This is a facial mobility and desensitization routine.
Find a comfortable seat or lie down.
Close your eyes if you would like and let's begin with some calming breath work.
Take a deep breath in through your nose.
Three,
Two,
One.
Now exhale slowly through your mouth.
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Feel your belly rise and fall with each breath.
Continue breathing in through your nose.
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale through your mouth.
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Continue counting on your own.
Inhale.
Deep and steady.
And exhale,
Releasing any and all tension.
Let's go one more time.
In.
Feel your body softening.
And out.
Feel your body relaxing.
Now let's gently wake up the muscles in your face.
Lift your eyebrows slowly and relax them down.
Lift your eyebrows again nice and slowly.
Get them all the way to the top of your face and relax them down.
Again,
Lift your eyebrows up.
Maybe getting a little bit higher this time.
And relax them down.
One more time.
Lift your eyebrows slowly up into the air and relax them down.
Next,
Start to puff your cheeks with air.
Make sure you puff above your upper and lower lip as well as filling your cheeks all the way.
Hold for just another moment and release.
Again,
Puff your cheeks up full of air and release.
Once more,
Puff your cheeks up with air.
Feel the air strain against the inside of your cheeks.
Maybe a soft tremble in your face.
And release.
Fill your cheeks with air.
Puff them up.
Hold.
And release.
One more time.
Puff your cheeks full of air.
Fill them as full as they've been filled so far and hold here.
And release.
Now bring attention to your jaw,
Your lower jaw,
And start to rock it back and forth gently.
Feel it loosen from your jawline.
Now start to circle your jaw in one direction.
Five circles one direction.
Take your time.
When you finish the five circles,
Go the other way.
Circling your jaw the other direction five times.
Feel the tension begin to melt away from your jawline.
And when you finish five in the other direction,
Just relax for a moment.
Notice your breath.
Notice your heartbeat.
Feeling so much more relaxed.
Next,
We'll work on desensitizing the nerves in your face.
Take your finger pads up to your face and start to use a gentle upward tapping motion.
Move the pads of your fingers across your cheeks from your nose to your ears.
Tapping and patting with the tips of your fingers,
The pads of your fingers,
From nose to ears.
Now take that tapping across your forehead.
Go from the center of your forehead up to your temples.
Tapping almost like little raindrops.
Tap from center to temples.
From center to temples.
And start to tap along your jawline from chin all the way up to ears.
Tapping to trace along your jawline.
Soft and soothing.
Finally,
Start to tap lightly around your lips with your fingertips.
Going from upper to lower,
Lower to upper.
Feel each touch calming your nerves and releasing any discomfort in your face.
Now let's bring some movement to your facial muscles.
Start by smiling wide as if you could pull each corner of your mouth up and back around your head.
Hold the smile and relax and release.
Again,
Once more,
Smile as wide as you can.
Maybe even wider.
Feel your lips strain and relax and release.
Bring your smile as wide as possible.
Wider than last time.
Maybe feeling a slight tremble as you smile as wide as you can.
And relax and release.
Smile wide once more.
Hold.
Hold this wide smile and relax.
Next,
Wrinkle your nose.
Scrunch in everything all towards the center of your face.
Scrunch your eyes down.
Scrunch your lips up.
Everything pulling towards the center of your nose.
And relax and release.
Wrinkle your nose once more.
Scrunch your eyes.
Pull your lips up towards your nose.
Pull everything in towards the center of your face.
And relax and release.
Once more,
Wrinkle your nose.
Scrunch up your face.
Everything pulling in towards the center.
And relax and release.
One more.
Wrinkle your nose.
Everything pulls and draws towards the center.
Scrunch everything in.
And relax and release.
Next,
Form the shape of an O with your mouth as if you were singing O.
Really feel your lips curl as you form the O shape with your mouth.
Next,
Shift from O to the shape of your mouth you make when you say E.
Or as if you were singing E.
Switch back to the O shape.
And shift back to E.
Back to O.
And back to E.
Last time.
And E.
Finally,
Place your palm under your chin as if you were resting your chin on a plate.
Slowly open your mouth,
Pressing lightly against your hand.
Open your mouth as wide as it will go,
But don't let your hand move.
And relax and release.
Once more,
Slowly open your mouth.
Let your chin press lightly against your hand.
Get as wide as you can get.
And then relax and release.
Open your mouth once more.
Press lightly against your hand with your chin.
Open as wide as you can.
And release.
Once more,
Slowly open your mouth as wide as it will go,
Perhaps the widest it's been all this time.
Press against your hand with your chin.
And relax and release.
And let's coordinate the left and right sides of your body using cross-body nerve activation.
Take your right hand and using whatever fingers on your right hand you'd like,
Start to tap your left cheek.
Tap,
Creating a slight rhythm.
Now switch.
Use your left hand fingers and tap your right cheek.
Find the rhythm on this side.
Now switch.
Right hand tapping your left cheek.
Tap,
Tap,
Tap.
Continue tapping just slightly on your left cheek.
Now switch.
Left hand tapping right cheek.
Once more,
Take your right hand and tap your left cheek.
And leave your right hand where it is tapping your left cheek.
Bring your left hand up to tap your right cheek.
Arms crossed.
Opposite hand tapping opposite cheek.
Now lower your right hand.
Continue tapping.
Left hand on right cheek.
Tap,
Tap,
Tap.
And release both hands down.
Take your right pointer finger and draw a figure eight pattern down from your forehead down to your chin.
Smooth and slow,
Where your eye will be the top part of the eight figure.
Draw a figure eight using your right hand on the left side of your face from forehead down to chin.
Back up rounding your eye.
Now switch directions of drawing that figure eight.
Reverse.
Go the opposite direction.
Right hand drawing a figure eight pattern on the left side of your face.
Now switch hands.
Bring your left hand up to the right side of your face.
Starting at your forehead,
Trace a figure eight.
Left hand on right side of your face.
Circling your eye,
Rounding the bend at the top part of the figure eight.
Switch directions now.
Reverse the figure eight on the right side of your face.
And slowly stop drawing a figure eight.
Let both hands rest down in your lap or beside you.
Pause here and just notice your breathing.
Your heartbeat.
State of mind and relaxation.
Let's close your practice with three lion's breath to release any lingering tension.
For lion's breath,
You'll inhale through your nose and exhale with a sound while you stick your tongue out and let it droop down your chin.
So inhale deeply through your nose.
Prepare for lion's breath.
And exhale.
Stick your tongue out.
Say good.
Inhale through your nose and exhale to lion's breath.
Maybe roll your eyes back.
One more lion's breath.
Inhale through your nose.
Exhale lion's breath.
Stick your tongue out.
Release fully.
Let your breathing return to normal.
You've now completed your facial mobility and desensitization routine.
Take a moment now to notice how your face feels.
Lighter,
Calmer,
And more at ease.
And when you're ready,
You can start to blink your eyes open.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
Be gentle with yourself and return to this routine anytime you need comfort and care.
