The GIT Girl Magazine Volume II: September/October 2014 | Page 20

Meet Eugenia Russell Hargrove - the creator and graceful goddess behind the blog Age of Grace. Eugenia shares her beauty secrets for women over 40 who are aging gracefully. Visit Eugenia at www.theageofgrace.com, [email protected] Face Mapping Your skin can say a lot about your health, especially about your face. It’s viewed as the mirror to our health. Can you tell I have a mild fascination with non-traditional alternative medicine? Today, I want to talk about face mapping. This practice, falls under the umbrella of ancient traditional Chinese medicine (TCM.) TCM is based mainly on the prevention of illness and uses herbs, acupuncture, acupressure, massage, exercise, and diet to promote good health. It especially emphasizes changing lifestyle habits. The key to understanding Chinese medicine is to understand the idea of balance. It seems that since I have become a woman of a certain age with constant hormonal changes, I now experience bouts of acne. I haven’t been interested in taking the hormone replacement therapies (HCT), so I have found relief from hot flashes, adult acne and losing my hair from natural sources. Since this is focusing on acne, I will keep the discussion to that of my face. So back to the face mapping that I mentioned earlier. Face Mapping What shows up on your face is directly or indirectly connected to the state of your internal organs and systems, making our skin one of the greatest mirrors to inner imbalances. Face Mapping is the chances diagnostic tool that has been used in China and India and is a great way to determine where skin symptoms (pimple, rash, redness, hyper pigmentation, sallowness, darkness or wrinkle) connects deeper in the body. This helps determine the cause of one’s skin care woes. Zone: 1 & 2: Digestive System – Avoid processed foods and opt for fresher, natural alternatives. Eat slower and chew food well and increase your fiber intake. Don’t forget to drink plenty of water as well. Zone 3: Liver – Reduce alcohol, greasy food and dairy intake which all put a strain on the liver. This is the zone where food allergies might show up. Again, drink 19