When I teach professional trainings for people to coach and consult using this work, I always do in-depth demonstrations of readings while the students observe.

It’s always everyone’s favorite part of the workshop because they get to watch, live and in person, the process of someone discovering for the very first time how deeply they can be recognized and understood. It’s often quite a holy moment.

A few years ago, one of the volunteer subjects was David, whose face and birth date revealed a classic example of an archetype I call The Artist. I could tell this would be a highly creative and deeply intuitive man, who’d value times of silence and solitude where his creative juices could flow, and who’d be likely to be a non-conformist in all aspects of life.

Someone like this often has an emotional depth others lack, but it’s a covert emotional nature – He’d rarely talk about his feelings but I knew his emotions ran powerful and deep. Like an iceberg, what you saw with David was only the tip of what was really happening under the surface.

People with this inner design crave freedom and lean toward the unusual personally and professionally. They can struggle to find their way in life because they’re not the least bit drawn to “normal” life and they can feel quite misunderstood by others.

And this was the story that David told me as he described the issues he faced. He carried a lot of painful judgment about himself – He couldn’t understand what was the matter with him.

Why did he crave so much time alone and feel things so deeply when others let things just roll off their backs? His girlfriend complained that he didn’t talk to her, but he was overwhelmed when she wanted to download everything that passed through her mind onto him.

He wondered if he was wrong not to feel driven like his younger brother was. While David had found success as a musician, he described with great intensity how it was more important to him to have freedom in how he lived his life and did his work rather than chase money to get a big house and fancy car.

As I did the reading and described his inner design to him, David listened intently. When I was done, there was a long silence. He just sat there, looking in my eyes for what felt like forever, and then finally said, “You mean, I’ll always be this way?”

I took a breath and had a bit of an Uh-oh! moment in my mind. Was he viewing this as a prison he’d never escape? But an instant later, he let out an enormous sigh and flashed a big smile, exclaiming, “That is such a relief! You mean I’m supposed to be like this!”

He got it. This was his nature; he was designed to be exactly this way. There was nothing wrong with him—or rather, the only thing wrong with him was that he thought there was something wrong!

Like all of us, through a lifetime of accumulated negative self-judgment, there was enormous tension in his system that kept him from loving and accepting himself.

David’s patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior weren’t his fault and they weren’t a problem. In fact, it was his judgment of them that was causing the problem.

Like all of us, he was born with his inner design shining brightly in full joy, ready to begin the journey. But also like all of us, nearly from the moment he was born, he was receiving messages from the outside world that he should be more like “that” and not “this.”

We all want to be loved and accepted, and so we try to be more like “that” – and there begins the journey away from original self. To me, the most powerful and beautiful part of the work I do is to help someone come home to themselves again.

That day, as David visibly relaxed into himself, possibly for the first time since childhood, the room became a sacred place for all of us, honored to witness someone feeling truly seen.

If you live or work with human beings, you might want to know that you can learn how to do this too – whether for yourself or for anyone in your life personally or professionally. I hope you’ll check out the Events page on my site to see the workshop flyers. I’d love to show you the purposeful beauty of your own inner design!

I read President Obama’s face during the 2008 campaign and saw many qualities that I’ve since seen demonstrated during his presidency. But I also noticed a few characteristics that could cause people to have misperceptions about what to expect from him, and I’ve seen these come true as well.

I’ll discuss these below, as well as two other important things: 1) A change to his face that I’ve noticed since he became president; and 2) What he needs in order to get elected.

Before I get into the details, I need to make sure you understand my approach: The evaluation I’m doing of each candidate is objective, simply based on what face reading says about their personal characteristics. There is no veiled effort here to push any agenda or make negative or positive judgments.

Chinese face reading is an ancient branch of Chinese medicine, and is thousands of years old. Basically, it’s a science about recognizing patterns. There are patterns in your face – for example, the size and shape of your features, and any wrinkles or markings that develop; complex details that can be read to reveal the deeper pattern of who you are inside.

Ears
With President Obama’s face, one of the first things many people notice is that his ears stick out! In face reading, this indicates a highly independent spirit, someone who thinks for himself, and is less likely than most people to respond to pressure to conform.

