In the quest for eternal youth, people have been known to resort to various methods to set back the clock and ‘reverse’ wrinkling. From botox to dermal fillers, cosmetic surgeries, and the more recently controversial trigenerational blood exchange method, the number of cosmetic procedures available keeps growing – as does society’s obsession with defying age. The latest beauty trend to join the lot? Face yoga.

According to a study by the Journal of the American Medical Association, “A 30-minute daily or alternate-day facial exercise program sustained over 20 weeks may modestly improve the facial appearance of selected middle-aged women.”

What is Face Yoga?

While Western yoga adaptations have become increasingly outlandish – think goat yoga, hot yoga and beer yoga – face yoga might be a more holistic and frugal approach to getting rid of ‘unwanted’ facial features like crow’s feet, droopy eye bags, turkey neck and the dreaded double chin. But does face yoga live up to the hype?

Face yoga, also known as ‘facial yoga’ or ‘facial exercise’, involves performing specific poses with your facial muscles to target areas prone to sagging and wrinkles. That’s right, just like your glutes and quads need to be exercised, so do the muscles in your face – all 57 of them. If you’ve never experienced or heard of face yoga, and you’re picturing a bunch of people contorting their faces and making weird facial expressions, that’s pretty accurate. But there’s more to the practice than imitating zany emojis.

Similar to traditional yoga, face yoga focuses on breathing techniques and muscle engagement. The exercises typically target areas such as the forehead, cheeks, jawline and neck. Ultimately, it aims to enhance skin rejuvenation, reduce wrinkles and relax facial muscles – all in the name of gaining a more youthful appearance and chasing the desirable ‘glow’. Think of it as a natural facelift or a non-invasive alternative to buccal fat removal – that’s if you don’t consider placing your fingers in your mouth and massaging the insides of your cheeks invasive.

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Ironing Out the Kinks

While the practice has garnered attention in recent years, some believe that it has existed for years as part of ancient yoga techniques. The queen of beauty, Cleopatra, even gave face yoga a crack. Besides donkey milk baths and her many unique beauty regimes, the Egyptian goddess is believed to have exercised her jowl while applying face masks.

Wellness brand entrepreneur, Gwyneth Paltrow, and the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, amongst other celebrities, have also endorsed the inside-out beauty treatment. But with dubious beauty apps like Luvly claiming you can achieve ‘wrinkle-free skin’ in approximately three weeks, even those desperate for results might raise eyebrows…

Before purchasing their face yoga plan, users are encouraged to fill out a quiz. Questions about age and exercise goals are asked: do you want to tighten skin, lose face fat or get rid of wrinkles? Another asks what might motivate you to stick to your skin-care routine: do you want to… look younger and feel confident, prevent ageing – and my favourite, ”I’m afraid my partner will break up with me.” However, face yoga may offer benefits.

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What Are the Benefits Of Face Yoga?

Though insufficient scientific research has been done to formulate a conclusion, some studies have shown evidence to support a few of the claims. According to a study by the Journal of the American Medical Association, “A 30-minute daily or alternate-day facial exercise program sustained over 20 weeks may modestly improve the facial appearance of selected middle-aged women.” The operative word being “modestly” – a far cry from what AI-resembling images and bot-generated testimonials suggest.

Increased collagen and elastin production is also believed to be one of the benefits of face yoga.

Another study examining the effects of dry needling and face yoga on pain, depression, function and sleep quality in patients with temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD), mentioned that “dry needling and face yoga interventions will reduce pain intensity, alleviate symptoms of depression, and enhance sleep quality in patients with TMD.” However, the outcomes also suggest that further research is needed to determine the long-term effects.

Regular workouts are also said to improve facial symmetry (we need answers), muscle tissue, circulation; smooth wrinkles and make your skin glow. As with most wellness trends, how effective the skin rejuvenation results are often depends on whether face yoga is coupled with a balanced diet and exercise – not strictly the face, but from the neck down.

Increased collagen and elastin production is also believed to be one of the benefits of face yoga. Massaging the skin regularly increases the blood flow to the skin, and with it, the supply of oxygen and nutrients needed for collagen production. Face yoga might help stimulate faster cellular turnover – a process during which dead skin is removed to generate new cells, giving the skin a ‘glowing’ and rejuvenated appearance. This supposedly happens every 28 days, but this also depends on one’s metabolic rate.

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Face Yoga Exercises

While some of the most popular face yoga exercises are plastered all over the internet and can easily be followed at home, some experts do warn against self-inflicted injuries. Because face yoga is considered a form of exercise, there are proper techniques that should be followed to prevent damaging certain areas and muscles. Best practices include using a sort of serum or oil to help glide the fingers over the face, while avoiding damage to sensitive areas like the eye sockets. Furthermore, some of the exercises aren’t limited to the face, but also extend to the neck and shoulders, which can be prone to muscular injury.

For those with acne-prone and sensitive skin, there’s also the risk of inflammation since the hands are used to massage the face. Ensuring that hands are washed and remain clean during sessions is thus important. For optimal results, regular or daily exercises should be done, which can typically last between fifteen and thirty minutes. Various face yoga exercises target different areas; some of the most popular poses include:

Flirtatious Eyes: This pose gives more of a ‘crazy eyes’ or ‘demented face’ effect, as for the benefits, it targets the brows and eye area, minimising the sagging sockets and dropped brows. Gently place each index finger (pointing toward the nose) in the bottom centre of each eye socket. Next, smile broadly without showing your teeth and look up to the ceiling while blinking.

Lion Face: If you’re hoping to get that double chin down to a single, try the Lion Face. It also has the benefit of strengthening the jaw and tongue muscles, apparently. This one is pretty tricky; you have to tighten all the muscles in your body, all while inhaling, sticking your tongue out, and keeping your eyes wide open. Simple!

Fish Pout might help tone the muscles in the upper face – all those cringeworthy selfies you took in the early 2000s might finally pay off. This move is pretty similar to the Derek Zoolander pose. Suck your cheeks in and make a pouty face for 10 seconds – and release!

All in all, face yoga is a great way to destress and massage your face muscles. We love a good bit of self-care. While you probably won’t ever be able to ‘reverse’ wrinkles, you could reduce them with good skincare, sufficient sleep, hydration, SPF protection and a relatively healthy diet. What we can’t control is the fact that people age and faces change. Any app that tries to tell you that you can look 30 years younger in 20 weeks is delusional.

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