BLOG 40: 10 FACE YOGA MOVES TO DO EACH MORNING

Face Yoga exercises and massages are the perfect way to begin each new day. These moves help to awaken your skin, relax and tone your muscles, and promote lymphatic drainage – which is incredibly important!

Moreover, these moves are very easy to do, they’re suitable for everyone, and they take no time at all. Plus, you can do them morning and night, or both.

Of course, it’s best to get an early start, as soon as you wake up and get out of bed, as your body is still in its “rest and digest” phase during this time. This makes it the best time to promote lymphatic drainage and encourage blood flow and circulation, which will last throughout the day.

Including the warm up, there will be 10 simple Face Yoga exercises to complete which are summarised in facial areas below. You can follow along on this YouTube video 

FIRST, WE’RE GOING TO WARM UP

First, cleanse your face and apply your Fusion Serum by Danielle Collins. This serum will help your skin look and feel amazing for the rest of the day, however, if you don’t have it yet, your regular everyday serums and moisturisers will do. (And don’t forget to wear an SPF daily which you need to apply after Face Yoga and before you head out the door)

To warm up, find a nice quiet space, and begin with a calming morning breath. Inhale through your nose, letting your abdomen rise, and then slowly exhale from your mouth, allowing your abdomen to lower. Practice this breath several times, as you will be utilizing this breath throughout each move.

Now, with your clean hands, you’re going to gently wake up your face. Start by bringing your hands to your forehead, and very gently begin tapping with your fingertips to bring energy and warmth to the skin. 

Slowly begin to transition from the forehead to underneath the eyes, making your way over the cheeks and coming up above and then below the lips, all the way over to the neck area. Don’t forget to maintain the same controlled breathing throughout your tapping.

Now bring your hands together and rub them vigorously to warm and energize them. This is an important step since you’ll be using them for all of the upcoming massages and exercises. 

Now take your warmed hands and cup them over your face. Taking a deep breath and then exhaling, feel the tension you have in your facial muscles. Slowly bring your hands down—it’s time to begin.  

THE FOREHEAD AREA

Start by making little fists. Bring them to the centre of your forehead and then move them horizontally outwards towards your hairlines. Thanks to the serum, you should feel a nice glide here. 

The purpose of this exercise is to massage and release the tension in the frontalis muscle, which is the big muscle at the front of your forehead. It’s also to boost circulation, which will bring a glow to the skin in the area as well.

You can keep this massage up for as little as 5 seconds or as much as 1 minute. Keep in mind, the longer you perform this massage, relaxing the frontalis muscle, the longer it’ll stay relaxed for the day, and the less likely you’ll be to over-raise your eyebrows or furrow them—which is what caused the lines that you’re trying to get rid of in the first place.    

THE EYEBROW AREA

For this next exercise, you’re going to take your index finger from your dominant hand and position it into a little hook. Take that hook and work it up from between your eyebrows to the top of your forehead.

As you do this, you’ll be boosting circulation while continuing to ease the tension in your procerus muscle, which will keep you from making unnecessary stress-related expressions throughout the day.

If you begin to see a bit of pinkness come to the skin, this is good – it’s an indication that you’re bringing fresh blood, oxygen, and nutrients to the skin’s surface and counteracting those 11 lines.

THE EYE AREA

For the eyes you can use your ring finger or index finger, just remember to be gentle as this a very delicate area. 

All you need to do is tap lightly around your eye area, making complete circles. This exercise is perfect if you wake up with puffiness in that area or dark circles, as it wakes up the skin and supports lymphatic drainage and circulation. 

THE UNDER-EYE AREA

You can move your tapping to the acupressure point located on either side of the bridge of your nose, just below the eyes. Place your fingers here, applying gentle pressure, and inhale.

As you exhale, lightly smooth your fingers across your under-eye area and out to your temples. Remember to be gentle here as not to drag the skin. Repeat for several breaths. 

THE CHEEK AREA

For the cheek area, you’re simply going to puff up your cheeks full of air. When you do this, you’ll notice that little lines are created around your lips. This exercise is perfect for jaw tension, firming, and muscle lifting, as well as circulation.

You’re going to use your fingers to smooth these lines while using your other hand to tap, exercising the muscles here. So, puff up your cheeks as you inhale and exhale through your nose, covering your lips firmly with three fingers. 

Now begin tapping your puffed-up cheek with the underside of your other three fingers together. After a few minutes, switch sides.

THE JAW AREA

For the jaw area, take your two fingers and thumb from both hands and gently, but firmly, pinch from your chin and all the way up your jawline. Once you get to that little area just underneath your ears, you’re going to press and hold for a moment before releasing. 

This exercise is excellent for the jaw tension that builds up as you sleep, and the more you do it, the more it stops jaw tension from forming throughout the day. 

THE CHIN AND NECK AREA

Now bring your hands down and turn your head to one side. Tilt your head back slightly, pointing your chin upwards a bit, bringing your lips together. Maintaining this position (and your breathing), bring the tip of your tongue up towards the roof of your mouth and then down, repeating this motion at about a rate of one tongue-tip per second.

Repeat this 20 times before switching to the other side, and if you have any neck issues, please be careful!

THE NECK AREA 

Come back to the centre, facing forward. Using all of your fingers, very gently move them from the top of your neck (just below the ears and jawline) and move them down towards your collar bone.

The purpose of this exercise is to promote lymphatic drainage, just be sure not to drag the skin as you move your fingers downward.   

After completing these exercises, take note of how your skin and muscles feel. your skin should feel warm and energized, and your muscles relaxed. Now you’re ready to continue on with the rest of your day!

For more information about Face Yoga exercises and massage, and how you can become a certified Facial Yoga teacher, head on over to faceyogaexpert.com.