Hairline
His hairline goes across in a straight line, as opposed to being irregular or curved, for example. This is the mark of someone who may challenge the status quo; and who’s especially concerned with fixing what’s wrong with a system. If the existing rules don’t seem to be doing any good, he’ll feel driven to change them.

Temples
His indented temples show a tendency toward compulsiveness, which is usually seen in people as workaholism or compulsive exercising. However, it can also reveal the potential for addictive tendencies, which is probably why he used to be a smoker. But this same feature provides positive message as well: It means he can be very disciplined, and it’s through concentrated discipline that he can overcome any addiction.

Eyebrows
President Obama’s eyebrows grow in straight, horizontal lines, rather than curved or peaked, for instance. One of the many important messages our eyebrows give is how we make decisions. His straight eyebrows show that he values logic and reason, and that he feels it’s essential to take time to evaluate a problem before coming to a conclusion and taking action.

When the general public heard his 2008 campaign message about “change,” many of them thought that meant change would be nearly immediate after his election! But Mr. Obama is the opposite of impulsive; he wanted to be sure he had all the information and took time to think things through so that his decision would be the best one. For Obama, effective change has to be deliberate and well thought out.

Jaw
His jaw is well defined but not exaggerated in size. The strength of the jaw indicates the strength of someone’s convictions. Too strong a jaw means that someone is too judgmental and rigid in their beliefs, kind of a “my way or the highway” attitude. Instead, President Obama’s jaw reveals a man who has strong values and beliefs but is willing to listen to others’ opinions.

This is another reason why “change” wasn’t immediate after his election. He wanted to consider information from different viewpoints and to bring people together; which slowed things down.

Subtle Messages
As I said above, face reading is about understanding patterns, and there are subtle patterns here that would require you to come to a workshop in order to understand where I see them! This is the reason I have such respect for face reading – It’s not a cookie cutter approach. There are nuanced meanings that can be read in each of our faces.

In President Obama’s case, what I see is that communication can be an issue for him. For example, he was likely to neglect staying in communication with the voters, to explain what was going on. We saw this happen with the health care initiative – In all the work to create it, he didn’t pay enough attention to clearly communicating the benefits of the plan, so everyone understood how it could help them.

As he attacked the massive problems with the economy over the past 4 years, he didn’t take enough time to help voters understand what was going on. To his mind, the priority was to get the work done, not invest his energy in what he viewed more as public relations to polish his image.

Change to Obama’s Face since 2008
Most presidents get gray (or grayer) hair once they get elected, so it’s not a concern that it’s happened with this president too. But there is one change to his face that does concern me. You can even see signs of this in the photo posted here: a wrinkle that starts near his lower mouth and cuts across his chin.

This wrinkle has formed because of a specific facial expression he’s been making consistently. (This is how most of our wrinkles grow, by the way, due to repeated facial expressions – which are a result of repeated patterns of thoughts and emotions. Change those, and you lose the wrinkles.)

Basically, this wrinkle has formed due to repeated expressions of disappointment and dissatisfaction, a motion he makes with his mouth when he feels let down by someone, disappointed that a person has not helped as they promised, or even disappointed in himself for not completing what he’d hoped.

For instance, I’ve seen him make the expression that forms this wrinkle when Vice President Biden makes a gaffe in a speech, when he feels he’s been blocked by Congress from fulfilling his promises, and when staff members he’s depended on haven’t come through the way they should have.

The Key to Getting Elected
The wrinkle I described above has a theme to it that’s bigger than just a current pattern of dissatisfaction and disappointment. It also reflects that one of Barack Obama’s strong values is the spirit of community and cooperation.

However, the most important aspect of this theme has to do with women. I won’t make you sit through a long explanation about the complex patterns that indicate this, but the strong message here is that women are the key if Barack Obama is to be re-elected. If women join together as a community and speak up to lend their strong support, then it’s likely that we’ll have him as president for a second term.

Timing is Everything?
Lastly, when I look at where President Obama is in the cycles of time, I see that the full 4 years since he was elected was a difficult phase, one that wasn’t supportive of his having as much success as he’d have hoped for. However, beginning this winter, he moves into a long cycle (5 years) where it will be far easier for him to achieve all his goals. Whether that will be as president or in some other capacity is yet to be seen!

