Authentic Wellness and Beauty and Millennials

Integrative wellness studios, sound baths, silent spas and natural beauty. Avocado oil, black garlic and sober socializing. Millennials have driven wellness-oriented spas and centers to new heights since the mid 2010s.

Millennials would love PHYTO5 products, method, philosophy and lifestyle approach to skincare. PHYTO5 is all about addressing the very organic, discriminating demands and progressive intelligent lifestyle choices of millennials.

PHYTO5 professionals all over the U. S. are gratified by the success they achieve in addressing the more creative real-time lifestyle choices and concerns of millennials.

Carlyn Weiler of Weiler Academy in Green Bay, Wisconsin says:

"Here in the U.S., facials tend to be more about rubbing products on the skin. When I came back to the states after being treated to and learning about European style facials and body treatments, I was very relieved to find PHYTO5 that is truly holistic and wellness targeted and so superior to any other skincare system I've seen or experienced."

PHYTO5 skincare and therapies offer a decidedly vibrational approach to skincare and wellness unmatched in the entire beauty industry. Working at the level, not just of matter but energy, true holistic natural beauty is achieved on subtle levels which radiate outward into the skin. 

Global Spa and Wellness Trends

"Wellness on the Rise: According to the latest figures from the Global Wellness Institute, the Global Wellness Economy has grown by 10.6% since 2013 to $3.7 trillion, far outpacing global GDP... The global spa market grew from $94 billion in 2013 to $99 billion in 2015 with 16,000 new spas and over 230,000 new employees." –psychologyofwellbeing.com

Many of PHYTO5's professional clients have been clients since PHYTO5's inception in the late 70s. This is a testament to PHYTO5 skincare's, technologies' and protocols' remarkable results.

These skincare and chroma-technologies are at once time honored and forever classically on trend. This is quite an unusual characteristic in the beauty industry.

The combination of our quantum energetic skincare and proprietary award-winning vibrational light technologies elevates the wellness effects of facial and body treatments to levels that reach far beyond the typical spa treatment. It's safe to say that PHYTO5 embodies all that wellness truly means.

Partake of the mystique of quantum energetic formulated plant-based skincare for your exalted natural beauty and well-being. Subscribe for a discount promo code, plus get truly unique beauty tips and offers.

Millennials Prefer Experience Over Materiality. And They Value Authenticity.

One of the first things you'll hear about millennials is that they "love and value authenticity, but what does that mean? Authenticity is a broad concept with a definition that's hard to put a finger on; authenticity comes from knowing your customers, their needs, and how to have that communicated," this according to Rakuten Marketing.

So Take a Good Look at PHYTO5

Millennials are propelling the wellness lifestyle forward.

PHYTO5 skincare can stand up to millennials’ wise skepticism. PHYTO5 offers much more than a product. We offer an experience from the moment the cap or jar is removed from the product container. 

Can your spa or does your chosen line of skincare authentically deliver what these highly discriminating consumers are demanding? 

Take a good look at PHYTO5—the embodiment of what Generation Y and all discriminating wellness and beauty product consumers avidly seek:

authenticity • clean • vibrational • plant-based vegan • wellness generated on the cellular level

Enhance Your Wei Chi to Increase Your Well-Being

For thousands of years, mystics have known and advocated this truth and for several recent decades, so have quantum physicists: “ALL IS ONE.” Expressed in different words, this truth is fundamental to both religion and science but the core idea is the same.

The truth that all is one is becoming clear to an increasing number of people regardless of their religion or degree of scientific education. Still, this core idea is held as truth by a minority of people.

This is evident given the degree and spread of violence, disease and disparity around the world and the many other forms of man’s inhumanity to man. Peace, vitality, equanimity and justice for all in the world will occur only when enough people understand that hurting anyone else is actually hurting oneself and that hurting the environment including our animals is destructive to ourselves.

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The extent to which we feel connected to or separated from whatever we feel necessary to make us whole, happy and fulfilled, creates the root of all our emotions which, in turn, becomes the driving force in our lives.

If the absolute truth is that ALL IS ONE, the evidence of our physical senses, supported by our mental interpretation of our human situation, points exactly to the opposite. We appear totally separated from each other, and in most instances, from what we desire, be it relationships, material possessions, or conditions.

