Hamster cheeks, also affectionately known as sagging cheeks, ensure that our facial contours disappear over time. And after many years of working in the beauty sector, I can only say that wrinkles are overrated. The people who look at you initially judge your age according to completely different criteria, and sagging cheeks play an important role in this.

Our subconscious has learnt what the contours of young and older people look like. Before you even get round to studying the wrinkles of the person opposite you, you unconsciously assess their posture. Straight posture, good body tension, firm shoulders = young. That's how the equation works in our subconscious, which makes around 90% of our decisions for us. Slumped shoulders, slack posture = older to old, depending on how pronounced.

Disappearing contours

Only then does the face come next. Here, too, the subconscious switches on before you consciously think about the person's age. Here, the estimation is based on the chin and jawline. Young people have a well-defined face with clear contours and a firm jawline. The older we get, the more these disappear. Our face "sinks" and a clear contour is no longer recognisable.

This is where beauty doctors rush towards us with face or thread lifts. It's a bit like watching a beautiful plant wither and instead of really helping it, you support its leaves with strings that you hang on the wall so that it can keep its shape. That's how some of these faces look, especially the older ones. Let's do something useful instead.

My three-part free series

In my Live courses I always ask my participants about their concerns. As sagging cheeks are relatively common, I thought that I would a three-part series about them. In the first two parts I will show you exercises from the Facial yogathat specifically build up this part of the face. In the third part you will get tips for Cockroaches and acupressure points for this area.

You can apply all of this as described here. However, it is particularly effective if it is built into the overall programme. If you are a newcomer to my site, you can have a quick look at the my book and the corresponding Online course to see the programme. If you already have one of these, I would recommend incorporating the exercises or the special scraping movements into your programme. Because everything in our face is connected and you will get better results if you build up the whole network of muscles and tissue.

Sagging cheeks rarely come alone.

This is usually accompanied by a pronounced nasolabial fold. This is because while the skin on the cheeks sags, it hangs tightly on the nose, so it can only create a deep wrinkle to the left and right of the nose. At the same time, bags under the eyes can develop, as the eye ring muscle practically borders on the oblique muscle cord, the slackness of which causes the nasolabial fold to develop. Why is this so?

The skin becomes thinner and flabbier with age and the connective tissue loses its firmness. In the upper cheek area, fat accumulates in the subcutaneous tissue, which can no longer be held in place by the sagging tissue and slides downwards. Look at the picture of the facial muscles. These weaken just like in the rest of the body and are unable to give the tissue the support it needs.

Firming with facial yoga

And this is exactly where we start. Firstly, we use the following exercises to tighten the muscle strands that support our cheeks and chin area and secondly, we build up the muscles so that they gain a little more volume and act as natural fillers so that the skin can tighten again.

If you are already an experienced user of Chi instead of Botox, don't look for the exercises in the book. You won't find them, except for one, because as I said they are a supplement to the basic programme in the book. I have promised to keep researching and to keep adding new things to the programme...

The series is also available as a video on YouTube

Some people like to read, others prefer to watch. I have the following exercises also in the form of a VIDEO you can find it at the end of this article or simply on YouTube under my name. Remember - it doesn't help to practise once. It also doesn't help to know about the exercises. Only the diligent who regularly invest a few minutes will reap the rewards. Practising a little every day means that, like a sculptor, you are giving your face a new shape, which, by the way, not only looks good, but also feels much better!

Fist under the chin

Make sure that your spine is straight. Place one fist under your chin and support this hand with the other.

Now press your chin firmly against the fist. You are trying to open your lower jaw against the resistance of the fist, so to speak. You should feel an intense tension in the chin, jaw, throat and neck area.

This exercise has a very positive effect on the entire area up to the décolleté, eliminates the double chin and strengthens the muscles in the sagging cheek area.

Tense and relax for 30 to 40 seconds.

IMPORTANT!

We store a lot of tension in the jaw area without realising it. We owe many a problem in the shoulder and neck area directly to tension in the jaw. Exercising the jaw muscles finally brings things back to life. The pulsation of tensing and relaxing during the exercises helps, reduce the stored stressso that we no longer have to do this unconsciously, for example by grinding our teeth at night. However, I would recommend tapping the jaw area with your fingertips between exercises, massaging it and relaxing it thoroughly.

