The Three Zones of Face Yoga

The facial muscles are a group of approximately twenty skeletal muscles that lie under the hypodermis. A large majority of them originate from the skull and fibrous structures and radiate to the skin through an elastic tendon.

Facial muscles attach to the skin and other muscles in the skull and neck area, usually found around facial openings, such as the mouth, eyes, nose, and ear. Contracting these muscles changes the expressions on your face, and the slightest contraction can make this happen. In this way, they are different from other skeletal muscles because their function is not to move joints but to move the skin.

For example, the frontalis muscle runs vertically along your forehead and is used when you frown or raise your eyebrows.

When the orbicularis oculi contracts, it enables you to close your eyelids, squint in the sun and it supports the flow of tears. Other muscles around the eye work to depress the eyebrow and affect wrinkling in the forehead.

The orbicularis oris is a series of muscles forming a circular shape around your mouth enabling you to open your mouth wide, close your mouth, as well as pucker your lips.

It is also relevant to know that two major facial nerves supply the facial muscles, with each nerve serving one side of the face. When a nerve gets damaged, it often prevents expressions from occurring in that same place.