BLOG 139: 6 EASY STEPS TO SCULPT YOUR JAWLINE WITH FACE YOGA

This post is all about posture! It is something that is often overlooked but is hugely important when it comes to the face. 

Poor posture can cause all sorts of issues, including lines and wrinkles, tension, and uneven skin tone. Sadly, our modern lives often mean that we spend a lot of time slumped in front of screens, looking down at our phones, or twisted into awkward positions as we care for small children.

It takes a bit of practice but improving your posture can reduce and prevent lines and wrinkles, especially in the jaw, chin, neck, and lower face. So, I’m going to run through some simple posture exercises you can do to lift and sculpt your face naturally.

This whole Face Yoga sequence should take less than ten minutes. It includes some facial massage techniques too, so it is a good idea to have some serum or facial oil to hand before you start. I use my Fusion by Danielle Collins Pro Lift Facial Moisturising Serum, which gives a lovely glide to your skin. 

Make sure you have clean hands and a clean face too. You might want to be in front of a mirror, so you can see what you’re doing.

You can sit or stand for this sequence, whatever is more comfortable for you. I always encourage you to work to your own level with any Face Yoga routine.

If you prefer to follow along with a video, you can find this full sequence for free on my YouTube channel. 

1. UNDER CHIN AREA

Look down now and you’ll immediately feel how this action compresses the area under your chin and makes it feel like it is filled with fluid. Staying like this for hours each day can contribute to a double chin, so our first exercise aims to address this issue.

Place both your thumbs beneath your chin. Fold the rest of your fingers in towards your palms to form a loose fist and bring the knuckles of both hands together.

Hold your chin parallel to the floor. Relax your shoulders and straighten your spine.

Push your chin down towards your chest, using your thumbs to prevent it from actually moving at all. 

At the same time, take deep, long breaths through your nose. Keep your lips together and your tongue up against the roof of your mouth.  

This helps to tone and tighten the area under the chin. Those deep breaths also help to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, letting you feel calm and less stressed.

Hold the pose for around a minute, then relax.

2. MASSAGE

Next, we’re moving on to some massage techniques to release tension from your jaw and chin. This is where your serum will come in handy – apply a few drops to your chin and jaw to help your fingers glide easily.

Smooth your thumbs over the skin beneath your chin, stroking back from your chin along the bottom of your jawbone.

Then, switch to flicking upwards with the tips of your thumbs, working all over the area underneath your chin.

Finally, form a ‘V’ shape with your index and middle fingers. Use both hands to smooth over your jawline, working outwards from your chin. Alternate one side and then the other.

Bring your hands down and give your shoulders a few big rolls to release stiffness and tension.

3. FINDING GOOD POSTURE

Find a neutral position for your shoulders, so they aren’t squeezed back or hunched forward. Make sure they are relaxed down away from your ears.

Bring your chin parallel to the floor. You can tuck it in a little to avoid straining the back of your neck.

Concentrate on lengthening out through your entire spine. Feel your feet grounding down into the floor. Imagine you have a string going all the way from your root chakra (at your pelvis) through your centre and out from the crown of your head, pulling you up towards the ceiling.

Hold this position, taking deep breaths through your nose. 

You should feel your whole neck area opening up. This long, open posture helps to reduce and prevent those horizontal lines we often find forming on the front of the neck.

As you go through your day, try to remember to find this posture as much as possible. It takes practice, but the more you get used to how it feels, the easier it will be to find it naturally.

4. CHEST OPENER

Stretch your arms down and then squeeze your shoulder blades together to take them back behind you, like a pair of giant wings. 

Holding this position, slowly turn your head from side to side. This helps to release tight shoulders and open up the chest. It is also great preparation for our next exercise.

5. TONE NECK

Take the fingertips of both hands onto your collarbones. Gently tilt your head back and stick out your bottom lip towards the ceiling.

Hold here while you take four deep breaths, in and out through your nose. 

6. RELEASE JAW TENSION

When our posture is bad, it often leads to tension in the jaw. In turn, this can eventually create those marionette lines that appear between the mouth and jaw, as well as lines between the mouth and nose. So, we want to release tension from the jaw to reduce and prevent those lines.

Find your good posture again – relaxed shoulders, long spine, chin parallel to the floor.

Place two fingers of one hand on your jawbone, just to one side of your chin. 

Using the index finger of the other hand, smooth up from those fingers to the acupressure point at the corner of your nostril. Lift off and start again from the beginning. Repeat this for around 30 seconds to a minute.

You might have enough serum left on your skin and fingers from the massage techniques we used earlier. If you feel like your fingers are dragging at your skin, you might want to apply a tiny bit more now.

While you massage, bring your attention back to your breath. Keep your lips together too and press your tongue against the roof of your mouth. If you swallow while you hold your tongue up, it will help to suction it into position.

Repeat the massage on the other side.

Finally, tap your fingertips quickly all over your lower face, jaw, and neck to release any last remaining tension.

FINISH

Bring your hands back down and give your arms a little shake. Roll your shoulders a few times again. 

To finish, clasp your hands together behind your back, straightening your arms and tilting your head back slightly to look up at the ceiling. Hold this pose while you take two deep breaths.

And we’re all done. Bring your chin back down into a relaxed, neutral position. Feel how everything has opened out after running through this sequence.

If you’re interested in learning more about this holistic, wellness-orientated approach to keeping our faces looking lifted, toned, and healthy, you might like to check out my Face Yoga teacher training certification.

Approved and accredited by The International Institute for Complementary Therapists and the International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine, the course gives you everything you need to teach these amazing skills to others.

Whether you are already working in the wellness space and want to add another string to your professional bow, or are looking to make the switch to a career that suits your lifestyle, goals, personality, and dreams, face yoga teacher training is a great next step on your journey.

I also offer a certification in teaching facial gua sha, in collaboration with market leaders, the Hayo’u Method. You can easily do both courses together or choose to study one first and come back later to do the other.

Find out more here.