What is Gua Sha?
Sharing another favorite skin care routine as well as a wellness ritual I have benefited from tremendously. Not only is this a great way to treat your skin but also an interesting way to strengthen and become familiar with your immune system by doing the traditional Chinese health method known as Gua Sha.
Gua Sha uses a variety of scraping tools, in my case Rose Quartz stones, that stimulates your immune system, more specifically the lymphatic system. Other Gua Sha tools are bone, Jade and even horns. Gua Sha is primarily done on the body with a lot more pressure and forceful scraping of the skin. The scraping of the skin sounds painful, but depending on your sensitivity level, it should not be unbearable. The skin is lightly bruised and some red specks on the skin (known as Petechiae) become noticeable, which is basically tiny blood vessels being stimulated under the skin. In Chinese Medicine the principle of healing is the proper movement and channeling of energy or qi and that is what Gua Sha helps facilitate.
Whenever this Qi, life foce, or energy is blocked we experience illnesses from chronic pain, fatigue and many other ailments. The main objective of Gua Sha is to help blood flow, improve circulation and detox.