly, especially during online face yoga programs, there is a risk of facial muscle contractions. So, people complain with stiff jaws, pain in the cheek areas or headaches. Luckily, these issues are temporary and subside with an ice pack or a pain killer.

Recommended Duration and Best Time of the Day for Face Yoga:

To achieve a noticeable improvement in your facial appearance, you must be consistent with your practice. Expert recommends doing facial exercises for at least 20-30 minutes daily for 5-6 days a week. After 3-4 weeks, you can see a visible difference in your skin tightness and a reduction of wrinkles and sagging.

There is nothing like a 'best' time to do face yoga. You can choose a comfortable time in the morning, afternoon, evening or before bedtime. The deep massage relaxation techniques of facial exercises can calm down your senses and release stress from your muscles. It is always a great idea to maintain a consistent schedule for Yoga, so you can remember the time slot and practice them daily.

Precautions to Follow for Face Yoga:

Keep these points in mind before doing facial yoga:

> Never do face yoga on dry and parched skin. Always moisture your skin well before doing face yoga. Use a good moisturizing lotion, a facial serum or oil to hydrate your skin and allow free movements.

> Do not use aggressive movements to stretch your skin, as doing so will accelerate the signs of skin ageing. Be gentle with your skin!

> Avoid doing facial exercises if you have acne or breakouts. Touching your skin with barehands or stretching the affected areas can worsen your problem. Instead, wait for your skin to heal before your resume the program.

12 Best Face Yoga Exercises for Skin Tightening:

Let us now check out 12 different facial yoga exercises you can do at home for addressing various skin problems:

1. Face Yoga for Lifting Cheeks:

Tired of flabby, sagging cheeks? There are many simple exercises in Face yoga which can naturally lift your cheeks and give them a toned appearance. One such exercise is the 'Cheek Lifter', which works against the gravity to lift up your cheeks and straighten all the muscles in this area.

How to Do Video

Here is how to do this facial yoga exercise for lifting and tightening your cheeks:

> Firstly, smile by opening your lips to form a 'O''
> Fold your upper lip over your teeth
> Try to smile again which results in lifting up your cheeks
> Now place your index fingers on top of the cheek muscle, just below the eye sockets
> Smile again and push the muscles up towards your eyes
> Repeat these steps for about 10 times
> After 10 repetitions, try to now hold the finger tightly on your cheeks while smiling for about 10-20 seconds
> Repeat for 3-4 times

2. Facial Yoga for Smoothening Forehead Lines:

Do you notice visible horizontal lines on your head? Well, there is a way to diminish their appearance with face yoga for forehead. Here is one such exercise which will work on the forehead muscles and lift them up. Additionally, the exercise also lifts up your eyebrows and straighten the eyelids. Here are the steps to perform it:

How to Do Video

> Begin this exercise with a wide smile
> Now place your index and middle fingers of both your hands horizontally on the opposite ends of the forehead
> Curve the finger a little bit and gently roll them down vertically together until they touch the eyebrows
> Now pull the skin above the eyebrows gently and hold for 3-5 seconds. This pressure will stretch the muscles and reduce the wrinkles
> Repeat the steps for 10-15 times
> Keep breathing and smiling throughout the exercise
> After 10 sequences, you can do 5 more with a 10-20 second hold

3. Face Yoga for Sculpted Jawline and Chin:

Have you ever wished for a sculpted jawline that models and actresses usually have? Face yoga can help you achieve that! This particular exercise in face yoga for double chin reduction works by reducing the flab and sagging under the chin. It lifts the muscles around your mouth and the jawline to give it a sharp and sculpted look.

How to Do Video

Here are the steps to perform it:

> Start the exercise with a smile
> Now open your mouth to make a 'Aah' sound. Notice that your chin goes downward.
> Fold your lower lip and try to curl it inside the mouth. Hold it tightly to feel the pressure.
> Now imagine you are lifting or scooping something by moving your lower jaw upward. The muscles under your chin should also feel the movement.
> Do it for about 10-15 times
> Now lift up your head to see the ceiling, repeat these steps for 10-15 times
> Do it slowly by focusing on your jaw muscles.

4. Face Yoga for Anti-Ageing:

This exercise works on all muscles in your face, starting from the scalp to under the chin. It works against the gravity to lift up the muscles and impart better blood circulation to them. By practicing correctly, you will notice a visible reduction in wrinkles and fine lines. The skin will turn more elastic, smooth textured and youthful.

How to Do Video

Here are the steps to perform face yoga for skin tightening:

> Start the exercise with a nice, wide smile
> Form an 'O' with your mouth
> Try to fold the upper and lower lips inside the mouth
> Retain the smile to achieve tightness in the area
> Now close your eyes and try to move your eyeball towards your forehead
> At this point, make your 'O' as small as you can and smile again
> Roll your head back and raise your arms
> Keep smiling and look up. Repeat the sequence 10 times to de-stress your muscles and relax them.

5. Facial Yoga to Lower Eyelid Firming:

Lower eyelid drooping or sagging is a natural phenomenon caused due to ageing. However, there is a way to lift and firm up this muscle group with face yoga. Here is one such exercise which targets the ectropion muscles, the largest muscle around your eye. It works by improving blood circulation to the muscles, widen the eye area, reduce puffiness and makes you look more awake.
Here are the steps to perform this exercise:

How to Do Video

> Begin the face yoga exercise with a nice, wide smile
> Now, place the middle fingers of both your hands on the two inner sides of your eyes which lie close to the upper part of the nose
> Now place your index finger on the outer corner of your eyes
> Squint your eyes to tighten the eye area and release
> Do it slowly to allow the muscles under your fingers to stretch well
> Repeat the steps for 10-15 minutes

6. Face Yoga to Reduce Laugh Lines:

When you age, the skin around your mouth starts losing it elasticity and turns into deep furrows called the 'laugh lines'. With facial yoga, you can firm up the skin in this area and diminish the appearance of these lines. This particular exercise targets the area from the side of the nose to the region around your mouth.

