Face Pilates

Face Exercise 1

What you need to know about face exercise:

1. We’re going to try to relax some muscles that we overuse or that pull the face into
patterns we dislike, like the Frontalis on the forehead or the muscles in between the
eyebrows that furrow them, while strengthening others like the eye muscle Orbicularis
Oculi or the tongue. We will sometimes exercise the muscles that we want to use less to
help us gain awareness of what it feels like when they’re active. With that awareness
and time, hopefully you’ll be able to use them less. Some muscles we’ll want to
strengthen to lift, tone, and even increase volume, like the muscles around the eyes and
some of the cheek muscles.
2. We will be using hands to provide resistance for the face muscles. They’ll also help
smooth out wrinkles and creases that the muscles cause when used. In this way, you
can exercise the face muscles without exacerbating wrinkles. Make sure your hands are
clean before doing Face Pilates. It’s also a good idea to have the face be clean and free
of any makeup or lotions that may adversely affect contact and grip.
3. Try practicing the face exercises in front of a mirror to encourage symmetry.
4. Face muscles sometimes differ from muscles in the body. They don’t always attach from
bone to bone, crossing a joint. In some cases they do, like the masseter jaw muscle.
But sometimes, muscles attach to skin or eyelids or lips, and their job isn’t to move a
joint but to move the face to create facial expressions and enhance communication.
Some muscles attach into other muscles. This means that you can’t isolate only certain
muscles and achieve balance. You’ll need to exercise all the muscles of the face. Just
like we believe the whole body should be exercised in regular Pilates, we also want to
work the whole face, head, and neck. Everything is connected and all the interactions of
the various muscles and tissues need to be considered.
5. After doing your face exercises, start to pay attention to how you use your face muscles
throughout the day. How do you hold your forehead, eyes, mouth, tongue, jaw? Bring
your awareness to this so that we can start to make any necessary adjustments. You
can’t relax an overused muscle if you don’t know you’re overusing it.
6. Face exercise will also work your hands, arms, shoulders, and neck. If it is fatiguing for
you, you can practice laying down or with your head supported by a high-backed couch.
As you get stronger, see if you can do the exercises upright.
 Brief Introduction to Face Anatomy

While I don’t want to overwhelm you with the details of the 50+ muscles of the face, head, and
neck, a basic understanding of their location and function will better inform how to exercise
them. To execute Face Pilates well, you’ll want to know some of the bones and muscles.

The images in this anatomy section were graciously provided by Uldis Zarins, author of the book
Anatomy of Facial Expressions published in 2014. I highly recommend this book if you want to
dive deeper into facial anatomy. It has gorgeous, educational illustrations, and very clear,
detailed text about anatomy and function of these muscles. The book is created for artists,
particularly sculptors, and includes many images of real people using facial muscles to create
facial expressions. It is a fantastic supplement to this Face Pilates Course. The images
provided below are not to be reproduced or used without specific permission from the author.

Learn more about the book or purchase it here:

https://anatomy4sculptors.com/collections/books/products/anatomy-of-facial-expressions-pdf
Picture from Anatomy of Facial Expression by Uldis Zarins, page 12
In order to understand the muscles of the face, head, and neck, it’s helpful to know the bones
they attach to. The skull is comprised of several flat bones that are fused together. The Frontal
bone makes up the forehead and the top of the eye socket or orbit. The cheekbone is actually
several bones, including the Maxilla (purple, upper jaw and nasal passages), the Zygomatic
bone (lime green), and the Temporal bone (pastel green). Many muscles are named after the
bones to which they attach, like the Frontalis on the Frontal bone, the Temporalis on the
Temporal bone, and the Zygomaticus Major and Minor attaching to the Zygomatic bone.

The jaw bone is called the Mandible (pink). The lower teeth attach into it. It has two
protrusions, the most posterior of which attaches into the TMJ--Temporomandibular Joint. The
one underneath the Zygomatic bone is where the Temporalis muscle attaches to help close the
jaw.

