Move your face and your life will change!　Dramatically improve your impression… how to do “facial muscle training” to dramatically improve your communicative ability.

I have a hard time getting along with people I meet for the first time,” “I’m trying to act normal, but people say, ‘Are you mad at me? or “I’m trying to act normal, but I’m told, ‘Are you mad at me?

It seems that such problems can be solved by “moving your face. The author of “How to Move Your Face to Convey Your Message” (Kobunsha), which explains in detail how to do this, has become a hot topic of conversation. The author is Yoshiko Mamada, an expression muscle researcher who has created a huge boom with her “face yoga. We asked Ms. Mamada, who has promoted “face yoga” for anti-aging and beauty, what it means to “move your face” and why it can improve your ability to communicate.

When people communicate, visual information accounts for 55% of the impression they make. Auditory information, such as tone and volume of voice, accounts for 38%, and verbal information, such as the content of the words themselves, 7%. In other words, even if you work hard to think about the content of what you say, such verbal impressions account for only 7%, and the important part is appearance.

In order to give the right impression to others with your appearance, it is important to have a facial expression that is appropriate for the TPO. For example, no matter how nervous you may be in a situation where your face might be stiff, if you can control your facial muscles and move your face softly, you can communicate smoothly. To do this, you must train your facial muscles. The face, like the body, is composed of muscles, so it can be trained through muscle training, and age is not a factor at all.

Many people train their bodies through muscle training on a regular basis, but it is strange that they have never thought about training the muscles from the neck up, says Mr. Mamada. In fact, he says, inactivity of the facial muscles can cause a variety of adverse effects.

People who are said to lack facial expression are not using their facial muscles,” says Mamada. Especially in Japanese, since we can speak only with our mouths, we use only 5 to 10% of our facial muscles. The only facial joint is the jaw, so everyone only uses this area. If you are not moving above the mouth, even if you feel happy or joyful, it may not seem so. It would be a waste to lose out in such areas, so I would like you to be conscious of using your facial muscles.

Not being able to express the feelings you want to convey… Mr. Mamada points out that the problem with the face when communicating with others is that “the face is not moving. In other words, they do not know how to move their faces.

He says, “‘Do you know there are 50 muscles in this face?’ I say, “No one knows. People don’t know which muscles open the eyes, or which muscles raise the cheeks. But when smiling, for example, there are muscles called the angle of mouth and the zygomaticis major muscles, and by consciously using these muscles, you can realize that you can move your face and make the best smile possible. By consciously moving the muscles on a regular basis, you will gradually become able to move more smoothly, and the impression you make on those around you will change rapidly,” he says.

At first, he says, he has no idea which muscles in his face are moving, but the more he works out, the more he becomes aware of them. To achieve this, it is necessary to practice moving the face with the muscles in mind, just as one would practice a golf swing. However, according to Mr. Masada, it is not enough to simply train the facial muscles; the concept of “core face training” is important.

It is not just facial muscle training, but core face training, which involves moving the face with a strong awareness of the central axis of the body. I used to train only my face, but it doesn’t work if you have a hunched back or a yawning body. In fact, I found that if I moved my face while being aware of my axis, I could get a better balance between the left and right sides of my face, or if I moved my face along my axis, my face would become tighter.”

Not all people who work out at the gym have good posture. Muscle training is not enough to achieve correct posture, says Mr. Mamada. So what exactly does it mean to be “axis-conscious”?

By “axis,” I mean that the pelvis is erect, the feet are firmly planted on the ground, and the top of the head is lifted high. When this pulling of the body up and down occurs, you know that you are properly loaded when you move your face. This will also make it more effective. If there is no axis, there is no pull anywhere, so you end up just moving it somehow.

Many people think that all they need to do is train their face, but in fact, I believe that awareness of the axis is the catalyst that brings everything into alignment. Breathing becomes easier and internal organs become more energetic. I would like to promote it as a form of posture training as well.”

I believe that everyone loses something with their facial expressions. And as we get older, it becomes even more difficult to move our faces, leaving us with only our odd habits.

Many people lose money because of facial expressions caused by these habits,” he says. Even people who are really happy often lose out because of their expressionless faces. That is why I want to tell people who are troubled by their facial expressions about facial muscle training. This book is about how just by moving your face, you can move your relationships, and I believe that if you can improve your facial expression, you can start many new things. I would like everyone to experience that through muscle training.”

This time, Ms. Mamada taught us three simple “facial muscle training” exercises that can be done right away.

Facial Preparation Exercises” to improve facial movements throughout the day.

(1) Bring your hands to the sides of your face and squeeze them tightly.

(2) Instantly open your hands with a tight squeeze, and open your eyes as wide as you can. Keep the mouth thin and stretch out the lines of the face. Hold in this position for 5 seconds.

Relax. Repeat for 30 seconds. If you feel blood circulation and lymph flow improving, it is OK.

Eye training to improve eye power

This training is for people who are serious but their eyes are dead and their enthusiasm is not conveyed.

(1) Hold the forehead with both hands so that the forehead muscles are not linked to the upper eyelid raising muscles that open the eyes. Keep your hands at 90° to the axis connecting the forehead and chin, and be aware that the axis of the center of your body should not swing to the left or right.

2) Exhale and open your eyes wide to prevent wrinkles from forming on the forehead.

(3) Remove your hands so that there are no wrinkles on the forehead. Do this 3-5 times in 30 seconds while looking in the mirror. By making your eyes strong without wrinkling your forehead, it will be easier to convey what you want to say with your appearance.

Muscle training for cheeks, corners of the mouth, and tongue for a beautiful smile

1) With eyes wide open, stick tongue straight out in front of you.

(2) Raise the corners of your mouth while keeping your eyes wide open. (2) Raise the corners of your mouth while keeping your eyes wide open. Be careful not to strain the muscles below the corners of the mouth, such as the jaw.

(3) Hold the tongue retracted for 5 seconds. Repeat 3 to 5 times for 30 seconds.

It is important to check that the left and right sides of the body are moving in the same way while looking in the mirror during all of these training exercises. If the left and right sides are out of balance, there will be no “axis. Why don’t you take the time to face the mirror and give it a try?