Long Gravity Salon #7 with Anastasia Goron: What Face Yoga Reveals About Beauty, Posture, and Self-Perception

What do dark circles have to do with your neck? Why does the jaw get narrower over time? And what does beauty actually mean when you've stopped trying to conceal it? In the 7th Long Gravity Salon at the Natch Remise in Berlin, Norbert spoke with Anastasia Goron, founder of All You Can Face — about face yoga, anatomy, self-perception, and why "anti-aging" is actually the wrong word.

Anti-Aging — A Misconception

The word bothers Anastasia. Not because she loves wrinkles, but because it describes an attitude that works against your own body. "It's a privilege to age," she says. "To gather new experiences, to move through life with friends." Beauty that fights aging puts itself under constant fire. Beauty that understands the body works with it.

Anastasia didn't come to face yoga practice as an expert — but as someone who needed it herself. Severe acne in her early twenties, dried-out skin, a mirror that reflected daily self-criticism back at her. Until a woman from Moscow came to Germany and gave a face yoga course. "Afterward I didn't just feel better — I looked fresher. Immediately."

The Face as a Mirror of Health

What many see as aesthetic problems — dark circles, a double chin, asymmetries, early fine lines — rarely begins where it becomes visible, according to Anastasia. The face is a feedback system. Three fundamental systems work together: the lymphatic system, blood circulation, and the fascia. Add to that the musculature — and in the face, it's unique: nowhere else in the body does muscle attach directly to skin. This enables facial expression — and also means that tense muscles literally press wrinkles into the skin.

Why Dark Circles Often Begin in the Neck

You sit daily with your head bent forward over a laptop or phone. The neck tenses up. Lymphatic fluid can't drain properly — it backs up into the face. The masseter muscle (the chewing muscle) tightens, pulling the temporalis muscle with it; the entire face slowly compresses from within. The skin has no room to lie flat — wrinkles form. Blood circulation worsens — dark circles appear.

A simple test: gently hold the lower eyelid and press lightly. Does the discoloration disappear? Then it's a circulation issue. Does it remain? Then it's more likely skin pigmentation — and vitamin C as well as sun protection can help.

Three Morning Exercises to Get Started

Anastasia has little interest in complex routines. Her approach: start simply, stay consistent, five to ten minutes is enough.

1. Jump a Hundred Times

The lymphatic system only moves when you move. Unlike blood, lymph has no pump of its own — it needs movement, vibration, activation. Stand up in the morning and jump in place a hundred times. No trampoline needed, no equipment. You'll feel more awake afterward — and have literally put your body into flow.

2. Say "Wow" Twenty Times

Stand in front of the mirror. Relax your shoulders, open your chest. And say "Wow" twenty times — as loudly and as wide as possible — without tensing your forehead. This exercise opens the jaw muscle, stimulates blood circulation, and — not unimportant — you tell yourself something surprised and enthusiastic in the mirror twenty times every morning. A small psychological upgrade included.

3. Tongue to the Palate (Mewing)

Say "N" out loud — and pause right there. That is where the tongue should rest against the palate. Press upward (not against the teeth), a gentle chin tuck, straighten your posture. You'll notice the muscle under the chin engage. This exercise gradually sharpens the contour and supports nasal breathing.

The Jaw: An Underestimated Center

Why are jaws evolutionarily getting smaller? Anastasia names several reasons: too little breastfeeding in early childhood, overly soft food, and — particularly widespread in the Western world — orthodontic procedures in which teeth are extracted to make room. The result: the jaw shrinks further, the tongue no longer finds space at the top, mouth breathing develops. Through targeted training — such as the "roundabout" exercise with the tongue (circling from the inside along the nasolabial folds, eight times per side) — you can work against this. Slowly, but measurably.

Skincare That Actually Works

Anastasia advocates for simplicity: a gentle cleanser, a moisturizer with ceramides, sunscreen during the day. In the evening, optionally an oil cleanser — especially for oily or blemish-prone skin. Because oil dissolves oil. What most acne products do — dry out the skin — doesn't solve the problem, it makes it worse.

Important to understand: not every moisturizer actually provides moisture. Humectants like hyaluronic acid or glycerin draw water into the skin. Occlusives (rich creams) seal the skin — but only if enough moisture is already present. Both have their place, but in the right order.

How Long Until You See Results?

That depends on what you want to change. Puffiness and a fresher appearance can be noticeably improved with a lymph massage in 10–15 minutes. Fine lines and dark circles require three to four weeks of regular practice. Structural changes — like a sharper jaw contour or balancing asymmetries — take months to up to a year. The face has formed over years — it takes time to realign. But five to ten minutes a day is enough, if you stay with it.

"I'm not in the face yoga business — I'm in the self-love business"

That is the sentence with which Anastasia summarizes her work. Freedom from wrinkles isn't the goal — genuine communication with your own face is. Understanding what the body is saying. No longer being as unkind to yourself as you would never be to a friend.

The conversation ends with a sentence that stays with you: Maybe in the end it's not about looking younger — but about coming back to yourself. Anastasia nods. "100 percent."

Watch the full conversation here — enjoy! 

About the Long Gravity Salon

The Long Gravity Salon, initiated by Natch, is a live conversation format held at our Berlin Remise. We have created space here for topics like health, change, sustainability, and new perspectives on life — with the aim of generating lasting impact rather than short-lived attention. In a world of acceleration, we deliberately choose depth. Long Gravity stands for responsibility toward our bodies, our community, and our environment — from the big picture of how we live to small everyday decisions like mindful oral care.