Face Yoga for Women Over 60: Can Five Minutes a Day Improve Facial Tone?

Have you ever heard of face yoga? It’s everywhere lately, with promises of firmer cheeks and a more defined jawline. It can even promise fewer wrinkles with just a few minutes of exercise a day. 

It sounds almost too easy. But can exercising the muscles in your face really change how it looks after 60? Here’s what the research says and what face yoga may realistically help with. 

What Exactly Is Face Yoga?

Face yoga is exactly what it sounds like: a series of exercises, stretches, and massage techniques designed specifically for the muscles in your face and neck.

Unlike traditional yoga, there are no mats, leggings, or attempts to touch your toes. Most face yoga involves deliberately moving or holding certain facial muscles while using your fingers to provide light resistance or support.

A typical routine might include lifting the cheeks, relaxing the forehead, stretching the neck, gently massaging around the jaw, or holding the mouth in a particular position for several seconds.

Some face yoga programs also include facial massage and breathing exercises. These may help relax areas where many of us unknowingly hold tension, particularly around the jaw, forehead, and between the brows.

The idea behind face yoga is fairly simple. We exercise the muscles in the rest of our bodies to maintain strength and function. Why not exercise the muscles in our faces, too?

That sounds logical, right? The question is whether exercising those muscles actually changes how an aging face looks.

Read more: Why a Dermal Hydro Roller May Be the Skincare Boost Your Skin Has Been Waiting For.

Why Our Faces Change After 60

Wrinkles are only one part of facial aging. As we get older, several things happen under the skin at the same time. We gradually lose collagen and elasticity, facial fat shifts and decreases, and changes occur in the muscles and underlying bone structure.

That’s why your face at 65 may look very different from your face at 45 even if you have taken excellent care of your skin.

Face yoga can’t stop these natural changes. What it may be able to influence, as one small piece of the puzzle, is the muscle underneath the skin.

Can You Actually Tone Facial Muscles?

Your face contains dozens of muscles responsible for everything from smiling and blinking to chewing and raising your eyebrows.

And yes, muscles can respond to repeated movement and resistance.

The theory behind face yoga is that strengthening certain facial muscles could increase their size slightly and provide a little more underlying support, particularly around the cheeks.

That possibility is actually what researchers have found most interesting.

A small Northwestern University study suggested that facial exercises may have increased cheek muscle size enough to make the cheeks appear somewhat fuller. The researchers proposed that muscle growth could partly compensate for the loss of facial volume that occurs with age.

But “toning your facial muscles” and “tightening your face” are not quite the same thing.

Exercise can’t restore lost collagen, reposition facial fat, tighten significantly loose skin, or reverse changes in facial bone structure. A stronger muscle underneath the skin may change the appearance of an area slightly, but it isn’t going to pull everything back to where it was 20 years ago.

That distinction gets lost surprisingly often in face yoga advertising.

What the Research Actually Says

This is where things get interesting – and considerably less dramatic than some of the before-and-after photos that you see online.

One of the most frequently cited studies was published in JAMA Dermatology in 2018. Researchers enrolled women between the ages of 40 and 65 in a facial exercise program. They learned 32 exercises and initially practiced them for about 30 minutes every day. Later, they reduced the schedule to every other day.

After 20 weeks, the women who completed the program showed measurable improvements in upper and lower cheek fullness. Independent physicians looking at photographs also estimated that the women appeared, on average, about 2.7 years younger at the end of the study.

That sounds encouraging, until you look at the size of the study.

Only 27 women enrolled, and just 16 completed the entire 20-week program. There was also no control group for comparison. Even the researchers themselves describe the improvement as modest and said larger studies were needed.

In other words, there is some encouraging evidence. There simply isn’t enough of it yet to declare face yoga an anti-aging miracle.

The Five-Minute Question

Now we arrive at the question most of us really want to know. Unfortunately, there isn’t good scientific evidence showing that five minutes of face yoga a day will noticeably change the appearance of your face.

