BLOG 254: HOW YOUR TONGUE POSTURE CAN SCULPT YOUR LOWER FACE INSTANTLY

I talk a lot about how connected everything is in the face and body – your posture affects your neck, which affects your jaw, which affects your lower face, and so on.

One of the things we try to do in Face Yoga is understand those connections and use them to release tension, reduce puffiness, and lift and tone the face. A classic example is your tongue.

You probably don’t focus much on your tongue when you are thinking about skincare or facial exercises. But in fact, working with the tongue is amazing for exercising the lower face. As we strengthen the tongue, it helps with breathing and posture. It also helps the lower face look and feel more toned.

Even just paying attention to your tongue’s position throughout the day can make a surprising difference to your teeth and the structure of your lower face. 

Plus, keeping your tongue lightly pressed against the roof of your mouth makes it easier to remember to breathe through your nose.  

In this blog post, I want to look at how to use your tongue posture to sculpt your lower face in more detail. I’ll take you through some facial exercises that work with the tongue to strengthen your facial muscles. And I’ll also explain a little more about the importance of your tongue’s resting position.

Getting Started

As always before you begin any Face Yoga routine, make sure you have clean hands and a clean face.

Find a comfortable spot to sit or stand. A mirror is handy to make sure you can see what you’re doing, especially while you are still getting used to the techniques.

Apply some serum to your skin. My go-to is the Pro Lift Moisturising Serum from my Fusion by Danielle Collins range.

This serum has been specifically developed to complement face yoga. It gives your skin a lovely glide that is perfect for facial massage and other face yoga techniques, but it also absorbs easily and is non-greasy.

I think it is pretty clear that natural beauty is very important to me, so I want my skincare range to reflect that ethos. This serum is packed full of high-performing botanical seed oils to nourish your skin and support its natural ability to heal and regenerate. It is also certified organic by the Soil Association.

You can find the serum in my online shop, along with facial tools, my books, and other products from the Fusion by Danielle Collins range. 

You are now ready to get started. Remember to always work to your own level with all Face Yoga techniques – I encourage you to really connect intuitively to what your face and skin need on any given day.

1. Tongue Circles

For your first exercise, use the tip of your tongue to slowly draw a circle around the inside of your lips. You can let your lips fall slightly open as you do this to make it easier.

Do three circles in one direction, then switch to do three in the other direction. Make sure to keep the movement slow.

With this exercise, we’re working on toning and strengthening the orbicularis oris, which runs around the mouth. As we strengthen this muscle, the skin attached also becomes smoother and tauter, reducing any little line around your mouth area.

Of course, we are also strengthening the tongue, which in turn helps with facial lifting and breathing.

2. Reach for Your Nose

Next, stick your tongue out as though you are trying to reach the tip of your nose.

Hold your tongue in this position and use your index fingers to gently smooth out any lines that this posture has created by the corners of your lips.

This is where a mirror is very useful – you can check whether any lines are appearing and make sure you are able to smooth them out with your fingers. We never want to create any new lines with face yoga.

Hold this position for a count of five, then relax. Take it again for another count of five, then relax again.

This technique targets many of the muscles in your cheeks and around your mouth, strengthening those muscles and tightening the attached skin to give your lower face a more toned and sculpted look.

3. Side Tilt

Stick your tongue out towards your nose again, but this time turn your head to one side at the same time.

Hold here for a count of ten and then repeat on the other side.

You may be surprised by just how much hard work this is at first! Like any muscles, your facial muscles will get stronger over time if you do these techniques regularly. To see real results, try to do these exercises frequently – ideally daily, if you can.

This full sequence should only take you around five minutes, so hopefully you can slot it into your existing skincare or Face Yoga routine without too much difficulty.

4. Resting Position

I mentioned at the start of this post that your tongue’s position throughout the day can have a noticeable effect on your lower face, so I want to explain that a little more before we close.

Bring your tongue up onto the roof of your mouth, with the tip of your tongue just a few millimetres behind your front teeth.

Then, you want to almost suction the rest of your tongue against the roof of your mouth. You might find it helps to swallow to really get it suctioned there.

Once you have found the correct tongue position, you’ll find you automatically start breathing through your nose. It isn’t possible to breathe through your mouth and keep your tongue in this position, which is one of the advantages.

Nasal breathing helps to get more oxygen to your lungs, calming the central nervous system and helping you feel more grounded. 

This tongue position also helps with jaw posture and structure because your tongue is providing support for the teeth and upper jaw. 

There’s even evidence that keeping your tongue in this position throughout the day can help to naturally straighten your teeth, so there is a growing movement of dentists using this to help their patients with dental health. 

And I find that my tongue position really helps my posture too. Having it against the roof of your mouth means you automatically have your lips closed and your chin is less likely to drop down, helping you avoid issues like neck strain.

Finished

That’s it for this sequence – hopefully you feel like your lower face has had a good workout. If you have some more time, you could follow this up with some facial massage to further smooth and brighten the skin around your mouth, but if this is all you have time for then it is also a great place to stop.

As you go about your day, try to remember to keep your tongue in the resting position at the top of your mouth. You might find you forget at first, but the more you do this the more natural it will feel.

Doing these exercises regularly will help too. As your tongue muscles get stronger, it will be easier to hold your tongue in the correct position.

If you prefer, you can also find a video of me demonstrating these exercises over on my YouTube channel – don’t forget to subscribe while you’re there for more face yoga routines, wellness tips, and natural beauty advice.