Mewing, Eye Bags, and the Angle of Youth: How They're Connected

1. Mewing and the “Angle of Youth”: What’s the Connection?  

You’ve probably heard of mewing—and maybe even seen dramatic before-and-after photos online that claim tongue posture can reshape the face and create a sharper jawline. 

The idea comes from Dr. John Mew, who developed an orthodontic approach called Orthotropics. His son, Dr. Mike Mew, later helped bring these ideas to a much wider audience online.

At the center of their teaching is a simple idea: how you hold your tongue, lips, jaw, and head may influence how your face and jaws develop, especially while you are still growing. They also believe that habits like mouth breathing, keeping the lips open, or letting the tongue rest low in the mouth may affect the way the face and jaw grow over time. So what does a healthy tongue position actually look like?

Keep your lips closed and breathe comfortably through your nose.

While oral posture may influence facial development in younger people, it’s unlikely to reshape the jaw bones in adults, especially in our 50s, 60s, and beyond. But that doesn’t mean mewing has no value as we age. And this is where the “angle of youth” or "beauty angel" comes in.

Mewing encourages the tongue to rest against the roof of the mouth, the lips to stay gently closed, and the jaw and neck to maintain better alignment. When the tongue is held against the palate, the floor of the mouth and the tissues under the chin are positioned differently, which can make the jaw-to-neck transition look cleaner and more defined while that posture is being maintained.

Those creases usually fade, but repeatedly pressing the same areas of your face into a pillow can contribute to more noticeable sleep lines and creases over time. Stomach or side sleeping can be especially unkind to the delicate eye area, because your face is pressed downward into the pillow, which will make morning puffiness and under-eye bags look more pronounced.

That is one reason I have been striving to sleep on my back. Your face will thank you for it, too.

Sleeping on your back can make it worse because the tongue and other soft tissues may shift backward toward the throat, narrowing the airway further.

So we end up with a dilemma: our face may love back sleeping, while our airway may not.

That is why I still think it is helpful to pay attention to tongue and jaw posture during the day. Yes, practice “mewing” — gently resting your tongue against the roof of your mouth, keeping your lips comfortably closed, and breathing through your nose when possible. Whenever you remember, simply bring your tongue back into that position.

I also like doing tongue exercises before bed. There are anecdotal reports that these exercises may help improve muscle tone around the tongue and throat, and that has been my experience as well. With regular practice, the muscles may feel more engaged and the correct tongue position can start to feel more natural.

It takes time — weeks or even months — but with consistency, you may build a better resting tongue posture and feel more comfortable lying on your back.

The key is not to force it. If back sleeping makes you snore heavily, wake up gasping, or leaves you exhausted during the day, your sleep quality is far more important than avoiding a few wrinkles.

Tongue circles are another simple exercise that works the tongue and surrounding mouth muscles. Doing this exercise regularly makes your tongue work through a wide range of movement. Over time, exercises like this may improve tongue control, coordination, and muscular endurance. Stronger and better-coordinated tongue and throat muscles are one reason myofunctional therapy is being studied for snoring and sleep apnea: better muscle tone may help the upper airway stay more stable during sleep.