Have you ever noticed how sadness, worry, and stress reflect on our faces? It goes beyond the facial expressions of emotions. Our bodies also change, closing in on themselves, protecting the heart, and turning inward. As we begin to lose sight of hope, our heads drop and we look down more instead of looking forward. Unfortunately, this also happens when we become addicted to our phones.
In all seriousness though, to improve the lymphatics of our face; you know reduce the puffiness, minimize the fine lines, frown lines, jowls, etc., we need to improve the mobility of our thoracic area, our chest, mid-back, and heart chakras need to open up again! We can improve our face lymphatics by opening our hearts.
This is something you don't often hear or see when you watch those videos on face rolling or gua-sha for the face. They're not looking at the big picture; which is that your face is connected to the rest of your body and the lymph system goes through your whole body as one enclosed system. You can roll and gua-sha every day but things won't really improve if your head is forward, shoulders are rounded and ribcage has limited mobility. The same is true for improving lymph flow in your abdomen and legs, that's why castor oil packs over the liver and abdomen are so helpful for your whole body.
Another thing these videos, tutorials, and ads don't mention is that there is a difference between treating lymphatic drainage of the face and treating the lack of muscle tone of the face. Two very different patterns. In most of the videos I have seen, they have you sweep up around your cheeks as if you're trying to give yourself a face-lift. LOL! That's not the way lymph fluid drains on your face! It doesn't go up, it goes down, towards your heart, not your head.
There's another mind-body pearl of wisdom!
Listen to your heart, not your head. Open your heart physically and metaphorically because it will improve your health and your looks. Breathing deeply and intentionally activates your thoracic area, opening up your chest and expanding your ribs, your heart-center. It is one of the best ways to get the fluid pumping and draining properly from your neck and face, but it isn't enough. You also need to have full mobility and range of motion of your mid back: flexion, extension, and bilateral rotation.
If you notice facial asymmetry, chances are that the lymphatics are blocked or stagnant somewhere down the line, particularly on the right side because the right side of our face drains towards the liver, so any congestion around the liver may affect and reflect on our face.
