What Is Facial Posture—and Should You Be Thinking About Yours?

What Is Facial Posture?

Carrillo uses “facial posture” to describe the way your face holds and responds to tension throughout the day. “It’s where you carry tension, how you use your expression, whether you’re clenching your jaw, lifting your brows, tightening around your mouth, holding your breath, or living with your shoulders up by your ears,” he says. “The face is not separate from the rest of you—it’s always responding.”

Why Is Good Facial Posture Important?

Carrillo believes becoming more aware of these habits can help you notice when you're unnecessarily holding tension in your face. For him, that's a different approach from immediately trying to change how the face looks with an aesthetic treatment.

Many may opt for Botox and filler to fix this. While there’s nothing wrong with that, Carrillo emphasizes that facial posture can help just as much, if not more. “We are in a generation that talks a lot about freezing things without always asking what that does to the way the rest of the face is moving. You relax one area, but the face still has to express itself. That’s why I care about facial posture. I want the face to stay awake, responsive, and yours.”

What Are the Potential Benefits of Facial Posture Awareness?

There are numerous benefits to good facial posture. “You may look more rested, more open around the eyes, more defined through the cheekbones and jaw, and more balanced. Makeup also sits differently when the face has been prepared well. It moves differently. It reads differently,” notes Carrillo.

The biggest benefit? Confidence. “You stop picking yourself apart and start understanding yourself. Once you know you’ve been biting your jaw all day or lifting your eyebrows every time you concentrate, you can actually do something about it.”

5 Ways to Release Facial Tension and Improve Facial Posture

Pay Attention to Your Habits

Good facial posture starts with awareness. “Are you clenching? Are you holding your breath? Are your shoulders lifting up by your ears? Are you staring down at your phone all day?” Carrillo says it’s important to understand these habits so you can become more conscious of when they're happening.

Start With the Neck and Shoulders

“People want to go straight to the cheekbones, but the face sits on the neck. If the neck is tight and the shoulders are up, the face is usually going to follow,” says Carrillo.

If you notice tension building in these areas, Carrillo recommends taking a moment to drop your shoulders and breathe.

Gently Massage Your Face

Once the neck and shoulders are in a good place, time to work on your actual face. Carrillo says to “Massage your jaw, temples, cheeks, and the area around your mouth—but don’t attack your face. More pressure is not always better.”

Give Your Face a Break

What does this look like? “Look away from your screen. Drop your shoulders. Unclench your jaw. Take a breath. It sounds simple because it is simple, but it adds up,” Carrillo points out.

Know When to See a Professional

If facial tension or jaw clenching is persistent, painful, or interfering with your day-to-day life, talk with an appropriate healthcare professional. If you're simply interested in Carrillo's facial-sculpting approach, he recommends finding a practitioner who evaluates your individual habits rather than prescribing a one-size-fits-all viral exercise.

Is Facial Posture Worth Paying Attention To?

Ultimately, thinking about facial posture doesn't have to mean trying to reshape your features. Instead, Carrillo sees it as another way to become more aware of how you hold tension throughout the day. “I think people are bored of looking like an algorithm. We don’t actually want to look like someone else—we want to look like ourselves on our best day,” says Carrillo. “That’s what facial posture means to me. It’s not anti-aging. It’s not face yoga. It’s not about chasing a new face. It’s learning how your face communicates, releasing what doesn’t need to be held, and giving your own features somewhere to land.”