Face Yoga and rehabilitation

June 23, 2018 by Viki

Face Yoga has many benefits besides just the beauty benefits. Did you know that you can use Face Yoga techniques in a rehabilitation therapy?  Down below you can find information from a real-life case in which Face Yoga helped a women get control over her facial muscles.

A women was diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy.
(Bell’s Palsy is a type of facial paralysis that results in an ability to control facial muscles on the affected side. The cause is unknown. It results from a dysfunctional of the facial nerve)

Symptoms can vary from mild to severe.
Some of the symptoms she experienced were:
❌Couldn’t blow out my cheeks
❌ Couldn’t pronounce words that required to close the mouth
❌ The half tongue was numb
❌ Couldn’t close mouth entirely
❌ Couldn’t suck on a straw
❌ Constantly dry mouth
❌ The right eye couldn’t close tight
❌ Couldn’t raise eyebrows
❌ Couldn’t flare the right nostril
❌ Eyeballs feel insecure, tired eyes constantly

She took on treatment in medication form to reduce nerve inflammations, acupuncture 3 times a week, daily face yoga, acupressure massages, along with a clean diet and yoga practice.

The first Face Yoga lesson started on the 2nd week after she was diagnosed.

Week 1
(Warm-ups on torso, shoulders, chest, and neck)
✅ Big O
✅ WOW
✅ Tapping
✅ Eye flex
*Class focused mainly on receiving sensations through activating face muscles, building heat, stimulating blood flow and creating a sense of awareness between breaths and facial movements. Throughout the week she’s advised to practice these 4 poses.

Week 2
(Warm-ups on torso, shoulders, chest, and neck)
*she was able to flex her eyes but was having difficulty squinting, so we worked on eye area poses :
✅ Big O
✅ WOW
✅ Binocular eye
✅ Eye flex

Week 3
(Along with warming up torso, shoulders, chest, and neck, Big O and WOW became part of warm-up poses as she became familiar with the poses)
*Class focused on the mouth area
✅ Smackeroo
✅ Bumblebee
✅ Symmetrical mouth with the hand
✅ Yummy face

Just after 2 days of practicing these poses diligently, she was able to whistle and close her mouth almost entirely ✨

Week 4
(She gained almost 90% of her facial muscle movements by week 4, but it was still tricky to squint the eyes and eyeballs still feel loose)
*Class focused on the eye area
✅ Eye flex
✅ Eye push ups
✅ No more tired eyes

Week 5
(She was having difficulty to blow up her cheeks with air)
*Class focused on cheek, mouth and jawline muscles
✅ Nasolabial Smoother
✅ Rolly Polly
✅ Swan Neck

Each week we go through the poses we learned the week before and there were tremendous improvements in the control of muscle engagements and movements.
I shall let the attached photo speak for itself.

The Key to recovery
✨ Breathing into poses
✨ Consistent and Diligent Practice
✨ Positive Spirit from teacher and student