Face Yoga for Younger-Looking Skin

Looking for a natural way to keep your face looking firm and vibrant? A new yoga trend is promising a youthful smile, without the potential harm and cost of procedures such as Botox or plastic surgery. Never heard of the “bumblebee” or “fish face” poses? Face yoga is a new technique that is gaining a lot of popularity with yoga studios like Smart Workout in New York, which offers weekly classes just for these precise facial exercises.

The practice, developed by Annelise Hagen of New York Yoga, promotes collagen production by stimulating the 57 muscles that construct your face, neck, and scalp. Hagen asserts “the ultimate facelift” can be achieved through performing these face stretches with proper guidance and technique.

In an interview with Good Morning America, Hagen explained, “If you just made weird squirmy faces randomly you’d get more wrinkles. We’re trying to tone and lift the muscles of the face. It’s been scientifically proven that the muscular activity helps to prolong the production of collagen and elastin, which makes your face firm and springy.”

Celebrity dermatologist Dr. Neil Sadick recommends yoga for the face to his patients, finding the stretches to promote collagen production. “Although there’s not great science around it compared to other technologies like chemical peels or Botox, we know that by stimulating any component of your face like your muscles, you’re going to have a beneficial effect in terms of your overall appearance,” Sadick said.

With poses like “the happy face lifter” and “the joker,” face yoga has a natural sense of humor and is designed to be stimulating and fun while helping your face look and feel younger. Instructors of face yoga boast a healthy and enjoyable way to erase lines, get rid of wrinkles, and reduce sagging skin, leaving you with a radiant, youthful complexion.

So how do these silly-looking stretches rejuvenate your youthful glow? Like a workout routine, various movements have specific benefits for your face. For example, the “fish face” firms the cheeks and lips, while the “bumblebee” affects the cheeks, lips, and jaw. Poses like the “lion face” stretch and release tension in the face muscles.