In our previous blogs, we’ve mentioned how neglecting the face muscles leads to prominent signs of ageing and weak jawlines. Of course, there are surgeries that can fix genetically weak jawlines, and products to help fight ageing. But there’s an easier alternative to solving the appearance of wrinkles and a sagging jawline. Cue face Pilates, a workout for your face muscles that tightens your skin. Instead of an exercise routine, consider it a beauty routine, as it is a merge of facial yoga and exercise. Non-invasive and convenient, read on to know what face Pilates is all about.
What Is Face Pilates?
Face Pilates derives from Pilates, a physical fitness system that focuses on the art of controlled movement, a merge of therapy and exercise. Pilates emphasizes the need of your body to be aligned with its core. Pilates for the face reflect the merge of therapy and exercise, as they are not strenuous. In fact, they are energy-generating when done right, acting as yoga for the face. Face Pilates focuses on four parts of the face: the eyes, forehead, neck and cheeks. Including face Pilates in your beauty regime has long standing benefits, including an increase in blood circulation that makes your face appear more youthful and vibrant.
The Basic Steps For Face Pilates
While you can always get a session of face pilates professionally done, you can also start to do it yourself. Follow the steps given below to incorporate face pilates into your daily beauty regime. All it takes is following the four steps, and doing the exercises for ten to fifteen minutes.
The four general concepts involved are:
- Breath control at a steady pace
- Massaging your face in certain areas
- Stretching your facial muscles
- Applying pressure with your fingers on certain points on the face
There are 4 steps to follow when doing the exercises:
- Cleanse your skin – Thoroughly clean your skin so your pores get unclogged and you wash the dirt on your face. Face Pilates are meant to be relaxing and rejuvenating. This starts with a clean refreshed face.
- Apply a serum – While you can also apply a lotion, we recommend going with a serum. Face Pilates involves massaging your face and the serum enables your fingers to glide smoothly over your skin. Lotion makes it harder to achieve the ideal pressure.
See also: Beauty Products to Boost Your Skin - Doing the exercises – All it takes is 10 to 20 minutes of these exercises daily to notice a difference.
- Oil massage – End your routine with a gentle oil massage to relax all your muscles and help your skin regain elasticity.
Face Pilates Exercises
Generally, going to professionals means you can better identify and narrow down on the type of exercise you should be doing. This will be based on what parts of your face you’d like to see an improvement in. However, follow these simple exercises to create your very own face pilates routine.
Jawline and neck toner
Place your palms on either side of the lower half of your face. Your fingers should be over your ears, but not covering them. Slowly push your cheeks upwards, working towards the top of your face. Do this until you reach your temples.
Face stretch
Place your index and middle fingers on your temples and push on your skin, moving your fingers back towards your hairline. You should be able to feel your skin stretching.
Forehead stretch
Place both your index fingers just above the eyebrows and hold them firmly in place. Your thumbs should be right under your earlobes. Slowly but firmly, pulse your forehead up and down, ensuring you feel your skin stretching.
Jawline blood circulation
Lightly pinch the skin and release it along your jawline. This will help improve blood circulation along the jaws.
Why You Should Do Face Pilates
- Non-invasive: Unlike several surgical and non-surgical options to enliven your face, face Pilates are completely organic and non-invasive.
- Budget friendly: Once you get the hang of it, you can incorporate face Pilates into your daily routine. You could even do it before bedtime, or as soon as you wake up. This is an inexpensive way to ensure your facial muscles are being given healthy attention.
- Improves skin condition: Face Pilates encourages the production of collagen, which is the main structural protein in our bodies.
- Tones your facial muscles: Your facial muscles benefit from face Pilates, just like your biceps would benefit from weights. It helps with firmness and creates lift.
- Relaxing: The whole routine is not just natural, it is also very relaxing. The massages help to relieve tension, and the few minutes you dedicate to it can act as a meditative session for you to unwind.
Having undefined jawlines and sporting wrinkles are not problems that hamper your day to day life. In fact, they’re not problems at all, but just cosmetic details about your face.
Retaining them is just as fine as choosing to change them. But, the simple act of doing face Pilates has not just cosmetic, but also health benefits. This is one trend you definitely want to get on board with.
