Facial Yoga

Facial Yoga is a fairly new type of yoga. It has all of the elements of regular yoga: the practitioner is asked to relax and tries to tone the muscles through specific poses, but it focuses wholly on the face!

This practice helps to tone up the muscles of the face and reduce the effects of aging. Facial Yoga is rapidly gaining popularity as a natural and healthy way to stop and reverse aging without the use of any creams or botox or surgery. All this because the Facial Yoga will tone 57 muscles of our face and neck.

I collected some Facial Yoga poses to try. As usual, there are not much information about a discipline like this, but I hope to be successful.


Exercising your face muscles tightens, tones and, according to practitioners, combats aging. Annelise Hagen offers a gallery of some of the more intriguing poses. Found at Skip the Botox. Try Facial Yoga by TIME.

Free Your Tongue: It is recommended that you hold this pose for 60 seconds. It is good if your eyes water; that flushes the toxins that may have accumulated there.

Temple Dancer Eyes: This exercise works on the ring muscles of the eyes to prevent sagging skin and crow's feet.

Surprise Me: Widen your eyes, as though surprised, but try not to wrinkle the brow. Focus on a point in front of you for about five to ten seconds. Then repeat, four times.

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Smiling Fish Face: Smile while pursing your lips. This pose is modeled after the look celebrities often give the paparazzi.

Lion Face, Part I: Inhale through your nose, make fists and squeeze all your facial muscles...

Lion Face, Part II: Now exhale through your mouth, stick out your tongue, roll your eyes up and open your hands. Repeat three times.

Satchmo: Named for Louis Armstrong, this poses mimics the cheeks of a trumpet player.

Marilyn: The repetitive puckering and blowing creates stronger, firmer lips.

Baby Bird: Swallow while pressing the tip of the tongue to the roof of your mouth. Then tilt your head slightly to the left and swallow. Then repeat, towards the right. This exercise helps jowls from forming.

Buddha Face: Close your eyes, relax and imagine a point between the brows. Hold for one minute, or longer.


Here are some more poses:

Upper Eyelid Strengthener:

Bend the first fingers of both hands and place firmly just beneath your eyebrows, so the fingers look hooked under the eyebrows. Bring your eyelids into your awareness. With both fingers firmly in place gently move them up so the eyebrows are raised and then slowly close both eyes and feel the eyelid stretch. Hold for the count of 10, slowly release and relax. Do this exercise twice.

Lower Eyelid Strengthener:

Place the first finger of each hand on the outside of the eye corner. Place the second finger of each hand on the inside of the eye corner. Bring the muscle beneath the lower eye lid into your awareness, think strong and up. Pulse 10 times and then squeeze the eyelids tight together thinking up to the count of 10. Slowly release and relax. Do this exercise once. Source: Sarah Holland

Smile: Press the lips together firmly. Bring your mouth corners into your awareness and feel the resistance. Slowly smile out to the ears with the mouth corners. Hold for the count of 10, slowly release and relax. Do this exercise once.

Forehead Smoother: Bring the forehead into your awareness and visualise it as a smooth mirror. Place the pads of the first four fingers of each hand together vertically just above the eyebrow centre in a straight line. Close the eyes and slowly feel an outward movement as you slide the pads of the fingers across the forehead towards the sides of the hair line. Slowly release and relax. Do this exercise twice.

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