Women always fret over wrinkles and anything that they can do to avoid developing wrinkles would surely interest them. Though wrinkles are a part of the aging process, none of us would want to think that aging also means that we are becoming wiser in life. For all those beautiful ladies out there, we have put together magical exercises that can arrest the wrinkles on your face and in some cases reverse the damage as well, leaving your face wonderfully toned and beautiful. The exercises discussed here use certain simple muscle movements like chewing, puckering, smiling, pouting, stretching, frowning, etc. Most of these exercises are safe and can be done by everyone.
Chewing
Chewing is a wonderful exercise for the face and helps in toning the cheek muscles and also works on almost all the facial muscles, reducing the appearance of wrinkles and also preventing the drooping of cheeks and chin. For doing this exercise, first sit comfortably on a chair. Slowly, lift your head up until your face is parallel to the ceiling. This position is for working on the neck and jaw muscles which are pulled taut when you lift your head. Now, you must keep your lips tightly closed and imitate a chewing action. Keep chewing for as much time as you feel comfortable. Remember that your chin and jaw could start aching during the first few days and you will find it difficult to do the chewing as well. In such cases, use a chewing gum for the first few days so that you can be comfortably chewing away, as you enjoy the sweetness of the gum. Repeat for as much time as you can in a day and in a month’s time, be ready to be surprised! People suffering from jaw problems like TMJ should avoid this exercise as it can worsen the condition.
Puckering
It is not known to many that kissing can actually work on your facial muscles and tone them to perfection. However, this should not make you go on a kissing spree as you might get hollow cheeks in the process. For kissing, you pucker your lips and this will help in toning the muscles that are located around the lips and chin, making them taut and smooth. Sit comfortably for this exercise. Lift your face as in the previous exercise until it faces the ceiling. Now keep staring at the ceiling and pucker your lips as though you are in a kissing action. Pucker as high as possible and hold the lips close together in a closed ‘O’ shape. Hold this position for about 10-15 seconds. Repeat about 10-15 times a day. The puckering facial movement helps in smoothening out smile lines and also in making your chin smoother and free from wrinkles. The greatest advantage of facial exercises is that it can be done wherever you are and hence very easily possible. Be wary of practicing this exercise in public places though!
Smiling
A blissful exercise that can be practiced by all and sundry, smiling exercise works on the cheeks, chin and nose. When you smile broadly, your cheek and chin muscles are pulled apart towards each side, keeping them taut and hence helping in their toning as well. Smiling also pulls the cheek muscles up, thereby preventing the drooping of the muscles and also in smoothing out the wrinkle lines around the mouth, nose and chin. There is no specific sitting position for the smiling exercise and hence it is an easy exercise that can be done anywhere, anytime. Smile as broadly as you can and hold the smiling position for about fifteen seconds. Remember not to open your mouth while you smile. After a count of fifteen, you can bring your face back to a normal position. This exercise can be repeated 10-12 times a session, keeping in mind to make the smiling and recoiling to a normal face a continuous flowing and smooth action rather than ‘smile and stop; then start again’ movement.
To continue to the next exercise which too involves a smiling action, first smile as broad as you can and then suck your cheeks in, in between you upper and lower teeth. Hold for ten minutes and release. Repeat 10-12 times.
Pouting
If you thought that this pouting action is as easy as a model’s pout, you are absolutely wrong. The pout that we talk here is concentrated more on the upper lip. Pout the upper lip by moving the sides of your lips closer, inwards and up. When you do this, you will feel the cheek muscles getting raised as well. Try to do a deep pout so that the muscles of the cheeks will move higher and closer to your eyes. At this point, try and touch the upper lip to your nose. If you have managed to get to this position, hold for ten seconds, which is asking for a lot. This exercise could be difficult at first and would require you to relax after every repetition. Pouting lifts the cheek, chin and lip muscles and tones them, removing wrinkle lines.
Stretching
Sit comfortably and close your eyes. Now, you can keep your head straight without moving and look up, down, right, left; all the while keeping your eyes closed. Repeat 15 times. Now stretch you eyebrows as far up as possible and hold for 15 seconds and repeat 10-12 times. Open your eyes wide and then repeat the up, down, right, left movement again, without moving your head. You may repeat this exercise ten times. Now lie on the bed, on your back, in such a way that your head hangs down from the edge of the bed. Looking at the ceiling, lift your eyebrows and hold for ten seconds. Repeat 5 times. This will tone your forehead and prevent drooping of the eyelids as well. It will also tone your neck and jaw muscles. These exercises can be done as three separate exercises as well.
Frowning
Frowning involves the use of many more muscles that you can imagine and hence is a wonderful facial exercise for toning the entire face. Frown by pulling your eyebrows together closely and over your eyes. Hold this position for ten seconds and then lift your eyebrows as high up, leaving your eyes wide open and again hold for ten seconds. Repeat 5-10 times depending on how comfortable you are. Once you have completed this exercise, you can now wrinkle your nose and hold for ten seconds and flare it and hold for another ten seconds. This will help in increasing the elasticity of the skin.