Face Yoga Class: Week 3 Reflections

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Join us next Tuesday, July 5, 2022 at 6pm PST for week 3 of class, during which we will focus on the MOUTH!

Introduction

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

During week 3 of our 6 part face yoga series, we focused on the cheeks. There’s no denying that gravity is constantly working against us, pulling our cheeks downward. As we age, our cheeks sag, making our faces appear tired and aged.

Many people have resorted to fillers in order to achieve a more defined cheek line and higher cheekbones, but face yoga offers an effective natural alternative to cosmetic procedures. With diligent practice, you may see results in as little as two weeks, often even after a few days!

Class 3 Recap:

Warm Up |SHOO PA POSE

Inhale deeply through the nose and make a forceful “shhh” sound while exhaling, scrunching the face together as tightly as you can.
Once you’ve fully let all the air out, spread your face as wide as you can in one explosive movement, making a “pah!” sound and opening your eyes wide in an expression of surprise.
For this pose, you will breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.
Practice this pose 3-5 times.
Close your eyes and feel your muscles settle

Pose 1 |SMILE POSE

This pose is very tiring and we make it progressively harder

Breathe through your nose throughout this entire pose.

To begin,

Relax your mouth, and show your upper teeth. Keep your eyes wide open.
Lift up the corners of your mouth toward your cheek as if to smile wide.
Check your cheek muscles–they should feel taut and hard like two golf balls1.
Open your mouth slightly so you have a finger’s worth of space between your upper and lower teeth.
Hook your lower lip over your bottom teeth to lock your cheek muscles in. If this is hard for you,

Hold this pose for three inhales and three exhales.

Repeat this pose 3-5 times. Close your eyes and feel your muscles settle.

Pose 2 |KISS ME POSE

Pucker your lips by bringing in the corners of your mouth to the center, making a small hole with your mouth.
Breath in and out through your nose
On your last breath, close your eyes and gently lift up your chin as if you were kissing someone taller than you.
Keep the pose for 10 seconds.
When you finish, you may swish around air from cheek to cheek to relax and stretch the muscles you just used.
This pose trains the muscles around the mouth to help prevent sagging cheeks.

Cool Down Pose |SCREAM POSE

The key with this pose is to not put too much tension in your mouth while making a slender 0 shape with your mouth.
Use a mirror or a phone in selfie mode and raise the mirror or phone slowly over your head, following your reflection with your gaze.
Hold your face still and your mouth in a slender 0 shape, and raise your gaze while following the mirror with your eyes.
Breathe in and out through your nose.
The muscles around the eyes are strengthened by the opposing force of your mouth going down in the slender 0 position and your eyes going up as you raise your gaze to follow your mirror or selfie.
This is effective in preventing sagging of the upper and lower eyelids and cooling down the muscles that were used.

Lymphatic drainage

Moisturize your face with the Shikohin Enlightening Night Serum or any facial moisturizer.
Use Shikohin’s ceramic Gua Sha or your index and middle fingers to trace your jawline from the chin to behind the ear. Continue down the neck toward your collarbone.
Repeat 5-8 times starting from the chin and moving toward the right ear and down your neck toward the collarbone, then repeat starting from the chin and moving toward the left ear and down your neck.
Take your two fingers or gua sha and trace your collarbone from your sternum (center of your chest) to your right armpit. Do this 5-8 times, then repeat on the left side.