5 Face Yoga Exercises to Try at Home
Want to give it a try? Here are five exercises used in the JAMA Dermatology study. Jungman recommends practicing for five to 10 minutes each day to start, eventually working your way up to 15 to 20 minutes per day as part of your skin-care routine and self-care practice.
1. The Cheek Lifter
Open your mouth and form an O. Position your upper lip over your teeth and smile to lift cheek muscles up. Place your index fingers lightly on top of your cheek muscles, directly under your eyes. Release cheek muscles to lower them. Then smile again, thinking about pushing the muscles up toward your eyes. Repeat by lowering and lifting the cheeks 10 times. On the 10th time, hold your muscles up as high as you can and hold for 20 seconds. Repeat three times.
2. Happy Cheeks Sculpting
Smile without showing your teeth and roll your lips out as if trying to show as much lip as possible. Try to smile with the corners of your mouth so you feel a slight burn in the corners of your mouth. Press your index fingers into the corners of your mouth and slide the fingers up to your cheekbones as you press into the muscle. Lift the muscle up to the cheekbones, toward the corners of your eyes. When you get to the top of your cheekbones, hold for 20 seconds and feel the muscles tightening in your cheeks. Keep smiling with the corners of your mouth as you do this. Repeat three times.
3. The Eyebrow Lifter
Press three fingertips under each of your eyebrows to force your eyes open. Smile as you try to lower your eyebrows against your fingers. Hold. Then close your eyes and roll your eyeballs toward the top of your head. Hold for 20 seconds and keep smiling. Release and repeat three times.
4. Jaw and Neck Firmer
Open your mouth and make an “aah” sound. Fold your lower lip and the corners of your lips into your mouth and hold tightly as you extend your lower jaw forward. Using your lower jaw, scoop up slowly as you close your mouth, pulling your chin up about 1 inch each time you scoop and tilting your head backward. Open and close your lower jaw 10 times. On the 10th scoop, your chin should be pointing to the ceiling. Hold this position for 20 seconds and think about the sides of your face lifting. Repeat three times.
5. Temple Developer
Press your fingertips into your temples as you close your jaw, clenching your teeth together and tilting your chin up. Clench your teeth and concentrate on the temple region, thinking about trying to move your ears backward. Hold for 10 seconds, then clench your back teeth down and hold for 10 seconds. Your temple muscles should flex with each clench. Relax and then repeat three times.