u/Vivid_Demand_5106

Background: I’ve been ill for the last 4.5 years and unable to exercise in any real sense. Not even brisk walking or even lower impact like walking in a swimming pool or stationary reclining bike or gentle Pilates. It has wreaked havoc on my face (and body, and mental health). I used to be a professional dancer and Pilates instructor until I got sick, so the last few years have been pretty brutal.

SO in August last year (2025) I got my passport pic taken (pic on left) and I was shaken by how bloated and flaccid my face looked. And by how defeated and deeply sad I looked. And the hilarious thing is that I was literally trying to do a very subtle, pleasant smile for that photo. I cried when I saw the pic and decided then and there to begin face yoga.

Fast forward to last week, and the pic on the right is me now, after around 8.5 months of regular (averaging probably four times a week) face yoga sessions. Yes, I do understand how different the lighting is - I know - but honestly there is SO much less fluid in my face, everything is a little more defined, my eyebags are almost gone, my eyelids are less puff, my jawline is a bit better – it really has done so much for me. And it has given me some small sense of control, which is doing wonders for my headspace. I’ll just say as well that I haven’t had any facial treatments of any description either – I have never had botox, never any fillers or abrasion treatment stuff, etc. Just no face yoga vs 8.5 months of face yoga.

In case anyone is wondering, I don’t have any set program from anyone specific to recommend. As I said earlier, I was a Pilates instructor before I got ill, so it wasn’t hard for me to look at videos of multiple face yoga influencers and select the exercises that I knew were going to have some definite muscular and anatomical effect and not just be faff 😅

But here are some of the people I watched a lot from to put together my own personal program (and I designed a couple of new/adapted exercises for myself as well after watching these people’s work): Niki Terlich, Trinh Hong, Sadie Nardini, Fumiko Takatsu, and a couple of neck exercises from Bob and Brad (RIP Bob, you were great), who are physical therapists on YouTube. I recommend all of them to anyone who is interested in trying face yoga.

I didn’t see any really definite results until around the three-month mark (I know a lot of influencers say “do this and your xyz will be fixed in two weeks“, etc. But that is mostly nonsense) but from that point on the difference has been noticeable, and getting slowly and incrementally better as I go. I am excited.