What if the thing ageing us most isn’t age at all… but tension?
I had one of those moments recently where something just clicked…
like a full body exhale paired with a little “ohhhh… that makes so much sense.”
I sat down with Olga Newman (creator of the Face Up Method) on the podcast, and within minutes she said something that honestly stopped me in my tracks:
“It’s not ageing… it’s tension.”
And I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.
Because the more I sat with it, the more I realised…
this isn’t just about our face.
This is about how we’re living.
So… What Actually Is Face Up?
Before we go any further, let me tell you a little bit about the Face Up Method, it’s a treatment (and practice) that blends:
face sculpting
lymphatic drainage
fascia release
somatic work
nervous system regulation
But the way it feels? It’s like a whole whole body exhale. Even though it started as facial work, it’s not just about the face. It’s about working with the entire body as one connected system, releasing tension, restoring flow, and bringing everything back online. When I experienced it, it didn’t feel like a “beauty treatment”… it felt like my body was finally being heard.
Have We Been Looking at Aging Skin All Wrong?
We’ve been taught to look at ageing as something that just… happens to us.
So we reach for the creams, foundations, the injectables, the quick fixes.
We decorate the surface and hope it changes how we feel underneath.
But what if the real reason we’re looking tired, dull, or not quite like ourselves…
is actually the tension we’re holding in our body?
The stress.
The pressure.
The expectations.
The unspoken things.
All sitting there… slowly shaping us.
Your Face is a Reflection of Your Life
This is where it gets really interesting. Your face isn’t separate from your body (even though we treat it like it is). Your jaw, your neck, your posture, your spine, your hips, they’re all connected.
So when we’re holding tension in our body (hello modern life), it shows up in our face.
Tight jaw.
Drooping skin.
Dullness.
Lines.
Not because we’re “getting old”…but because we’re holding it in our bodies.
Holding stress.
Holding emotion.
Holding ourselves together.
Blood Flow is the Real Glow-Up
One of my biggest takeaways from this conversation was this: Blood flow is everything.
We understand this when it comes to our body — we move, we exercise, we stretch…we know we need circulation to feel good.
But when it comes to our face?
We skip straight to fixing… instead of asking:
👉 is there flow here?
👉 is there movement?
👉 is there life?
Because when there isn’t… things stagnate.
And stagnation looks like:
dull skin
puffiness
heaviness
fatigue
that “I just don’t feel like me” feeling
This Work Goes Deeper Than Beauty
And this is where Face Up completely shifted my perspective. Because yes, you’ll see changes in your face. But what’s actually happening underneath…
is so much deeper.
Through touch, through release, through slowing the body down, you start to access layers you didn’t even realise you were holding.
Emotion.
Stress.
Experiences.
It’s all stored in the body.
And when it starts to move?
It can feel like a release, a softening, a coming home to yourself.
This Is Where It All Comes Back to Design
You knew I was going to bring it here. Because this is the same principle I talk about when it comes to designing your life. We don’t just style a home and expect it to feel good… we look at the flow.
The layout.
The energy.
The function.
We remove what’s not working.
We create space.
We let things breathe.
So why are we not doing the same with our bodies?
Small Shifts > Big Overhauls
Another thing I loved? This isn’t about adding another overwhelming routine to your life. It’s the reminder that:
you don’t need to do more
you don’t need to push harder
you don’t need to overhaul everything
You just need to start listening.
A few minutes of:
breathing
touching your body
releasing your neck
being still
checking in
That’s where it starts.
Your New Standard
If there’s one thing I want you to take from this, it’s this:
You don’t need to fight your body to feel beautiful.
You don’t need to override it.
You don’t need to “fix” yourself.
You just need to come back to yourself.
Release the tension.
Create the space.
Let things move again.
Because maybe…
just maybe…
you’re not ageing ‘quickly’ maybe you’re just holding onto too much to feel like you.
