How to Change Your Face Shape Using Just Your Tongue (Really!)
“WTF is Mewing?“
That’s what I kept thinking every time I saw a video pop up on my YouTube feed with this strange word in the title. Honestly, I assumed it was just some bizarre Gen Z trend going around TikTok (and I wasn’t completely wrong). But eventually, I started to see it so often that I figured the Universe (or at least the algorithm gods) must be trying to tell me something.
Turns out “mewing,” the colloquial name for a branch of dentistry called orthotropics, is a philosophy based on the idea that harmonious facial development can be determined by proper bite placement, tongue posture, and head positioning. It’s often referred to as “mewing” because it was made popular by British father/son orthodontic duo John and Mike Mew.
So, what does it do?
Originally developed for children whose bone structure and bite were forming in an undesirable way (overbites, weak chin, facial asymmetry) mewing has increased in recent popularity when the internet discovered it can also work for teens and adults. Granted, the bones of children are much more malleable and produce faster results, but you can still find varying degrees of success in older proponents of the practice across the internet.
In true synchronistic fashion, I happened to stumble across all of this information at a time when i was searching for ways to reverse some of the stress I’d started to see on my face. In a post-2020 world, I forgave my brow for being a little more furrowed, my cheeks for being more sunken, and the corners of my mouth for losing just a bit of their resting smile. However, I also believe that you don’t have to accept anything as a permanent state if you’re willing to shift your lifestyle. This is why I was on the lookout for behavioral hacks that might remedy one or all of these unwanted changes.
Enter: Mewing.
So what exactly IS mewing? Well, I could tell you, but it’s easier to just let you hear straight from the source:
Does it work?
I’ll let my before & after photos from the first four weeks speak for themselves:
See the difference?
Here’s what I see:
● fuller apples of my cheeks/less “flat” facial structure due to the shift up and forward of the maxilla bone
● brighter, less tired-looking eyes due to the support of that same upward shift in the maxilla
● slightly thinner, more defined nose bridge, again attributed to the forward and upward movement of those frontal facial bones
● higher-looking collar bone likely due to the shift in head placement from forward protruding to back over my shoulders. This is often achieved by what Dr. Mew calls the Mckenzie head tilt, but in my case was achieved simply through maintaining proper tongue-to-pallet connection (ipso facto: one alignment can support to other, even when you’re not focusing on it).
● less tension in the front of the neck, again likely from the head being properly aligned rather than jutting forward
And that’s just in the first FOUR WEEKS!
My Method: I practiced what’s called “hard mewing” (with more intense suction) for the first part of the first week, then switched to “soft mewing” (simply maintaining gentle contact between tongue and pallet) after that. They say it takes up to a year for adults to see the full results of this practice. If you’d like to stay informed re: my results, follow along on IG: @michelleshea where I’ll post random photos and announce any future blog posts as they happen (note: because this blog is a bit behind my real-time results, you can find my 2-month update already here).
The Honest Bit: In the name of full disclosure, I have to admit that my lifestyle shifts tend to come in waves. Once I see change from one new habit, I start looking for other areas of my life that need tweaking. While I truly believe mewing caused the majority of the changes you see in the photo above, there were a few other factors that might have influenced my results.
What else did I do to enhance my results?
● back sleeping: Around the same time I discovered mewing, I started to realize just how much side and stomach sleeping was affecting the elasticity of the skin on my face. I switched to sleeping (almost) exclusively on my back that same week so any changes in skin texture are likely due to this new habit.
● a gallon of water a day: If you’ve been following me long enough, you know I’ve been a fan of this practice for years. However, with never-ending days in quarantine, I found myself losing track of how many times I’d refill my reusable bottle each day and was often falling short of my goal. That is, until week two of mewing when I invested in a half-gallon jug that made keeping track of only one refill per day much easier. Any changes in skin coloring/evenness are likely due to this practice.
● gua sha: Another new OBSESSION! This Chinese facial technique uses different shaped tools (usually made of stone, but more sustainably available in steel) to help drain lymphatic fluid from and contour the angles of the face. This could have been a part of what helped to reduce the tension in my neck and further emphasize the angles of my cheekbones.
● face yoga: This is the add-on that feels like the biggest cheat to my results because it did work so well. However, i believe the reason face yoga appeared to have such an impact is because of the shifting support of the bones underneath the muscles I was targeting. Plus, my favorite resource, Koko Face Yoga, actually teaches mewing/proper tongue posture in tandem with the other exercises so I began to think of these two techniques as one in the same.
Final Tip: Like any good posturing, it helps to think of mewing less as a temporary exercise to power through and more as your new, normal tongue alignment. I believe my results are already visible because I simply accepted the fact that my tongue should only leave the roof of my mouth while talking or eating (and sometimes not even then). Just like a yoga pose needs to maintain proper alignment to reap the full benefits for your body, your tongue needs to maintain proper alignment to reap the full benefits for your face.
