FACE READING BY JON SANDIFER

Oriental medicine has evolved over several thousand years and is now widely practised as either acupuncture or herbal medicine throughout the world. The underlying principles have remained unchanged over the centuries and the real aim of oriental healing is to encourage the prevention of disease rather than dealing with first aid situations.

A vital part of this fascinating system is the diagnostic methods that are used. If you have ever visited an acupuncturist or a Chinese herbal medicine practitioner, they will always examine the pulses on your wrist, look at your tongue, listen to your voice, perhaps palpate the abdomen, and ask you many questions about your diet, lifestyle, sleeping patterns, etc. Part of the visual diagnosis that they all use is to look at discolorations, spots, blemishes, puffiness or dryness of the skin on the face. Each area of the face reveals the current health of the major internal organs and forms part of - not all - the diagnostic procedure.

In this feature you will be able to ascertain from the symptoms listed whether there are any underlying imbalances that may be occurring. They may not necessarily reveal themselves as acute or chronic problems at this stage, but in the spirit of prevention, they are worth noting and considering what changes you could make to your diet or lifestyle to strengthen the organ concerned. If you have always been looking for symptomatic or superficial ways to remedy dry skin or rashes on your face and had little success, then it may well be worth your while considering looking much further beneath the surface to the underlying cause from an oriental medicine perspective. This is the key to success with the oriental approach to healing.

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Symptom

Oily skin between the eyebrows. Deep lines or creases either vertical or horizontal between the eyebrows. Redness or rashes between the eyebrows. Itchy or tired eyes

Face Diagnosis

Liver imbalance

Solution

Lifestyle

Try to avoid eating two hours before you sleep
Try to get up close to sunrise as this is the time of day that supports the liver
Take time to be in real greenery - in parks, on lawns, or in woods - as this quality of energy supports the liver
Try to develop patience. This could involve taking up yoga, Tai Chi or meditation.

Diet/Reduce
All animal fats
Dairy food
Eggs
Overcooked foods in general
Spices
Alcohol, sugar.

Diet/Increase
Salads
Any good strong green vegetable, e.g. kale, broccoli, watercress, spring onion
Good quality pickles, e.g. natural sauerkraut
Chew very well and slowly!

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Symptom

Puffiness below the eyes. Dark below the eyes. Bruised appearance below the eyes

Face Diagnosis

Kidney or adrenal imbalance

Solution

Lifestyle
Increase the amount of sleep you receive, try to be in bed before 11pm for a week.
Keep your feet, ankles and midriff well wrapped and warm
Avoid burning the candle at both ends

Diet/Reduce
Raw salt on your food. It is fine to use good quality sea salt in your cooking, but never added to the food at the table
Coffee
Ice cold liquids
Ice cream
Burnt foods - toast or crackers

Diet/Increase
Warm or hot foods as opposed to cold ones
Hearty soups or stews
Good quality root vegetables such as carrot, turnip, swede
Bean-based soups or stews

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Symptom

The cheeks. Spots, broken capillaries, inflammation or rashes.

Face Diagnosis

Lung or bronchial imbalance.

Solution

Lifestyle
Take as much fresh air as possible
Keep your home or office well ventilated
Increase the amount of green leafed non-flowering plants in your home
Make the effort to get things Ooff your chest
Sing a song every day!

Diet/Reduce
Dairy foods
Tropical fruits and their juices
Hard baked flour products that include sugar, animal fat and oil, e.g. pastries, cakes, cheesecake, etc.

Diet/Increase
Good quality rice - well cooked brown rice would be best
Hard green leafy vegetable such as kale, broccoli, watercress, parsley and cauliflower
A little ginger in soups and stews

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Symptom

A blue/green bruised appearance in the corner of the eyes close to the bridge of the nose.

Face Diagnosis

Pancreas imbalance.

Solution

Lifestyle
Make an extra effort to Ocomplete any outstanding work or projects
If you have drops in blood sugar during the day then nibble regularly or take small meals regularly, rather than one or two large ones
Try to spend a few hours each week on the Oearth - in a park, open spaces, etc.
Avoid over-eating

Diet/Reduce
Cheese and cream
Pastry, cakes
Highly sugared or processed foods
Chocolate and coffee

Diet/Increase
Sweet quality vegetables, e.g. onion, cabbage, carrot and pumpkin
Good quality sweetness from local home-grown fresh fruits
Roasted seeds and nuts together with raisins as a snack
Sugar-free jam on rice cakes as a snack
Hot fresh apple juice

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Symptom

The lower lip which is dry, cracked, puffy or very purple.

Face Diagnosis

A colon imbalance.

Solution

Lifestyle
Chew your food extremely well for a week. Try 20 times a mouthful and see if you can increase this to 30.
Take exercise to strengthen the abdomen and its muscles
Try clearing out any unwanted clutter in your home or office
Never eat when you are distracted, e.g. reading, talking, standing, or arguing!

