The Practice

"In the beginners mind there are many possibilities,but in the expert's mind there are few."

Rosacea is a practice in mindfulness. The constant vigilance to keep sensitive skin from flaring up is a reminder of how one is living. When you are mindful, you return to each moment new, fresh. Every breath brings you back to the present moment, returning to awareness over and over. Thoughts arise and pass like clouds, returning to each breath as you breathe in and breathe out.

Consciousness is revealed in the pattern of flareups. You can see in the pattern where you were not present. Unawareness, like missed moments in life are unconscious. Where we bring awareness to how we are living, the body is in balance and the skin smooth and clear. You can learn to be more mindful in each thought or action. The motivation to practice mindfulness is that each moment missed is a moment unlived. Missed moments are a result of automatic, conditioned thinking of feeling and doing rather than living in awareness.

It is a radical act of love to just sit down and be quiet for a time by yourself. Take a stand in your life as it is right now, however it is.Only love can give us insight into what is real and what is important. A radical act of love makes sense. A love for life and for the emergence of one's truest self.

The Shadow of Rosacea

"That which we do not bring into consciousness appears in our life as fate." - --- C. G. Jung

The human body has lived for two thousand years in the shadow of Western culture. Its animal instincts, sexual passions and decaying nature have been banished to the darkness by religious philosophies honoring the realm of the mind and rational thought. The mind/body split runs deep in our culture, and is nowhere more evident than in the body as shadow.

The shadow is the repressed part of the ego, and represents what we are unable to acknowledge about ourselves. The body as shadow represents that which is repressed by the ego. Jung stated that "The ego and the shadow come from the same source and equally balance each other. . to make light is to make shadow: one cannot exist without the other." Anything of substance casts a shadow, so it is important to examine the dark side of any phenomena, particularly of dis-ease.

The shadow finds its way through the cracks in the psyche, and appears in dis-ease and dis-orders. In disowning the body we are dangerously cut off from our instinctual natures. The life energy has been cut off. The dark side of Rosacea is the unexpressed and repressed emotions that lie beneath a skin disorder.

This may also be the unexpressed aspects of the "unlived" life. Are you being authentic? Are you expressing your true emotions? Are you living the live you dream or someone elses? This is where dream analysis and active imagination are particularly effective in discovering the root cause, the essence of Rosacea. Keep a dream journal and notice dark or repressed images that appear. These images all give clues as how to balance the emotional energy in the body and give clarity and radiance to the skin.

The Body as Container

The Body itself may be considered an alchemical vessel in which psychological transformation is occurring. The skin is the outward manifestation of the internal process. Skin is associated with the ideas of birth and rebirth. In the Egyptian system of hieroglyphs there is a sign comprising threee skins knotted together, signifying "to be born." The number of skins refers to the three fold nature of humanbeing - body, soul and spirit. The old skin will need to be shed for transformation to occur.

The archeytype of fire manifests itself in the skin disorder, bringing heat and pain in order to the lead the person to a level of consciousness where the psychic difficulties that lie behind the disease can be recognized. as the skin is the mirror of the soul, so fire and emotion enter one's life. Only through conflict can we begin to see the meaning of skin affliction. emotion becomes our carrier of consciousness.

In the fire of rosacea, the blisters that are symptomatic of this disorder are tiny volcanoes which are on the point of breaking through the skin. The illness, the skin disease is the stimulus that will bring profound change. The body is the carrier of transformation. The message that the "break-outs" is bringing, is that something internally is emerging, there is a transformation occurring at the psychological level.

Dreams, symbols, signs, are the echoes of ancient wise voices in the Alchemical process. One should not avoid one's destiny, but follow your dreams, because to find our personal myth and our mission on Earth is the way to find God, meaning happiness, fulfillment, and the ultimate purpose of creation. The body is the bridge between heaven and earth and the way to the divine.

