By Ester Marsh

I had one of our long term members come and talk to me about doing an article about “facial posture.” I am glad to do so!

He became aware when he was looking for something and a person told him that he looked so angry. He wasn’t angry, he “just” had RBF! Typically in your 40s and 50s, your face starts to change. (Can be earlier or later). The jawline starts to sag, the corners of your mouth go with it, wrinkles appear and so on. Of course, genetics is a huge part on how you age, as is eating healthy and exercising.

I know my face has changed. Especially when I am in deep thought or intense work. I absolutely have the RBF (R=Resting, B=female dog, F= Face) when I am relaxed! I know when my dad started to get older, the corners of his mouth started to point downwards giving him RBF/old man frown. So, can you exercise your face? Yes! There are at least 40 muscles in your face counting each side! So many muscles are used to make you smile, cry, pout and every other emotion.

As with our posture, we have to be intentional with our face. Older people don’t realize it but many times their mouth falls open. And this is when they are awake. I gently tell the person “just” to close their mouth. As I would tell them to stand up tall, shoulders back and down, core engaged. There is actually facial yoga you can find online and facial exercises. I am going to give you a few to get you started!

• Brow lifts to strengthen forehead. Nose lifts (like a bunny). Lift cheek bones to strengthen. Kiss lips to big smile and repeat. Open your mouth big in an O and hold for 5 seconds.
• Tightly close your eyes and open. Scrunch your whole face. Hold about 5 seconds and release.
• For jaws, open your mouth as big as you can and slowly close your mouth without touching your teeth and pucker your mouth.

You can do these 5 to 10 times each. I try to do them every day.

You can also gently manually stretch your facial muscles, I typically stretch my facial muscles when I am putting cream on my face in the morning and evening.

Like with the rest of your body, if you don’t use it, you will lose it! And as with posture, be intentional putting a kind face “on.” And smile! Not only is a smile a gesture of friendliness, it uses about 17 muscles! And you are correct, a frown uses a whole lot more muscles, pretty much all your facial muscles, but use them in your facial exercise routine. A frown sends a whole different message out to the world.

There is a saying in Dutch (I will translate to English) — “When you get older, everything goes south. Except your gums, they go north!”

So besides body exercises, include facial exercises in a regular routine.

Ester H. Marsh is director of healthy living at the J.F. Hurley Family YMCA.