BLOG 135: HOW TO EXERCISE YOUR FACE WITH A TEASPOON AND A PENCIL

Most of my Face Yoga routines can be done with just your hands, but sometimes using a few simple props can open up new options for working the muscles of the face and firming the attached skin. So, in this post, I’m going to run through some facial exercises that use two props that you hopefully have already in your home – a teaspoon and a pencil.

This sequence is inspired by my latest book, The Face Yoga Journal, which is now available from Amazon. You’ll find all these moves in its pages, along with many more face yoga techniques to tone your facial muscles, smooth your skin, and boost your mood using your hands.

The book is split into four sections. The techniques I’m going to take you through today all come from the Lifting section. They focus on toning and strengthening the facial muscles and tightening, tautening, smoothing, and brightening the attached skin.

I also demonstrated these moves recently over on Instagram. If you missed the live, you can watch the recording on YouTube. As well as showing you some of the facial exercises from my book, I answered questions on many common concerns, including what facial tools to use, how to reduce forehead lines, what we can do about dark circles under the eyes, and much more.

You can catch up with the full video here.

BEFORE YOU START

Make sure you have clean hands and a clean face. Make yourself comfortable – ideally in front of a mirror so that you can see what you are doing. Have your teaspoon and pencil close by.

Take a moment to focus on your posture. Lengthen out through your entire spine, imagining that you have a cord running through your centre and out of your head, pulling you up towards the ceiling. At the same time, ground down through your feet.

Relax your shoulders down and back. Take some deep, calming breaths, in and out through your nose. Try to keep this going throughout the whole routine.

1. WEEK 32: ENHANCEMENT

This first technique comes from chapter 32 of the Face Yoga Journal and uses the pencil.

Don’t worry if you feel a bit silly doing some of these moves. They do look a bit funny! As always with face yoga, I encourage you to work to your own level with each technique.

Put the pencil in your mouth, as far back as is comfortable. Behind your canine teeth is ideal. Leave a bit of space, however, because you also want to place your index fingers on your cheeks behind the pencil. Use your fingers to smooth out the skin and prevent any lines from appearing as you do this exercise.

Slowly tilt your head back. Hold it there for a count of ten, then slowly release back down. Repeat this twice more to work the cheek muscles.

Give a quick tap over the cheek area with your fingertips to release any tension before moving on to the next technique.

2. WEEK 33: EMPOWERMENT

You’ll need your teaspoon for this next exercise, which comes from chapter 33 of the Face Yoga Journal. It focuses on toning the area just underneath the chin.

Place the back of the bowl of the spoon under your chin. You want to find a balance here between pushing your chin down towards your chest and creating enough resistance with the spoon so that your head doesn’t actually move at all.

This resistance tones the muscle beneath the chin and is also great for helping to improve our posture.

Keep the rest of your face relaxed and your shoulders down and back. Remember to lengthen out through your whole spine too.

Focus on your breathing as you hold the pose for around a minute.

3. WEEK 35: RADIATING

This technique from chapter 35 of the Face Yoga Journal will be a familiar one if you’ve followed me for a while or have done my teacher training course. I call it ‘flirty eyes’ and it helps to lift and tone the eye area, as well as reduce bags and dark circles under the eyes.

Place your index fingers horizontally beneath your eyes with your fingertips beside your nose. Your fingers are mainly there to provide some resistance and engage the muscles.

Make an ‘O’ shape with your mouth, tucking your lips around your teeth. Moving just your eyes and keeping your forehead as still as you can, look up towards the ceiling. Flutter your upper eyelids rapidly for around 45 seconds to a minute.

4. WEEK 36: STRENGTH

This is another exercise that uses the teaspoon. Place the handle in your mouth and use your index fingers to smooth out any lines. We never want to create new lines when doing face yoga.

Using just your mouth, move the teaspoon up and down ten times. Rest and then repeat this twice more. 

This technique from chapter 36 of the Face Yoga Journal targets the muscle that runs around your mouth. It lifts and tones the cheek area too. You’ll immediately feel that your lower face has had a workout.

5. WEEK 38: ILLUMINATION

We finish this face yoga routine with a soothing massage, using the teaspoon. This feels especially lovely if you keep the spoon in the fridge.

You might want to apply some serum before you start this massage to stop the spoon from dragging at your skin.

Use the back of the bowl of the spoon to smooth over your jawline, starting at your chin. Aim for about 30 strokes on each side.

This helps to brighten the skin and release jaw tension. You can do this quite gently or work deeper on any areas that feel especially crunchy or tense.

Facial massage techniques like this also help to release stagnant or blocked energy, also known as prana or qi. When this life energy is flowing freely, it makes your skin look bright and glowing.

WANT MORE FACE YOGA TECHNIQUES?

I hope you’ve enjoyed this short face yoga routine. These are just a few of the 52 face yoga techniques that you’ll learn from the Face Yoga Journal. The journal is designed to take you through an entire year, with one new face yoga exercise each week.

As well as face yoga, each week has an affirmation and a wellness hack to inspire you on your journey. There’s plenty of space to record your progress, set intentions, and encourage gratitude. It is a great tool to both motivate you and hold you accountable, giving you everything you need to make face yoga a daily habit.

You’ll also learn about colour theory, the chakras, and the happiness chemicals. Combining this new knowledge with a daily focus on self-care and wellness helps you to feel happy, healthy, and loved.

Buy the Face Yoga Journal via Amazon.