BLOG 206: 3 FACIAL EXERCISES TO REDUCE YOUR EYE WRINKLES NATURALLY

Over on my YouTube channel, I’ve been sharing some of my favourite facial exercises that target the eye area.

These exercises are wonderful for reducing wrinkles, strengthening the muscles around your eyes, and addressing issues like dark circles and puffiness.

Working with the muscles in this area also helps to encourage a good flow of Prana. Also known as Qi in Traditional Chinese Medicine, this is your life-force energy and we work with it a lot in Face Yoga. When the flow of energy through your face becomes slow or stagnant, it can lead to outward signs like dull skin, dark circles, and even breakouts.

So, we want to do Face Yoga daily to unblock any stagnant areas and keep the energy flowing freely through our faces.

If you prefer to watch a video guide, you can watch me demonstrate all these exercises in this YouTube video. Don’t forget to hit the subscribe button while you’re there – I share regular Face Yoga techniques, facial massage routines, and wellness hacks via my channel.

In the meantime, let’s look at three exercises that help to lift and tone the eye area, reducing wrinkles naturally.

BEFORE YOU START

Make sure you have clean hands and a clean face before you start this eye exercise routine, as we will be touching our faces during these moves.

I also recommend applying a few drops of my Danielle Collins ProLift Moisturising Serum to your skin. This serum can be layered under your usual moisturiser or even be used instead of it. Packed full of high-performing botanical seed oils, it deeply nourishes your skin and gives it a lovely glide to help with face yoga.

You may also want to apply some eye cream around your eyes.

I also want to take a moment here to get you to focus on your breathing. Obviously, we breathe all day, but taking deep, intentional breaths is one of the best things you can do for your wellness. It helps to engage the parasympathetic nervous system and move our bodies into that rest and digest state.

So, as you move through this short eye exercise routine, remember to take deep, slow breaths through your nose. Really concentrate on lengthening your inhale and exhale, allowing your abdomen to rise and fall with your breath.

And we’re ready to begin.

1. FLIRTY EYES

Place your index fingers horizontally underneath your eyes so that your finger tips rest to either side of your nose. 

Keeping your fingers in place, make an ‘O’ shape with your mouth.

Moving just your eyes, look up towards the ceiling. Then, rapidly flutter your upper eyelids, continuing for around 30 seconds to a minute.

Try to keep your forehead still as you perform this move.

This exercise helps to tone the muscles underneath your eyes. It’s a great one if you get hollows under the eyes. It also naturally lifts the eyebrows and strengthens the muscles around your mouth too.

2. THE V

For our next move, place your middle fingers between your eyebrows and your index fingers at the outer edges of your eyes, forming two ‘V’s around your eyes.

Half close your eyes. As you do, feel for a little shake in the muscles underneath your index fingers. You might need to play around a bit with the position until you feel it.

Once you feel that little tremor, hold for around 3 seconds and then release the pose. Then, repeat it two more times.

With this technique, we’re strengthening the orbicularis oris muscles, which is the ring muscle that runs around our eyes. 

As we strengthen these muscles through daily exercise, the skin attached is also tightened, tautened, and firmed, reducing wrinkles and sagging in this area.

3. EYE MOVEMENTS

Many of us are prone to overusing our eyebrows and forehead when we express. Over time, this causes wrinkles and lines to etch into our skin.

However, one of the ways we can combat this is by training ourselves to express more with our eyes, while we keep the eyebrows and forehead still. Our final exercise helps to strengthen our eye muscles and encourages us to rely more on our eyes when we express.

Start by placing both hands on your forehead to keep it still. I also recommend doing this technique in front of a mirror, so you can check that you aren’t moving or wrinkling your forehead as you perform the moves.

Moving just your eyes, look up to one corner and then down to the diagonally opposite corner. Continue for around 30 seconds, then switch and do the same thing in the opposite direction.

Again, this technique helps to strengthen the orbicularis oris muscle around the eye. It also encourages good blood circulation to the eye area, bringing all that fresh oxygen and nutrients your skin needs to be healthy. As a result, this is a good move to do if you want to reduce dark circles.

Finally, all these techniques help to boost the flow of energy, or prana, to your eye area, leaving your skin looking bright and refreshed.

FINISH

Before you finish, bring your hands down and just close your eyes for a moment. Allow your whole face to relax and soften, releasing any tension. Take a few deep inhales and exhales through your nose.

And we’re done! This short routine should only take around three minutes of your day and you can do it at any time. Many people like to do Face Yoga as part of their daily skincare routine, but you can also do it in front of the TV, in the shower, as a quick break from your working day – whatever works and feels sustainable within your existing schedule.

The most important thing is to make this a regular practice. Like any form of exercise, Face Yoga is only effective if you are consistent.

If you’d like some inspiration to help you make Face Yoga a daily habit, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular, free videos with routines and techniques targeting different areas of the face. 

I aim to upload new videos three times a week, so there will always be plenty of content to remind you to do your face yoga and take time to focus on self-care. Subscribe here.