The Alchemical Fire

The Art of Alchemy is an ancient path of spiritual purification and transformation; the expansion of consciousness and the development of insight and intuition through images. Alchemy is steeped in mysticism and mystery. It presents to the initiate a system of eternal, dreamlike, esoteric symbols that have the power to alter consciousness and connect the human soul to the Divine.

The word "alchemy" is derived from the Arabian phrase "al-kimia," which refers to the preparation of the Stone or Elixir by the Egyptians. The Arabic root "kimia" comes from the Coptic "khem" that alluded to the fertile black soil of the Nile delta. Esoterically and hieroglyphically, the word refers to the dark mystery of the primordial matter (the Khem). The aims of the alchemists were threefold: to find the Stone of Knowledge (The Philosophers' Stone), to discover the medium of Eternal Youth and Health, and to discover the transmutation of metals.
In the alchemical process, the fire necessary for the calcinatio comes from the frustration or repression of the instinctual desires and passions. The fire of calcinatio is expressed by one's frustrated desire, for example, "I'm burning up inside" or "I'm burning with anger. Calcinatio can only take place by the means of the inward heat of the body. By the frustration of our desires and the denial of pleasure, our passions become their own punishment. In the essence of the flame, calcinatio brings the ability to see the archetypal aspect of experience, experience as the ethereal fire.

Fire in ancient times was associated with the gods and was the chief method of sacrifice to the gods. Fire was the connecting link between the divine and human realms. That which was sacrificed by burning was made sacred, and ascended to the upper regions. Myths of fire told of the transformation from the earth realm to the immortality of the gods. Demeter makes Demphoom, the child of the King and Queen of Eleusis immortal by holding him in the fire. The psychological meaning of the fire bath of immortality is that a connection is made between the ego and the archetype, making the former aware of its transpersonal, eternal or immortal aspect.

The fire of Rosacea, in alchemical terms, is the "burning up" of aspects of the psyche, the transformation to a new self. The skin manifests the psychological process with red eruptions that occur through emotional or hormonal upsets. Rosacea is a metaphor for the tremendous potential for transformation during the peri-menopause and menopause shift. Often dreams during this period will be catastrophic: dreams of earthquakes, tsunamis, fires while the body will heat up with nightsweats and hot flashes. These symptoms and images are a manifestation of the tremendous psychological power that is emerging through the pathology of Rosacea.

Code Red

In deciphering the Rosacea code, it is important to look at its meaning from a deeper level. From a symbolic level, "Red" is a color that is passionate. Red is the color of life - of blood, fire, passion. It is worn by brides in India and China as a symbol of good luck and fertility. Christian calendars marked holy days in red, hence red letter days. In China red stands for joy, happiness and good fortune.

In the chakra system, Red is the color of the root chakra, the muldahara. It represents our life energy, our physical strength and vitality. Red is used to increase vitality and to send warmth. Red is the color of blood, the source of life.

Kundalini arises by a spark of fire than constellates in muladhara, the instinctual realm. It is the fire that brings spirit to matter. The life force becomes activated through the intake of breath, the spark of life that brings consciousness to instinctual life. The redness becomes a brilliant burning red that sends sparks up the spine to the crown chakra, the thousand petaled lotus, the quinta essentia of spirit.

What the symbolism of Rosacea suggests is that the fire energy moves up through the chakras and at menopause manifests heat in the manner of hot flashes, night sweats, flushing of the skin. Rosacea is expressing heat and passionate energy internally and externally.

Rosacea and My So Called Life

"Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others.
Unfold your own myth."
---- Rumi

Be the author of your own life. Write your Rosacea Story. Keep a journal of how Rosacea is informing your life, what clues it is giving you in terms of how you are living your life, if you are living from your truth, if you are being authentic. I found my skin condition to be an incredibly accurate barometer of my true emotional state. Emotions and skin are closely connected, as any one who has been under stress will attest to those frisky little bumps that erupt on your complexion at the most inopportune times.

