Do you feel in constant battle with acne or wrinkles? Always working to diminish their appearance or prevent them from recurring? You may be missing the message. Face mapping can tell you a lot about your inner health.

We sometimes forget that skin is more than just a pretty cover that we try to keep looking its best. The skin is an organ, the only one we can see when we look in the mirror, and tells us a lot about our inner health. We just have to slow down and notice the subtle cues.

Ayurveda has always been about reading facial cues to uncover health disturbances. No, not a smirk or grimace. More like those pimples or wrinkles we spend so much time fretting over.

Before you go about banishing imperfections, find out how your breakouts and lines correspond to physical and emotional health. Do you tend to get pimples on your forehead? Have more prominent lines around your eyes? Redness on the chin? These all point to imbalances you cannot so easily see.

Why even worry about it when we can simply make a doctor appointment for blood tests or scans? Paying attention to early signs can help to get your system back on track before real disease sets in. Ayurveda acknowledges six phases for disease to become established in the body. Taking note of issues and altering your lifestyle before they are a big deal can prevent worsening health in the future.

So, you are ready to take action now. How do you know what your zits and wrinkles are saying?

The three doshas correspond to different regions of the face – forehead = Vata, chin and jawline = Kapha, the middle = Pitta. First step, notice which dosha your issues are in. Imbalanced vata skin tends to see clogged pores, dry skin, and wrinkles. Pitta imbalance shows up as redness or inflammation. Kapha usually looks like cystic acne or excessive oiliness.

Balancing the dosha that seems to be troubled is the first step toward healthier skin and system. But face mapping goes much deeper than this. Each region has specific spots that connect to internal organs and emotional states.

Face Mapping Basics

Above Brows: Blemishes above the brows relate to gallbladder and liver, suggesting the system needs a detox. Wrinkles on the forehead are called worry lines but can also tell of a diet too high in unhealthy fats and sugar. A diet void of processed foods and destressing with meditation will help these issues.

Between Brows: Blemishes between the brows signifies insufficient sleep or a diet too high in unhealthy fats. Creases in this area are connected to liver (right side) and spleen (left side). It may also mean repressed anger.

Dark Undereye Circles: Racoon eyes relate to poor circulation, while puffiness can mean impaired kidney function. Be sure you are getting enough water, regular exercise, and adequate sleep. Crow’s feet come from squinting and smiling, plain and simple. Wear sunglasses when outdoors to protect this delicate area. It is also important to note that dark circles can coincide with allergies, either seasonal or food related.

Nose: Connected to the lungs and heart, breakouts and redness in this area may mean internal inflammation. A diet rich in essential fatty acids and keeping caffeine and spicy foods to a minimum should help. Vitamin B can help to prevent breakouts and it may be a good idea to have your blood pressure checked if you experience pimples or broken blood vessels of the nose regularly.

Cheeks: Breakouts and irritation here could mean liver (left cheek) or lung (right cheek) issues. Chinese medicine suggests too much sugar is related to right cheek issues, while spicy foods and being overworked correspond to the left cheek. Problems on either side may also mean slow metabolism. Of course, we can’t forget that cheeks come into contact with grease and dirt from our hands, phones, and pillow cases too. Remember how Mom always told you to keep your hands off your face? Mom really does know best. Keeping this area clean will help to prevent blemishes.

Mouth: Blemishes around the mouth and on chin are usually related to hormones. Overly processed foods and lots of sugar can also cause zits here. Organs linked to this area are intestines and colon. If this seems to be your problem area, cut back on the junk and sweets in favor of a healthy, whole food diet rich in fiber. And, of course, reduced stress is beneficial too. Deep lines on the sides of the mouth can mean reproductive or pancreatic issues. Problems in this region can also be related to a closed mind or outdated opinions.

This is a lot to take in and you certainly should not try to diagnose any serious health issues yourself. If you are having persistent breakouts or are wondering why you have wrinkles one place and not another, these tips can set you in the right direction.

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Image of woman looking in mirror via Shutterstock

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One afternoon a week I step into a dimly lit, nondescript storefront off of bustling 24^th Street in San Francisco’s Mission District, where, in short order, I will install myself in a recliner and nod off into a blissful state of unawareness. An endless loop of chanting monks plays over the sound system, and I’m surrounded by prone figures, lying motionless and silent. No, it’s not an opium den; it’s my neighborhood community acupuncture clinic.