From the moment of birth, the baby separated from its mother longs to be reconnected physically and emotionally.

This is deeply embedded in all of us. It takes different forms as we grow older but it stays with us. The need to connect with others and to feel like we belong is very much a part of the human experience.

For some, the most expedient and available solution might be to belong to a street gang. But for most, there are a number of connections we feel driven to make, such as with a spouse or partner, a family, a sports or social club, a church or other place of group worship or philosophy, a professional association, or organizations celebrating ethnic or national identity.

All of these are attempts to feel connected. That feeling is key to a sense of self-actualization, contentment, and well-being.

The sense of separation is, of course, the opposite. It prevents personal fulfillment. It permeates all our endeavors and human relationships. And, as we saw in our earlier Wei Chi blogs, emotionally-nourishing human relationships are one of the few natural ways we have to improve Wei Chi, our energetic immune system.

At the same time, we learned that the “5 devils” that attack Wei Chi are the negative emotions associated with the 5 elements of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). And, here again, we are invited to emotional maturity by gaining greater mastery over our emotions. We must avoid negativity and foster positive emotions. It is incumbent on each of us to gain an awareness of our emotions–what triggers and what controls them. That is how we develop our E.Q.–our emotional quotient, commonly known as emotional intelligence.

This sense of separation is pervasive. Mystics are among the few who experience the ultimate connection–communion with their Source, whatever that might mean to each one of them. For Jesus of Nazareth, it is what caused him to say, “I and my father are one.” 

Quantum physicists and others who embrace their conclusion experience intellectual communion and the satisfaction of embracing fundamental truth. Their vision, not unlike TCM’s vision, is that each one of us is made of energy and each with our own energy field that evolves in an infinite energetic substance (or field) that we call space.

A singularity of energy fields is that they can exist as a multitude within any given space. But as energy is polarized in positive and negative phases, there is an interplay between opposite energies while there is harmony with same polarity. More positive energy is elevating. More negative energy is abasing. This is our choice to make.

Now, back to wellness. We learn that we can’t ignore our emotions. They give us a clues on as to how to increase our sense of well-being, by increasing what adds to it and by eliminating what makes us feel unhappy, sorry for ourselves, fearful, or angry.

Once we have gained a fuller awareness of our emotions as a sort of guidance system, there are ways to mitigate the negative and enhance the positive.

PHYTO5 has developed one such exciting method with a new generation of wellness spa treatments. 

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This article was originally published May 2, 2017 and has been updated on March 12, 2020 for freshness and comprehensiveness.

Endnotes:

We are inspired by many authors when writing on the vital energy subject, but in particular, by:

1. Haas, Elson M. Staying Healthy with the Seasons. Berkeley: Celestial Arts, 2003. Print.

2. Beinfield, Harriet, and Efrem Korngold. Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine. New York: Ballantine, 1992. Print.

3. Elias, Jason, and Katherine Ketcham. The Five Elements of Self-healing: Using Chinese Medicine for Maximum Immunity, Wellness, and Health. New York: Harmony, 1998. Print.

4. Gerber, Richard. Vibrational Medicine: New Choices for Healing Ourselves. Santa Fe, NM: Bear, 1996. Print.

5. The abundant writings of Deepak Chopra, M.D.

Wei Chi and the Beauty of Emotions

Maintaining an active Wei Chi is the best way to maintain a strong immune system. In a former blog, we defined Wei Chi:

Wei Chi is protector of your outer energy field (aura). It also protects the superficial layers of the body–the skin. Any pathogen that will eventually attack the physical body needs to first defeat Wei Chi by penetrating your aura and going past it through the skin layers. Wei Chi is the energy of your immune system and guardian of your health according to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

The primary way we enrich our Wei Chi is by cultivating emotionally satisfying relationships.

Next, we enrich our Wei chi by eliminating or at least lessening negative emotions. Negative emotions are the five “devils” described in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). They are the natural enemies of Wei Chi.

Partake of the mystique of quantum energetic formulated plant-based skincare for your exalted natural beauty and well-being. Subscribe for a discount promo code, plus get truly unique beauty tips and offers.

A high E.Q. (Emotional Quotient) will best predict a strong Wei Chi, and chi defense, in general.

