Gua Sha

Lately, I’ve been learning more about Gua Sha, which is a traditional Chinese skin scraping technique to help improve circulation.  It typically involves scraping a flat or round stone over the skin in upward strokes to promote tissue drainage and to relax the muscles.  I was intrigued to practice facial Gua Sha on myself because we often forget that our faces hold stress in them and its important to help relieve that stress through facial massage.  

Practicing Gua Sha on the face helps to relieve tension in the facial muscles, encourages lymphatic drainage and increases blood circulation.  There can be risks associated with practicing Gua Sha on yourself, which include bruising and burst capillaries so its important to study the technique beforehand and/or to go to a Gua Sha specialist for any treatments.

I recently bought some rose quartz Gua Sha tools and I use them lightly on my face before bedtime.  Practicing it lightly across my face has felt good and it’s nice to know that I’m working the tissues and improving circulation in my face.  I feel like it has helped to encourage a better night sleep, as well.