EnerQi Facial Rejuvenation®
A ninety-minute treatment that brings together traditional Chinese facial techniques with the cranial and abdominal release work of Gentle Release. A slower, deeper kind of facial, where your skin is cared for and the rest of you gets to let go too.
More than a facial
For years I noticed a pattern. Women would happily find the money for nails, lashes and brows, for what the world saw. But ask about time for themselves, for the things that would actually support them, and it was often the first thing to go.
At the same time, I kept noticing that clients looked brighter after a Gentle Release session. Skin softer, eyes clearer, the whole face a little more itself. Just before the pandemic, I started to wonder what would happen if I brought Gentle Release together with a nourishing facial and a few traditional Chinese facial tools. I tried it on a handful of clients, and what they told me afterwards went far beyond their skin. They talked about sleep, stress, feeling calmer and more like themselves again.
EnerQi is what came of it. I now teach it to other practitioners too.
The face is the entry point. What changes underneath is the rest of the story.
From the first chime to the last
A session opens with the soft chime of Tingsha bells, a signal to settle and breathe.
I begin with a cleanse and exfoliation, using organic, vegan products, lifted away with warm towels. A facial oil is warmed in my hands and stroked into your skin. Then the tools, each chosen for what your face needs that day.
While a mask is on, I move to the Gentle Release work that runs underneath the whole treatment, holding softly at the head and the abdomen, depending on what your body is asking for. This is the part most facials don't include. The breath deepens, the jaw softens, the shoulders drop.
The mask is removed, your skin is toned, and serum and moisturiser are pressed in. The bells chime once more, and the session draws to a close.
There's no set routine of three strokes here and ten strokes there. Each treatment is paced to you.
Acu-pressure, to soften muscular tension
For lymphatic flow
To ease the fascia
For circulation, and to wake the skin
The face holds what the body holds
A clenched jaw remembers a hard year. The eyes show how the sleep has been. The Gentle Release work in EnerQi gives the nervous system ninety minutes of calm, through the most nerve-rich part of the body, and allows the muscles of the face, jaw and shoulders to let go of patterns they may have held for a long time. Rest is when so much of the change happens.
Beauty and wellbeing, together
Many women come for support through this stage, with sleep, temperature, mood, brain fog, and the way the face changes.
Tension that builds across the month, and a body whose rhythms have stopped feeling settled.
Tension carried in the head, jaw, neck and belly, and skin that has gone dull because of it.
Before a special event, after a hard year, or simply because you'd like ninety minutes of being looked after.
Listening to menopausal women
Because so many women were telling me their menopause symptoms felt easier after EnerQi, in September 2021 we ran a small pilot study to look a little more carefully.
Nine women who were looking for support with perimenopause or menopause symptoms each had one 90-minute EnerQi treatment, shared between Katie Duff and me. Before the treatment, and at set points over the following month, each woman filled in the Menopause Rating Scale, a questionnaire used internationally to record symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats, sleep, mood, anxiety and exhaustion.
Most of the women reported feeling better in the days that followed, and for several of them this lasted for a number of weeks.
We're open about what a study like this can and can't tell us. Nine women is a very small number, there was no comparison group, and everyone knew they'd had a treatment. So we can't say EnerQi was the reason for what they noticed. What it did give us was a clear reason to keep looking, and practitioners are now gathering more detailed day-by-day records with their own clients. A larger study is very much on our wishlist.
“Calmer and happier in my skin.”
“Felt tired the day after the treatment but full of energy today, been on two very long dog walks. Skin feels good and clear.”
“On the whole, I'm really feeling quite a lot better!”
In their own words
We are all different, and what each person notices will vary.
“I felt a real sense of age flowing away. The brightness had returned, and the lines on my forehead and around my chin were softened.”
“My complexion was so much fresher and healthier looking, with a more even skin tone. After four to six sessions there was the greatest change.”
“My face appeared fresher, lighter and brighter.”
Some people come for a course of weekly or fortnightly sessions. Some come monthly, to support the rhythms of their cycle or through perimenopause. Others come when they feel like it. Whatever the rhythm, it's entirely up to you.
EnerQi isn't advised straight after surgery, within three weeks of Botox, or within six weeks of dermal fillers. If you have an active skin condition on your face, or you're not sure whether EnerQi is right for you, just email me and we can talk it through.
Ninety minutes where your skin is cared for, and the rest of you gets to let go too.
Interested in training? EnerQi is also taught as an accredited practitioner training (FHT, CThA and ThinkTree). Find out more at gentlereleasetherapy.com