Moving your face by raising an eyebrow is not worth a thousand words, but sometimes it serves. By simply lifting an eyebrow, you can suggest what's on your mind without saying a word. Turn it up to look surprised or get attention. Lower it to express annoyance or displeasure about something, but remember that you will have to work hard if you want to acquire this mastery; it is not a natural expression for everyone. To move just one side of your face, you will need to get busy and perform some facial exercises so that you understand how it works.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Using Your Hands to Train Your Eyebrows
Step 1. Identify which eyebrow is the dominant one
Before you start practicing, you might want to figure out which eyebrow is easiest to train. Typically, it is the dominant one.
- Stand in front of a mirror and try to raise your right eyebrow. Then try to raise only the left one. The one you feel you have the most control over is probably the dominant eyebrow, and therefore the one you should focus your efforts on.
- Don't worry if you feel like you can't control either - just pick one and start from there.
- Make a note of which eyebrow you will need to focus on. This way you won't get confused and you won't waste time trying to train them both.
Step 2. Press and hold the dominant eyebrow raised with one hand
If the other comes up, use your other hand to lower it. This way you will be able to understand what it feels like when only one of the two is lifted. Continue to perform this exercise in front of the mirror so that you can notice the correct movement of the facial muscles to be able to raise the eyebrow.
- If you're more comfortable, apply a piece of duct tape to the raised eyebrow instead of using your hand. It will give you more muscle control as you cannot rely on your hand to lift it. It will force you to cooperate in an attempt to keep the eyebrow raised and the muscles tensed.
- With the eyebrow still raised, run a finger over the muscles along the brow bone. You must feel them tense. These are the muscles to focus on when raising your eyebrow. While you mostly use your hand while practicing, it's a great exercise to help you remember where the affected muscles are located.
Step 3. Keep only the eyebrow you need to lower
Once you understand what sensation you should feel when you raise your eyebrow, release what you intend to raise while holding what you intend to lower.
Do this exercise for 2-5 minutes a day
Step 4. Keep only the eyebrow you need to raise
Once you have practiced raising one eyebrow, you should practice lowering the other. Do this with the help of your hand while holding the raised one in place. Practice lowering the other.
- Also repeat this exercise for 2-5 minutes a day.
- It is conceivable that some people cannot raise one eyebrow at a time without the help of their hand. You may need to practice more in order to figure out if you are capable or not. Even those who eventually do, usually need to practice, so you'll never know until you give it a few tries.
Part 2 of 2: Practicing Without the Help of the Hand
Step 1. Stand in front of the mirror
When practicing, consider it important to use a mirror. Sometimes we have the impression that we are doing the movements correctly, but when we look in the mirror, we realize that we are not proceeding the way we want.
Step 2. Practice raising and lowering both eyebrows
Lift them up and move them down at the same time for about 5 minutes. This will get you into the right mood and warm up your brow muscles.
Step 3. Focus on raising just one eyebrow
Concentrate on lifting your chosen eyebrow for 5 minutes, without using your hands. Don't worry about the other right now, just think about focusing on the first one so that you move it as high as possible.
Step 4. Concentrate on lowering the other eyebrow
Focus for another 5 minutes on lowering the other eyebrow. Again, don't worry too much about the movements that the one you raised earlier does.
Step 5. Try to keep one eyebrow raised while lowering the other for 5 minutes
If everything went well, you should have a good understanding of how it works by now. Try to keep one eyebrow raised and move the other down at the same time for a while.
Step 6. Train every day
You don't have to spend many hours in front of the mirror, but just perform these exercises every day. If you are not constant, you will not be able to acquire the right mastery.
Step 7. Try raising the other eyebrow
Once you have achieved some skill in raising the dominant eyebrow, you can attempt to raise the other if you wish. If you're committed to strengthening the brow muscles, the process will be faster, but don't throw in the towel if you run into any difficulties (likely, since it's not the dominant brow).
Advice
- Be patient! It will take some time to learn how to do this, but it is a skill that may come in handy sometimes.
- Practice in front of the mirror. You might feel a little silly and weird at first, but it's the best way to learn this skill.
- Tilt your head to increase the optical effect. If you are trying to raise your right eyebrow, tilt your head to the left. This way you will have the illusion of moving it higher.
- Learn to do this with both eyebrows. In some people, the visible muscle contraction on the narrower side makes the eye appear smaller. Practice with both eyes for a similar effect.
- Don't be discouraged! It may take a long time to acquire this skill.
- Don't worry if you can't do it at first or not at all. Some people, unlike others, have no difficulty in certain movements.