The purple bone at the back of the head is the Occipital bone. The bump in the middle is called
the Occipital Protuberance and I will often refer to the arch that the protuberance is the height of
as the Occipital Ridge. Muscles that connect between this bone and the top of the spine are
called Suboccipitals and we will be strengthening and massaging them in future lessons.
 Picture from Anatomy of Facial Expression by Uldis Zarins, page 45

● Temporalis (#2, green) - large jaw muscle on the side of the head responsible for
closing the jaw.
● Masseter (#10, reddish orange) - jaw muscle that attaches from the cheek bone to the
mandible and is responsible for closing the jaw. The Temporalis and Masseter get all the
attention, but there are also other jaw muscles called the Pterygoids. You’ll learn more
about these in the Intraoral Massage lessons.
● Frontalis (#1, purple) - primary forehead muscle responsible for elevating the eyebrows,
creating horizontal lines/creases on the forehead. Often used when looking up or
surprised. Perhaps overused when wearing a face mask and trying to communicate well
with the remaining exposed face.
● Muscles in between the eyebrows, including Procerus (#3, light purple), Depressor
Supercilii (#4, reddish orange) and Corrugator Supercilii (deep to Depressor Supercilii
and not shown). Basically this muscle group furrows the eyebrows, pulling them
together and creating lines that I sometimes refer to as 11-lines. However, you can have
a variety of lines occur (like a single 1 or 1111). These muscles contribute to facial
expressions that make you look angry, concerned, even focused (are you using them
now as you read this?)
● Orbicularis Oculi (#5, lime green) - donut shaped eye muscle responsible for closing
the eyes, blinking, squinting in the bright sun or to help with focusing the eye, and
winking. In Face Pilates, we often focus on contracting the lower portion of this muscle,
asking the lower eyelid to lift. Later on in Face Exercise 2 and 3, we’ll get even more
specific about which portion of this muscle we’re trying to contract. But truthfully, even if
you think of only contracting the lower portion, the entire muscle contracts.
● Cheek muscles - there are many muscles that attach from the cheekbone to the mouth.
The ones most narrow to the nose, I tend to call snarl muscles as they lift in inner lips to
show the teeth in what looks like a snarl. The outer ones running obliquely lift the
corners of the mouth towards the upper ear, creating a smile. Some on the sides of the
mouth can pull the corners wide towards the earlobes to expose the side teeth. And
some attach from the sides of the mouth down to the mandible, pulling the corners of the
mouth down into a frown. The one I talk about in this lesson is Buccinator (#22,
purple). It compresses the cheeks against the teeth and gums, and is used in blowing
(in latin, it means trumpeter and would be used to blow into a wind instrument like the
trumpet), whistling, and sucking through a straw. When you smile, you are
Zygomaticus Minor (#8, pink) and Zygomaticus Major (#9), both named because they
attach to the Zygomatic bone. This is also where the Masseter muscle attaches. Some
of these cheek muscles attach not only to the lip, but also into fibers of the mouth muscle
Orbicularis Oris.
● Orbicularis Oris is not shown above, as it is deep to the cheek muscles (but see
below). Like the eye muscle Orbicularis Oculi, it encircles an opening (in this case the
mouth/oris instead of the eye/oculi). You can see it below in lime green (labeled O).
This muscle closes the mouth and is used in kissing or puckering the lips. It’s also used
with Buccinator to compress the lips against the teeth. If you hold tension in your mouth
area, you may be using Orbicularis Oris and Buccinator throughout the day. I see clients
do this when they are focusing on challenging Pilates exercises in the studio.
Picture from Anatomy of Facial Expression by Uldis Zarins, page 84
● Platysma - the most superficial muscle on the front of the neck. It attaches from the
collarbone area up over the mandible into muscles on the chin and lower cheeks. It
assists other muscles with pulling the corners of the mouth out and down, and can be
used to increase space in the trachea to help with breathing during exercise. If you look
down for a good portion of the day, this muscle and other muscles of the anterior neck
can be short and tight. We stretch them in an exercise called Platysma Stretch.