The most important tool in flare management is your story. It is invaluable in determining the underlying causes and patterns related to outbreaks. Most people actually feel better after expressing their emotions and thoughts in a journal. This daily exercise can help you be more aware of triggers and remind you of what works to alleviate symptoms.

Look back to the list of triggers when thinking about the day. Do you see a pattern? It is amazing how many thoughts and behaviors are unconscious. Exercise was a big one. I always assumed that exercise was great for your complexion. Not so for Rosacea. Overstimulation and overheating during my workouts was aggravating my skin. So I began exercising early in the morning or evening. Yoga was another surprise. I realized that all of those downward facing dogs were a disaster for my skin.

On my own rosacea journey, I was surprised to discover that my flare-ups were not only related to anxiety, stress and hormones, but to any exhuberant emotion. Anger, frustation and surprisingly, joyful excitement and yes, sex. At times I felt like just giving up. It seemed that everything I ate or did was a problem. The key was moderation. You have to learn to stay in the center, have a balanced lifestyle.

Acupuncturists ask what is going on in your life emotionally to understand your constitution. What appears to be happening on the surface is not always what is happening underneath. I found that while oftern I would appear happy, there really was a cover on a pot that was being to boil inside. When I began to go inward and examine my emotions, I realized that my rosecea was expressing my truth! I really was pissed off and not expressing it. Unexpressed emotions were literally boiling up to my skin!

By taking time everyday to meditate, to get in touch with myself by writing in my journal, I could begin to acknowledge and integrate emotions and feelings that were buried. By balancing my emotional state, I was also balancing my physical state. The mind body connection is so essential and tends to be overlooked in Western Medicine. Eastern medicine sees the body, mind and psyche as one.

"There is only one journey: going inside yourself."
----- Rainier Maria Rilke

Red Flags

When the first tingles and itching of a flare-up occur, that is the signal to stop immediately and breathe deeply. From a calm and centered place, begin to think of what occurred prior to the break out. What was I thinking? What were my emotions? What was I feeling? What did I eat/drink? What was the environment I was in? Who were the people I was around? When does my monthly cycle begin?

By asking these questions you can begin to see patterns in how redness and inflammation appears and how you can prevent it. I saw the little red bumps literally as little red flags that were popping up to let me know that my body was out of balance. Where and when the flares occur can tell you alot about how your body is reacting to certain stimuli, whether it be internal or external. Where breakouts occur on the face correlate to specific internal organs. The forehead corresponds to the intestines and elimination. If you have blemishes there you should reduce fat, rich, hard to digest foods such as red meat, dairy products, oils, nuts and sweets. The cheeks correspond to the liver (on the left side) and lungs (on the right side) and the stomach. Avoid hot spicy foods such as peppers, garlic, onions etc. The nose is associated with the entire body. If the nose is inflamed, then the diet must be cooling. Blemishes on the chin are hormone related. For breakouts during PMS, eat only cooling foods and herbs.

Use the red flags as a map to locate the hot spots and cool them down.

The Etiology of Rosacea

The etiology (specific signs and symptoms and recommended treatment) of Rosacea from an Eastern perspective suggests that the root cause is "excess heat." In Chinese Medicine the menopausal heat is referred to as "steaming bones." This is a great metaphor for what often feels like volcanic steam that rises up through the face and as eruptions on the skin. This is part of the peri-menopause hormonal shift that occurs in women between 35 - 50, which is when Rosacea begins to pop up, as it were.

The fact that it occurs predominately in Caucasian women is because their skin is fair and more sensitive to external and internal heat. When there is excess heat and toxins, the skin becomes a route for eliminating these two items resulting in skin disorder. The primary causes for heat and toxins are inappropriate diet, stress, and negative emotions.

