This Gua Sha Routine Will Help You Freshen Up Your Face Every Morning
You’ve probably been living under a rock if you haven’t heard of Gua Shas… This holistic beauty tool has been becoming a fan favorite among Zillennials, and for good reason! It’s said to help drain lymphatic buildups, stimulate circulation, and even help contour your natural face structure?? Yeah, that seems pretty magical to me. So, if regular use of a Gua Sha can help out with all of these awesome things, we’re going to need a routine, aren’t we? *Enter, this article* Like always, we’ve got you.
Start with it chilled
Yeah, you might hate me at first for this one, but you really are going to have to trust me on it. Not only is it a great way to wake you up, chilling your gua sha before doing your daily routine can enhance its nearly-magical properties, by reducing inflammation and puffiness. So, chuck it in the fridge for at least an hour before use to get it nice and ready to work wonders on your face. For most, it may just be easier to keep your gua sha in the fridge, so it’s ready-to-go whenever you’ll need to use it.
Open up your neck
I like to get the flow of drainage started by working my neck first. With nearly all movements with your gua sha, you’re going to want to take the stone (and the pressure along with it) toward the part of your neck where your jawline meets, well, your neck. This should be that area that tends to get swollen and tender when you’re sick with sinus problems. This is where all the gunk in your sinuses can get drained toward while you’re massaging your face. So, start with an upward motion off to one side of your throat, and gently turn that pressure downward at that drainage spot, and guide it down from there. I don’t know how effective it is, but I love to activate this spot first and get it all warmed up for guiding our pressure in that direction from here on out.
Release forehead tension
A lot of gua sha routines suggest this motion for its effectiveness in ridding your face from forehead wrinkles. Here’s why you should think of it as releasing your forehead tension instead: 1. You’re likely a zillennial who doesn’t even have forehead wrinkles yet, so chill. You’re gorgeous as is. 2. Aging and gaining wrinkles and lines isn’t something that should be considered a bad thing, if anything, they’re like little honor badges showing off that you’re kind of a pro at life by now. 3. If you’re going into this with the intention of looking more gorgeous, then it’s not really going to make you feel that better, will it? Let’s instead focus on how great this motion can feel and how activating massage techniques in this area is SUPER helpful for relaxation. I always feel like I’m surprised to realize how tense my forehead and temples are, so working your gua sha upward from between your brows, and also outward from the center of your brow bone toward your temples, and of course, down toward your sides of your neck, can feel AMAZING. Give it a try!
Sinus Central
Alright, this move here will lift your face, sure, but believe me, you will be feeling like a fresh piece of fruit after guiding that cool gua sha up from the edges of your lips toward the edges of your nose, and then outward from under your eyes, up along your cheekbones toward your temples, and yup, you guessed it, down toward the sides of your neck. You will feel so much more open and fresh after doing this, it’s great for clearing your sinuses when you’re sick but also anytime!
Jawbone Action
Oh yeah, defining that jawbone, but yup! There’s a bigger benefit to this one too! By drawing the side of your gua sha with a divet along the edge of your jawbone then toward your drainage center in your neck, you’ll be able to release so much tension! I find that I, along with lots and lots of other people hold a lot of tension in my jaw. Massaging the area helps us release that tension, promote circulation to the area, and of course, become more conscious of the fact that we hold tension there, in hopes of physically relaxing a bit more and eventually, feeling a lot better.
Do you think you’ll adopt this daily gua sha routine? What other gua sha tips do you have? Let us know in the comments!