The best-known facial exercise study involved substantially more exercise. Participants practiced for about 30 minutes daily for the first eight weeks and then every other day for the remainder of the 20-week study.

So where does the popular five-minute recommendation come from? Mostly from face yoga instructors, apps, social media routines, and the reasonable idea that a short routine you’re willing to do regularly may be more useful than a 30-minute routine you abandon after three days.

Five minutes may be enough to ease facial tension and make you more aware of jaw clenching. It can simply give you a pleasant little self-care ritual.

What Face Yoga Might Help With

There are several reasons you might enjoy face yoga even if it doesn’t magically erase 10 years from your face.

Facial Tension

Many of us spend far more time clenching our jaws or tightening our foreheads than we realize. Gentle stretching and massage can make you more aware of those habits and may help you consciously relax those muscles.

Cheek Fullness

This is the area with the most interesting research behind it. The small 2018 study found an improvement in upper and lower cheek fullness after participants followed a facial exercise program for 20 weeks.

Facial Awareness

Doing a few exercises in front of a mirror can make you surprisingly aware of your everyday facial habits. Maybe you constantly raise one eyebrow. Maybe you clench your teeth when you’re concentrating. Maybe your shoulders are practically touching your ears by lunchtime. Simply recognizing those habits may help you relax them.

What It Probably Won’t Do

This is where expectations need to stay firmly planted in reality.

Face yoga won’t give you the same results as a facelift or other dermatological treatment. And despite some impressive claims online, you should probably be suspicious of anyone promising dramatic facial changes within days.

Five Gentle Face Yoga Exercises to Try

If you are curious about face yoga, start with a few simple exercises rather than attempting a complicated 30-minute routine.

The Cheek Lift

Smile gently with your lips closed.

Place your fingertips slightly over the tops of your cheeks. Try lifting your cheek muscles toward your eyes while keeping the rest of your face relaxed.

Hold for about five seconds, release, and repeat five times.

You should feel your cheek muscles working without dramatically squinting your eyes.

The Jaw Relaxer

Let your shoulders drop and relax your jaw.

Slowly open your mouth as though you are beginning to yawn, then gently close it again.

Next, use your fingertips to massage the muscles around your jawline in small circular movements.

Continue for about 30 seconds.

This one may be especially pleasant if you tend to clench your jaw while working or sleeping.

The Forehead Smoother

Place your fingertips gently across your forehead.

Without dragging the skin, apply very light pressure and consciously relax your forehead muscles.

Take a slow breath in and out while resisting the urge to raise your eyebrows.

Repeat several times.

The Gentle Cheek Press

Fill your cheeks slightly with air.

Move the air slowly from one cheek to the other without stretching your mouth excessively.

Continue for about 20 to 30 seconds, relax, and repeat once.

You should feel the muscles around the mouth and cheeks working gently.

The Neck and Chin Stretch

Sit or stand tall with your shoulders relaxed.

Slowly lift your chin until you are looking slightly upward. You should feel a mild stretch through the front of your neck.

Keep your jaw relaxed rather than aggressively jutting it forward.

Hold for five seconds, return to center, and repeat three to five times.

If you have neck problems, dizziness, jaw pain, or another condition that makes this movement uncomfortable, skip this exercise.

You certainly don’t have to do all five exercises every day. Choose a few that feel comfortable and spend about five minutes moving slowly through them. Consistency is probably more useful than forcing yourself through a lengthy routine you don’t enjoy.

And remember to keep your expectations reasonable.

For something that’s free and requires no equipment, that’s not a terrible return for five minutes of your time.

Read more: How to Choose the Right Face Mask After 60 (Clay, Sheet, or Cream?).

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Have you ever tried face yoga or facial massage? Did you notice any difference? Which facial changes bother you most as you get older: wrinkles, loss of firmness, puffiness, or changes around your jawline? Do you prefer simple and noninvasive beauty routines? Tell us about it in the comments below.