Mature emotional intelligence is capable of managing both good and more challenging relationships. Combine this management with strong mastery over potential negative emotional reactions and now you have better control of your health.

And naturally exalted beauty is the end product. Balanced emotion encourages natural beauty.

As PHYTO5’s founding slogan says: “Beauty is health made visible!”

Even if we do a lot of other things right like maintaining a good diet, exercising, breathing well, sleeping, and enjoying holistic spa treatments, these things won’t be sufficient if our E. Q. is low.

PHYTO5 has evolved its well-known energetic method to help you squarely addressing negative emotions that form barriers to wellness and positive Wei Chi boosting emotions. The treatment approach we call The Beauty of Emotions. It offers unique quantum energy techniques and tools to assist you to feel and look better.

Two primary factors provide the foundation of PHYTO5's incredibly unique Beauty of Emotions treatment:

• the fundamental principles of TCM, and

• a proprietary new formulation method of our five-element skincare lines which elevates this high vibrational skincare to the level of quantum energy.

Feeling good must be our objective. It causes us to enjoy life more fully and it makes us more pleasant to be around.

Nevertheless, it’s almost too easy to focus on the good part of feeling good while many of us are challenged to even recognize or identify our feelings in the first place.

In other words, we must first become conscious of how we feel moment to moment and the impact we make on others' feelings when we interact with each other. 

We cannot manage our emotions and reactions unless we are conscious of them. It is a sine qua non condition of developing our E. Q.

The Beauty of Emotions program as a program of wellness begins by assisting the client/patient to first become aware of how he or she feels.

At first, it may sound at once overly ambitious and somewhat invasive. In our society, we have a tendency to keep our true emotions hidden to such an extent that we either lose our awareness of them or we make efforts to hide them.

Still, there are ways to overcome these tendencies, at least with anyone who is willing. That is why an understanding of the importance of emotions in the process of achieving wellness is so relevant. That willingness borne of our understanding will assist us in improving our emotional quotient. As we improve our E. Q. we automatically elevate our health, happiness, character, and even our physical appearance.

The second part of the Beauty of Emotions program encompasses a number of new and specifically formulated PHYTO5 products which are essential tools of the program. From their very inception, PHYTO5 products were successfully formulated for the purpose of balancing chi. PHYTO5 accomplished this for many decades by creating products in alignment with the formulation principles of TCM and its foundational 5-Element Theory.

All along, PHYTO5 has understood that the "5 Devils” described as the natural enemies of Wei Chi (and of chi, in general) affect all aspects of our health, particularly the energy of our five pairs of organs and the function of the five major fluids. Balancing chi always has a beneficial effect on the emotions attached to each of the five pairs of organs. 

PHYTO5's new product formulation has significantly increased the vibrational rate of PHYTO5 skincare products causing them to work faster and more deeply to balance not only the physical but the emotional aspects of our being.

We'll be sharing more on this fascinating subject when we unveil the Beauty of Emotions treatment protocol at the end of May 2017.

Of course, this program will need to be adapted to functions that a well-trained spa therapist can effectively perform and which he or she is allowed to perform by relevant state authorities. Special training for the Beauty of Emotions protocol will be involved.

In the meantime, think about the benefits of such an approach when you know how most of our spa clients, in fact, most of our population, live daily life under the duress of all sorts of pressure and unprecedented levels of stress.

Nature’s richness lies in its power to nourish all living things;
its greatness lies in its power to give them beauty and splendor.  –The I Ching

Make a little time for things that ignite your joy!  –Heart-Math Institute

…

Sources:

We’re inspired by many authors when writing on the vital energy subject but in particular by:

1. Haas, Elson M. Staying Healthy with the Seasons. Berkeley: Celestial Arts, 2003. Print.

2. Beinfield, Harriet, and Efrem Korngold. Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine. New York: Ballantine, 1992. Print.

3. Elias, Jason, and Katherine Ketcham. The Five Elements of Self-healing: Using Chinese Medicine for Maximum Immunity, Wellness, and Health. New York: Harmony, 1998. Print.

