Does Face Yoga Really Work? And Who Should Try It?
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The relationship between women and youthfulness is a tale as old as time. For centuries women have been looking for ways to improve their skin and look younger. Medical procedures, like Botox and plastic surgeries, have been popular for many years now to reduce wrinkles and fine lines. However, many women have been returning to natural ways of keeping their skin fresh and young during recent years. One such natural non-invasive approach, face yoga, has been trending lately.
This article will give you everything you need to know about Face yoga, how it works, and if it is for everyone! Read on to find out how face yoga can help you reduce your wrinkles and make your jawline sharp!
In This Article...
- What face yoga is, and where did it come from?
- Face Yoga VS. Facial Exercises
- Yoga face method
- What is face yoga good for?
- Who should try face yoga and why?
- How long does face yoga take to work?
- The Bottom Line
- References
What face yoga is, and where did it come from?
History of Face Yoga:
Originating in China, Face yoga is a DIY age-defying technique. As apparent from its name, face yoga comes from the centuries-old yogic form of body control exercises. It comprises a series of facial expression one makes to relax and tone the facial muscles.
Some 2,000 years ago, in ancient China, the Imperial court's sovereign started practicing facial exercises to maintain a youthful appearance. Gradually, the popularity of face yoga increased all over China and still helps women enjoy a youthful appearance. The trend also reached France and America and gained much popularity.
After world war, the glam of facial exercises was vindicated. People started doing hard work and had less time. So, they reached out for easier and faster solutions through the use of cosmetics.
But during the golden era of facial exercises in Great Britain and America, awareness about natural ways to look younger and beautiful was raised. Many great and influencing personalities like Hollywood actors started practicing face yoga, and at that time, facial exercises were considered the best scientific method to improve one's personality.
Principle and Theory Behind Face Yoga
Face Yoga is a natural way to make your face look youthful by strengthening your muscles. The best part about this kind of "work out" is that you can do it while simply lying in your bed.
Our skin elasticity is dependent on the strength and tone of our facial muscles. We have about 43 different facial muscles responsible for all the different expressions we make all the time. Some of the muscles in our face are used more than others. Wrinkles form when the overused muscles become weaker as we age.
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With face yoga, you stretch out your facial muscles and pull them in to tone up your face. The poses of face yoga can be separated into two types:
· Poses that help in lifting up the face by activating the otherwise inactive muscles.
· Poses that target the overused facial muscle and help them relax.
According to experts, it improves your appearance: making your face look slimmer, your skin firmer, and complexion younger. Face yoga is a combination of massage, acupressure, and relaxation, which improves the blood circulation in the skin, reduces tension, stimulates facial muscles, and promotes collagen growth.
While there is very little research done on the topic to back these claims, a study done by Northwestern University showed that facial exercises might help middle-aged women retain youthful skin for longer.
Face Yoga VS. Facial Exercises
Although people use face yoga and facial exercises interchangeably, there is a crucial difference between the two. Most of the facial exercises aim to strengthen facial muscle. In contrast, most of the yoga poses are targeted at the relaxation of the facial muscles to prevent wrinkles and lines.
As real yoga works on muscle tension areas, facial yoga is intended to prevent the aftermaths of strained facial expressions to leave both the muscles and skin refreshed and relaxed.
Yoga face method
Face Yoga Method is a system of facial poses created by Fumiko Takatsu. Takatsu is a yoga instructor with an experience of over thirty years. She came up with this system to overcome her fear of aging and lose confidence. The method aims to reshape your jawline, align your smile, define your cheeks, and smooth out your forehead lines.
Some poses from the Face Yoga Method include:
Stretch tongue out:
Stick your tongue as far as it can go and hold this pose for straight 60 seconds. Repeat this at least three times.
Make O with lips:
Widely open your mouth and make an O with your lips. While keeping the jaw dropped, widen your lips like you are going to smile. Keep repeating small O and big O at least ten times.
Look up in the sky:
Look up and make the kissing face expression. For high cheekbones and a more prominent jawline, one can also stick out the tongue while looking up in the sky to stretch and strengthen the neck muscles. After each repeat, come back to the normal position.
Lion face:
Inhale through the nose. As you breathe out, open your mouth and extend the tongue outward. Stretch the tongue toward the chin. Relax and repeat this expression at least three times.
Baby bird:
Tilt your head toward the ceiling. Press the tip of the tongue to the roof of the mouth and swallow at the same time. Then move your head a bit to the right, and repeat. Then tilt to the left, and repeat. Do at least one additional set.
What is Face Yoga Good For?
Face yoga is beneficial for us in various ways. It is not just limited to beauty aspects but is also suitable for our health and well-being. Here are the top 6 benefits that this practice could bring:
1. Face Lift.
Activating your facial muscles through face yoga brings a natural lift to your face. Through this practice, you stimulate and train the muscles in your face. The muscles get toned, gain volume, and the whole face lifts up and creates a firm facial form.
2. Smooths out wrinkles and fine lines.
Since the muscles are attached to the skin, when they lift up and get toned, the skin will follow. Therefore, facial muscles' building reduces wrinkles by smoothing them out and giving a plumped facial structure.
3.Eliminates dark circles around eyes.
Face yoga improves the circulation of blood in your face. This helps remove all the toxins from the skin, including the ones responsible for the dark circles around the eyes.
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4.Reduces Puffiness
Again, face exercises remove puffiness because they improve blood circulation. Puffiness is also a result of tension in the facial muscles. Following the right poses, you can release the tension and relax the muscles.
5.Increased Collagen Production.
The improvement in blood circulation promotes collagen production, which plays a central role in keeping the skin firm and delaying the onset of fine lines and wrinkles.
6.Acne Reduction
Face yoga helps to remove the impurities from the skin, including acne. You might feel an increase in acne during the first couple of weeks. However, due to improvements in blood and lymph circulation, the toxins flush out of the skin cells.
Who Should Try Face Yoga and Why?
A natural approach to make your skin feel refresh and radiant face yoga is for anyone who wants to keep a younger-looking skin without injecting chemicals into their face.
This non-invasive method supports people who deal with problems related to nerves or muscles on the face. A face yoga routine can help release the tension in facial muscles and relax to keep the wrinkles and smile lines at bay for a longer time.
How long does face yoga take to work?
Face yoga is a time taking process. The results do not show up overnight. Patience is the key to achieve remarkable results, so is the case with face yoga.
The results may vary from person to person depending on what you eat and drink, the environment you're exposed to, and your genetics. It can take months to show noticeable results.
Like any exercise, face yoga should be a part of your daily routine. Fumiko Takatsu from the face yoga method even recommends practicing face yoga at least two times a day.
The morning poses should be aimed at waking up the facial muscles, whereas, in the evening, it should be practiced releasing all the muscle tension that has been accumulated during the day.
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Each practice session should be at least five to ten minutes long, and each yoga pose should last for about 30 seconds. Prerequisites include a quick facial warm-up before moving on to the target muscle group.
You'll see the initial result is bright and glowing skin because you are getting more blood circulating to your face. Later you may also notice fewer wrinkles and less puffiness under the eyes.
The Bottom Line
Face yoga is a natural, non-toxic, and safe way to get a youthful and radiant appearance. Face yoga feels good, it's free, and it works to make your skin look better. A few easy moves can release tension, increase blood flow, and help firm skin.
References
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5885810/
- https://faceyogamethod.com/about/
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4xcFhl2nMbseJO9nEl_kog
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqKX-guFdXc
