Jayanti Krishnan

As they say, first impressions are the most lasting ones and you only get one chance to make that impression. A well toned smiling face lightens the mood, attracts people, and puts them at ease.

So why not give it the attention it deserves.

What gym does to our body by keeping it firm and strong, face yoga – the latest trend in fitness – does to our face, keeping our face sculpted and radiant. If you are looking to fine-tune your features and make it youthful-looking, then face yoga it is!

Lack of any kind of facial exercise and accumulation of stress can cause a build-up of tension in your facial muscles. Facial yoga can rejuvenate your face and freshen it within minutes and brighten it up. Your facial muscles and nerve connections will relax, thereby delaying the onset of wrinkles.

I happened to attend this yoga workshop conducted online by Mansi Gulati, Mrs India Asia International 2015 and an international Yoga expert who has been working in the field for over 15 years and has developed the concept of ‘Face Yoga‘. The whole experience was awesome and now I plan to attend the 15-day workshop as well in December. In the initial 5-day workshop, I saw the following benefits:

1. It is definitely a stress releaser. We all have tension we hold in our forehead, eyes, face and neck at some point. Facial yoga teaches you to become more aware of those muscles and relax them by relieving headaches, stiff necks and general discomforts. More importantly, you can sleep within five minutes of hitting the bed with some facial and forehead exercises.
2. I do not spend time anymore dressing up for video calls! I can see the natural glow face yoga brings to my face. Of course sleeping well is another critical factor, but face yoga adds to the glow. It improves complexion both in texture and colour. Also, the face looks more relaxed but with firmer contours.
3. Some wrinkles and fine lines are bound to come with age. However, with facial yoga, the ageing process can be slowed down. It works to prevent wrinkles and fine lines in the younger age group, and it gradually reduces the problem in the older age groups with simple poses.
4. Similar to our body exercises, facial yoga exercises burn out the extra fat on your face and double chin resulting in a more toned face.
5. Mild dark circles are something I have experienced for a long time. Facial yoga helped me in the reduction of dark circles and I am hoping with regular practice, I can completely do away with dark circles and puffiness around the eyes.
6. More than anything, it promotes self-confidence, self-esteem and a sense of inner wellbeing.

The best part of this yoga is that there are zero rules. You can do it anytime of the day – when you wake up, just before sleeping, before/ after food or after your workout – whenever you are comfortable. You can split the exercises and do them during the day. No specific posture is required. I sometimes do some of the postures during cooking or while taking calls!

Though there are 80+ Face Yoga poses and these can also been seen on Youtube channels, but here are my top five favourites:

After finishing, massage the entire face lightly using your first two fingers in tapping motion.

Facial yoga is only beneficial as a means of looking youthful but also positively helps in the overall rejuvenation of the face. These exercises help face muscles in pumping blood to the cells, releasing stress and tackling problems like dark circles, wrinkles, fine lines and double chin.

You must give it a try!

*All images used in this article are either Eyra’s own design or widely and freely available on the internet.*