So now I’ll turn to looking at the faces of the Democratic candidates! I’ll start with Vice President Joe Biden.

As I stated in the two previous articles about Ryan and Romney, I’m reading these faces objectively, conveying what face reading says about their personal characteristics. There is no veiled effort here to push any agenda or make negative or positive judgments.

Chinese face reading is an ancient branch of Chinese medicine, and is thousands of years old. Basically, it’s a science about recognizing patterns. There are patterns in your face – for example, the size and shape of your features, and any wrinkles or markings that develop; complex details that can be read to reveal the deeper pattern of who you are inside.

One thing you might easily notice in this picture of Vice President Biden is that his left eye is held more widely open than his right eye. This isn’t just a matter of the camera catching him in the moment of making an awkward expression. In looking at many photos of him, I notice that his left eye is often held more open. So what could this mean?

Let’s start out by looking at what the eyes reveal:

Eyes

In face reading, your eyes give many messages, but some of the most important are how you feel about communication.

First, they show how open you are in communicating what you’re feeling deep inside. Second, they indicate how open you are to taking in what someone else is communicating to you.

If someone’s eyes are narrowed in general, it means they’re not so comfortable talking about their inner feelings. And when it comes to being open to hearing about your feelings, that’s also not an experience they naturally seek!

If someone’s eyes are held wide open in general, they really value expressing themselves. They think everyone should be communicating what they’re thinking and feeling and can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to have open conversations about what’s going on inside.

A classic example of this is a couple where the man has naturally narrowed eyes and the woman has naturally widely held eyes. She wants to talk about their relationship and he just wants to watch the game: “We talked about our relationship last year!”

However, one of Mr. Biden’s eyes is held wide and the other held narrowed. So we need to look at what messages the right eye gives compared to the left eye:

Left and Right Sides of the Face

Basically, the right half of someone’s face is said to be the “public” side – the information that person is willing to share with the outside world.

The left half of the face is the “private” side – where you can read their inner feelings, what they’re really going through inside.

But face reading is not a cookie cutter system. It’s about seeing how all aspects of someone’s life experience is reflected in their face. If you’re evaluating the meaning of someone’s eyes, you can’t make conclusions until you also look at the rest of the face to discover details that might be affecting what the eyes signify.

Grief Lines

With Mr. Biden’s face, there are lines on his face that show he carries a deep and old grief. This could very well have to do with the death of his wife and daughter and the severe injuries to his sons in a terrible car accident back in the 1970s.

So his narrow right eye actually means that he’s keeping that grief private and not burdening the rest of the world with it.

Rapport

His wider left eye is something I often see in people who are public figures or who work with other people on a deep level, such as doing therapy or healing work.

This kind of eye means he’s taking in a lot of information about you while he’s talking with you, but he’s doing this privately, so you’re not made uncomfortable.

It actually comes from a genuine place of wanting to “read” you so that he can establish rapport and understand where you’re coming from, to take in what you’re communicating to him.

So the stories about Biden riding the train to work back and forth each day and talking to constituents makes sense. He really does want to hear from people and he’s also not going to make them listen to him go on and on about himself.

Balding

What some people don’t know about Vice President Biden is that he was balding but got hair plugs to restore his hairline.

In Chinese face reading, when someone balds from the front hairline backwards, it actually is associated with a certain personality type, called the “Fire” personality.

The Fire person is warm and affectionate, and tends to love connecting with people. They have a positive, optimistic nature and spread good feelings wherever they go. They often have a good sense of humor, love to have fun with people, and most of all, they love to talk!

A Fire person is also fast. That means they learn quickly, they think fast, and they’re often high-speed talkers. And this is where the problem can come in. They don’t always take the time to think before they speak. They go so fast, they can say things they wouldn’t have if they’d just paused to consider the impact of their words.

And we’ve certainly seen examples of this in Mr. Biden’s behavior!

Not all Fire people have this problem. If a Fire person’s system is in balance, they’ll still think and speak quickly but usually will be able to discern the impact of their words before they leave their lips.