4. Gerber, Richard. Vibrational Medicine: New Choices for Healing Ourselves. Santa Fe, NM: Bear, 1996. Print.

5. The abundant writings of Deepak Chopra, M.D.

Best Foods to Eat During Energetic Spring

Even after energetic Spring begins February 5 (according to traditional Chinese medicine [TCM]), we still experience the remnants of the Water energy of Winter. Though TCM says Spring has arrived which is the new energy of the Wood element, it's challenging to think Spring.

TCM tells us we can enjoy our best health and vitality when we live in balance with the change of the five energetic seasons and their corresponding elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water).

As humans, we exist an inherent part of nature. It makes sense to live in balance with nature to enjoy our best life.

Embrace the following attributes, characteristics and specific organ activity for the Wood element and Spring season.

If you’re affected by liver problems (the organs associated with Spring are liver and gall bladder), it’s a sign your body may be suffering from insufficient or lack of Wood chi.

You can strengthen your Wood chi by consuming more Wood element foods which tend to be sour in taste (sour is the taste for the Wood element). Sour foods facilitate clearing an overburdened liver.

Wood element foods act as astringents and help the blood to circulate, your energy to flow, and emotions to move more elegantly through you.

Eating fresh greens during this season naturally cleanses the body of physical and emotional impediments. 

Partake of the mystique of quantum energetic formulated plant-based skincare for your exalted natural beauty and well-being. Subscribe for a discount promo code, plus get truly unique beauty tips and offers.

Wood element foods are cooling and contracting and prevent leakage of body fluids. If you’ve been indulging in a rich, greasy diet, you’ll want to switch to the Wood element foods at this time. 

Refer to the exhaustive list of Wood foods below.

Additionally, there are some herbs and spices we can use in springtime food prep that have a sour taste: dill, sour jujube fruit, and hawthorn berry.

Certain pungent and sweet foods such as scallion, garlic, cinnamon, fennel and ginger tend to have an expansive, rising quality. They are very nice to add to springtime meals and will help you resist colds and allergies.

As always, avoid or reduce consumption of foods and drinks that have little redeeming value for the body such as deep fried foods, oil, fat (aside from the more beneficial oils and fat content derived from olive, avocado and coconut), salty foods, spicy foods, alcohol, and sweets.

While we slow cooked our food in Winter by preparing stews and hearty soups, best cooking methods for the Spring energetic season are sauté, stir fry, light simmer, blanch, quick boil, pickle, and marinate.

At this time of year, our diet should be the lightest to enable our systems to cleanse and strengthen the body, mind and spirit.

Check out PHYTO5's Wood element skincare line to address imbalance in the skin such as oiliness, blackheads, hyperpigmentation, and issues of vital energy circulation.

Best Foods for Wood Element (in alphabetical order)

• adzuki beans

• almonds

• baby spinach

• barley

• black cherry

• black currant

• blackberry

• celery

• cheese

• chicken

• chives

• cod

• collard greens

• grapefruit

• green beans

• green cabbage

• green tea

• halibut

• hazelnuts

• herring

• leafy greens

• lemon

• lettuce

• lime

• liver

• long string beans

• napa cabbage

• nuts

• oats

• olives

• peas

• pickles

• pineapple

• plums

• raspberry

• rose hips

• rye

• sauerkraut

• scallions

• sour grapes

• sour green apples

• sour green star fruit

• sourdough

• spinach

• sprouts

• tomatoes

• vinegar

• walnuts

• wheat

• yogurt

“Adapting itself to obstacles and bending around them, Wood in the earth grows upward without haste and without rest. Thus too the superior man is devoted in the character and never pauses in his progress.”  – Nei Jing (475-221 B.C.)

 …

Sources:

Nguyen, Phil N. Feng Shui for the Curious and Serious. New Jersey: Xlibris Corporation, 2008. Print.

Thunderhawk, Denise, L. Ac. The 5-Element Guide to Healing with Whole Foods. N.p.: Lulu, 2016. Print.

13 Possible Signs You Have a "Water Element Imbalance" According to Chinese Medicine

Water, the element associated with energetic Winter in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is the source of life. It flows, hydrates and purifies.

It carries nourishment to living things–plants, animals, humans. Water can be hard or soft, gentle or powerful, flowing or standing still and stagnating.

In its natural environment, water seeks always to flow downwards and fill every space it contacts. But in the human body water circulates in spite of the lack of a designated pump like blood has with the heart.

