Each person who we deal with in life sees certain faces of ours at certain times. These faces we use, usually five or six of them, help us get the things we want. Most of the way we communicate is non-verbally. The people you speak with figure out how you are feeling, and what you want, by watching your face.
Unconsciously, you know this. So you make the faces that will help communicate. Everyone does this with their face, and even though you don't notice it, you are reading peoples' faces all the time.
For example: You want your kids to do something. Maybe they need to clean their room and you tell them as much. When you are speaking to them, you will probably have an expression that communicates authority. That's your "authority face." Or maybe you have had a long day at work, so you ask your spouse for a massage. You aren't going to use your "authority face" for that, because it won't work. Instead, you use your "sweet face."
Because everyone's life is different, some more difficult than others, our faces can be molded by the expressions that we make over and over. Some people look like they are frowning even when they are not sad. Others look like they are smiling when they aren't actually happy. Sometimes people are born this way, sometimes it is because the person has spent a lot of time frowning or smiling.
As people get to know you, and as you continue to make certain expressions, your personas develop. This is how people will recognize you, because you use these personas frequently around them. When you use a different persona than usual with someone, it may bother them. They will tell you "You don't seem like yourself."
We spend a lot of energy keeping up these personas, and it is healthy and liberating to let go of them for a little while and exist as purely as possible. The best technique for doing this is the Face Meditation. To really experience the melting-away sensation in your soft tissues, combine this with the Sunset Meditation in order to cooling the energy from head and face and better relax the muscles.
By visualizing the melting of the "icy" layers of the face into water and steam, and pulling the fiery face energy down the energetic baton and into the lower energy center, you are removing the distraction that your personas create and shifting your consciousness from "persona" or "image" focused to "body" focused.
Because your lower energy center can't hold "authority" or "sweetness" or "shyness" and so on, your mind will naturally let those facades go as it moves from the head to the lower abdomen. You will be centered in your body, and experience an energetic, even enlightening feeling.
Feel free to practice other visualizations that might help you in this process. Once you have practiced this, you can even do it briefly throughout the day to de-stress.
Happy Stretching!