Picture from Anatomy of Facial Expression by Uldis Zarins, page 117

 Face Exercises

In all exercises, scan your face, head, and neck for unnecessary tension. Hold isometric
exercises for 20-60 seconds.

Temporalis Lift - The meat of the pinky pulls the temple area (Temporalis muscle, Orbicularis
Oculi muscle, eye tissue including the eyebrow) out and up making the eyes slant. Fingers
embrace the head and help lift the Frontalis muscle out and up as well. Squint the eyes shut
against the resistance, pulling the eyebrows down. Don’t let the upper eyelid close all the way.
Ask the lower eyelid to lift. Think of rolling your eyeballs up or even back in your head to
encourage the lower Orbicularis Oculi to contract.

Forehead Lower with Palm - Place the palm on the forehead, embracing the Frontalis muscle
including the eyebrow. Lift the area with the hand. The other hand can come on top for
symmetry. Pull the eyebrows down against the resistance, lengthening the Frontalis muscle.
This is especially good to do if you frequently elevate your eyebrows.
Horizontal V Eyes - Place two fingers on eyebrow and two fingers on cheekbone, making a
horizontal V with the hands. Press into the bones, using the fingers to anchor either side of
Orbicularis Oculi. Try to close the eyes. Don’t let the upper eyelid do all the work. Only close it
halfway, and then ask the lower eyelid to lift. Look up or think of rolling your eyeballs back in the
head. Excellent for creating volume in this eye muscle, which can help with dark undereye
circles or deepset/sunken eyes. Also good at moving fluids that can pool in the eye socket and
create puffiness or eyebags.

V Eyes - Place the middle finger near the inner eye, pointer finger near the outer eye, making a
V with your fingers, and gently pull the eyes wide. This will make the undereye area taught, but
be gentle because this skin is very delicate. Pull the undereye area up, thinking of looking up or
rolling eyes back in the head. This exercise isolates the lower portion of the Orbicularis Oculi.
Looking up and Upper Eyelid Lift - These eye exercises try to separate eyeball and eyelid
movements from eyebrow lifting performed by the Frontalis muscle. Place one finger over each
eyebrow to ensure they stay still and then practice looking up. Also try looking forward and
opening your upper eyelid as wide as you can, showing the whites above your iris. This trains
little muscles of the eye and eyelid to function better so that the Frontalis muscle doesn’t have to
overwork.

Long O - We will be learning several exercises that have this as their foundation. Open the
mouth and pull the lips over the teeth, making a “long O.” The Orbicularis Oris tries to close the
mouth against the resistance of the open jaw. Then try to smile. The closing mouth provides
resistance for the cheek muscles pulling up. In this way, you work a lot of your face muscles at
the same time. Hand placement can vary. In Long O 1, place the hands where you did for
Temporalis Lift, really helping stretch and tone a significant portion of the face. You can also roll
the eyes up or back, contracting the undereye area, to work even more muscles.
Pursed Lip Smirk - Expose all the surface of your lips and then pull the corners of your mouth
out to the side. This will use Orbicularis Oris and Buccinator. Use your hands to smooth out the
creases on the cheeks.

Blowfish - Use several fingers to help keep your lips shut without wrinkling, then inflate your
cheeks with air. This elongates the cheek muscles. The tongue can lift up and close the back
of the mouth so that you can continue to breathe through the nose while you hold the pose.
Open and Close the Mouth against resistance - Press the thumb under the chin and open the
jaw against the resistance it provides. Then hook the pointer finger over the chin and close
against that resistance. Alternate opening and closing the mouth. If you have discomfort in
your jaw, do this gently without a lot of resistance from the hands. Unlike all the previous
isometric exercises, this one involves movement. Go slowly and smoothly for about five
repetitions.