But because Mr. Biden changed his natural baldness, he set his system off balance slightly, resulting in more frequent communication gaffes. If he hadn’t interfered with his hairline receding, this wouldn’t be happening.

It’s not a major problem in terms of his suitability as a leader; but it does help us understand why President Obama has been inconvenienced at times by the words that have tumbled out of Biden’s mouth!

Following on the reading for Paul Ryan below, now let’s take a look at Mitt Romney’s face!

Please know that when I do a face reading for a politician, I need to set any of my personal views aside, and neutrally and objectively communicate the facts of what I see. So there is no veiled effort here to push any agenda or make negative or positive judgments. I am simply reading the information presented on his face.

And just to make sure this is clear – Chinese face reading is an ancient branch of Chinese medicine, and is thousands of years old. Basically, it’s a science about recognizing patterns. There are patterns in your face – the size and shape of your features, any wrinkles or markings that develop; all these characteristics combine to reveal a deeper pattern of who you are inside.

Businessman’s Face
And with Romney’s face, there is one major pattern immediately apparent. He could have been sent from Central Casting to fill the role of “businessman.” The rectangular shape of his face, his thick eyebrows, indented temples, fleshy nose, strong chin and a few other fine details are all classic messages of someone who could find great success in business, as he has.

These aspects of Romney’s face reveal that he is good at setting goals and achieving them. He’ll excel at creating a strategy to get from Point A to Point B and then concentrate on doing the work to get there in the most efficient way possible.

He values a logical, linear approach to everything. In his world, it’s really very simple: You set a goal, create an action plan to achieve it, and you go step by step until you reach that goal.

Concrete Thinker
If Romney encounters a problem during this process, he confronts it with a kind of “repairman” mentality. He believes you should tackle any problem head-on with a logical, structured approach. In other words, if you’re trying to repair an object, you look at all the pieces and decide what needs to be fixed or replaced and then you do it. Problem solved, move on.

This can be fine in many cases, but it leans a bit too much into a style of thinking that Western psychologists define as “concrete thinking.” This means he may tend to choose too much of a literal or systematic approach even in cases that require a more sophisticated thought process, to recognize the complexities involved in finding a successful solution.

Compatibility with Ryan
When it comes to his working relationship with his running mate, Paul Ryan, this view of the world is one that Ryan shares, so it helps us understand why Romney chose him. They’re both very comfortable approaching everything as a goal to be conquered or a problem to be fixed, all viewed through the filters of their left brains.

He Is – But He Isn’t!
Usually, when I read someone’s face, I get very clear, distinct information, but when I started to do a full reading of Mitt Romney’s face, it was bewildering. Every time I came to one conclusion about some aspect of his personality, I immediately discovered its opposite characteristic.

The overriding message his face is giving me is: “He is, but he isn’t.” Let me give you some examples:

Eyebrows
If you look at Romney’s eyebrows, you’ll notice they’re set very low on his face, very close to his eyes. This usually means someone is approachable. For example, people are likely to feel they can go right up to him and have a conversation, that he’s comfortable interacting with everyone.

But with Romney, this is immediately countered by other signs on his face that give a strong indication of of “social awkwardness,” the fact that he’s actually not comfortable being approached by most people outside of his known community.

So when you do come up to him, if you’re at all sensitive, you may feel his discomfort and be confused those “is and isn’t” messages. He’s approachable, but he’s not approachable.

Joy Lines
Next, there are what I call Joy lines by his eyes. In the West, we call those “Crow’s Feet.” In face reading, they’re considered a very positive sign, that this person is warm and affectionate and you’ll have a positive experience with him.

You only develop Joy Lines by giving genuine smiles, which involve both the muscles around the mouth and the eyes. And I’m sure Mr. Romney does give many genuine smiles!

But these Joy Lines are modified by his very tense mouth. Most of the smiles that he gives in public are not genuinely felt. When he’s with his “own kind” he will feel comfortable and will smile authentically, but in most public situations, the smiles are forced and inauthentic.

So this is another example of “he is but he isn’t”  - he can be warm and affectionate when he feels comfortable, but in most situations, he’s UNcomfortable, and so – have a positive experience with him? Not so much.

