Face Yoga: How and Why?
In case you missed the news, we moved to Texas. This was a much needed and long anticipated mve for our family and the process to get here was filled with a lot of stress. In fact, the last 3 years in California were extremely stress filled.
Despite all the tools I have at my disposal and all the tools I actually used from my workouts and walks, to deep breathing and meditation...I found myself holding a lot of the stress in my face, which was unexpected. I didn't realize I was doing it until one morning about 6 months ago, I woke up and couldn't chew. My jaw was in so much pain!
The long story short is I booked myself in with my physical therapist and my holistic dentist and was told I had actually knocked my jaw out of alignment. Since I hadn't had a trauma or accident the only explanation was that I must be gripping and clenching my jaw, not just in my sleep but throughout the day.
I started looking for ways to help relax my jaw and face muscles to reduce the tension and pained support my healing. That's when I discovered face yoga.
Here's what's interesting. At the time, I had also started to notice that my neck was becoming a lot more wrinkled, my jaw looked elongated and the lines around my mouth were much more pronounced. When I smiled, my eye lines were so much deeper than I ever remembered them being and I just seemed to have aged 10 years in 1 year. As someone who has never considered botox or fillers because of my MTHFR and commitment to holistic living, I found myself actually considering it.
But after just a few weeks of facial exercises and massage, I started to notice my skin looking a little smoother and brighter. As the weeks went on, my jaw line started to fill back out and lift, and eventually I noticed the wrinkles on my neck were fading. I was healing my jaw, but my face also seemed to be reverse aging. (There's nothing wrong with aging, we're all doing it every day, but there's also nothing wrong with appreciating improvements in your appearance.)
I started sharing what I was learning in my online wellness groups and the response from my clients matched my own enthusiasm. Everyone was loving how soothing the massage and exercises were. They felt more relaxed. More confident. Cared for. And truly enjoyed the little routines I was teaching them. Many of them started making it part of their morning or evening routine and I was looking for new options to share. That's when I decided to take a deeper dive. To understand exactly why these exercises had such a powerful impact on the face and neck as well as mood and relaxation. I certified in the Danielle Collins Face Yoga Method and completed my testing in March of 2023.
This has become part of my regular daily wellness routine and as always, when I find something that works for me, I want to share it with you. So I've started a YouTube channel and will be releasing a new face yoga video every Friday at 10 a.m. central time.
The first two videos are live now! In addition to sharing simple routines for a variety of aesthetic and wellness goals, I also share more of my story as well as the research behind the practice of facial exercise and massage.
Hear more of my story while I share 12 exercises to build your first face yoga routine.
If you enjoy this routine, please subscribe, like and share so I can see what you're enjoying and what you'd like to see more of.