My training in beauty therapy afforded me with the skills to offer safe and effective methods of improving and maintaining facial skin condition which was grounded in an understanding anatomy and physiology of the face. The facial skin care techniques are something that I have used and expanded on to offer a therapeutic facial massage ritual which incorporates elements of Joseph Corvo’s Zone therapy as well as natural products. The theory on pressure point massage is what I personally enjoy about this approach as it encourages us to pay attention to he sensations of our face without the focus on how we are aging. We are all aware of the standardised beauty ideals that influence what our faces should look like and the encouragement to purchase products and procedures to help achieve this. I just want to add that I am not passing judgement or undermining the choices to have specific treatments, after all people tend to embark on these procedures as a way to bring themselves joy and enhance self-esteem. In regards to my face, I have enjoyed facial treatments, wear makeup and remove the hair that grows on my face, I am aware that this is perhaps a part of me that conforms to the beauty ideals that we are taught across the life course.
What I am doing is opening up to the experience of sharing a loving and intimate relationship with our face, however it may look and be aging...
This week my husband came home, he travels every week abroad, works very hard at a job he loves and takes little time to relax. I took the opportunity of a rainy morning to share some time with him offering facial, ear and head massage. It was a lovely experience, for myself and also for him (he said). When I looked, touched and massaged his skin I was able to appreciate the soft lines and textures which adorned his face. When his face is active it will make lines; next to his mouth when he smiles, on his forehead when he frowns, around his eyes when he laughs. Although his face was resting in this moment, I am pleased to be able to see his life on it. I feel like that when I look at faces. I find the look of life beautiful. My favourite magazine for beautiful faces is the national geographic magazine. Real faces, real people, real life – whatever their human experience.
These are the same lines of life that we seem to be constantly influenced to prevent or eradicate. I wonder why that is? Is it the look of aging that we ‘do not like’, is it the obviousness that our body is coming to a point where it one day won’t exist in its current physical form, is it because we feel that older people are of less value than young, less attractive? I am not sure, what do you think??? My views have changed drastically since my adolescent years to really quite recently.
Going back to the original point of massage is the beauty of touch and sensation. How taking moments with yourself and others to share touching - one of the most basic and beneficial human behaviours both on a physical and mental level is warranted of exploration on a personal level.
So how about next time we wash our face or apply our sunscreen, we take a moment to really feel our face, through the tips of our fingers and see how we feel about it…
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