Ear stretch: up, out, down

Grip the edge of the ear with your fingertips, no nails. The pull is smooth and gradual, with a one-second hold at the end. Work the directions one after another and symmetrically: both hands work at the same time so you don’t unbalance the tone.

Sharp jerks instead of a slow pull — that only stretches the skin of the earlobe, not the fascia. Working with earrings in is a direct risk of injury. And don’t skip directions: pulling down matters as much as pulling up, even though it feels less impressive.

The ear is anchored to the temporal bone by ligaments and, through the auricular muscles, connected to the temporoparietal fascia. By stretching it along different vectors you create traction on the connective-tissue layers surrounding the temporalis and increase the mobility of the gliding surfaces. It also activates the lymphatic vessels running to the preauricular and postauricular nodes — the nearest collectors for the upper third of the face.

This continues the warm-up, but with a different effect: you’re not warming up, you’re actually stretching. The upward stretch noticeably lifts the temple, and the downward one frees the area behind the angle of the jaw. Many people feel for the first time just how “stuck” the skin on the side of the head is.

Your own sensations set the dose: you pull exactly as far as feels good. It’s hard to get wrong, you feel the effect right away, and it takes half a minute.

Half a minute — and your temples let go in a way they haven’t for months. This is the feeling that makes you want to come back to the practice tomorrow.