Here are the steps to perform it:

> Begin with a smile and make a 'O' with your mouth that looks like an oval
> Fold the upper lip over your upper row of teeth
> Place the entire region of your index finger on the side of the nose to cover up the side of the mouth as well
> You should be able to feel the cheek bones on the tips of the index finger
> Press the upper part of the index finger towards the cheek and hold for 20-30 seconds
> Continue smiling and release the fingers

7. Face Yoga to Remove Eyebags:

Factors like ageing, stress or lack of enough sleep can cause puffiness and eyebags around your eyes. Luckily, there is face yoga to your rescue. This particular exercise targets the muscles around your eyes and tones them. It improves blood circulation to reduce dark circles and eye bags to make your eyes look bigger and brighter.

How to Do Video

Here are steps to perform this exercise:

> Begin the exercise with a smile and form a long 'O' with your mouth
> Fold your upper lip over your teeth
> Squint your eyes and raise the lower eyelids up
> Place three finger tips under your lower eyelids and press the area on top of your cheekbone
> Now pull down the skin gently towards your cheekbones
> Try to close your eyes and lift the lower eyelids to create some tightness
> Relax your muscles and open your eyes
> Repeat this exercise for 10-15 times

8. Facial Yoga for Glowing Skin:

If stress or lack of sleep is causing dullness to your facial skin, then try face yoga. Using the lion facial exercise, you can reduce the stressful look on your face and instead achieve a glowing skin. The exercise works by activating all the muscles in your face and neck and improving blood circulation.

How to Do Video

Here is how to do it:

> Open your mouth wide and stick your tongue out
> Now, roll your eyeballs up to look up
> Make a roar like sound and try to bring the tongue out as much as possible
> Do it for however long as you can do. Now relax.
> After 5-6 times, try to increase the level
> Place your middle fingers on either side of the forehead horizontally
> Now repeat the same steps of the lion's roar and relax

9. Face Yoga to Smoothen Neck:

A firm face and a sagging neckline are a definite mismatch. So, along with tightening facial muscles, you must also focus on the neck muscles to achieve a uniform toned look. Here is one such exercise which helps in smoothening out the neck muscles and removing double chin, starting from the lower jaw till the collarbone.

How to Do Video

Here is how to do it:

> Begin the exercise with a smile
> Place one of your palms on the neck area as if to hold it between your thumb and the rest of the fingers
> Slowly, slide the fingers down the neck area
> Now place your other palm on your neck in the same way
> Slide it down to meet the first palm on your collarbone
> Hold both the hands tightly and raise your chin by titling your head back
> Now smile widely and bring up your lower jaw to create tightness on your neck
> Breathe deeply and hold this position for 10 seconds,
> Relax and repeat for 10 times

10. Facial Yoga to Remove Crow's Feet:

Crow's feet are tiny lines or wrinkles around your eyes which form when you smile. With face yoga, you can reduce and prevent the formation of these lines. The exercise works by targeting three muscle groups around the eye and smoothen the lines.

How to Do Video

> Begin the exercise with a smile and form a long 'O'
> Fold the upper lip over your teeth
> Smile from the corners of your mouth and lift the upper cheeks
> Place both the hands on the corners of your eyes in a vertical position
> Use a little pressure and pull down the skin around your eyes gently
> Smile and lift the eyebrows up
> Squint your eyes to create some resistance
> Relax and repeat for 10 times

11. Facial Yoga for Lips:

Did you know that facial yoga can plump up your lips naturally without using Botox or fillers? Yes, you heard that right! This face yoga exercise can make your lips look bigger and plumper by boosting the collagen levels and improving blood circulation to the region.

Here's how to do it:

> Start by applying some lip balm or moisturizer to your lips
> Now suck up some air until your cheeks are half-full
> Move this air from one cheek to other to get a 'swollen' look. This activity will reduce the lines around your mouth and lips
> Now purse your lips and pretend you are blowing kisses to someone.
> Do this for about 20-30 times until you notice fullness in your lips

12. Face Yoga for Acne and Pigmentation:

Apart from the toning and anti-ageing benefits of face yoga, you can also overcome other skin problems like acne and pigmentation. Some exercise in face yoga help in flushing out toxins from the skin and drawing in oxygenated blood to achieve a healthy and clear complexion.
Here is one such face yoga exercise for pimple-free, clear skin:

> Suck air into your mouth until it swells up like a balloon
> Hold the air for about 10-15 seconds
> Release air and repeat for 5-10 times

Those are the 12 best face yoga exercises for tightening our skin and getting a youthful appearance. However, do not expect miracles on Day 1! Have patience and maintain consistency to notice improvement. You can also watch the related videos to understand the instructions and techniques better before trying them out yourself. Hope you enjoy your face yoga time!!

References: www.happyfaceyoga.com

Disclaimer: Newsmeter does not hold any rights of information furnished in this article. All the material is collected from various websites and video channels on the internet which specialize in Face Yoga.