Your Face Tells a Story - Make it One You Love
Do you ever take the time to look closely at your face in the mirror? Not with that critical eye we've been conditioned to use ("ugh, that line is deeper" or "when did that spot appear?"), but with genuine curiosity and appreciation?
Your face is so much more than a collection of features to be judged. It's a living record of your life story — a map of all you've experienced, felt, and overcome.
🍃 Those smile lines around your eyes? They're evidence of thousands of moments of joy, laughter shared with friends, pride in your children's accomplishments, and delightful surprises.
🍃 The softening around your jawline? It speaks to years of expressing yourself, advocating for others, and sharing your wisdom with the world.
🍃 Even the furrow between your brows tells its own story — of concentration as you solved problems, of concern for those you love, of determination when facing challenges.
Our culture teaches us to see these changes as "flaws" to be erased. But what if we saw them differently?
What if, instead of trying to erase our stories, we focused on making sure our faces accurately tell the stories we want to tell?
Because here's the truth: While we can't stop the natural process of aging (nor would we want to — remember that funeral I mentioned?), we absolutely can influence HOW we age.
We can release the habitual tension patterns that create permanent frowns or worried expressions. We can lift the muscles that have begun to lose tone, tightening the skin above. We can improve circulation to bring a natural glow to our skin. We can stimulate the production of collagen and elastin, the scaffolding on which healthy skin is built.
And that's exactly what face yoga allows us to do — not erase our stories, but make sure our faces are telling the TRUE story of who we are.
I remember working with a client named Katherine (you might remember I mentioned her in an earlier email). She came to me initially because she was tired of people asking if she was upset when she was actually feeling perfectly fine.
Through our work together, she learned how to exercise certain muscles she hadn't worked in a while. She learned techniques for releasing tension in areas she didn't even know she was holding it. And she became aware of habitual expressions that were making things worse - and how to stop making them.
Katherine didn't magically become 20 years younger — but something even better happened. Her face began to accurately reflect her inner state: relaxed, joyful, and confident.
At her college reunion, several people commented on how good she looked. One old friend even asked if she'd had "work done" (she hadn't!). She told me later that she felt like it was the first time in years that her outside matched her inside.
That's the real power of a more balanced approach to beauty that works from the inside out — it helps you tell your authentic story.
It's not about erasing the evidence of your journey, but about ensuring that your face is telling the story YOU want it to tell: one of joy, vitality, and self-acceptance.
So my question for you today is this: What story do you want your face to tell? And does your reflection currently match how you feel inside?