BLOG 239: THE 8 FACIAL EXERCISES YOU NEED TO DO THIS AUTUMN/FALL

Autumn/Fall is a great time of year for self care and self reflection. Do these eight facial exercises this new season to prepare your skin for the coming winter months. Your skin will feel refreshed and look glowing.

This season is all about experiencing a rebirth and making changes. It’s about enjoying the plentiful harvest nature offers. Autumn/Fall is a season that lifts us up and enables us to make positive shifts in our routines. 

Today I am sharing with you an easy Face Yoga routine you can do to look and feel great this season. You can also watch this on my YouTube channel, Face Yoga Expert. 

Warming Up

Always begin by taking deep breaths, first breathing in through the nose, allowing the abdomen to rise, and then releasing the breath as you allow your tummy to lower gently. 

Take a couple of deep breaths and let yourself think about the beauty of Autumn/Fall. What do you love about this season? If you’re looking out a window, notice the glowing trees as they transform in brilliant colours. 

As you continue to breathe in, breathe out, take a moment to contemplate your own natural brilliance. Picture how your skin will glow after doing our eight facial exercises. Just as this amazing season refreshes your soul, our eight exercises will refresh your skin.

Exercise 1: Strengthen Your Forehead

We have a tendency to wear our stress on our forehead. Whether we’re concerned about something, we’re feeling overworked, or we’re overthinking a situation, our forehead tightens, creating lines and furrows.

To smooth out those lines and create a more relaxed appearance, follow these steps.

1. Form the letter C with each hand, using your thumb and index finger.
2. Bring your hands to your face, positioning your index fingers just above your eyebrows and your thumbs just under your cheekbones.
3. Raise your eyebrows slightly up – your index fingers will stop you from going any further.
4. Lower your eyebrows back down.
5. Repeat Steps 3 and 4 several times.

It might help to look in a mirror while you’re getting the hang of this exercise. Your eyebrow movements will be slight so as to not create any creases on your forehead. This exercise strengthens the frontalis muscle.

Exercise 2: Release Forehead Tension

After a couple of rounds of Exercise 1 to strengthen your forehead muscles, move on to Exercise 2 to release trapped stress and tension from your forehead.

1. With your two index fingers, gently massage your forehead by doing the next steps.
2. Place your index fingers at the inside of your brows and move them up to the top of your forehead. 
3. Move your fingers out along your hairline.
4. Bring your index fingers down your forehead to the outer edges of your brow. 
5. Lift your fingers and bring them back to the starting point at the inner edges of your brows.
6. This time, massage your forehead by following the curve of your eyebrow. 
7. Bring your index fingers back to the starting point and repeat Steps 2 through 6 several times. 

This exercise is a great way to let go of tension trapped in your forehead, allowing you to feel and look more relaxed.

Exercise 3: Tap Your Forehead

Next, try this tension-taming and blood flow-boosting exercise on your forehead, still focusing on your breathing.

1. Place both hands just over your face, with your fingers spread apart slightly.
2. Starting at your eyebrows, gently wiggle your fingers and tap your forehead.
3. Slowly move your hands up and down while you continue to wiggle your fingers and gently tap your forehead. 

This face yoga exercise brings about positive change to the forehead area, stimulating the skin to achieve a healthier, more relaxed appearance. It’s a great exercise to do as we transition from Summer into Autumn.  

Exercise 4: Improve the Eye Areas

Now that you’ve worked on your forehead, it’s time to focus the eyes. Follow these steps.

1. Place your index fingers under your eyes, lengthwise over your cheekbones.
2. Form the shape of a relaxed “O” with your mouth.
3. Look up towards the ceiling and flutter your upper eyelids.
4. Pause, then repeat. 
5. Go through Steps 2 through 4 a few more times.

As you flutter your eyelids, keep the rest of your face nice and still. This exercise is fantastic for reducing the hollows underneath the eyes. It also naturally lifts the upper part of the eyelids. Do this exercise to achieve a nice eyelift effect. With refreshed eyes, you’ll look and feel rejuvenated. 

Exercise 5: Exercise the Cheeks

Now that you’ve worked on your forehead and your eyes, it’s time to move on to the cheek areas. This next exercise strengthens the muscles of your cheeks. It also helps your mouth area for a more symmetrical smile.

1. Tuck your upper lip in around your teeth, gently pressing up against it with your lower lip.
2. Lift up the corners of your mouth.
3. Use your index fingers to smooth away any lines created along your cheek, next to your mouth.
4. Your fingertips should be at the level of your nose, while the base of each index finger is placed down below your mouth.
5. Hold that position for at least 15 seconds, and release.
6. Relax for a moment, then repeat the entire exercise one more time.

Can you start to feel the tension leaving the muscles of your face? Take a few deep breaths before continuing to the next exercise. 

Exercise 6: Relax Your Jaw

Now focus on massaging your jaw. This is an area of your face that can benefit from letting go, especially if you find that you sometimes clench or tighten your jaw too much.

1. Holding your middle and index fingers slightly apart, start at your chin and smooth your fingers across your jawline towards your ears. 
2. Alternate sides, running the fingers of your right hand across the right side of your jawline, and then running the fingers of your left hand across the left side.
3. Repeat this motion several times, feeling your jaw relax as you move your fingers across. 

This wonderful exercise releases a lot of the emotion and stagnant stress we hold along our jawline. It’s a lifting technique that also relaxes this part of your face to release tension. 

Exercise 7: Sculpt Your Jaw

Go a little deeper into working on your jaw. 

1. Keeping your hands somewhat loose, curl your fingers underneath.
2. Smooth the lower part of your loosely curled fingers along your jawline, starting at your chin and moving up toward your ears.
3. Repeat several times.

As you sculpt your face with this motion, remember to keep breathing in through your nose and out through your nose, as you maintain a focus on your breath. 

Exercise 8: Tighten Your Neck

To conclude, take a few moments to work on tightening the skin along your neck and strengthening your neck muscles. 

1. Turn your head to your left side.
2. Stick out your tongue and lift it up towards your nose.
3. Bring your chin up.
4. Hold this position for a count of ten.
5. Relax and look straight ahead of you.
6. Now turn your head to your right side and repeat Steps 2 through 5.
7. Repeat the entire exercise one more time for each side.

By doing facial and neck yoga exercises in autumn, you can stay looking and feeling great all season long.

You’ll find additional rejuvenating face yoga exercises and tips in my two books, Danielle Collins’ Face Yoga and The Face Yoga Journal.