Jaw
In some angles in photographs, it seems that Romney has a strong jaw, and this is good for a politician. There have been several scientific studies that show that it’s usually the politician with the strongest jaw who wins the election.

The jaw shows how competitive someone is, how driven they are to win, but also how much they’ll stick to their convictions. So when voters see a candidate with a powerful jaw, even though they don’t know face reading, they unconsciously feel that this person will stand up for them, and they feel safe with him.

But when you take a closer look, Romney actually doesn’t have a very strong jaw. It’s really his chin that’s the largest feature in his lower face, and it makes it seem like his jaw is also big.

The messages I’m seeing in this particular jaw is someone who does have drive and strong values but at the same time privately struggles with low confidence and self-doubt. This can actually be a good thing because otherwise, he might be too confident or set in his ways! But again, we have the message of “he is, but he isn’t.”

Forehead
Romney has a rounded upper forehead, which signifies an intuitive nature. But the message of this forehead is modified by his rectangular face shape, thick eyebrows and indented temples, which all talk about someone who doesn’t value intuition or instincts, or would be too embarrassed to admit he does! So he may be naturally intuitive but suppresses it. Yet another possible “he is, but isn’t.”

So this pervasive theme of “he is – but he isn’t” makes me wonder if it’s the reason the Republican Party has been so unexcited about his candidacy. It’s almost like there’s no “there” there!

I’ve just sped through a nonstop teaching schedule for the first part of the year, followed immediately by plunging into writing my next book. Huff puff. But now, 67,913 words have sailed off to my editor and I have time to come up for air!

The news is full of politics, and if you’re not yet feeling tired of all the posturing and manipulation, I admire your patience. While I’m not naturally interested in debating about the different candidates, at election time I’m always inundated with requests to read the candidates’ faces, and in fact, it can be pretty fascinating to see who they really are inside.

Since Paul Ryan has just been announced as Romney’s vice presidential running mate, I’ll start with this fresh news and write about the other faces in the race in the coming days.

When I do a face reading for anyone in politics, I need to set any of my own views aside and approach the reading neutrally and objectively, to just communicate the facts of what I see.

So please know there is no veiled effort here to push any agenda or make negative or positive judgments. I am simply reading the information presented on his face.

Just to make sure we’re on the same page here: Chinese face reading is an ancient branch of Chinese medicine, which is 3,000 years old. It’s based on a very sophisticated understanding of patterns inherent in all aspects of life on earth, including people.

There are patterns in the characteristics of your face – things like the size and shape of your features, any wrinkles you develop, the form of your ears, slant of your forehead, etc – that can reveal your personal potential, strengths and challenges in life, who you really are and what you need to be happy.

OK, let’s take a look at Mr. Ryan’s face.

There is one very strong theme I immediately see, and that’s of what I call the “Warrior” – a man who’s incredibly driven. This is shown in his very large and highly-defined jaw, his eyebrows, indented temples, the wrinkles between his eyebrows, the rectangular shape of his face, and his complexion.

For one thing, that means he’s likely to be very physically active, highly competitive and probably interested in sports,. But of course this extremely driven and competitive nature is also the perfect personality for a politician – it means he likes to win, and he’ll do everything he can to come out on top.

However, these same patterns also show a person who genuinely wants to create positive change in the world, to make it a better place, and this probably is one of the reasons he chose politics as his career.

This is a practical, pragmatic man who has a very logical, linear mind – he views everything through the filter of his left brain. He probably loves to analyze things, to solve problems, to think about things.

In fact, I’d say he’s a world-class “thinker” – and by that I mean waaaay too much of a thinker. His very thin lips combined with certain wrinkles on his face and the fact that his upper eyelids cover part of his eye show that he’s not emotionally open, is weak in tuning in to other people’s feelings, and lacks an understanding of how important community and relationships are.

In a cynical way, he may well understand the value of community and relationships in terms of using them to help him achieve his goals, but he lacks the softness and receptivity of someone who truly makes himself available to connect with others in deep friendship.

Instead he values work, achievement, winning. So it’s not that I’m saying he won’t make friends but the danger is that any friends may all share his somewhat aggressive nature, or else just be used as stepping stones to get to the finish line first.

