We’ve all heard the Gershwin song (or the delicious Lana Del Rey redo) Summertime, which promises “Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.” Summer self care should be a time of playfulness, water sports, grilling and easy-breezy nights, but these days, we aren’t able to party like it’s 1999; life is a gift, but this year’s package can seem too scary to open.
It is not a huge surprise that the public’s appetite for self care treatments is at a high, specifically holistic ones that go beyond cosmetic improvements, deep into the root of what keeps us feeling well- our mental health.
Summer means outdoor adventures, often hard with inner stress.
Psychologytoday.com acknowledges that just watching the news triggers fears and anxieties; one’s nervous system becomes activated, forcing a full on release of the “stress” hormone, cortisol. As the Mayo Clinic explains, that leads to a “constant feeling of being under attack…that fight-or-flight reaction stays turned on.” Enter the headaches…
Forbes.com reported that 13% of Americans have actually cried this year while watching the news.
The media is excellent at reporting near Doomsday-like scenarios, and these days we struggle telling fake news from facts.
Sleepless in Seattle? Try a Fassage!
Fassage (fuh–sahj), or the art of treating the body by rubbing, kneading, pinching and patting to stimulate circulation, increases suppleness and relieves tension.
The practice offers an all-in-one session that combines a face massage with a cleansing facial. My “East-meets-West” Fassage was well received by the reporter who visited for a story on my services for Seattle Refined.
Fassage techniques, created with my hands, initiate vibrational moves. Sculpting and toning the face while targeting specific concerns, as I told Women’s Health magazine, brings skin the serenity needed to glow and get noticed.
Prior to special events, clients consistently book Fassage appointments. Now more than ever, going out in public, even in large, outdoor groups (the beach, picnics in the park) can be fear-triggering episodes.
Fassage session photo courtesy of SeattleRefined.com
My signature, Seattle-based Fassage is a multi-step process with the goal of measurable health and relaxation. Starting with a deep cleanse, sessions start by exfoliating with a botanical enzyme cleanser to remove dead cells, and the application of natural scented botanical extracts to begin the sculpting process.
Model Ireland Baldwin truly made my day after her Fassage session, with a generous IG shout out: “Patty is now my favorite person!” Clearly when someone can make you feel relaxed and beautiful, they become part of a happy mindset.
Power of the Massage Mind
Massage helps reduce negative effects for the mind and body, benefiting someone physically and psychologically. Medicalnewstoday.com’s study found that just ten minutes of some form of massage can activate the body’s system for overcoming stress.
SportsInjuryCenters.com advocates massage to manage anxiety and depression, as well as boosting production of “feel good” hormones like dopamine. Just one massage can increase delta waves, the brain patterns associated with rehabilitative, deep sleep.
Lymphatic Health Help
As mentioned, Fassage is the lifting and sculpting of facial muscles that results in radiant skin, released tension, and a relaxed jaw. But its detoxing, supreme side effect is lymphatic drainage- known for thousands of years in Chinese medicine to benefit everything from mood to skin elasticity.
Chinese medicine also understands how proper lymphatic functioning affects the immune, digestive, and nervous systems. The toxin-flushing powers of lymphatic drainage are now becoming widespread, though lymphatic health has been long recognized in Europe as well as Asia.
Although aesthetic clinics are now adding lymphatic drainage ‘boosts’ as add-ons to facials, it has always been a part of helping my Seattle-based clients #GetThePattyGlow.
Fassage reduces the puffiness of sleepless nights and facial tensions that unwittingly make us look tired or angry. People who are mad and overly worried are naturally prone to frowning and forming deep facial lines.
According to The Epoch Times, in Ayurveda, or traditional Indian medicine, forehead wrinkles suggest sadness and anxiety, while their presence on the chin suggest stress and depression.
The future of skin: Golden Touch Oil
Future 5 Elements is a botanical, minimalist line, which made the choice of using these products during facials easy. Unique and extraordinary, favorites include their best-selling Golden Touch Oil.
Easily absorbed by the skin, this peptide and fatty-acid induced oil assists with extraordinary facial and Fassage results. (With the weather in Seattle being, at best, unpredictable, its ability to protect against environmental damage is also a huge beauty plus.)
Golden Touch Oil photo courtesy of Future5elements.com
Great for stressed, dehydrated summer skin, botanical Golden Touch Oil can be purchased after any session in my studio. Warming about 10 drops between palms before beginning a session is always a great start.
A natural scent provides a true feast for your senses, and the avocado-based oil also contains primrose, marula, borage, chamomile and lavender oils.
The future of skin: Heritage Mask by Future 5
The Heritage Mask by Future 5 Elements is a truly luxurious healing, exotic mix of herbs, spices, (cinnamon! cloves!) pure vegetable proteins, and aromatic oils. Helping to repair skin on contact with essential amino acids, the hallmark product of the Future5 line instantly stimulates the senses and skin and restores radiance, offering an aromatic and invigorating boost to mood.
The Heritage Mask is applied separately to complete the fassage, though works in coordination with Golden Touch oil to yield unparalleled results. Who can’t use a mood booster, even on these summer days?!
Stay cool, stay calm, and luv thyself! XO Patty