Is Covid Face Real? The emotional impact of the pandemic on our faces.
The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown has raised many issues for mind, body, soul and spirit. The emotional and physical impacts of confinement and then the following uncertainty, which continues today will be evident for many years to come. In this article, I examine the ongoing issues and emotional scarring caused by Covid-19 and look at what steps can be taken to remedy this.
What I have seen in people’s faces after lockdown
From my experience I see the face as an inseparable part of our body and our being. It’s a bridge between the inner and outer worlds. It is the way we manifest and express, not only our thoughts but also our emotions. Whatever emotions we are experiencing will be seen on our face. The face is a direct mirror of our inner world.
What I noticed mostly from people, is the uncertainty. The lack of solid ground. We need an emotional base to thrive and at the moment everything is completely unrooted and unpredictable. It creates fear and a sense of insecurity. I can see this fear on my clients’ faces. It is like a veil covering the face, sort of pushing the face back into the shadows. It feels like people are going into a hidden stage of being reclusive – sometimes physically, emotionally or mentally. Usually my work is to remove that veil, to bring the face back to the light. That veil will impact the way a person will express themselves. It’s a quiet, hidden, uncertain face.
What I have discovered about people's bodies and energy levels through massage.
Energy levels are usually very low – which comes from stagnation, often literal stagnation due to lockdown stagnation. Not all of my clients were physically active during that period, some went into a hidden space inside themselves, not moving too much. Some of them went into a depressive stage. Some of them ended up living with huge families in small spaces – dealing with each other for months. The natural reaction was to lock themselves inside themselves. This obviously impacted their energy.
I also feel great tension – and massage is very helpful here as the whole idea of massage is to open the body, layer by layer, so the body can breathe, and so the muscles can relax, therefore receive more oxygen. The joints and ligaments can be more moveable by the opening of the body.
Clients are very locked on the muscular level at the moment. This is caused by the suspension of emotions due to the great uncertainty we all face. So, it is not easy for me to find that bridge that would allow me to enter the muscles tissue. I have to work on the level of negotiation with the connective tissue to enter the body and start to make the changes. Sometimes the effects of the lockdown become so severe in the body that the only thing I can do is to apply gentle touch and encourage the client to breathe, and then gradually the body opens up and becomes more responsive.
How the effects of lockdown have had an ageing effect on the facial muscles, mood and vitality of life
This has an enormous impact. Vitality is about feeling free, and young in a sense of almost feeling ageless. This is what is so tempting about the concept of youth. Lockdown caused the vitality and energy to be cut, therefore to a certain point we lost the inner resources that would bring that light to our face. This inner glow can only come from feeling content, fulfilled and safe. And we lost all that. When we don’t feel safe it can trigger negative memories from the past. It triggers worries and concerns. Will this age us? Absolutely. The energy vibration will be slower and heavier. This is what ageing is about.
That level of uncertainty and worry will impact the mood, cut the vitality, so of course it will be seen on the face as every muscle becomes tense. If we don’t have a stable base under our feet, we tense. If we are under lockdown for months – and then remain in an uncertain place not only related to covid but also to the economy, education of children, global political changes - our face will be first to show it.
Naturally, the body will be affected as well. The shoulders will lock which impacts the neck and whole spine. It will create sleeping problems and headaches etc. But you may still not see it unless you carefully watch how people walk and move. However, the face will respond to this tension almost immediately giving the impression of an angry, unfriendly face. It won’t be an attractive face.
Then there is the psychological element of this because if we stay in this locked, frozen face state, and we see this in the mirror every day we live this reality. This becomes self-perpetuating, leading to a disconnection with our own face.
Face is our identity. Our outer manifestation of who and what we are. It’s a very important part of our body. I so much regret that we narrow the phenomenon of the face to its appearance; trying to remove any signs not only of ageing but also of the individuality of the face. We dangerously start to all look the same.
The face fascinates me…there is a story there; it has its own language. Its own unique beauty beyond any standards or trends. It is a very important communicator that we use to relate to the outside world and others. Therefore our relationship with our face is fundamental for our mental emotional and physical health.
What people can do to remedy and relieve these effects.
It is not a coincidence that during this time of less social connection, that there has been huge demand for plastic surgery and non-invasive face procedures. That uncertainty, together with fear, lack of a secured base and social interactions, changes our face so we don’t like what we see in the mirror. People are opting for a superficial fix. The problem with a superficial fix – by definition – is that it deals with wrinkles but cannot give us this inner glow that we so much looking for.
If we are unhappy and uncertain – the filler will not change that. The wrinkle will be filled in, but the face will still lack that softness and positivity, which is so vital. So we need to look from inside. We need to really recognise our feelings and emotions and we need space to share them. Sometimes we might need help – starting with a good friend – and ending with healer or therapist.
Once emotions and feelings are shared, the process of healing can start to take place. And we really need to heal it. We are emotional creatures. We might not always have access to those emotions, sometimes we have years of suppressing them behind us. But they are there and if not completed and healed they impact often negatively our everyday life.
Fortunately we are much more open now, collectively for healing therapies. We finally see them not as a fixer, but rather as guidance into our spiritual and emotional growth. And as relief and shelter during the turbulent moments like those last 6 months.
Everyday meditation is so important. It will help to keep a positive mind. I would suggest that people meditate rather than listen to the news. I would imagine beautiful landscapes or even go back to memories of the past that were great and nourishing. Keeping a clean mind, fostering the ecology of mind is really crucial. Regular meditation will help us to sleep better, which means we will give our body time to regenerate and restore itself.
And of course massage! Regular face massage. That is why I have created my live zoom Face Massage with Beata classes. To address what the face needs on a physical level such as exercise, massage techniques, breathing techniques that will help to give face more oxygen, to cleanse from toxins, to boost the collagen production. But these classes also help to maintain our inner connection, they foster forgiveness when looking for a positive in the difficult and uncertain situation. The classes represent the remedy. Natural, simply and loving way of taking care of the face.
We cannot forget about healthy eating. When we are scared – some people stop eating, others over eat. Avoiding sugar and too many carbs it’s really a must.
And fresh air. Walking in the park, connecting with nature, focusing rather on what we have than all our life losses. It is not easy, but in the end of the day it is always decision that we made. How we want to approach ourselves , the world and our unique face.