If you're scared of using plastic surgery to reduce the fat in your face, try making faces instead. Exercises such as wagging your tongue, blowing kisses and creating other facial expressions may make you look a little silly, but they also tone muscles and reduce wrinkles, writes Kate Stinchfield in the November 2007 issue of "Time" magazine. This new trend of facial exercises, or facial yoga, is taught alongside traditional yoga techniques in health clubs and yoga studios.
Expressions
Making an expression of surprise, with wide eyes and a smooth brow, can help tone your face. Hold the expression for five to 10 seconds while focusing on a point in front of you. Repeat the exercise four times. Another facial yoga pose called the Smiling Fish entails pursing your lips while smiling slightly.
Celebrity Poses
The Marilyn is a facial yoga exercise, in which you blow kisses while keeping your forehead unwrinkled. Another exercise named for a celebrity is the Satchmo, which was a nickname for jazz musician Louis Armstrong, who played the trumpet. To perform the Satchmo, puff out your face and transfer air back and forth between each cheek.
Pout
Facial fitness expert Carolyn Cleaves recommends an exercise called the Pout for slimming your jowls and removing the lines from the corner of your mouth down to your chin. To perform the Pout, pull the corners of your mouth down using your index fingers while making a pouting expression with your lower lip. Hold the position for five seconds, then repeat 10 times. To improve the efficacy of the exercise, perform it while lying down with your head raised about a half-inch off the floor.
Other Techniques
Inversion positions, or positions in which you are upside-down, may combat the effects of aging in the face. Keeping your head lower than your heart increases the flow of blood in your face. Cleaves states that facial exercises in general increase circulation in the face, which enhances the flow of oxygen and nutrients to the cells while removing old and damaged cells.
Warning
Some critics of facial exercises believe that exaggerated facial expressions may increase wrinkles. Cleaves agrees that movements made in one direction can increase wrinkles but points out that facial exercises move the muscles both ways. This smooths out wrinkles and tones muscles. Spasms are another potential drawback to facial exercises. Practicing correct form is essential. A spasm caused by an overexaggerated facial contortion can cause permanent damage, states Dr. Min-Wei Christine Lee of the East Bay Laser and Skincare Center in Walnut Creek, California.
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