What is Facial Gua Sha?
A Gua Sha (pronounced as gua-sa) is a face + body tool that is mostly made from semi-precious stone like Jade and Rose Quartz. Facial Gua Sha is an age old traditional Chinese practice that involves gently scraping the skin to promote circulation, reduce puffiness and increase the flow of blood and oxygen to the upper layers of your skin.
How Facial Gua Sha Benefits the Skin
- Releases Muscle Tension : Gua sha massage is especially beneficial for those who suffer from TMJ, Headaches or Migraines. For those of you who have sore facial muscles or sore jaw muscles because of teeth clenching and grinding, 5-10 minutes of gentle facial gua can really help to ease your pain. You can see similar benefits of facial gua sha for migraines and headaches – targeting acupressure points will give relief from pain by stimulating the nervous system and moving stagnant chi.
- Aids Lymphatic Drainage: In simple words that means removal of toxins from body tissue by gently massaging the skin. Our bodies lymphatic system requires smooth working of muscles so that toxins and fluids in our body can easily flow through lymph nodes. If there is any build-up of fluids in the body, it leads to inflammation and possibly infection. Facial gua sha massage promotes lymphatic drainage, helping to reduce inflammation and improves blood circulation in the skin. If you are someone who has water retention because of hormonal imbalances resulting in puffy eyes and face, a gua sha facial will benefit you.
- Natural Skin Lift : Gua Sha is designed to perfectly fit the contours of your face, allowing you to really sculpt your facial features. This is a right beauty tool for those of you who notice facial asymmetry and want to naturally correct it.
- Banish Bloating : We all have those days when we’ve had too much wine or salt the night before… when we’ve been up too late watching tv or partying 🙂 What happens the next day? You wake up with puffy and bloated skin. A Gua Sha massage will help to de-puff the skin and banish bloating by breaking up the tension from water retention under the skin and get blood and oxygen flowing.
- Anti – Ageing : Consistent use of gua sha has shown to fade fine lines and wrinkles. It stimulates circulation and promotes blood flow to the upper layers of your skin, which is what gives your skin that plump, youthful look.
- Radiant Skin : Gua Sha promoted lymphatic drainage, which in simple terms means that it helps your body to get rid of built up toxins. It helps to decongest the skin, giving you that radiant glow!
- Helps to Heal Acne : Congestion is one of the biggest reasons for acne. When you scrape your skin with a Gua Sha, you clear blockages in your lymph nodes and break up stagnancy… thereby flushing out the toxins. Gua Sha is also extremely cooling and that’s one reason facial Gua Sha helps to soothe inflammation.
- Relieves Eye and Neck Pain : Work from home has become the new normal and sadly it has resulted in more working hours leading to an increase in eye and neck pains. When you’re working on your laptop or phone for such long hours, if your posture isn’t correct, neck pains start to develop. A Gua Sha massage can really help to reduce the pain by gently breaking up the knots in your neck muscles. Also, if you carry a lot of tension in your forehead and eye socket from staring at a computer screen for long hours, targeting acupressure points during facial gua sha will really help relieve eye pain.
- Relaxes the Nervous System : A Gua Sha ritual is all about slow, synchronised movements where you match your breath with your strokes. When done mindfully, it is a truly grounding experience. It helps you to connect with yourself and calms the mind.
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