We still have about a month of Spring. (Though you wouldn’t know it if you were in Palm Springs where I noted the temperature today is 108 dry, hot degrees!) This is a great time to add Wood energy (qi) to your life and environment, since Wood is the Taoist Five Element associated with Spring. [...]
The philtrum is the vertical groove in the middle of the upper lip between the top lip and the nose. Its name comes from the Greek philtron, which means “love potion,” and was so named because the ancient Greeks believed this was one of the most erogenous zones of the body. The philtrum mustache was [...]
They’re calling tomorrow’s full moon a super-moon because it’s going to be super close to the Earth, appearing super-big and super-bright. I love any full moon and look forward every month to doing my Taoist Full Moon Breathing. But a super-moon is always special. It’s just so beautiful and compelling. Every woman should breathe in [...]
Here’s the only facial feature that some of us have and some of us don’t. Even those who think they have no cheekbones actually do have them. And receding chins may seems to have fallen off, but they’re still there. Yet, while everyone has a frontal bone, the forehead, not everyone has a buildup of [...]
Taking a stroll on a Cape Cod beach last week, I had an easy talk with a retired CEO of a major Fortune 500 company about my work. He was skeptical about my corporate workshops. He just didn’t get how Taoist practices like the Five Elements and Mien Shiang could be effective tools in Corporate [...]
The five basic Taoist principles Harmony, Entirety, Qi, Yin and Yang, and The Five Elements (Wu Xing) comprise the study and interpretation of Mien Shiang. How do each of the five basic principles specifically relate to facial diagnosis and face reading? The Principle of Harmony applies to Mien Shiang in that the more balanced the [...]
Several months ago I did a phone interview with a fun and smart writer from a well-known women’s health magazine about what certain marks or lines on our face mean. Today someone sent me a link to a make-up website and there was the article, but with a twist. In this version of the article, [...]
Hollow, or indented, cheeks indicate stress in the body or emotions, especially related to overwork. I see many hollow cheeks when my university students are in the middle of exam weeks, and frequently when I conduct corporate workshops. It seems that businesses are forever operating on deadlines that are nearly impossible for their employees to [...]
It’s the first day of Spring! Wood is the Taoist Element of Spring. Though bamboo, which is a grass, is a better image for Spring. It is sturdy yet supple, rooted but can bend with the wind without losing itself. It’s a beautiful image, isn’t it? Here are some other images to consider for Spring [...]
One of my first teachers told me that in China and in other Eastern countries, people have been practicing the art of Thick Black Theory for centuries. Thick refers to the face, and Black refers to the heart. To have Thick Face means you use your blank, expressionless face as a shield to protect yourself [...]
The Face Reader is an excellent book. Patrician McCarthy has given us a blueprint for a fascinating way of looking at ourselves and others.
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