Vasudha Rai's gua sha ritual
Vasudha Rai demonstrates a lymph-moving, skin-loving massage that your dermis will be very, very grateful for. The bestselling author of Glow is also a columnist, podcaster and a walking advertisement for why we should all be gua sha-ing our faces every day. Luckily, this video makes following-along a doddle.
One of the things I love most about massage is that its gentleness requires you to slow down. I’m a big fan of any therapies and rituals that help me fall into a gentler rhythm, or that allow me to drop into that lovely state of relaxation that we now know helps our nervous systems to access the parasympathetic ‘rest and digest’ state where healing occurs.
Stress makes us tight, it makes us rigid. Whether it is physical, emotional, or mental stress, stress shows up in the body as rigidity (think tight shoulders, neck, jaw… and that’s just up top). That tightness also blocks the circulatory flow of our bodily fluids (blood, lymph, synovial) and when these stresses become chronic or sustained over a long period of time, you end up inflamed, sluggish, and potentially in pain.
The practice of face massage goes a lot deeper than the superficial layer of skin; it’s an intimate moment between you and the person looking back at you in the mirror. It’s an opportunity to feel where you’re holding tension and pain, and to allow your hands and healing intention to relieve that physical and/or emotional tightness.
Take this time to slow down and discover what feels good for you. I like to do this at bedtime; incorporating a deep and thorough beauty ritual into your nighttime routine will encourage your most beautiful skin ever. While we sleep, our bodies repair cells, restore energy and release hormones and proteins in their constant bids for homoeostasis. Vasudha’s using a gua sha in her tutorial, an ancient Chinese therapy tool that you can now find fairly widely. This sculpted face tool helps depuff skin and supports lymphatic drainage; gently gliding a gua sha stone over your face feels so, so good, and a deep cleanse and massage will encourage blood flow and circulation as well as help with overnight cellular regeneration and skin healing. The added bonus is a simpler and more streamlined routine in the morning!
Find Vasudha on Instagram here and you can find her bestselling book Glow: Indian Foods, Recipes and Rituals for Beauty, Inside and Out pretty much anywhere that books are sold!