Diet/Reduce
Raw fruit, raw nuts and raw seeds
Raw cereals such as muesli
Yeasted flour products - bread, rolls, etc.
Over-cooked mushy foods in general

Diet/Increase
Good quality rice - basmati, or better still, brown rice
Root vegetables - carrot, parsnip, turnip, swede in stews or soups
Small portions of raw salad daily.

What is constitution?
Constitution can be defined as physical attributes of your being that do not change. These can include shape of the head and face, the facial features themselves, your bone structure, whether you are short or tall, and of course your gender. Constitution is essentially your capacity and your potential, and for many others it is defined also, rather like your horoscope, as your destiny. However, it has always been a guiding principle of macrobiotics that everything changes. In Japan, in the mid eighteenth century, lived an extraordinary man who made his name through being able to assess an individual's constitution and condition. His name was Mizune and to this day in Japan most face reading has descended from his knowledge and study of this fascinating subject. The argument that he put forward that has inspired our own teachers was that we can change our destiny primarily through diet.

Forehead
The upper aspects of our face reveal primarily our intellect. A small, square, narrow forehead shows someone who is a practical thinker who can come up with quick and easy solutions to problems. A broad, open or wide forehead shows someone with the capacity to dream, to scheme and come up with new ideas or concepts. Neither is to be regarded as good or bad, simply this is their or our nature.

Ears
The ears reflect our overall constitution. As they sit midway up the head, they reflect by their shape and their position the kidneys in the abdomen. The head is always regarded as a microcosm of the body itself. The kidneys are regarded as the source of our constitution. The larger the ears, and especially the fleshier the lobes, indicate that your mother ate well during pregnancy giving you strong bones, strong teeth which form the foundation of any constitution.

Ears that sit flat against the head show that this person can hear from 180 either side. This translates to them being very good balanced listeners and therefore good judges of the big picture. If one ear, or both ears, protrude slightly it means this person only hears part or half of the argument, potentially leading them to being narrow-minded or limited in hearing what others have to say.

Eyebrows
Thick, full, bushy eyebrows express themselves best by giving you plenty of stamina and resilience. Do not be tempted to pluck them! Thin, patchy eyebrows can indicate someone with less physical vitality and the need to preserve their chi. If there is a broad distance between the eyebrows it can indicate a tendency towards separation in this person's life: to live away from the city or country of their birth, to undergo separation in their life, to be distant from their ancestors.

Jaw
If the jaw is square and the chin protrudes - a little bit like Desperate Dan - then you are looking at an individual who is very practical, very driven and possibly even stubborn. A narrower, softer jaw line with a chin that comes to a point can show someone with a more delicate constitution who is less practical and more spiritually motivated or aware. A cleft in the chin indicates someone who is very driven, full of energy and quite likely to be stubborn.

Oriental diagnosis is a fascinating subject. Avoid being judgmental when observing others. Try looking at ears while you are on the bus or a train without staring and after you've seen dozens and dozens you can see how different they are. If you meet someone for the first time just observe how patient they are at listening, what their views of the world are, and see if it is reflected, for example, in the shape and size of their ears. Have a look at photographs of your own family or ancestors to see if you can spot any particular traits. Look at photographs in the newspapers or magazines and again what does it reveal about their personality?

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W E L L B E I N G , SUNDAY MIRROR , NOVEMBER 12,2000

Healthy? It's written all over your face

Those puffy eyes could reveal more about you than you think .
Jane Lawrence examines face reading .

