Are you doing face yoga?
Word on the street is that face yoga is the new Botox. Makes sense: if body yoga improves the strength and tone of your muscles and makes you more flexible, face yoga must be able to plump, tighten and tone skin.
Should you give up your trusted anti-aging lotions and potions and take up face yoga instead?
What Is Face Yoga?
I know what you’re thinking: “how can you do the cobra pose with your skin?”
You don’t. Face yoga is a different type of yoga. You don’t need to twist your skin at weird angles while standing on a yoga mat. All you need is a pair of hands to hold facial expressions in place for a few seconds.
You’ll look funny, but isn’t that a small price to pay if this stuff really works?
How Does Face Yoga Work?
Fans of face yoga claim it has three superpowers that keep your skin young and wrinkle-free:
- It boosts the production of collagen and elastin, the proteins that keep your skin firm and elastic.
- It tones and shortens facial muscles, which in turn makes skin tighter.
- It improves blood flow to better deliver oxygen and nutrients to your skin cells.
These are all major causes of premature wrinkles. But can holding your face in a surprise position for a few seconds really do all this?
Let’s find out…
Can Face Yoga Make You Look Younger?
Let’s take a popular exercise called The Forehead Smoother. Here’s how to do it:
- After making a fist with both hands, place the middle and index finger knuckles in the center of your forehead.
- Apply firm pressure as you slowly slide your fists to each side until you reach your temples.
- Repeat 4 times.
The whole point of this exercise is to relax the forehead muscles so they won’t form wrinkles. Does it work?
Sort of. All that pressure certainly improves your blood flow, so your skin cells get everything they need - nutrients, oxygen, etc - better and faster. That’s a good thing.
But can face yoga also boosts collagen and tighten skin (you know, the other two points in the list above)?
There’s no scientific proof that supports these benefits, but that’s because these studies haven’t been done yet...
Does Face Yoga Have Any Side Effects?
Some dermatologists believe that face yoga doesn’t work. Worse, they say it gives you wrinkles!
Here’s why: wrinkles are more common in those areas of your skin that move around a lot. Frown lines happen when you frown too much. Lip lines happen when you pucker too often. Crow’s feet happen faster when you squint a lot. You get the drill.
Face yoga is all about moving your skin around a lot. You have to hold certain expressions several times in a row. Overtime, doesn’t that lead to wrinkles?
If you don’t know what you’re doing and are just moving your skin at random, yes, you’ll cause wrinkles.
But when done right? Some teachers have spent years studying human anatomy and understand how muscles interact, what makes them tone up and what causes dynamic wrinkles.
A properly qualified teacher can put together a face yoga program that tones your face without side effects.
Just don’t ditch your retinol yet. Just like you wouldn’t work out at the gym and eat a Big Mac straight after, you can’t rely on face yoga only and skip your skincare. Your skin needs both to stay young.
The Bottom Line
Face yoga can be a powerful ally in the pursuit of wrinkle-free, younger-looking skin. I have seen the results in person, and I am a believer! But be sure to do your research and find a reputable resource. And don’t ditch your retinol!