Face yoga

Special exercises tense and relax the face muscles to exercise the muscles and firm the skin.  As well as having a positive effect on your mood, it has a natural anti-ageing effect. 

How was it developed?

Modern face yoga was developed by Fumiko Takatsu. After an accident, the Japanese woman had asymmetrical face changes. A yoga enthusiast, she discovered that  daily facial stretches were effective. Face yoga enabled her to regain her natural beauty and to inspire others with her yoga tips. She quickly developed face yoga with tried and tested exercises for anti-ageing and facial tension.

How does face yoga work?

Face yoga is so popular mainly because of its effect on natural beauty. The stretches are thought to prevent rings and folds under the eyes. They also help to prevent and smooth out wrinkles. The daily skin firming revitalises it and slows the ageing process. Face exercises also increase blood circulation in specific areas and refresh the muscles and nerves in the face. 
There are about 40 muscles in the face. They are under daily strain from stressful situations and overwork. This leads to tensions in the jaws, nape of the neck and headaches. For instance, stress can cause you to grind your teeth at night and cause cramps in the lower jaw. This tension is painful and leads to disrupted sleep and restlessness. In this case face yoga can be used to relax the facial muscles, which releases happy hormones and eases mental tensions.
So face yoga can be used as a natural remedy for signs of skin ageing, stress and tensions.  Daily relaxation also refreshes your beauty.

How does it work?

Face yoga can be tailored as required to any particular facial areas. So it works, for example, on your eyelids, nose, forehead and cheeks. Targeted exercises, such as blowing out your cheeks, raising the corners of your mouth or eyebrows, firm specific areas. You also use your hands for face yoga. Massaging and patting your skin supports some face yoga exercises.

2 exercises to do at home

Fumiko Takatsu provides plenty of tips and advice. There are some of her exercises that are easy to do at home. 

1. Prevent wrinkles round your mouth: 

Keep your lips firmly closed for this exercise. Then blow out your cheeks. Hold the air in your right then your left cheek.  Then direct the air into your upper then your lower lip. Each position should be held for 5 seconds. 

2. Get rid of a double chin:

Stretch your neck and look up at the ceiling. Then stick your tongue out towards the ceiling. Keep your shoulders and back relaxed.