Face Yoga Method

The moment she said, ‘Mommy, I know what I want.’

I remember it vividly because it will stay with me forever.

We were driving home, she was still using the kids' car seat, and she just said:
"Mommy, I know what I want to eat, what I want to wear, and what I want to do. So please don't tell me what to do."

It came as a shock, first of all, because she used a full sentence! That is something many children with Down syndrome often take longer to develop.

But then the way she said it, so clear and strong, as if she took time to shape her thoughts, had them ready for a long time.

Like she knew it all along, and it just took her time to express it.

Because I also knew. It was pretty clear from the start how independent, decisive, curious, and strong she is.

And today she is turning 16. 🎂

Teenage years are tough; teenage years with Down syndrome probably feel like an earthquake.

I see so much maturity in her, developed in such a short time. And she understands it, she feels her world changing.

Sometimes she says, 'I don't know why I feel this way; it must be my hormones,' after giving me the attitude.

The bond between us is so strong that she just picks up whatever I'm feeling; she’s reading me better than anyone else.

I used to observe my moments of struggle, happiness, joy, and challenges through the lens of a mom with a special needs kid.

But I was wrong.

My moments of struggle never came from Nina’s difficult days; it was Nina’s days that came from my not showing up as my best self, rested, content, and calm.

Nina became my internal mirror, reflecting my stress, low energy, and whatever I felt and tried to suppress.

And when that clicked in me, it changed everything.

My self-care is how I care about her.

Because the energy I bring is like a gift she takes and blooms on.

And that’s the lesson Nina taught me.

So here we are, 16 years around the Sun, as unique and as strong-headed as ever.

So much so that she decided to come to this world weeks before planned and even picked to be born only a day after World Down Syndrome Day.

I can’t wait to see what lessons she’s gonna bring me this year.

Happy Birthday, Nina. ❤️

When I found out Nina had Down syndrome, I didn't think about the certification course.

I didn't think about business. I didn't think about teachers or students or a global method.

And when I bring myself back to that moment, it is hard to believe that I’ve certified 1053 teachers since then and have had hundreds of thousands of women practice with me.

But before I became a Face Yoga teachers’ teacher, all I could think about was Nina’s face.

People with Down syndrome often have lower muscle tone — including in the face.

And that fact was the reason why everything I knew about Face Yoga shifted.

At that point, It wasn't about beauty anymore. It wasn't about fewer wrinkles. It was about expression. Muscle strength.

The way a face shows the world who you are inside.

That changed me.

And while this internal shift was happening in me, there was an outside push that made me certify the first ever Face Yoga teachers.

Around that time, a male nurse from Japan had been writing to me asking me to certify him.

He worked in rehabilitation. He saw what my Method could do for his patients — not cosmetically, but functionally. He wanted to bring it to people who truly needed it.

I kept saying no. I was a new mom, in a foreign country, with no family nearby, raising a special needs baby. I had nothing left to give.

But his letters never stopped.

And after Nina was born, I finally said yes.

I wrote the curriculum at 3 in the morning while she slept. In the car, while she was in therapy. On the airplane to Japan with her in my arms.

During the certification, I breastfed her every two hours. My parents brought her to the studio, and I fed her on a street corner in Tokyo, then walked back inside and kept going.

That was September 2010. Four students. A small studio in Japan. A six-month-old baby who changed everything.

Nina didn't just change my life. She changed what the Face Yoga Method became.

I shared more about this story on our blog — the moment that nurse broke down in tears, what I told those four students on the last day, and what it all looks like now, 16 years later.

Comment NINASFACE if you want to read it and I’ll send it over.

It's the first day of 2026. A fresh start. A clean slate. That moment where everything feels possible.

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Happy New Year, Face Yogis! ❤️

Here's what I'm saying goodbye to before 2025 ends.

Which one are you done carrying into 2026?