Our body shapes would be totally different with all the bulk in our legs if we didn’t have such water circulation throughout the body.

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During Winter, it’s important to conserve energy just like a seed does in nature. Winter’s the time to rest and preserve our essence of life as we prepare for the rebirth of Spring. 

Water circulation is the function of the aspect of vital energy called Water. Proper distribution comes from movement and good breathing. Deep breathing throughout the day activates the largest muscle in the body, the diaphragm, which provides a powerful pumping action ensuring water circulation throughout the body.

In very cold climates, the Winter tendency to hibernate and reduce physical activity must be overcome to ensure enough physical movement and deep breathing necessary for proper water circulation and to avoid water retention, particularly in the legs.

When we’re born, our bodies are about 80% water. As we grow older, we progressively lose water from evaporation that has not been properly replaced. A healthy adult body is comprised of about 75% water. Elderly people might even get to a low of 60%. Further dehydration can become a cause of death.

“The more buff you are (muscle tissue stores more water) the wetter you are. Because women generally have more fat cells, they tend to be a bit drier. Fat cells aren’t as moist. The water that lubricates your joints flushes your waste, assists seminal reproduction, and absorbs shocks to your bones—as you age, the moisturizer in you slowly dwindles.” –Robert Krulwich, Krulwich Wonders on NPR

The importance of proper hydration cannot be underestimated. The medical community is increasingly realizing that most adults are more or less in a severe state of dehydration.

Unfortunately, our drinking water quality is not always satisfactory. Drinking an ample amount of good water is necessary but not fully sufficient. Minerals and electrolytes are necessary. In this regard, fluid from fruits and vegetables is highly desirable. Conversely, too much dry food ( an example would be crackers) contributes to inner dryness.

It is recommended to drink a cup of water per waking hour at regular intervals during the day. It is also good to have water available if and when we wake up during the night. Drinking sodas or coffee is not a substitute for our very necessary water intake quota. In fact, any diuretic such as coffee will eliminate fluid from our body requiring a double dose of hydration to compensate. 

Although occasional flushing of toxins from active perspiration is desirable, the rest of the time, limiting natural evaporation–loss of water from our body–is necessary. Application of a good hydrating cream on the face or hydrating body lotion after a bath or shower will also assist to reduce the rate of evaporation through the day.

During the Winter energetic season, these are signs you’re out of balance with the season’s and the element’s energetic flow:

• Joint weakness, joint swelling, rheumatism, arthritis, tooth decay, osteoporosis (bones and bone marrow are the tissues associated with Winter in TCM). All bones draw nourishment from the energy of kidney and bladder. The cells that carry nourishment, strength and renewal throughout the body are regenerated in the bone marrow.

• Thirst and dryness (water is the element associated with Winter according to TCM).

• Frequency or infrequency of urination (the Winter associated orifices are the genitals, urethra, and anus; kidney is Winter’s organ and bladder Winter’s viscera).

• Excess or deficiency of perspiration, putrid body odor (when the water element is not flowing adequately even to the point of stagnation in the body).

• Reduced metabolism; dehydration compromises metabolism.

• High or low blood pressure (salty is the taste of the Winter season). Too much salt in the system causes fluid retention and is therefore not recommended for high blood pressure patients. Too much salty food is bad for the blood.

• Sexual weakness, infertility, sterility (the genitals are one of the orifices associated with Winter in TCM). Healthy reproduction, the functioning of the testes and ovaries, and the flow of energy necessary to perform the sexual act all depend on Water element balance. The environment essential for the development of the embryo is water.

• Depression, inhibited or blocked emotions, apathy, lack of will power or determination (will power is the spiritual resource associated with Winter in TCM). The kidney (Winter’s organ) stores Jing, the life force or impetus. Without good Jing, one can have difficulty coping with even the simplest of tasks.

• Fear, aloofness, shyness, phobias, an inability to face risk (fear is Winter’s associated emotion). A feeling of foreboding or anxiety may arise. An inability to let go of anxieties or falling into despair is a sign of Water imbalance. “Extreme fear can damage the kidneys, but it can be counteracted by contemplation.” –Neijing Suwen

• Vertigo, dizziness, loss of balance (ears are the sense organ for Winter in TCM).

• Balding (hair is the external physical manifestation of Winter). Strong healthy hair reflects good Jing or life force.

