Been told you look too serious?

[bp1974]

If you're interested in what you do with your face that makes it appear too serious, then here's a useful exercise.

- Find somewhere quiet and private, and spend a few minutes being aware of the different areas of your face. Is your jaw relaxed, or tight? What muscles are tense? What about the area around your eyes, underneath your jaw and down your neck? Concentrate on each area in turn until you have a good idea of how you hold your face. Is your jaw pressed up and in? Where's your tongue? Etc.

- Now, exaggerate what you do. If your jaw is help up tight, make it tighter and more up. If the muscles around your eyes are tense, tense them more. Do this as much as you can, and hold it there. After 20 seconds like this, wind it up a little more if you can, and hold it for another 30. Focus on how each part of your face feels.

- Now, start to unwind it, TAKING NOTICE of how you go about disorganising the tension. Does your jaw move down and in, or out or what? Etc. What happens around your eyes and in your neck when you start to relax?

Practice this a few times and you'll gain awareness of how you actually hold your face, and how to go about disorganising it. Disorganising feels weird at first if you've been holding tension in your face for a lot of years, but with practice you'll find your face becomes much more relaxed and open.

bp1974

 

[Anson]

Good excercise!

The first problem I had as a DJ was my face - it was way too serious. It still is, if I forget to put a little smile on my face. Getting the tension out of your face doesn't happen like a miracle, not even if you get confidence and became a DJ in other ways.

Automatically putting an unhappy look in your face is a learned trait that many people suffer after their years as an AFC. And this is a good excercise to get rid of it!

 

[bp1974]

Shamelessly plugging my own tip

I went to the local coffee shop at lunch, where I got served by a real cutie. She's served me before, but never paid me any more attention than asking for my order and giving me my change.

While I was ordering from her I realised my face was a bit tense, so I decided to consciously relax my face around my eyes. I immediately felt that I looked more open and relaxed, and she changed instantly. Suddenly she was smiling and looking at me all the while - she just couldn't stop staring into my eyes and smiling. There was a definite, sudden difference in her attitude towards me, all because I let my eyes relax a little more than normal.

The point of this post? This tip works, and I've only been doing it for three days.

If you find it hard to do on your own, get someone you trust to look at your face when you're doing it and tell you which parts of your face seem most tense. I didn't even realise I held my eyes tight until someone pointed it out to me.

bp1974

 

[bob2007]

You donno how much this tip fits me.

4 years ago a friend of mine was constantly asking me what's wrong, she was always like i look sad.

This year, another girl asked me why i hardly smile.
Same girl, a week ago said i looked pissed off.

A teacher, last week, asked me why I look tired.

Every occasion, i was just being normal but can't figure out what to do bout how I look.

This tip is godly.

 

[jd782]

Bob2007. I have dealt with the samething.

I've been told by people that I looked angry. Even though I wasnt. I didnt even realize I did. Sometimes people think I lookked sad. When I wasnt. I guess it was just my facial expressons

 

[wheelin&dealin]

I massage my face muscles. It makes it easier to talk and it increases blood flow.