His impressive jaw especially signifies that he’s quite judgmental and may be quick to reject anyone who doesn’t agree with him. In his world, it’s “my way or the highway” – He’s not easily able to listen to all sides of an argument or to consider other people’s ideas or concerns, though he may give the impression he does so.

His indented temples also show us a tendency toward compulsiveness, which often is expressed as workaholism, as well as the potential for addictive tendencies. But this also means he can be extremely disciplined, so if he does struggle with addictions, he can keep them under control by sheer force of concentration.

He has a cleft chin, and this is often a sign of someone who just naturally ends up in the spotlight in some way. It also means he does need to be “seen” and appreciated in life and wouldn’t be happy working behind the scenes in any situation.

That chin along with the Joy Lines by his eyes (what we call Crows’ Feet) do show that he is friendly, has a good sense of humor and can be affectionate, which is a relief after such a strong message of drive and competitiveness from his other features!

Without these two aspects of his face, I doubt he’d be successful as a politician – people need to feel SOME personal warmth and connection. But in this case, his ability to express affection may be only skin-deep, more for superficial public interactions than available in more private friendships.

He has a “widow’s peak” – that little V in his hairline, and that’s an indication of a magnetic charm, and some natural intuition, again, another great feature for a politician to have!

His ears stick out slightly, which is a sign of a willful and independent nature, someone who’s a bit of a nonconformist or does things in unusual ways. This can be good – I’d think we’d want a leader who thinks for himself.

His very large nose means that he’s a perfectionist, highly self-critical, and probably very controlling in both his personal and professional lives. This is definitely a man who needs to have things HIS way.

It also means he’s far more sensitive than people realize, and especially sensitive to being criticized. Being thrust in the spotlight now will be a greater challenge for him than people think. He hates to feel judged by others, and is distressed by any signs of criticism. To cope, he may have to avoid reading or viewing any press reports about him or he’ll just get far too stressed.

The vertical lines in his lower cheeks are called “Lack Lines’ and are not a good sign. These basically indicate a pattern of deprivation that can be expressed in various ways. They can just mean that he’s working too hard, that he lacks getting enough downtime and rest. It can also show someone who breathes too shallowly when stressed (deprived of enough oxygen).

Or it can be someone who’s stingy with money, a real penny-pincher. Additionally it can mean that he lacks a natural sense of warmth and generosity, which is probably true here because it’s reinforced by his thin lips.

Overall, it usually means someone who struggles with anxiety about “enough.” They worry about having enough money, about being good enough, or having done well enough. This usually includes an unconscious sense in life that since there’s not enough for them, how can they possibly be giving or generous with others?

For someone with his nature, these Lack Lines are a major warning sign of an imbalance in his system, and these circumstances are only going to get worse with this stressful campaign!

Additionally in many of the photos I’ve viewed of him online, he has what’s called “Three White-Sided Eyes”  where the whites under his eyes are visible. This is another strong danger sign that his system is overly-stressed.

To top this off, a third detail of his face reveals that he’s severely stressed – his eyebrows look somewhat “splintered” – instead of looking like solid lines, the hairs are breaking up. This is a man who’s been doing too much for too long and it’s to the point where I’m really concerned about his ability to cope. And this is only the beginning of the campaign!

The weak link in the chain for him emotionally will be how easily he becomes frustrated, and even angry. When he’s stressed, he falls into that state, and he can be impatient, easily irritated, and it’s easier for him to blurt things out without considering how it sounds, or to behave impulsively, without thinking through the consequences.

This quality will also incline him to be very self-judgmental, beating himself up for every little thing, and that kind of inner tension can easily throw his entire system off balance. One way to release that kind of stress is through regular and intense exercise, so I hope he does indeed fit that into his schedule.

Lastly, there is a strong likelihood of a personal struggle with depression and exercise is also of great benefit to counteract that.

But what also disturbs me about his face is the different messages you see in the left half of his face when you compare it to the right half.

The right half of someone’s face is said to be the “public” side – the messages that person is willing to share with the outside world. The left half of the face is the “private” side – where you can read their inner feelings, their private suffering, what they’re really going through inside.