Community acupuncture is a practice that is growing in popularity around the country, as it allows a practitioner to see multiple patients simultaneously in a large common room at a much lower cost. Most community acupuncture clinics charge patients on a sliding scale (usually ranging from $15-$40).

“Acupuncture is beneficial for so many everyday health issues but it must be given regularly for its full benefits to be reaped, said Ninah Hofmann, owner and acupuncturist at CA Works.

“Community acupuncture’s sliding scale makes regular treatment affordable to a large segment of the community,” Hofmann says.

Speaking from personal experience, I have successfully treated severe seasonal allergies, and occasional back pain with once a week treatments – something I could never afford to do if I were paying the usual cost of private acupuncture. In addition to a lessening of allergy symptoms and pain, I’ve noticed an overall increase in emotional well-being as a result of regular treatments.

Brenda Klein, a fellow client at CA Works told me, “I’m a walking testimony for regular acupuncture. It has had a profound affect on me. I’m a markedly different person and no longer suffer from the anxiety and stress I once did.”

I spoke to Courtney, another regular client at my clinic, who is using acupuncture to treat sickness from chemotherapy.

“I got sick the first week of chemo, but since then I’ve been coming to acupuncture from one to three times a week and it’s keeping me from being sick,” she said, adding, “No worries about this being a community clinic vs. a private room. Everybody goes in and focuses on themselves. It doesn’t matter who else is in the room, the neutrality of the space is great.

Acupuncturists like Hofmann aren’t going it alone, and community acupuncture isn’t just a trend borne of the recession. It’s a bona fide movement nationwide with its own cooperative called the People’s Organization of Community Acupuncture (POCA), whose mission is to make acupuncture available and accessible to as many people as possible and to support those providing acupuncture to create stable and sustainable businesses and jobs.

Ninah thinks of community acupuncture as a sustainable business model for both herself and the community, but it’s much more than that. It provides the more intangible benefit of calm, serving as an oasis of relaxation in the midst of a frenetic neighborhood in a major city.

As Ninah says, “The community setting allows the community to come together in a quiet space to take care of themselves. This collective stillness is so uncommon in our fast paced culture and I think within this stillness there is something very therapeutic.”

Looking for community acupuncture in your area? Check out this map of Poca-affiliated clinics.

Image: Daveknapik

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Sometimes I wonder why I don’t just Google a celebrity of the day in the morning to get my daily news. Maybe if I just typed in “Lindsay Lohan” or “Angelina Jolie” each morning, I could skip my daily skim of MSNBC.com or NewYorkTimes.com and learn all I need to know about the world. After all, don’t celebrities represent all that is human about us? Don’t they represent our hopes, dreams, and sometimes acts of utter nonsense?

Allow me to present Exhibit A, (as I step off my soap box of sarcasm). Recently, supermodel Elle “The Body” MacPherson shared the secrets to her eternal health – and it is that she consumes powdered rhino horn as a dietary supplement. As she told The Times, it tastes a “little bit like crushed bone and fungus in a capsule. Does the job though.” Powdered rhino horn is a tradition of Chinese medicine and has been used to prevent seizures and fevers. It is also illegal and banned worldwide.

Why? Because rhinos have been listed as endangered since 1977. Reports are that there are only 11,000 rhinos left on the planet. Poaching reached an all-time high last year, and four out of five species are on the verge of extinction. As MNN.com reports, most animals are either “shot or tranquilized, left to a slow, agonizing death after their horns are sawed off.” But the choice is simple for some. After all, does the world need supermodels to retain their youthful spirits? Or do we need more rhinos?

Not surprisingly, the 47-year-old model and host of Britain’s Next Top Model has bat-out-of-hell angered everyone from PETA to the Humane Society International. As Erica Martin of The International Fund for Animal Welfare says, “There is no excuse for using any endangered animal products.” As Martin concludes, “Elle has been a successful businesswoman with a high public profile for decades, and people do listen to what she says.”

But Elle is backing down. She now claims her interview, conducted via Twitter, was simply meant as “banter,” that she was “joking,” and that she regrets any offense her banter may have caused. (You can decide for yourself here.) She just announced to news.com.au that she had “never knowingly consumed or encouraged the use or consumption of any products which contain material derived from endangered species”. Thanks, Elle. I’m sure the rhinos of the world appreciate your sympathy. (Woops, stepped back up on the soapbox of sarcasm.)

Image: Y! Música

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