BLOG 170: HERE’S 5 FACIAL LIFTING MOVES USING YOUR KNUCKLES

This short Face Yoga sequence is all about lifting and brightening the face with five moves that use your knuckles. 

The whole sequence should take around five minutes, so it is hopefully easy to fit into your day. You could do it as part of your morning or evening skincare routine, or just whenever you have a few minutes free during the day.

I recommend spending around a minute on each technique.

Before you start, make sure you have clean hands and, ideally, a clean face. Occasionally doing Face Yoga with makeup on is OK, but most of the time we want to do it with a clean face.

Apply a few drops of serum to your skin. This helps your knuckles glide easily over your skin without dragging it. I like to use the Pro Lift Moisturising Serum from my Fusion by Danielle Collins skincare range.

This serum has been specially designed to work with Face Yoga. Packed with high-performing botanical seed oils, it is light and non-greasy, but absorbs slightly slower than many serums, meaning it will give you the glide you need.

Plus, it uses vegan and organic ingredients with molecules that are small enough to penetrate into the middle layer of the skin, the dermis, where collagen and elastin production take place. So, it really does nourish your skin from the inside.

Find a comfortable place to sit or stand. You might want a mirror to hand so that you can see what you’re doing. 

Take a few deep, calming breaths, inhaling and exhaling through your nose.

And we’re ready to begin.

1. JAW

Create a hook shape with the index and middle fingers on both hands, leaving a small gap between the fingers. Using your middle knuckles, smooth out along your jawline, starting at the chin.

When you reach the outer edge of your jaw, lift your hands off and replace them at your chin to repeat the move.

Continue for around a minute.

2. CHEEKS

Using just your index fingers, form a hook shape and then glide your knuckles along under your cheekbones, following the curve of your bones out from your nose.

Lift off, return your fingers to the sides of your nose, and repeat.

This is great for brightening the skin of the cheeks. It helps to lift and firm the cheekbones too. 

Remember to keep that deep, long inhale and exhale through your nose as you work through this sequence.

Give your arms a little shake-out before moving on to the next technique.

3. EYEBROWS

Make the same hook with your index and middle fingers as we used for the first technique. Bring your knuckles to your eyebrows and smooth over them, starting at the inner edge and working outwards.

This is quite a delicate area with several small muscles, so if you want to spend a little less time here, that’s fine. You don’t necessarily need the whole minute for this technique. However, you can do longer if you prefer – I always encourage you to be very intuitive with Face Yoga and adapt the practice so that it works for you.

4. BETWEEN EYEBROWS

Using just one index finger, glide your middle knuckle up between your eyebrows. We’re still using that hook shape here, with the knuckle facing down towards your chin.

Vary the direction of your strokes from time to time, coming out on a diagonal to cover more of the area.

You can switch hands if you find that your arm is getting tired.

This technique helps to relax the procerus muscle, which runs up between the eyebrows, helping to reduce and prevent number 11 lines. 

The massage also stimulates the Third Eye point, helping to reduce stress and calm the mind.

Again, remember to breathe. Sometimes when we’re concentrating on a new technique, we can end up holding our breaths or forgetting that long, calming inhale and exhale.

Ultimately, the breath is one of the most important tools we have in Face Yoga. Yes, we want to look good. But looking good on the outside starts with feeling happy and well on the inside. That’s why the core of the Danielle Collins Face Yoga Method is all about being present, taking care of ourselves, and making wellness a daily priority.

5. FOREHEAD

We’ll finish this sequence with a relaxing forehead massage.

Make your hands into fists and bring your middle knuckles up to the centre of your forehead. Smooth out across your forehead.

When you get to the outside of your forehead, lift your hands off and return to centre to repeat the action.

Start with a gentle pressure here. There’s no need to press hard with most Face Yoga techniques. As you continue with the massage, you can gradually up the pressure if that feels good or stay light if you prefer.

This massage helps to relax the frontalis muscle, reducing lines and wrinkles in the forehead area. It also helps to brighten the skin.

Concentrate on relaxing the rest of your face as you do this massage.

FINISHED

We’re all done! Take a few last deep breaths to finish, closing your eyes if that feels right for you.

Hopefully, your face now feels both relaxed and rejuvenated. 

Used consistently, these techniques can help to lift your face and keep your skin looking bright. But, like any other form of exercise, Face Yoga works best when you make it a regular habit.

To help you learn the basics of face yoga and make this a daily part of your routine, I offer a ten-day course for personal use. 

All the videos are pre-recorded, so you can follow them whenever suits you. Each class takes just ten minutes a day. And you also get a PDF copy of my first book, Danielle Collins’ Face Yoga, which is packed with face yoga techniques and wellness tips. 

Find the course here.