As with any muscle group on your body, keeping your facial muscles toned and strong can be accomplished through exercise. Strengthening your jaw, brow, cheek, and eye muscles on your head can help alleviate headaches or other conditions in your face. Exercising facial muscles can also help speech impediments, facial paralysis, or other medical conditions. Before starting any new exercise program, speak to your medical doctor for more information.
Lion Pose
According to the Yoga Journal website, the Lion Pose movement is a beneficial facial exercise. To begin this movement, you will want to be seated on a flat, smooth surface. Next, bend your knees and move your right ankle behind your left foot as if you were crossing your legs.
Place the palms of your hands on your bent knees, keeping your fingers extended and interlocked. Open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue as far as it will go, almost as if you were mimicking a lion's roar. Hold this position for a few seconds before closing your mouth and exhaling deeply.
This exercise utilizes multiple muscle groups in your face. Repeat this exercise as often as comfort will allow.
Expressions
A simple exercise you can do at home or in the office to strengthen your facial muscles involves making normal facial expressions. The key for this exercise is exaggerating the expression in order to feel a strong stretch or muscle burn in your face. Practice making a frown or a smile multiple times, focusing on pushing your muscles to their fullest extent. You can also crease your forehead and eye muscles to exaggerate an "angry" pose and then relax the muscles. Repeat these expressions multiple times for best results.
Eye Muscle Exercises
The Ohio State University Medical Center suggests a few exercises to strengthen your eye facial muscles. For example, you can shut your eyes tightly to strengthen the orbital muscles on the sides of your face. Raising and lowering your eyebrows towards the ceiling and floor will help stretch and strengthen your forehead muscles. Trying to open your eyes while forcing your eyelids shut can also strengthen your facial muscles, as explained on the University website.
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