These factors congest the liver and gallbladder disrupting their normal functioning. Heat and toxins overflow from these organs into the blood, which rises to the face affecting the skin. Why some get rosacea and others do not with the same factors, is due to individual metabolism.The cure according to eastern medicine is to remove heat and toxins from inside the body at the root or source.

According to Mazin Al-Khafaji, co-author of Peter Deadman's Manual of Acupuncture, rosacea falls into the following patterns:

Heat accumulation in the lung meridian: Because the taiyin channels contain more qi than blood, the lung's yang qi can become hot, rise and overflow into the face and nose area.
Heat accumulation in the stomach and spleen: Stagnant heat in the yangming channels rises to the face and nose, aggravated by the consumption of hot drinks, spicy food and alcohol, which all enter the mouth. This opens and damages the blood vessels in the face.

Recommended Treatments:

Signs and symptoms: easily flushes, erythema, red papules with an absence of, or a few, pustules

Persistent erythema: chuan xiong (radix ligustici chuanxiong); hong hua (flos carthami tinctorii); safflower is good for circulation, easing blood stasis, and especially for erythema
Papules: tao ren (semen persicae); peach kernel moistens the intestines and moves blood stasis; also hong hua
Blood stasis: heat stagnates and leads to the stasis of heat and blood; this is further exacerbated by extremes of heat and cold

Signs and symptoms: permanent red flush, telangiectasia, many papules and pustules

Persistent erythema: mu dan pi (cortex mouton radicis); peony tree root has a strong relationship to the skin and complexion, and is used quite often to treat stagnant heat in the face. Zhi zi (fructus gardeniae jasminoidis); gardenia moves stagnant blood, and is one of the herbs to mix with frothed egg white in a facial poultice for treating facial heat
Facial itching: jing jie (herba seu flos schizonepetae)

Menstrual aggravation: yi mu cao (herba leonuri heterophylli); Chinese motherwort is wonderful for invigorating blood and regulating the menses; it also eases abdominal pain. Xiang fu (rhizoma cyperi rotundi); cypress spreads and regulates liver qi, regulates menses and alleviates pain.

In effect, this process is like pulling a weed out by the root. The weed will not grow back unless you plant a new seed in the form of inappropriate diet, stress, and negative emotions.
As many rosacea suffers know, oral antibiotics and topical ointments produce little or no results and essentially suppress the body's natural mechanism for eliminating heat and toxins through the skin. This could eventually result in a more serious health disorder in the body. An analogy is like putting a lid on a pot of boiling water and not letting the steam to escape.

Fahrenheit 451

The most common triggers for trouble for Rosacea are typically of a "hot" nature. With elimination of these irritants, most flare-ups will calm down.

Pathogens, sunburn, extremes of temperature, physical and emotional stress , birth control pills, alcohol, intense exercise, hot, spicy drinks or food, caffeine, tea, dairy, wheat, citrus, eggplant, tomato, salty condiments, harsh skin treatments (chemical peels, etc.), cold, flu, allergies, menses, menopause, acne medications, topical cortisone, or any medication that causes the blood vessels to dilate. . . to name just a few.

With so many things to avoid, what can you do to keep the fire under control? The first step is awareness of what is making you red.

Facial Rejuvenation

Constitutional Facial Acupuncture is based upon the belief that the face is a reflection of what is happening internally. Facial acupuncture helps smooth fine lines, evens skin tone, heals acne and creates balance externally on the face and internally. . .and calms Rosacea.

I found that it is an excellent treatment for rosacea flare-ups, particularly pre-menstrually and during peri-menopause. It is what I called "connecting the dots." Needles are placed on facial points to decrease the inflammation of those nasty red spots. I had the good fortune to discover Julia Dubiel, LAc. at the Santa Barbara College of Oriental Medicine www.sbcom.edu for restorative facial acupuncture treatments. Regular facial acupunture is very effective in controlling Rosacea flare-ups. I emerge from the healing sessions not only blotch-free, but looking 10 years younger.

