6 Facial Exercises To Tone Your Face After a Cranial/Neck Massage

Cranial Massage Basics

Cranial massage aims to restore natural positions of the bones to ease muscle tension and pain. In the cranial/neck area, massage treatment is also achieving impressive anti-aging and even reverse aging results, especially when combined with some self-care exercises. If you suffer from headaches, including migraines, neck pain, discomfort, or are simply concerned with skin/eyelids starting to droop, six facial exercises can help in between neck massage treatments at Reflexion Spa!

Like any type of exercise, the goal of facial exercises is to strengthen the target muscles. Each type of exercise targets a specific cluster of muscles, just as traditional exercise does. Facial exercises may be done with the hand or small tools.

Facial massage is used to achieve many goals. The act of stimulating the face muscles may have the following effects:

While no large-scale studies have been done on facial exercises (yet!), this practice is gaining in popularity due to the results reported by those who have tried it. With virtually no side effects or caveats, the best way to find out is to try some of these facial exercises for yourself!

Place your left hand (or a small rubber ball) behind your earlobe at the base of your skull. Move your hand/ball in small circles for about ten seconds (you should be able to complete about fifteen circles in this time) and then stop and press the area down gently for a count of two breaths.

Locate the joint by opening and closing your jaw, then tilt your head and place the base of your hand (or the ball) right under the cheekbone where the joint begins. Another ten seconds of small circles and then a count of two breaths before releasing pressure will help with toning the skin of the lower face.

Extra gentle pressure is needed here, as the temple encloses a mobile bone called the sphenoid, and you don’t want to push in too far. Make the same small circles for ten seconds and press/hold for two breaths. Perform the same techniques again at the jaw and the base of the skull. Don’t forget to repeat on the opposite side!

Use the tips of your fingers on each hand to very lightly sweep your face and neck (both sides at once) as if you were rinsing the area. Brush from your collarbone downward, then move down from the outside of the throat towards the inner collarbone. Your hands will make the letter V as you move. Then brush your fingers under the eyes, and sweep from the forehead outward, towards the temples.

Take the three middle fingers of each hand and place them underneath each eyebrow. Then push your eyebrows straight up while looking straight ahead and using your forehead muscles to push down against the fingertips. Hold for ten seconds and then relax. Repeat a total of three times.

A tense and tight neck

will eventually do damage to your face, causing a downward set to your features and increasing the onset of wrinkles. If you stretch and massage your neck to relieve tension, this can be avoided. First, tilt your head towards the right shoulder and then use your hand to pull it closer for a deeper stretch. Hold for a count of ten. Repeat on the other side. Then use your hands to massage the muscles at the back of the neck from the base and move upward to the back of your skull.

Are you ready to relieve all that tension you carry in your neck and head?

Reach out to one of our massage specialists today

to book an appointment! We look forward to providing you relief and relaxation!