Ever have one of those good days? You wake up in the morning and have a sparkle and appeal when you look in the mirror? Yes, you are still aware that your nose isn’t straight and your teeth are a little crooked, you have laughter lines and frown lines- the map of your life. And when you walk down the street, people catch your eye and smile, recognising the joy of you.
Then fast forward to the afternoon: you’ve spent your day coming into contact with many different people, some happy some sad. You’ve allowed some of their ‘stuff’ to rub off on you, to the point that you’re beginning to find your own reasons for this tiredness and crossness. You catch your reflection in the mirror that evening and now the frown lines look like age and worry, the gorgeous irregularity that is you now looks like weakness. You catch sight of an advert on TV or in a magazine showing flawless complexions, six packs and this feeling of lack deepens. And there you have it: this reality’s way of ‘enhancing’ your beauty; through the medium of lack and ‘not good enough’. You are ready for your face lift!
Holistic Beauty
Have you ever considered that the face you see in the mirror on a good day is in fact you, the true you? There isn’t a cream in the world that can bring that version of you to the fore. Yes, using beauty products can enhance our beauty because we have satisfied that feeling of lack briefly, but it doesn’t last. It is no coincidence that this is the age of plastic surgery when (what is to me) sheer insanity dictates that we violently change ourselves outwardly in order to quiet that voice of ‘not good enough’. I know sixteen year olds who regularly have lip fillers and would like to save up for more work due crippling lack of self-esteem in the confusion between reality and virtual reality.
And what if something else were possible? I have been a practitioner and facilitator of something called Energetic Facelift™ for a few months now. And this is the point where many holistic practitioners turn off and say, ‘no thanks, not for me’. If this is you, I’d urge you to just question why that might be and be really present with what comes up. For many people it brings up a response of ‘hokum and snake oil’. For me, self esteem and innate beauty (that doesn’t depend on what you look like, but on how happy you feel about yourself) have never been more required than now. Older people feel invisible and young people feel wrong. This is the time for energetics and holistics to step in and offer something different.
The Body Is an Illusion
I watched a phenomenal YouTube video from Bruce Lipton, the biologist and thought-leader, where he explores what the body really is- which is waves and energy. We can change the body by the force of our will and we also involuntarily change the body in response to passing through the energetic fields of other human beings. This throws a new light on the scenario above: glittering in the morning, tarnished by nightfall.
I am going to make a confession here: when I first trained in the Facelift™, I was sceptical. I could see the value as a tool for relaxation and for returning to a sense of self, and at the same time I was thinking in terms of spas and facials. This is not such a thing- yes, it’s relaxing, and at the same time it invites the body to let go of the beliefs and limiting points of view that create it as less than it truly is.
I saw dramatic changes in some clients, and in others I couldn’t discern changes- but they could! And this is of the utmost importance here: it is about how we experience ourselves, how we receive ourselves, not that someone can measure fewer wrinkles or less depth.
And still for myself I doubted that it would really be discernible. After a recent spate of sleepless nights due to my daughter not sleeping I felt tired and worn and decided I needed a little nurturing. I asked a friend if we could swap the process one evening after work. To be honest, we were both chatting and catching up with each others’ lives and the process didn’t end up being that relaxing or noticeable.
I thought no more about it and went to bed that night forgetting all about it. When I went into the bathroom the next morning, I caught sight of my reflection and was startled- I genuinely noticed that first and then remembered the Facelift afterwards. The lines round my eyes just weren’t visible. I felt happy with myself and my skin glowed. I spent my day connecting joyfully with people and sharing of myself more generously.
The Future of Beauty
So why is it we pretend not to value these things? The face we present to the world is an aspect of our self and our business. If you are a therapist, holistic practitioner or coach, you know how important a strong representation of yourself is in social media, branding or your website. Clients want to know who we are, and those clients also have a strong visual presence in the world. If we include this visual and virtual version of the world in what holistics and energetics can do- how much more can we contribute to this rapidly changing world and the people young and old who are bravely navigating their way through it?
Jessica teaches the Access Consciousness Energetic Facelift™ in a one day certified practitioner course. See here for further details.