Quan Yin: Archetype of Beauty

"The greatest beauty in the world is compassion, love shining free of attachment and grasping."
- The Tarthang Tulku

Kuan Yin is an avatar of the divine feminine, the goddess of love, the bodhisattva of compassion. She relates to our modern ideas of physical beauty, and the act of renewing oneself by means of facial acupuncture, healthy aging and the idea of renewal as a process of transformative change. In this process, which originates from within and manifests itself outward in our shen, a vital opportunity exists for the one to experience compassion, joy, beauty and peaceful balance.

Eastern Medicine promotes Beauty from Within, unlike Western perspectives that advise topical solutions for skin troubles. Stress, unbalanced diet, inadequate sleep, exhaustion, or anemia may lead to improper nutrition and metabolism by the skin. These factors will promote rapid aging of the skin. All of these negative influences have been shown to negatively influence the formation of collagen in the skin, which deprives the skin of vitality and radiance - and even accelerates flabbiness and aging of the skin, the formation of wrinkles, cracked lines, roughness, brown aging spots and black spots.

Blood deficiency in particular will lead to rapid aging of the skin, and, unfortunately, many women in America are slightly anemic, or do not maintain optimum hemoglobin levels. This results in premature aging. The Chinese tonic herbs may be used to promote healthy, beautiful skin provide natural nutrition to the skin. They are effective in enriching the blood with many special nutrients and elements that the skin requires to remain youthful and beautiful. The herbs are superb at moisturizing and nourishing the skin, as well as rejuvenating the degenerated elastic and collagen structures of the skin. They can also facilitate blood circulation and metabolism of the skin, functions absolutely essential to maintaining beautiful, youthful skin. And the herbs used in tonic beauty care have powerful antioxidant, free radical scavenging action that helps remove toxic peroxides from the body and keep the cells youthful. These qualities are essential elements for rejuvenating and maintaining healthy skin, for repairing damaged skin and for smoothing away wrinkles.

Chinese Acupuncturists can prescribe the perfect combination of herbs for your skin type. Facial Acupuncture treatments can help rosacea inflammation by calming the skin.

Pearls of Wisdom

One of the best discoveries I've made in my quest to cure Rosacea is the Pearl. Pearl is one of the great beauty secrets of the most beautiful women in the Orient.

Pearl powder purifies the skin and makes it radiant. It protects the skin and prevents aging. The components in pearl powder help heal blemishes and maintain the health of the skin by participating in the metabolic activities of the skin. Pearl promotes the regeneration of new cells and makes the skin smooth, fine, elastic and naturally beautiful. It can promote and accelerate cell renewal, a very important facet of regeneration and beauty maintenance. Consistent use of pearl powder can eliminate blemishes such as colored spots and even pimples and boils, and yes! those nasty red spots!

Pearl is also a powerful anti-stress supplement. This is an incredibly important effect, since stress can age skin very quickly. It can relieve uneasiness, nervousness, anxiety and tension. Pearl promotes sound sleep, prevents nervous disorders and nerve weakness, and is commonly used to prevent or overcome fatigue. Consistent use helps a person maintain their energy and vitality. Not only is pearl useful for promoting the beauty of the skin, but it is extremely useful for women require calcium. Pearl is rich in calcium and magnesium.

Pearl Powder can be used both internally and topically. Mix one tube of pearl powder with water before bed and wake up to clear skin. Also mix pearl powder with olive oil for a calming mask.

Pearl Powder can be purchased at any Chinese Pharmacy or online at Asia Chi, www.asiachi.com.

Some Like It Hot

Summertime heat triggers Rosacea flares fast. Time to chill out. Here are some great ideas:

EXERCISE: Because heat is the number one trigger of Rosacea, the best thing is to stay out of the sun. Not an easy task for those of us who are active. Change your exercise routine to the early morning or evening.