If you have any major problems here, talk to your doctor. Always pay attention to how your body feels and don't go beyond your limits. In this area in particular, I have experienced all kinds of miraculous things during the courses, from the disappearance of jaw blockages and the disappearance of tinnitus to the disappearance of constant pain in the shoulder area. Practising here also makes sense from a health perspective, but you should be careful and build up the muscles slowly.

Relax the jaw area between exercises

You can do this by snorting like a horse. Try to let out a "pfffrrr" through your completely relaxed lips. It's best to moisten your lips a little and try to make the sound as loud and intense as possible.

Another option is as follows: Open your mouth slightly and let your lower jaw hang down loosely. Now shake your head as if you were saying no and let your jaw swing back and forth loosely.

Do these relaxation exercises as and when you feel that your jaw needs them. Then you can move on to the next exercise.

O-Smile

Draw your lips over your teeth and form an O.

Hold the tension and smile. Your lips are still drawn over your teeth.

Keep switching back and forth between the O and the smile.

Repeat for 30 to 40 seconds.

Tighten the cheek lifts

This is an intensive exercise that activates all the muscles capable of lifting the cheeks.

Place the palm of your hand between your lower jaw and cheekbones. Push the tissue slightly backwards and diagonally upwards. To do this, you need to build up a certain amount of pressure, as you are not only pushing the skin, but also holding the muscles backwards, so to speak.

Now push your lower jaw forwards and feel how it works against the pressure of the balls of your hands.

Relax and repeat for 30 to 40 seconds.

If you are more experienced, you can push the upper cheek area slightly backwards at the same time and include it in the exercise. You are then not only pushing the lower jaw forwards, but also the cheeks with the upper lip. At the same time, you can push the occipital muscle backwards.

Don't despair if this doesn't mean anything to you or doesn't seem feasible! My blog is also read by real facial yoga professionals, practice makes perfect and stick with the first version for now, the practice is hard enough.

Hold chin

Slide your lips over your teeth and press your index, middle and ring fingers on your chin.

Open your mouth and try to close it again against the pressure of your fingers.

With each repetition, tilt your head back more and more until you are looking completely upwards. Then move your head back down until your gaze is straight. All the while, open and close your mouth against the resistance of your fingers.

Repeat for 30 to 40 seconds.

Ingenious addition

If you are already cupping and scraping, you are welcome to do this after such an intensive exercise session. This helps the muscles to recover more quickly and therefore build up faster. As I said, in the third part of this series I will show you some special movements with the scraper that have a positive effect on this area. In the next part, I will show you a few exercises that you can easily do in between. Because - I repeat - you can only help your face with regular attention.

Help yourself, otherwise no one will help you

We still need to rethink this point. Firstly, we need to get away from the idea that only external experts can help us. I have my book and my course designed for every woman and every man, because with the right know-how you can do so much more than beauty doctors with their injections. You are the only person who can do the best for your face. Because there is no way around regular care in the right form. For me, this "right form" is facial yoga, cupping and scraping.

And secondly, we need to get used to the idea that what our face needs much more than all kinds of cosmetics and expensive creams is simply vitality. This means energy, blood, movement, life - these are the most important ingredients for a radiant face. And again, it's all about the right know-how. How do I energise my face, what can I do to bring it back to life?

My expertise for you

I have been grappling with this question for years. I wanted to get rid of my frown lines and also this sagging skin that made me look so sad. It's hard to believe that after almost 10 years I look better today than I did when I was 35. I would never have believed what is possible. If you are someone who likes to take things into your own hands, my Online course is just right for you. You will receive lifelong access to theoretical and practical videos on facial yoga, the Chinese massage techniques of facial cupping and facial scraping combined with Dein Cham, the Vietnamese reflex massage of the face. All this will be explained to you and you can practise and massage with me 1:1.

I am of course also looking forward to welcoming you to one of my Live courses to get to know me. They give me the wonderful opportunity to meet with my audience and give you the chance to learn everything live and ask all your questions. You can do so much more for yourself than you realise!

VIDEO

And now, as promised, the video with the exercises described above - simple click on the picture. Have fun!

VIDEO "Defining the chin line"

Facial yoga: 25 facts why it makes you look younger

Chi instead of Botox online course