• Constant complaints (moaning and groaning are known as the sound associated with TCM’s Winter energetic season).

• Shaking as a release of withheld tension (accumulation and storage are associated with the Winter element in TCM).

…

Sources:

– Krulwich, Robert. Krulwich Wonders. "Born Wet, Human Babies Are 75 Percent Water. Then Comes The Drying."http://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2013/11/25/247212488/born-wet-human-babies-are-75-percent-water-then-comes-drying. N.p., 26 Nov. 2013. Web.

Chellini, Serena. Compendium of Traditional Chinese Medicine. N.p.: Google, n.d. Print.

What Is Bioceutical Skincare?

Cosmetics formulators use terms like cosmeceutical and bioceutical to convey the essence of their skincare products. These descriptive names imply the products offer you a pharmaceutical or life-giving quality. Unfortunately, these are misnomers. They cause you the consumer to automatically assume the products must higher quality and efficacy. This isn’t always the truth.

In fact, the U. S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA) recognizes only two types of products: Drugs (as in medicine) and cosmetics.

Drugs are either a prescription type (doctor required) or the more benign over-the-counter (OTC) drugs that can be purchased on the retail market.

There are no other FDA product categories (as of this writing), therefore there really is no official “cosmeceutical” category.

Another regulated term is “active ingredient.” It is used quite frequently, particularly by European skincare lines, because those specific words do not have the same definition in Europe as is given by theFDA.

Used by professionals who know when the term is used loosely, there is really no harm even though it is quite improper. In these cases, the words are used to point to the ingredients responsible for the intended action of the product—what gives it its characteristics and uniqueness.

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They could be called functional, key, or defining ingredients, but to use the phrase, “active ingredients,” with anyone who might take it literally is fraudulent. This is because what defines a drug is the very presence of at least one active ingredient which is very specifically defined and regulated by the FDA.

These ingredients are listed as such on any drug container. An absence of FDA approved active ingredients makes the product something other than a drug—and that means a cosmetic product—regardless of the creativity of a copywriter intent on conveying something other than what it is.

Cosmeceuticals and other similarly named products have no “active ingredients” otherwise they would be considered a drug and would be under FDA regulation. 

Some manufacturers claim that the presence of a so called “bio-active” ingredient is the justification for their attempted differentiation. Unfortunately, the term bio-active is also a fabricated one that is not regulated (as of this writing). Ingredients such as minerals, vitamins, and essential oil can be deemed “bio-active.”

Again, all this creates a false image. It tries to convey exclusivity for unregulated products based on the presence of some unregulated ingredient(s). Pure marketing genius!

If you can’t beat them, you might as well join them!

Since there is ample “bio-activity” in PHYTO5 products and because natural high-grade essential oils make them energetic, PHYTO5 now uses the terms “Bioceutical” and “Phyto-Energetic.”

Some manufacturers claim that natural ingredients justify the notion of bioactivity. Some point to the superior bio activity of natural essential oils or algae or natural vitamins.

That would make PHYTO5 and a handful of other good skincare lines that have always included such ingredients, pioneers in the field of cosmeceutical and bioceutical skincare without even knowing it.

The Timing of TCM's Seasons Doesn't Exactly Line Up with the Gregorian 4-Season Calendar

People are often surprised when we announce the start date of any energetic season according to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). For example, Metal energetic season—the energy of the Fall—starts on August 7. Early August still feels like the peak of Summer with no Fall in the air yet. 

Let’s clarify the start of any of the five TCM seasons:

The start of an energetic season means that a new and invisible energetic influence is at work and that in time its manifestations will become tangible. The start of the Metal season doesn’t mean that Fall is here.

It means that a new influence is at work and will bring about a change. Yet, when Metal energy comes into play, the manifestation of the Fire/Summer energy is still being felt although the energy of Fire is no longer at its peak. 

A metaphor might help: 

You push a stroller in front of you and decide to give it an extra push and let it roll in front of you on its own. What you have done is create a momentum for the stroller making it move as if you were still pushing it although you are not. You can see two phases in what happened: First is your energetic action and second, the result or manifestation of it. 

While the analogy is not complete, it might help differentiate between the start of a season that initiates a change and the remnant of the manifestation that lingers on over the next energetic season.

