Face Yoga: Training the Muscles We Forget
Written by Mish Wright.
The pressure on women’s faces is relentless. From “baby Botox” – which if you don’t know, is Botox marketed to women in their 20s, to fillers that promise to freeze time, it can feel like there’s no acceptable way to simply age. But what if there was another option — one that doesn’t involve needles or chemicals, costs almost nothing, and builds self-confidence along the way?
That’s where Leah Cooper comes in. A yoga teacher and face yoga practitioner from the Barossa Valley, Leah discovered face yoga at 41, a time when she was feeling disconnected from herself and her reflection in the mirror. What started as a 30-day online challenge completely changed the way she saw her face — and her confidence.
“When I compared my before and after photos, I was blown away,” Leah says. “My cheeks looked different, it was easier to smile, my forehead was softer, and I looked a couple of years younger. But more importantly, I felt better about myself.”
And she hasn’t stopped since.
What Is Face Yoga?
You don’t need a mat, blocks, or a quiet studio.
Face yoga requires three simple things:
Cold water — splashed 10–30 times before practice.
A mirror — so you can connect with your muscles and see what you’re doing.
Facial oil — to help your fingers glide smoothly as you stretch and massage the skin
That’s it. From there, it’s about engaging with the 40-plus muscles of the face — the ones responsible for smiling, frowning, squinting, and holding onto tension we don’t even realise we carry.
Wrinkles and fine lines often come not just from ageing, but from overuse of these muscles. Think frown lines etched from concentrating, or jaw tension from stress. Face yoga retrains these patterns, releases tightness, and improves blood flow and oxygenation to the skin.
Leah recommends starting with just five minutes a day. “Even that is enough to notice changes,” she explains. “It’s manageable, and once it’s a habit you can build on it.”
The Science Behind It
Face yoga isn’t just feel-good fluff. Small but promising studies have shown improvements in facial appearance with consistent practice. One Northwestern University pilot study found that women who did facial exercises for 20 weeks appeared on average three years younger, based on dermatologist assessments. Other research highlights improvements in cheek fullness and overall facial tone with daily practice.
Why? A few key mechanisms are at play:
Muscle activation and tone: Just like body muscles, facial muscles respond to resistance and stretching. Strengthening and relaxing them can change contours and reduce the “pulled down” look of slack muscles.
Improved circulation: The combination of movement and massage increases blood flow, bringing oxygen and nutrients to the skin while aiding collagen production.
Stress reduction: Many wrinkles are tied to unconscious tension — clenched jaws, furrowed brows. Training awareness interrupts these patterns.
Nasal breathing and nitric oxide: Leah also integrates breath practices and mouth taping at night, which encourage nose breathing. As outlined in James Nestor’s book Breath, nasal breathing mixes oxygen with nitric oxide, improving oxygen absorption and filtering pathogens
Better breathing equals better cellular function — including in skin and facial tissues.
More Than Skin Deep
For Leah, the benefits of face yoga have gone far beyond smoothing a forehead.
“When I started, I hated seeing myself in photos or on video,” she admits. “Now, I can show up confidently online and in my business. I don’t think my face is perfect — whose is? — but I appreciate it. I’ve learned to love it.”
That shift in self-perception is one of the most powerful outcomes of the practice. By taking a few minutes to look in the mirror, move with intention, and finish with affirmations (Leah uses Mel Robbins’ “high-five habit”), women create a daily ritual of self-acceptance.
And let’s face it (and pardon the pun!) – that is something Botox will never deliver.
The Five-Day Face Yoga Challenge
To help others experience these benefits, Leah is running a five-day Face Yoga Challenge starting Sunday 21st September. Sessions run online, live at 10 a.m. Adelaide time (10.30 a.m. on the East Coast), and recordings are available for those who can’t make it live.
Here’s what to expect:
Day One: Introduction and warm-up — understanding what face yoga is and how to set up your practice.
Days Two–Five: Guided exercises, Q&A, and habit-stacking strategies to help you integrate face yoga into your routine.
It’s free, it’s accessible, and it’s a chance to experiment with your own face. Leah encourages participants to take before and after photos to track their changes. “If you practice daily, you will notice a difference,” she says.
Join the Face Yoga Challenge here
Why the Small Muscles Matter
In fitness, we’ve long focused on the “big” muscles — quads, glutes, lats, chest. They’re vital, no doubt. But the small muscles in our face work just as hard, holding expression, tension, and even our stress.
Spending five minutes a day training them won’t just shift how you look; it might change how you feel about showing up in the world.
We give hours a week to squats, deadlifts, and push-ups. Why not spare a few minutes for the muscles that carry our stories, right there in our faces?
References & Further Reading:
Alam M, et al. Association of Facial Exercise With the Appearance of Aging. JAMA Dermatology, 2018.
Nestor, J. Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. 2020.
Northwestern Medicine. “Facial Exercises Improve Appearance of Middle-Aged Women.” ScienceDaily, Jan 2018.
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