6 Great Exercises for Smoothing and Tightening Your Face
When we hear the term "facelift," most of
us think of a painful medical procedure that involves surgery and some
recovery time. Many women and men get a facelift to give them that
youthful glow back, but you really don't need to go under the knife to
get these results. By carrying out the following 6 stretching exercises,
called "Facial Yoga," you can make yourself look youthful again without
any painful procedures.
1. The brow lift
Forehead wrinkles bother many people because they get deeper over the
years and can make you seem angry. You can minimize these wrinkles and
prevent the formation of new ones with the following simple exercise
that stretches the muscles behind the skin and, in doing so, helps
smooth it.
How to:
• Place the lower part of your right palm on your right eyebrow and the
lower part of your left palm on your left eyebrow.
• Lift the muscles of your eyebrows up with your palms, as if you’re
surprised, and lower them back as if you’re angry.
• Stretch your eyebrows up and down 10 times. When you come to the last
time, hold your eyebrows up for 30 seconds. Lower your eyebrows, and
hold them in this position for 30 seconds and relax.
• Then repeat the exercise - 10 repetitions of raising and lowering and
30 seconds of release.
2. The filler
Laughter lines are certainly charming, but not when they are deep,
creating deep grooves on the sides of the lips. The next smiley exercise
will help you fight fire with fire, and get rid of these laughter lines
once and for all.
How to:
• Place your fingers on your cheeks and press lightly.
• Smile widely and use your fingers to hold the smile in place by gently
pressing on the cheeks.
• Close your lips half-way and press your cheeks to create resistance.
• Keep each position (full smile and half smile) for 10 seconds and
release the stretch. Repeat the exercise 10 times.
3. The neck lift
Eventually, gravity catches up with all of us, and our neck skin starts
sagging and wrinkling in a way no one wants to experience. This next
stretch below will help prevent this from happening and also improve the
appearance of the "double chin" that is common in older people.
How to:
• Lightly close your mouth.
• Separate your upper and lower teeth as far as you can without opening
your mouth.
• Move your jawbone forward while stretching the lower lip, holding it
in this position for 5 seconds.
• Slowly bring your jaw, lips, and teeth back to the original position.
• Repeat the exercise 10 times.
4. “Oh” face
With the help of some exaggerated facial movements and sounds, you can
stretch the area around your lips. Just pretend that you’re in a voice
development class and that way you can benefit from this simple exercise
two-fold.
How to:
• Open your mouth and then press your lips together so that they’re
closed but your upper and lower teeth aren’t touching.
• Now say "Oh" with excessive stretching of the lips to create the
sound.
• Then say “eee" while stretching the lips back to half a smile.
• Repeat these two sounds 10 times, relax your lips, and perform 3 total
sets.
5. The neck stretch
This stretch will not only smooth out your neck skin but will also help
relieve pain that many people experience in this area. You can do this
stretch wherever you are, even sitting at home or at the office, and
within a few moments you can get pain relief and rejuvenate your
appearance.
face exercise
How to:
• Hold your chin against your chest until you feel a stretch in your
neck.
• Start lifting your head upwards in a circular motion.
• As you move, bend your head back and look up at the ceiling. Hold your
head in this position for a few seconds, and lower it back down in a
slow circular motion. Repeat the exercise 10 times.
6. The all-inclusive face life 
This last exercise is certainly entertaining, and although it seems
funny, its results are serious. With this general facelift, you can
stretch muscles in several areas of the face, strengthening them,
improving the appearance of wrinkles and preventing the formation of new
ones.
How to:
• Place your palms above the cheekbones and place your fingers on your
head.
• Close your eyes and move your hands - palms and fingers - back and to
the side. While doing so, stick out your tongue and stretch it forward
and down as far as you can.
• Stay in this position for 60 seconds and then release.
• Repeat the exercise 3 times.