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Since it is the energetic “push” that has an influence on humans, animals and plants, in order to maintain a state of balance—wellness—we need to focus on the period of the “push” rather than simply when the manifestations are evident. This is the reason we make available to our clients the dates of the five energetic seasons, because we cannot act simply when the seasonal manifestations are felt.

It is also worth reminding that the energetic seasons are entirely based on the apparent movement of the sun at it travels between the zenith of its course in the northern hemisphere, and the nadir of its course in the southern hemisphere, and back; making the same trip every year. In fact, it is the timing of that trip that defines the yearly calendar. In other words, the calendar is framed by set dates: the two solstices and the two equinoxes. That is the reason the energetic calendar has fixed dates year after year, contrary to the Chinese calendar based on the movement of the moon, yielding different dates for the Chinese New Year, every year.

Tao is a composite of everything, the intrinsic order of all things. The way we interact with Tao, with nature, is described by Yin-Yang and the Five Phases. Chinese cosmology suggests that life’s movement is like a spinning ball on a flowing river, a tide of wind and water, a vortex revolving while rhythmically contracting and expanding (Yin-Yang) as we are varied along by the currents of Tao….

The Five Phases identify stages of transformation, patterns of expansion and contraction, proliferation and withering. Each Phase has an intrinsic primal energy, an ontological influence that shapes events. For example, human beings go through cycles in their lives similar to the seasons in nature—beginning in birth and ending in death, with stages of growth, maturity, and decay in between. Within the life cycle, the power of each Phase can be observed.

—Beinfield, Harriet, and Efrem Korngold. Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine. New York: Ballantine, 1992. Print.

How to Tell if You Have Over-Processed Skin and How to Resolve It

A relatively new skin condition has evolved. Many doctors call it “over-processed” skin. As the name implies, over-processed skin an excess of invasive treatments causes over-processed skin. Here the skin is so abused it eventually loses its natural properties—from appearance to its capacity to heal.

Over-processed skin:

• looks like paper and is void of vital energy;

• displays an uneven color or a great deal of redness;

• is flaky even after exfoliation;

• may exhibit a shine though it is actually dehydrated and taut;

• causes wrinkles and lines prematurely especially around the eyes and upper cheeks.

Too many chemical peels, excessive dermabrasion and maybe even excessive or unsuccessful surgery have affected the skin to the extent that the natural vital flow of energy is blocked. It creates two negative conditions:

• the stripping of trace minerals essential to natural osmosis within the skin layers

• proper fluid movement.

As blood, lymph and water no longer flow properly, the skin is lacking nutrients. Oxygenation does not reach all the layers of the skin. Elimination of toxins is affected. In short, the skin has lost its capacity to hydrate and to heal from within. More procedures only aggravate the condition and skin products no longer produce their former effects.

Our experience is that the condition of over-processed skin is best met with:

✔︎PHYTO5 Metal element energetic line; this line focuses on mineralizing and promoting oxygenation.

✔︎The Metal element PHYTO5 facial, recommended in a series of treatments.

✔︎Oligo 5 by PHYTO5; a mineral spray and essential add-on to be used morning and evening as well as a few times during the day.

✔︎A recommended series of energetic drainages to stimulate and balance all five fluids (lymph, red blood, blue blood, water and energy).

✔︎Balancing Five Clay Mask facial by PHYTO5

✔︎Ageless LaCure by PHYTO5 Face Kit cure

The very existence of this condition is a sad but very good demonstration of what happens when the skin is not respected for the organ it is, and when it is treated as if it were a mere piece of cloth.

Holistically minded estheticians are alert to these risks and educate their customers that more invasive treatments are not better.

Prevention and Restoration of Over-Processed Skin

Let’s remember that major skin conditions do not erupt overnight unless they are related to food intolerance, chemical poisoning, or infection. Undesirable esthetic manifestations evolve progressively.

To pay attention to, and to know how to read the signs your skin is giving you is up to you and your PHYTO5 professional.

Most skin conditions, including over-processed skin, can be remedied favorably when they are addressed at their early stage. Of course, the knowledgeable esthetician knows how to recognize the root cause of esthetic manifestations and how to select the appropriate energetic tools to use.