THE BIG CHILL: Ice is a miracle cure for over-heated, over-stressed skin. Gently rub your skin with an ice cube afterworkouts or exposure to heat, stress, any trigger. Sucking on an ice cube cools down the heat.

MILK: everybody needs it. Milk is one nature's best calming agents. Think of babies and small animals. Topically there is nothing better for red, inflammed skin. Gently pat cool milk on the skin with a cotton ball and let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse with cool water. Do this morning and night to keep your skin soft and smooth.

PEACHES AND CREAM: For a beautiful creamy complexion, use Heavy Whipping Cream to soothe irritated skin. Gently smooth cream on skin and let it sit for a few minutes and rinse with cool water. Your skin will look soft and radiant.

ALOE: Aloe juice or gel applied topically is extremely cooling and soothing to irritated or sunburned skin. Drinking aloe juice is a great way to chill out.

SOYLENT GREEN: A shot of wheatgrass, or eating green leafy vegetables, spinach, romaine lettuce, celery are anti-inflammatory. Not as scary as the movie!

BEAUTIFUL SKIN TEA: This tea is especially good for rosacea, either as a tea or cold compress. It is also good for acne, eczema, psoriasis and burns or sunburn. Ingredients: 1-1/2 parts dried nettle , 1 part dried red clover flowers ,1 part dried calendula flowers ,1 part dried comfrey leaf
1/2 part dried lavender buds. Boil one quart of water, remove from heat, add 4-5 teaspoons of tea mixture, and steep for 30 minutes. Sip tea all day, or apply a cold compress to irritated skin. It is a good idea to make an infusion the night before, and drink it during the day.

WHITE OUT: Use lots of sunscreen/sunblock with zinc oxide. The zinc oxide acts as a protective barrier for the skin and is soothing and calming. Use SPF 30+ . For Sensitive Skin use Children's sunblock.

BABY'S BOTTOM: Desitin, the diaper creme, is a great calming balm. Use it at night or apply when exposed to heat.

LESS IS MORE. . that is the rosacea mantra. The less I do to my skin (keeping hands off!) and only using natural ingredients, the happier my skin is.

The Mystery of Rosacea

East and West
Can no longer be kept apart.
---- Goethe

The Rosacea Stone was created to unlock the mystery of the skin disorder known as Acne Rosacea. This site will provide new and interesting alternative perspectives regarding the physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual and archetypal aspects of this skin disorder by integrating Eastern and Western philosophies.

Rosacea has recently become an epidemic in Caucasian women between the ages of 30 -50, fair haired and light eyed. My interest flared, as it were, with the first outbreaks occurring during peri-menopause.

In my extensive research I discovered that Western approaches to Rosacea fail to treat the root of the cause, thereby symptoms will continue to exist. The "cure" to disease in the Eastern system is based upon removing the cause and not the symptom. According to East Indian Ayurvedic medicine and Chinese medicine, rosacea is caused by accumulated heat and toxins inside the body. Once the heat is removed and the body is in balance, the symptoms will disappear.

At "first blush," what appears as a healthy glow in the skin, skin that flushes easily is one of the initial symptoms of Rosacea. Rosacea is a chronic, highly visible skin condition, marked by acute swelling and inflammation. It may begin with a tendency to flush easily, then progress to persistent erythema (redness of skin) and telangiectasia (enlarged blood vessels) along with papules and pustules of the cheeks; nose; forehead; and chin. In more serious cases, the nose is red and bumpy, and the eyes become gritty and red, with a possible loss of vision. Roseacea usually affects women from the age of 30-50; often of Celtic origin with fair, sensitive skin, light eyes and hair.

In considering Rosacea from a deeper level, the Native American Sacred Wheel is a useful diagnostic tool. Starting at the South, what are the physical symptoms that are being manifested? In the West, what emotions are being expressed or repressed? North, what are the spiritual questions that are being asked? And the East, what mental ideas are being brought forth? These and other questions will be explored in deciphering the mysterious and complex Rosacea Stone.