Tongue out + Tongue Stick - It is so important to strengthen the tongue. The tongue is a very
large muscle and getting it strong will help with good resting oral posture, articulation of speech,
and helping keep the teeth clean (by finding and removing food particles). The root of the
tongue forms the floor of the mouth and can contribute to a sagging neck or a “double chin.” A
weak, heavy tongue can also fall into the back of the throat, obstructing the airway while you
sleep and potentially contributing to snoring and sleep apnea. In this exercise, alternate
between sticking the whole tongue to the roof of the mouth and opening the jaw to stretch the
underside (root) of the tongue while providing resistance. Then open the mouth and stick the
tongue out and down as far as it can go. Tongue exercises will also work plenty of other
muscles, like those of the jaw and mouth.
 Picture from Anatomy of Voice by Blandine Calais-Germain, page 249

Chin Jut Forward - Most jaw muscles close the jaw but some of the Pterygoids move the jaw
from side to side or forward. This will work those muscles, while helping stretch the Masseter
and jaw joint. Press your jaw forward and provide resistance with either two fingers on either
side of the chin or all your knuckles. Pulling the bottom lip over the teeth will work some of the
muscles of the chin, like Mentalis, as well as Orbicularis Oris. This exercise also generates
movement in areas that contain lymph nodes, which benefit from stimulation.
Tongue Plus - Push the tongue into one cheek without trying to close the mouth too much,
avoiding wrinkles. Then eject the tongue straight forward. Push it into the other cheek. Then
roll the tongue into the back of the throat. In this way, you are drawing a plus sign with your
tongue. Do several times, potentially alternating directions. While the tongue gets stronger, the
cheeks benefit from a nice stretch. And rolling the tongue back in your mouth means you’re
expanding the throat and back of the mouth--a skill we’ll learn about more later.

Occipital Lift and Bend - Place the meat of the thumb on the side of the Occipital bone behind
the ear. Use it to lift the head, as if you’re tractioning the head off the spine, and then side bend
the head. Alternate sides, tipping your head from side to side. You either place both hands into
position or do one hand at a time. The latter is better if you’re experiencing head and neck
tension. If it feels good to add a little flexion of the head to this stretch, you may. This move
stretches the muscles at the back of the head, including the Upper Trapezius and Suboccipitals,
as well as muscles on the side of the neck like the SCM and Scalenes. It is important to not
only exercise, stretch, and massage the face, but also the head and neck upon which the face is
placed.
Subway head - This exercise created by Kathy Grant, who studied with Joseph Pilates and
taught Pilates for decades, helps stretch the base of the skull (Suboccipitals) and the back of
the neck. Imagine you have fallen asleep on the subway. Your forehead gets heavy and pulls
your head forward into flexion. Try to lengthen as you flex instead of just collapsing. Go until
you feel a nice stretch in the back of the neck. It may even go down in between your shoulder
blades or possibly lower. It is okay to flex the thoracic spine, or what might look like slouching.
You can relax the shoulders too and let the weight of the arms hang. Then stack yourself back
up. Part stretch, part exercise to align your ribcage, neck and head back atop the pelvis. Do
3-5 repetitions or alternate with Platysma Stretch.

Platysma Stretch - After flexing the head and neck forward in Subway Head, stretching the back
of the neck, it is nice to extend the head and neck to provide a stretch for the front of the neck.
The Platysma muscle is the most superficial anterior neck muscle, but this stretch will not only
stretch it. It’ll also stretch other muscles on the front of the neck, like the SCMs and
Suprahyoids. Make sure your head is stacked well atop your spine and ribcage, then grab
underneath your chin and slide that hand down to the level of the collarbones. Your other hand
can join it for symmetry. Then tip your head back, elongating through the neck rather than
collapsing back. It should feel like your head is extending more than your neck. Jut your chin
forward creating an underbite with your teeth. The hands anchor the bottom of the muscle while
the mandible protruding stretches the top of the muscle. Make sure the Frontalis hasn’t lifted
the eyebrows. You can even close the eyes. Hold. I recommend doing this several times
throughout the day if you’re often looking down and shortening the front of the neck.