Face Yoga: What a Dermatologist's 5-Minute Routine Can Do

I'm Dr. Hongseok Kim, a board-certified dermatologist with 21 years of practice and the medical director of VOS Dermatology Clinic in Gangnam, Seoul, right in front of Dosan Park. At VOS I see every patient myself, from the first consultation to the final treatment.

Face yoga, the idea that a few minutes of facial exercise a day can keep the face lifted, is something I actually do myself, usually in the evening after skincare. Patients often ask whether it really works or whether it is just a trend. This page is based on my YouTube video from September 2024, a long compilation of my face, eye and neck routines; I rewrote the most useful parts for readers abroad. The video above can be watched with translated captions.

Why the lower face ages first

Short answer: most of the day we wear a neutral expression, and in that state the muscles that pull the face down are stronger than the ones that lift it.

When people take off a face mask and suddenly look older, the reason is usually the lower face, from below the nose to the jawline (in the video at 52:50). The habit that damages it most is one we rarely notice: an expressionless face (in the video at 53:39). Look at people on a subway or reading their phones. Lifting a muscle takes effort, but letting the face fall does not.

There is also a structural reason. The muscles that lift the mouth run in separate strands, while the muscles that pull down lie in overlapping sheets (in the video at 54:50). The downward side simply has more pull. Over the years the mouth corners drop, the chin muscle bunches up into a dimpled "walnut" chin, and the fat around the jaw slides down into jowls. Face yoga makes sense as a way to push back in the opposite direction.

A 5-minute face yoga routine for the lower face

Short answer: practise a full smile that lifts the mouth corners toward the cheekbones, keep your jaw relaxed, and do it for about five minutes a day.

Most people smile mainly sideways. The muscles that matter most for lifting run from the mouth corners up to the cheekbones, so practise a wide smile that shows a little of your gums, and imagine pulling the corners as high as they can go (in the video at 57:21). Hold it for three to five seconds; it feels surprisingly hard, which shows how rarely we use these muscles. Repeated for about five minutes a day, this mid-face exercise gradually makes the cheek area look more lifted.

The second habit is to stop clenching. Many of us clamp our mouth shut while looking at a phone (in the video at 59:36). Simply letting the jaw relax, with the lips together but the teeth slightly apart, weakens the downward pull. Third, upward massage or a home device can help offset gravity a little if you use it consistently (in the video at 1:00:13), though it will not create a dramatic change on its own.

For the three exercises aimed specifically at the lines from the mouth to the chin, see my note on marionette lines and the 15-second mouth exercises.

Face yoga for drooping eyelids

Short answer: press gently on the bone above the eye, never on the eyeball, and push the skin upward toward the brow in 15-second holds.

Eyelid skin is about 1 mm thick, the thinnest on the body (in the video at 27:03). If everyone loses the same amount with age, thin skin loses a larger share, which is why the eyes show age early. Place your fingers on the bone above the eye, not on the eyeball, and push upward toward the brow (in the video at 28:53). Work in three or four points from the inner corner to the tail of the brow. Then do the same just above the brow, where the forehead muscle that helps open the eyes attaches.

I hold each push for 15 seconds, rest 5 seconds, and repeat three times (in the video at 32:11). Use gentle pressure, because the skin here is fragile. The area feels lighter afterwards and lymph circulation around the eyes improves, which also helps with puffiness. If you also want to look after the skin itself, a hyaluronic acid serum followed by a very thin layer of petrolatum helps keep moisture in.

A 2-minute neck routine

Short answer: unclench your jaw, stretch the front of the neck at different angles, and build neck strength with short holds.

Opening the jaw slightly while keeping the lips closed releases tension in the lower face and the neck together (in the video at 1:04:49). Then tilt your head back as far as is comfortable and open and close your mouth slightly; you will feel the skin at the front of the neck tighten and relax (in the video at 1:05:56). Repeat with the head turned about 45 degrees to each side. Finally, press your palm against your head and resist with your neck for about ten seconds in each direction (in the video at 1:09:10). The whole routine takes about two minutes. If neck lines are your main concern, my note on what neck creams and exercises can do for neck lines goes further.

Lymph massage: work downward, not upward

Short answer: lymph drainage follows the lymph down toward the nodes by the ears, under the chin and along the neck, with light pressure.

Lymph vessels are thin and move fluid mainly when nearby muscles contract, and the sides of the face barely move during the day (in the video at 1:28:13). The face drains along two routes. From the outer eye, sweep outward along the brow to the front of the ear (in the video at 1:30:26), massage there and below the ear a few times, then continue down along the large muscle at the side of the neck (in the video at 1:31:07). From the inner eye, press down along the nose to the centre of the jaw underneath the chin, then outward and down the neck.

Upward strokes are skin massage against gravity; lymph massage goes from top to bottom (in the video at 1:32:26). Do not press hard, as if kneading a muscle. Light pressure after your evening skincare, about five minutes, is enough to reduce puffiness. In clinic, devices can do part of this work: Revinas uses pressure waves that stimulate the deeper tissue and lymphatic circulation, and Vacumed uses alternating pressure to move circulation through the whole body (in the video at 1:34:11).

Where face yoga stops helping

Short answer: once the jawline or eyelids have clearly dropped, exercise and massage rarely fix it, and treatment is the faster route.

The lower face is hard to treat once it has fallen, because muscle and fat are intertwined in a complex way; improving one spot can make another compensate (in the video at 1:00:56). In practice I may relax the muscles that pull down with botulinum toxin so the lifting exercises work better, and soften the contour with a small amount of filler where needed.

Around the eyes I do not use wrinkle injections to treat drooping (in the video at 33:21). People who use the forehead muscle to help open their eyes can find their lids feel heavier after it is relaxed. For thin eyelid skin I prefer collagen: Retizen, which I often combine with Double Tite so radiofrequency works on the skin at the same time, plus Juvelook or Rejuran for skin quality. For more active tightening, eye Ultherapy with the 1.5 mm tip or Thermage on the eyes, done gently and repeated (in the video at 35:52). My guide to Thermage for the eyes and my overview of matching each wrinkle to a treatment explain those options.

Face yoga is worth doing every day, the way you brush your teeth: it costs nothing, and it trains the face in the right direction. Just be realistic about what it can reverse. You can see how other visitors approached their treatment in our creator experiences at VOS.

Results vary from person to person, and the right plan for you is decided at an in-person consultation.

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Results, swelling and recovery vary from person to person. This page is general information from VOS Dermatology Clinic based on Dr. Kim's video and does not replace an in-person consultation.