After I’ve posted the previous face exercises, many of you have asked me for a video on cheek lift exercises, and most importantly, how to correct the arising asymmetry of the face caused by sagging cheeks.
Before we go directly into the exercises, a few important tips:
Tip 1. There are several developers of face forming/face building techniques who can be completely trusted in my opinion. I would advise that all of you start your face work with the face shaping from Benita Cantieni. No one will better help you feel your face and learn to mentally communicate with it (for those who have not tried it- it’s hard to believe, but this is exactly what happens). Very often, it so happens that we do the “right” exercises taken from other techniques but, due to the fact that we are not able to control the muscles and movements of our faces, we enable undesirable consequences (for example, asymmetry of the right and left halves of the face). If you begin with Cantieni and learn to feel and control your muscles, you can try other techniques, while competently managing the process. If, on the other hand, you’ve left your face uncared for in a long time, and this has badly reflected on you face, only the exercises from Saint Maria Runge will really help you. They are radical and are guaranteed to help correct skin sagging, but that is why they should be done strictly according to the instructions of the author. If however, you are just beginning to “swim” in this sea, and the problems have not yet worsened, you can try lighter techniques (for example, I like the exercises from Serena Lim, a cosmetologist from Australia). It is not necessary to stick to the same method throughout your entire life. After the face has strengthened and the muscles have woken up and become obedient (by Cantieni), it will be quite easy for you to determine which one is really your technique and which one is not.
Carefully watch the symmetry of the face and do not allow wrinkles to appear (I had to give up some good techniques because of this).
Tip 2. I always prefer isometric exercises, they are more logical and most effective. An isometric exercise is when a muscle or muscle group works against natural contraction. In order for this to happen, there is a need for resistance to arise at the site of muscular work and the muscle begins to work against this resistance. In this post below, there are 2 examples of how to create resistance (in the first we impose fingers in places where muscles attach to the skin, in the second example, resistance is created with the help of another muscle group than the one that we’re working on). Different method developers prefer different techniques for generating resistance, and you should also choose the ones that seem to be the most suitable.
Tip 3. And one very important rule: never pull your muscles, learn to move them bit by bit, take your time, learn to feel them from the inside, mentally. Connect your thoughts that indicate the direction of movement with the muscles on your face. They will certainly become obedient, and this will ensure you an incredible result.
And now the exercises on the muscles of the upper cheeks. With age, this part of the face “slips” down, as time depletes the skin of hyaluronic acid, collagen and elastane and this leads to the formation of the nasolabial fold. It is this process (and not wrinkles, as is commonly thought, that gives the impression of aging). Of course, we want to lift this whole area. We need to activate the zygomatic muscles (zygomaticus musculus). To begin, focus your attention on the muscles of the upper cheeks. OUR MAIN TASK is to lower these muscles so that they are completely relaxed, and then contract them by overcoming resistance (this is the essence of isometric exercises). In order to create resistance, place your fingers on the area where the zygomatic muscles are woven into the circular muscle of the mouth and on the skin of the nasolabial fold. Then smile. At this point, you lift the cheeks while holding back the ends of the muscles with your fingers. Repeat this movement several times. It’s very important to lift the cheeks on account of the zygomatic muscles, and not by engaging others.
Look carefully into the mirror – are you narrowing your eyes while doing this exercise? If so, then you are doing the exercise wrong. In this case, slightly raise the skin in the temporal region with the fingers of the other hand and hold still the area around the eye. Smile a few times. This exercise is very useful if you have a face asymmetry or an asymmetric smile. In this case, you should focus on the side of the face that is droopier.
Another version of this exercise for the cheeks: If you do not want to put fingers on your face area, you can generate resistance needed for isometric exercises differently. Wrap the upper lip on the upper teeth and the lower lip – around the lower teeth, strain your lips as much as possible in this position and try to smile. Hold your lips in a smiling position for a few seconds, then relax your lips. Make it a rule to delay any movement for a few seconds before relaxing the muscles and doing a repetition. I do not recommend this version of the exercise to those who have dimples. I noticed that this exercise deepens the dimples and in time, cracks can occur. In any case, carefully watch the face, and if necessary, practice this exercise in its first version. The main thing in this exercise is not to forget about resistance. The stronger it is, the better the result.
For another post on powerful eye lift exercises head here.
