ANCIENT BEAUTY HACKS WITH DR. STEPHANIE FLOCKHART

I am a big believer in the idea that all of our passions and interests excite us for a reason, and when living with a, “birds eye view”, perspective we can trust that eventually all of the jigsaw pieces of our life will complement each other and ultimately make sense somewhere along our lifetime. It is only when looking back that we can see the dots connect and see the method in our own madness. My road to becoming a health care practitioner most definitely embodied this perspective. 

My interest in health started relatively young, I have memories of winning the prestigious class prize for “healthiest lunch box” in grade three... This was a time where Le Snacks, LCM’s and Dunkaroos were considered the most enviable lunch items, so my award wasn’t warmly welcomed at the time. Yet thanks to my mother’s influence, I was able to learn the value of healthy eating and preventative health care from our regular visits to Acupuncturists, energy healers and Naturopaths. My Mother, who has always loved diving headfirst into new interests, (a quality I’ve definitely inherited), went on to study Chinese Medicine herself. True to form its influence was quickly strewn around our house and had been carefully curated to support Feng Shui principles. She had Chinese herbs simmering on the stove and books upon books of everything from Eastern philosophy to dietary therapy and face reading. As an only child or ‘bookworm’, I found myself naturally gravitating towards these books and made them my imaginary friends. I began devouring the concepts and feeling a connection to the TCM understanding of the world and the approach to living harmoniously and balancing ourselves and the world around us. 

Although I had a strong foundation and association with healthy living, at the age of twelve I relinquished my understanding of balance and went down a different path that I would stay on for another eight years. I was scouted by a modelling agency at that time, and swapped the Chinese Medicine books for Vogue magazine, confusing the idea of health with the idealization of being skinny. Ironically on my quest for health, I became extremely unhealthy in the process. During this period I was hospitalised three times and diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa. I found myself enmeshed in the Western Medical system, where I was cared for just enough to support my physical body yet found the mental and emotional components of my health were only tended to superficially. I quickly found myself being drawn back to all I’d learned as a child reading those books and through that knowledge I was able to recover and finished school with dreams of being a journalist. I was accepted into my university of choice but after just one year, everything in my body was screaming that it wasn’t my path to pursue. 

During my brief yet eye-opening ‘career’ in journalism, I found myself gravitating back towards health. As I was regretfully learning how to manipulate the masses into believing fearful narratives to keep them watching, on my days off I was spending more time in my mother's clinic. I began revisiting healers and picking up the same books that I had found solace in as a girl. After a while I couldn’t take it anymore, I dropped out and enrolled in my health degree shortly after. I was so inspired and passionate about supporting other people through their own health journeys, in a way that was holistic and supportive of not just their physical self but their energetic one. After treating in clinic for nearly a decade I began to focus solely on Women’s health and beauty after seeing so many heartbreaking examples of women’s health being neglected in the health industry.

Working as an Acupuncturist, specialising in Women’s Health and Cosmetic Acupuncture, I noticed a familiar pattern within the realm of beauty and ageing. The idea of longevity, self love, and prevention were foreign concepts, overshadowed by a multi billion dollar industry promoting a fear of ageing and a superficial approach to beauty, with emphasis on the physical alone. 

In the same way that I healed my relationship with food and my body through the power of Chinese Medicine, this holistic approach can also be applied to beauty and has been for thousands of years. Chinese medicine approaches its remedies and perspective on beauty with an emphasis on ritual. I feel this is something that has been interwoven into the beauty regime of many cultures and has transcended time, until now. We are increasingly becoming disconnected and stuck in our “Yang” or masculine energies. Failing to acknowledge the importance and power of embracing the “Yin” or the feminine aspect of self. The lost art of the beauty ritual embodies self love through self care, and through using tools such as the Jade roller or Gua Sha, it invites us to pause in the moment and indulge in the process. I feel this sense of luxury, and the investment in self increases feelings and evidence of radiance, femininity and in turn self confidence. Chinese Medicine understands the importance of intent and balancing your emotions first and foremost. When they are balanced, and you’re approaching your beauty regime from a place of love for yourself, that’s exactly when we see phenomenal results from these practices. 

It is an exciting time as people are becoming extremely invested in exploring alternative methods of self care, understanding the impact of toxins, the power of diet and seeking a natural approach to all aspects of their life, including their beauty regime. 

I have found that most of my clients' thoughts are negative and even sometimes hateful when looking in the mirror trying their beauty routine of choice, which is almost like going jogging and eating a hamburger at the same time. In a world where we have been stuck inside and forced to look inward, there has truly never been a more amazing time to add self love to your beauty routine.