Method Comparison
Face Yoga vs Mewing
Both are free, both get talked about for a sharper jawline, and both are easy to misunderstand. One trains the muscles of your face; the other is really about where you rest your tongue. Here is what each can and cannot do.
By Yasmine Team · Updated July 2026
What is mewing?
Mewing is a technique named after the British orthodontist John Mew and spread widely through online communities. In practice it means resting your whole tongue, not just the tip, flat against the roof of your mouth, keeping your lips together, and breathing through your nose, so that this becomes your default resting posture rather than something you do for a few minutes.
Keeping your mouth closed, breathing through your nose, and holding a relaxed upright posture are all reasonable habits. The point where mewing gets oversold is the claim that holding this tongue position for months or years will remodel the jaw and sculpt the facial profile of a grown adult. That specific promise is where the supporting evidence runs out.
Face yoga vs mewing at a glance
The two are often mentioned in the same breath, but they are aiming at very different things.
| Face yoga | Mewing | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free once you learn the movements | Free |
| Time to results | Gradual: subtle changes over weeks, more over a few months | No verified timeline; claims stretch over years and are unproven |
| Invasiveness | Non-invasive; nothing enters the skin | Non-invasive, though forcing it can strain the jaw |
| Evidence | Limited: one small 2018 pilot study | No scientific support for reshaping an adult face |
| Maintenance | An ongoing daily practice, like any exercise | Meant to be a constant, all-day resting posture |
| Side effects | Minimal when practiced gently | Usually none; overdoing it may cause jaw, TMJ, or dental strain |
| Best for | Toning and relaxing the facial muscles as a daily ritual | Building the habit of nasal breathing and closed-mouth rest |
How they actually differ
Mewing works on your tongue and oral posture. Face yoga works on the muscles of the face and neck directly, through targeted contractions, holds, stretches, and gentle massage. That is the first real difference: one is a posture you hold in your mouth, the other is a set of movements you make with your face. Our guide to understanding your facial muscles shows which muscles the exercises actually engage.
The second difference is what each one claims. Mewing's headline promise is skeletal, that it changes the shape of the jaw. Face yoga makes no claim about bone at all; it works on soft tissue, muscle tone, and the release of tension. This matters because the facial skeleton is essentially set once you finish growing, so no posture habit or exercise remodels an adult's bones. What you can genuinely influence is the muscle and skin sitting on top of that structure, and that is the honest limit of what face yoga sets out to do.
What the research says
For mewing, the verdict from orthodontic experts is blunt. The American Association of Orthodontists and practicing orthodontists say there is no scientific evidence that tongue posture reshapes the adult jaw or facial bones. Most of the dramatic before-and-after photos you see online come down to camera angle, lighting, weight change, or simply tensing the jaw for the shot, rather than any structural change.
For face yoga the evidence is limited, but it is not nothing. A 2018 study in JAMA Dermatology followed a small group of women aged 40 to 65 through a 20-week facial-exercise program. The sixteen who completed it showed measurable improvement in cheek fullness and were rated as looking about three years younger. It was a small, uncontrolled pilot and cannot prove that face yoga reverses aging, a caveat we spell out in does face yoga actually work?
So neither method has strong evidence. The difference is that face yoga has at least one measured study on facial appearance and does not depend on a claim that orthodontists have rejected. It sets a lower, more honest bar and has a little data to stand on.
Can you do both?
They do not conflict, so there is no problem doing both. Resting your tongue on the roof of your mouth, keeping your lips sealed, and breathing through your nose is a sensible everyday habit in its own right, quite apart from any jawline promises.
The one caution is to keep it gentle. Forcing your jaw forward or clenching to hold the position, sometimes called hard mewing, is where people run into tension and jaw joint (TMJ) trouble. Treat mewing as a light posture cue, not an exercise, and let a proper face yoga routine do the actual muscle work. If your jaw starts to ache, read our notes on safety and when to pause and ease off.
Which is right for you?
If your real interest is the jawline and lower face, face yoga gives you specific, active exercises for the muscles in that area, and it is honest about working on tone and tension rather than bone. It is the option with a bit of evidence and a clear method you can follow and track.
Mewing is free and harmless as a resting-posture habit, so keeping your mouth closed and breathing through your nose is fine to adopt. Just treat the promises of a transformed adult jaw with healthy skepticism. If you want to feel your muscles actually working, start with our step-by-step exercises, set expectations with the results you can realistically expect, and consider gentler add-ons like gua sha or facial massage.
Frequently asked questions
Does mewing actually work?
There is no scientific evidence that mewing reshapes the jaw or facial bones in adults, and the American Association of Orthodontists has said as much. As a habit of resting your tongue up and breathing through your nose it is harmless, but the claims about transforming the adult jawline are not supported.
Is face yoga better than mewing for the jawline?
They target different things, so it is not a straight contest. Face yoga uses active exercises to work the muscles around the jaw and neck and has one small study behind it. Mewing is a tongue-posture habit with no evidence for changing adult facial structure. If you want a method with movements you can actually feel and follow, face yoga is the more grounded pick.
Can face yoga or mewing change your bone structure?
No. The facial skeleton is essentially fixed once you finish growing, so neither a posture habit nor facial exercises remodel adult bone. Both work only on the muscle and soft tissue sitting on top of that structure, which is where any visible change comes from.
Can face yoga define your jawline?
It may help the lower face look more defined by improving muscle tone and easing tension and puffiness around the jaw. It does not change your bone, so think of it as bringing out the definition you already have rather than building a new jaw. Results are gradual and vary from person to person.
Is mewing safe?
Resting your tongue gently on the roof of your mouth is fine. Problems come from forceful hard mewing, where clenching or pushing the jaw forward can cause jaw, TMJ, or dental strain. Keep it light and stop if you feel any pain.
Can I do face yoga and mewing together?
Yes. They do not interfere with each other. Use good oral posture through the day as a background habit and add a short daily face yoga practice for the muscle work. Just avoid straining your jaw with either one.
Want the method with movements you can actually feel? Start with the complete face yoga exercises guide, then practice along with Yasmine.