How many times - for no logical reason - have you taken an instant dislike to someone you've just met? And, when pressed as to why, the only answer you've been able to come up with is : " There 's something about his face " ? Equally, when you bump into someone, how often do you find yourself exclaiming :" You're looking well" without really knowing why?
According to author Jon Sandifer these spontaneous reactions indicate that, intuitively, we're " reading" someone's face - something the Chinese have been doing for 2,000 years as a way of diagnosing illness. " When we meet someone for the first time a diagnosis is going on almost immediately" , says Jon, who has more than 20 years experience of Eastern healing . " If you've never met hat person before it's in those first 10 minutes that you see the most. You see very clearly how that person appears energetically."
Face reading was once an integral part of Chinese practitioner's analysis. A " bare foot doctor" ( the ancient Chinese hybrid of a health visitor and midwife) would divide their study into two distinct strands. Firstly, they would look at those things that never change, such as bone structure and shape of face, which reveal an enormous amount about the individual's character and personality ( constitution).Secondly, they would observe those tell-tale signs such as lines, puffiness and bruising - which unlike a person's constitution will fluctuate- to determine their health ( condition). From an oriental perspective, any symptom an individual displays is simply a microcosm of their whole condition. " You can look at any part of a person and, in theory, that should reflect the whole, " Jon says. " It's like cutting though the stem of a plant. If you were a good gardener you could cut through the stem and say, " This plant needs more water". Where Western medicine is designed to treat the symptoms of disease, Chinese medicine has always been more concerned to treat the symptoms of disease, Chinese medicine has always been more concerned with underlying causes.
It believes that the five areas of the face correlate to the five major internal organs of the body - the heart, the spleen/pancreas, the lungs, the kidneys and the liver. So the cheeks reflect the state of the lungs. The kidneys correspond to the area just below the eyes. An imbalance in the liver will be noticeable in the space between the eyebrows. The nose, with its central location in the face is a reflection of the heart. Finally, the condition of the pancreas will show up upon the bridge of the nose. Oriental medicine believes these five main players can be compared to the instruments within an orchestra. It takes only one to be flat and the whole orchestra will be affected. Discover which one is out of tune and it' possible to steer your body towards grater balance and, ultimately better health.
Fundamental to all Chinese philosophy is the theory of yin and yang. When a practitioner observes someone's condition they are also detecting whether it displays more yin or yang characteristics. In the West the word yang has come to be seen as synonymous with male qualities and yin with female. But Jon believes it's inappropriate to limit the properties of either category to male and female. " We're al more yin one day and yang the next", he explains. "If a woman was feeling tired and spaced out ( yin) , but I threw her into the Thames suddenly she would feel very alert and thoroughly fed up (yang). If a man was feeling wired and impatient (yang) but he settled down with a nice glass of red wine after a bath then he would " yin" out. "
In case you 're wondering how a practitioner can pick up on your yin or yang energy, your complexion offers some clues. Apparently, pale and sunken cheeks scream out yin. More puffy with broken red capillaries denotes yang. As does dry, prunish skin. Practitioners believe that, given the results of yin/yang observations it's possible to ascertain which organ may be malfunctioning and how best to remedy it. Does our in-built constitution affect our daily condition? To a point. A person born with large fleshy ears will theoretically be blessed with strong kidneys. Just as the individual with deep-set eyes possesses a highly effective nervous system. However , as Jon says we shouldn't take our constitution for granted. " We all have natural strengths or weaknesses but you condition can be shifted. Our health is born out of the quality and function of our internal organs. But good health also includes the emotions we experience, the stresses we endure and the relationships we are involved in." In other words, even if you have been born with a great set of lungs and liver , if you hammer your body with alcohol and fags , stick around in a lousy job or abusive relationship, even the best constitution in the world can't prevent your lifestyle wreaking havoc on our health. Or, ultimately, showing on your face.

EAR, EAR, WHAT'S ALL THIS THEN ?

We showed Jon Sandifer the following famous faces. Here's what he saw:

Sarah Lancashire
She has good strong detached earlobes which indicate healthy kidneys ( we inherit our kidneys from our mother so this means her mother had a good pregnancy). I'm concerned about the tip of her nose which could signify an irregular heartbeat or that she is very sensitive to the cold.
Verdict: Sarah needs to take plenty of aerobic exercise.

Michael Douglas
His eyebrows aren't very thick so he doesn't possess enormous reserves of energy. The tip of his hose is also slightly puffy so he may have some circulation problem . According to the Chinese, that pronounced dimple indicates a super abundance of libido.
Verdict: Michael should release his pent up yang energy by doing some kick boxing.

Meg Matthews
The slight puffiness in her cheeks indicates a weakness in the lungs and colon .The lower lip, which also related to the lungs, is much larger and more well-defined than the upper lip. She could also find that her hair is greasier as the intestine is reflected in our head hair.
Verdict: Meg needs to eat less dairy food and refined flour products.

So is he right? Janie Lawrence finds out.

According to Jon Sandifer, the left side of our face is inherited from our father, the right side from our mother. He says that the most striking aspect of my face is the pronounced difference between the two. From my father he says I inherit my "feisty" personality, independence and go-getting nature. Whereas the energy I've inherited from my mother is apparently more mellow. My large detached earlobes ( which I loathe) indicate that I have strong kidneys. The ears are, of course , the same shape as the kidneys ( or , in my case the same size). The inside of my eyes indicate that I've been over - stimulating my adrenals and need more sleep. The puffiness on my upper eyelids reveals a gall bladder imbalance. Apparently the impression would be that I can't keep still and I can come across as very impatient. I probably also dislike draughts and am very ticklish down one side. To balance the gall bladder I should incorporate into my diet some sharp-tasting pickles. My average-sized forehead signifies that my strength lies in staying within my chosen field and that I'm not the sort of person to change career.

Verdict:

The father versus mother 's inherited characteristics is spot on. As is his description of my impatience. Whoops - most recently I've noticed an alarming tendency to respond in a manner somewhere between Miss Marple and Hyacinth Bucket. On occasions I can't sit still but equally given the right mood I do a great impersonation of someone clinically dead. I not only dislike draughts I want to hibernate between October and April and I'm profoundly ticklish on both sides. My gall bladder may be in trouble but I hate pickles, which Hon says is predictable as you don't always like what you need. I can sleep for Britain so I'm not sure I need any more, but it has to be said I'm never in bed before 2 am. The only glaring inaccuracy is his assertion that once in a career I stay in it. I have a low boredom threshold and journalism is my third - although longest-lasting - so far. Amazingly too, my cheeks don't ye show the ill-effect of knackered lung and a 20 - year cigarette habit - my eye lines self-evidently do.

The Wisdom of your Face

I can highly recommend 'The Wisdom of your Face' by Jean Haner. She is a dear friend and colleague.

Contact Jean