Smiling

I grew up with awfully crooked teeth and didn’t get braces til adulthood. Consequently my muscle memory is to try to hide my teeth when I smile. I have since straightened and whitened my teeth, which gave me a lot more confidence singing. Still, I don’t like taking pictures because my facial expressions are so awkward when I try to smile. I’m reading different articles on what to do about it though.

It’ll take a lot of practice, self awareness, and mirror time to build habits and muscle memory I’m afraid! I learned about Face Yoga and Mewing. Koko Hayashi is amazing and exactly what I need to study particularly as a singer!

I went ahead and got Koko Hayashi’s Face Yoga app. Subscribed for a month to try AI access. We shall see what comes of this!

https://kokofaceyoga.com/

I’d heard about mewing some time ago (not the cat noise) when I was trying to find solutions for my crooked teeth before I could afford braces. But it wasn’t easy to find information and a lot of what I found were weird chewing devices that supposedly worked out the face. Here at last is someone who teaches what I have wanted to learn!

Looks like part of my problems stem from tension in the chin and the Ee smile (overworked muscles for a wide smile). A raised smile using cheek muscles instead is far better. I’m afraid I haven’t had a chance to practice it much, as it requires some concentration and effort in front of the mirror or using the app, which is like an AI mirror. Asymmetry at least is not one of my problems.