Benign conditions left untreated can become chronic over time. This increases the difficulty of resolving them by natural solutions. Often, adjustments to lifestyle must parallel a well-conceived treatment series and home product selection.

Balanced skin is a blessing to be preserved. It can be maintained with good lifestyle habits and personalized skincare regimentation.

The PHYTO5 Balancing Five Clay Mask facial is a treatment protocol well adapted to balanced skin. Alternatively, we highly recommend the treatment of the energetic season, supported by seasonal home-use products.

An occasional Ageless LaCure by PHYTO5 Face Kit cure is a good three week balancing home treatment and is particularly adapted to maturing skin.

Preventive and restorative skincare represents an investment on your part. In view of the high cost and high risk of invasive facial techniques that lead to damaged, over-processed skin, one ounce of holistic PHYTO5 prevention is worth a pound of invasive treatment!

“Irritant reactions are characterized by red, flaking, and uncomfortable skin. The skin often stings after almost any product is applied. This is caused by irritants easily penetrating the damaged barrier function and stimulating nerve endings that cause the feeling of stinging and burning. The redness is caused by the immune response. Estheticians often refer to this as overprocessed skin.”—Lees, Mark. Skin Care: Beyond the Basics. Albany, NY: Milady, 2001. Print.

“Overprocessed skin can lead to premature aging, overly sensitive skin, and rosacea.”—Douglas, Kym, and Cindy Pearlman. The Black Book of Hollywood Beauty Secrets. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2006. Print.

The First Day of Summer Is May 6 According to Traditional Chinese Medicine. Here's Why.

June 20, the Summer Solstice, is widely regarded as the first day of Summer. The Summer Solstice marks the longest day of the year but it’s not necessarily the best indicator of the first day of Summer.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), a time-honored practice dating back to more than two centuries before the common era, follows the principles set forth in the Wu Xing, also known as the Five Element Theory.

In the Wu Xing, we are given the dates for the four seasons plus the periods "between seasons.”

Traditional Chinese thinkers were fond of pondering the cyclical aspects of nature with the repetition of days, moons, seasons and years as they observed the effects of those cycles on all living organisms. 

Humans, like animals and plants, are affected by nature’s cycles, so it is not surprising that the study of nature was the first basis in their understanding of vital energy. Knowing that there can be no effect without a cause, the predictable seasonal patterns pointed to the existence of a cause.

Unlike ancient Greeks and Egyptians who attributed cause to the whims of various gods, the Chinese simply saw chi (energy) as the mover of matter but not as a deity. They saw this energy being responsible for cyclical and predictable stages and changes. They evolved the more complex and subtle Law of the Five Elements which includes the energies symbolically named Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water and the multiple aspects of their interrelationship.

The ancient Chinese saw how the cycles of the seasons profoundly impact everything from weather to plants and crops, animals and even human mental well-being.

They surmised that to each season corresponds a specific energy that influences all life forms. They concluded that in addition to the cyclical movement of yin and yang, there must also be changing energies causing, and therefore related to, seasonal changes. They subdivided yin and yang into five phases, also called elements that they named: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. These five phases are also known as the Wu Xing.

In the Wu Xing, summer begins May 7 and ends July 19. Shortly thereafter and until August 6 is a "between seasons" period leading up to the Fall season.

According to the Wu Xing, the 72 days of Summer is a period of swelling and flowering, full of energy and fire. The heart and the small intestine are the organs that require focus at this time so that their function may be balanced and in harmony with the season. 

The element of Summer according to TCM is Fire. The out-of-balance-with-Fire skin condition presents as red, irritated, sensitive, blotchy, allergic skin. PHYTO5’s Fire skin and hair care line strives to bring those symptoms back into balance as it soothes and calms. 

The emotionality of Summer is joy, but more so, joy in balance. This means that if joy goes overboard or is expressed as wild exuberance, the emotion is out of balance. To live in harmony with any of the five seasons of TCM means we are in balance with all its attributes. An in-balance Summer type would very much tend to be joyful but in a balanced way.

This Summer, be sure to have fun and be balanced in your joy. Your time for seriousness comes in the Fall.

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Photo by cottonbro at Pexels.com.

This article, originally published on May 10, 2016 was updated on May 16, 2021 for freshness and comprehensiveness.