BLOG 190: MY 3 TOP TIPS TO SMOOTH AND LIFT OUR NECKS NATURALLY

As we age, we tend to experience a decline of the plumping agents in our skin which can lead to lines developing, especially on our necks. In this blog post, I’m going to walk you through three of my top tips on smoothing and lifting the neck area through a few simple, natural steps. 

These are tips that I’ve been using for the last 17 years with millions of people through the Danielle Collins Face Yoga Method. Read more for all the details, I hope they help you too.

POSTURE

When we’re on our phones, at our desks, or even just walking around, we’re often compromising our posture without even realising it. This has an effect on our necks too. Next time you’re hunched over your phone, feel the way your neck wrinkles as it bends over. Getting stuck in this forward position creates fluid accumulation under our chins and lines across our necks.

As we lose the collagen and elastin in our skin due to aging, bouncing back gets harder and those lines created from being bent over our phones all day can become etched into the skin. One of the best ways to intervene is by simply improving our posture. Not only will it help to open the neck area, but good posture can make you look healthier, taller, and bring out your natural radiance. 

One of the best ways to counteract the forward position that many of us get caught in is by doing a simple chest opener and taking a moment to realign. Here’s how you can do just that, from the comfort of your desk:

THE CHEST OPENER

• Sitting upright in a chair, link your hands together behind your back and just squeeze your chest out a little bit.
• Squeeze your shoulder blades together so that you feel like they’re rounding outwards – exactly the opposite of that hunched-over position.
• With your shoulders down and hands squeezing together, feel that lovely expanse being created in the chest area. If your neck feels ok, you can tilt your head back to get an added stretch in the neck.
• Breathe deeply in and out through the nose. Make sure you’re breathing into the stretch rather than tensing against it.

Once this is done, it’s time to realign and find a neutral spine.

FINDING THAT NEUTRAL SPINE

• To come to a nice, neutral posture, you want to bring your spine into a position that isn’t too far forward or back. Find your centre.
• Ground your feet on the floor and imagine a string going up through the centre of your body, through the top of your head, and reaching all the way to the top of the ceiling, lengthening everything upwards. 
• Lift the chin slightly. You don’t want it exactly parallel to the floor but it also shouldn’t be squeezed down

Once you’ve found this realignment, it’s helpful to check in with yourself throughout the day to make sure that your posture hasn’t sunken back into old habits. If you feel like you’re hunching over again, counteract it with the chest opener.

These small adjustments to your posture are such a simple, quick way to smooth and lift the neck area. It’s also a wonderful chance to have a reset and give yourself a moment of mindfulness during a busy day.

MASSAGE

Massage is something I’ve spoken about and demonstrated extensively on my YouTube Channel and in both of my books. In this blog post I’m going to talk you through some quick techniques to smooth and lift the neck area with just some simple massage techniques which I’d recommend doing daily for one minute each:

• One of my favourite techniques is to gently work the hands up the front of the neck, smoothing the area in an upward motion. The only time I’ll ever ask you to massage downwards is during a lymphatic drainage massage but in this we’re trying to lift the area, so it’s important to move the hands in an upward motion.
• The next thing to do is to take your fingers into peace signs and run them across your jaw so that your jawline is between your peace and middle fingers. Moving the fingers up the jaw like this can help with fluid accumulation in the area.
• You can then tap under the chin with the back of your hand.
• Lastly, just tap your fingers gently on the neck.

All these massage techniques help to bring blood circulation to the skin which improves elasticity and helps to brighten and lift your neck and chin area.

FACIAL EXERCISE

Now that we’ve opened the chest area and massaged the skin, it’s time to tone and strengthen the muscles underneath. These are two of my favourite exercises for the neck area and like the massage techniques, are best to do daily for a minute each:

• Sitting upright, lift your neck back if it feels good, put your lips together and push the tip of the tongue up to the roof of your mouth at a rate of one per second. If you put your hand under your chin, you should be able to feel the area working as you do this exercise.
• For the next exercise, turn your head to the side, while still keeping your posture in mind with your shoulders back and a sense of length through the top of your head. Neck turned, lift your chin slightly up and bring your tongue up toward the nose. Hold this for 15 seconds and then do the same on the other side. Repeat once more on each side.

SMOOTH NECKS AND DEEP BREATHS

When it comes to smoothing and lifting the neck area through natural techniques, posture, massage and facial exercises are my top tips. Alongside this though, I always recommend paying attention to your hydration and making time for some deep breathing in your day. All these small steps add up to a more lifted, youthful glow.

If you’d like to help others on their Face Yoga journey, click here for my teacher training courses.