Yoga for Your Face: Prevent Wrinkles and Sagging the Natural Way

Yoga is well-known for its health benefits which include stress reduction, relaxation, increased flexibility, and relief of sore joints. The new trend in yoga today is yoga exercises designed for the face and neck.

Written by Elizabeth Jacobs, Green Health Research Contributor

What Is Yoga for Your Face?

Yoga for your face is exactly what it sounds like-yoga exercises that use the muscles in your face and neck. These muscles are manipulated either through direct muscle contraction and relaxation or by using the hands to physically massage and manipulate the facial muscles.

Proponents of yoga for the face claim that the wrinkles and sagging which are the two biggest visible indicators of aging occur because we stop using many of our facial muscles as we age, and the ones we do use we overuse, and so wrinkles develop in the areas where muscles are constantly being tightened and relaxed.

Facial yoga helps to prevent wrinkles and sagging through targeted, routine use of muscles to keep them taut and prevent one muscle group from becoming stronger than others.

Does It Really Work?

Doctors are generally supportive of the benefits of yoga for the face. Yoga exercises can strengthen and tone facial muscles, thereby preventing sagging and the development of wrinkles. However, doctors do advise that facial yoga cannot counteract any wrinkles which have already formed, although sagging can be counteracted with facial yoga.

Facial yoga needs to be practiced three to five times a week in order to see results.

The Exercises, Part One

1.) Palming. Find a comfortable seated position, either on floor on a cushion or in a chair. Sit with your back straight. Begin with your eyes closed. Focus on your breath as it moves in and out of your nostrils. Cool air in, warm air out. - Rub your palms together very fast until they feel warm. Then cup them over your closed eyes. - Repeat. Benefits: Soothes the optic nerve, eyes and area around the eyes.

2.) The Great Rub. Place the index and middle fingers of both hands in the middle of your forehead. Rub your forehead by making small circles with your fingers. - Move your fingers across your brow and to your temples, pausing there to give them a gentle massage. This is an area where we hold stress and tension that can often lead to headaches. - Then move down from your temples to the hinge of your jaw, pausing to massage your jaw muscles. - From there, move across your cheeks and up along the side of your nose to your forehead. - Repeat. Benefits: Releases stress and tension, particularly in the temples and jaw.