Fashion and Beauty 17th February 2021 by Adele Miner

Lets Talk About Face Yoga

What is it? And more importantly, does it work?

 

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A post shared by Vic Styles (@thevicstyles)

Scrolling through my social media feed, I’m regularly accosted with beauty fads and products promising me beauty in return for my precious time and or money. Usually, it’s easy to block out empty promises, but one evening scroll I came across a beauty ritual that was difficult for me to ignore. “ Face Yoga: It’s like squats, but for your cheekbones”, I read.

Now, I do try to live my life reeling off body-positive mantras, you know, ‘beauty is only skin deep’, ‘I am enough’ etc etc, but coming across a beauty regime that claims to give me cheekbones that would rival Jedward, without injecting myself or parting with hundreds of euro, my mantras went out the window and quickly, I was all ears. Daily face yoga claims to carve out the features you want to accentuate on your face, along with making your complexion both plump and radiant. 

Sounding a little too good to be true, I skipped over to Victoria Kistej, face yoga instructor and founder of ‘Radiant Face Yoga’ to get the low-down. “Facial Yoga is an ancient technique composed of facial massage, acupressure, facial exercises,  breathing techniques and mindset work” she tells me. Victoria explains that face yoga is a practise that aims to relax and tone the face muscles in the face, much like a regular yoga session, “Facial massage and acupressure help us to release pressure in our muscles. This release then ultimately helps to strengthen our facial muscles.” 

Already feeling ‘namaste’ just hearing the above, I was very keen to find out exactly what benefits practising face yoga can have on both my mind and body before diving into it. “Firstly, releasing tension from our faces can be great for people who suffer from anxiety, it alleviates things like teeth grinding and tiredness,” Victoria begins. “More than that, It boosts collagen and elastin production to increase radiance of the skin and slow down the creation of fine lines and wrinkles, it strengthens facial muscles to have a natural uplift of the face, preventing/reducing sagging skin. Importantly it also helps us to work towards a positive self-image, granting us with acceptance of our own mirror reflections.”

Being aware of all the benefits incorporating it into my beauty routine can bring, now it’s about time I got tacking those moves. Usually a little tricky to get the hang of, Victoria recommends booking in to a workshop, where a one on one trainer can address your areas of concern and help you to perfect a routine specifically for you. In the meantime, if you do fancy giving some face yoga a go for yourself, you can work your way through 5 beginner moves outlined below. 

The Warm-Up 

To warm up your face muscles and get blood flowing, Drop your jaw, as if yawning and slowly roll your eyes up towards the ceiling, without moving your forehead. Hold this pose for 10 seconds and repeat three times. 

Flirty Eyes 

To lift and tone the upper eyelids and reduce and prevent under eye lines. Place index fingers flat under your eyes, and make an ‘O’ shape with your mouth. Look up towards the ceiling and flutter the eyelids, for 30 seconds. 

The Smile Smoother

To prevent lines between the nose and the lips, and to lift the cheekbones. Make an ‘O’ shape with your mouth, covering your teeth with your lips at all times. Change the ‘O’ shape to a smile shape quickly, and continue for 30 seconds. 

The Giraffe 

To lift and tone the neck and jaw area. Tilt your head back, stretching out the neck. Hold for ten seconds, and bring your head slowly back to centre, Repeat this three times. 

Smooth The Brow 

To increase skin collagen and release tension that may be held in the forehead area. Place the index fingers on both hands on the forehead, touching them in the middle. Gently sweep out and lift off once you reach your temples. Repeat this a minimum of four times. 

 

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