When we look at the right half of Ryan’s face, it looks relatively stable, normal, open, and friendly. But the left side of his face gives entirely different messages.

His left eye turns down, which means a pessimistic nature, and someone who easily gets depressed. There’s also a sign of what’s called “Unshed Tears” by this eye, which means he has suppressed his feelings when he should be dealing with them.

His Lack Line is stronger on this side as well, indicating that he’s more deeply affected by stress and anxiety that we might think.

No one has a perfectly symmetrical face; there are always differences between left and right sides. But if they’re very different, as they are here, it shows a major disparity between the inner self and the outer self – the person he’s trying to convince us he is and the man who’s really inside. There is far too much dissonance here. (This has nothing to do with dishonesty, please understand.)

When I look at where Ryan is in the cycles of time, I see that 2012 is a time of growth, change and new possibilities for him, so it’s no surprise this opportunity has landed in his lap at this very time.

It’s also apparent that his early 40’s brings a significant boost to his power and prestige, that only continues to increase in the next few years. Whether or not that means he ends up as VP is not something that face reading tells us but what we do see certainly shows some positive support for that goal. Whether that’s good or bad news depends on your own values and perceptions!

Now that Herman Cain has dropped out of the 2012 presidential race, the news is full of surprised commentary about how quickly support is turning to Newt Gingrich rather than the assumed frontrunner, Mitt Romney.

But if you know face reading, you may not be so surprised. The reasons may be written in their faces.

The thing is, everyone’s face communicates certain messages to the world. Even if you don’t know how to read faces, you still have an unconscious reaction to every face you view, and it affects your perception of that person’s character, including how much you trust them.

And this can matter a lot in a political campaign. For example, even Western psychological research has revealed that we tend to trust people with wide faces more than people with narrow faces. The conclusion was that people unconsciously feel that a wide-faced person isn’t hiding anything because you can see more of their face.

A narrow face subliminally makes you feel that there are things you can’t see about that person, and that makes you uneasy. So when you look at Gingrich’s wide face and then at Romney’s much narrower face, this may be one reason why voters are swinging toward Gingrich.

What Chinese face reading  adds to this is that people with wide faces generally have more stamina than people with narrow faces and thus have a more gung-ho attitude toward life. It’s said they can’t bite off more than they can chew – in other words, they can tackle big problems and not be swayed.

People with narrow faces are said to be more cautious overall and prefer to take things step by step because they’re less comfortable diving in the deep end of a project. Romney’s narrower face may be making people feel less sure he’s up to the task.

But that’s not all. Western studies have found that it’s almost always the politician with the strongest jaw who wins the election. Gingrich has a massive jaw compared to Romney.

In Chinese face reading, the jaw is called “The Roots of the Tree.” A tree with strong roots can’t be easily knocked over by the wind. So like the tree, a person with a strong jaw can’t be easily influenced by other people. In other words, they have strong beliefs and will stand up for those beliefs.

We naturally feel safer around someone with strong beliefs, thinking that if we align with them, they’ll stand up for us too. When we see someone with a weak or narrow jaw, our perception is that they may be more wishy-washy – too easy to waver or change their minds.

You may be thinking back to the last presidential election and remembering that John McCain had quite a large jaw, so how is it that he lost? In fact, McCain’s jaw was deformed by scar tissue from illness, and wasn’t what Chinese face reading would define as strong. In that election, Barack Obama had a healthier, better-defined jaw line.

I’m not saying that politics should be a beauty contest! It’s not about how pleasing someone’s appearance is, but that in fact the information their face presents is a valid representation of who they are inside.

Of course, you can’t know everything about someone by reading just one or two details of their face. Instead you need to understand the combined messages conveyed by all the features.

I often compare face reading to putting a jigsaw puzzle together. You don’t get the complete picture by putting just a few pieces in place – you have to fit them all together to see the entire view.

In a future newsletter, I’ll be doing a more thorough “read” of the candidates’ faces. Make sure you’ve subscribed so you don’t miss it! http://wisdomofyourface.com/newsletter.html

I just spoke with a woman who said as soon as she turned 50 her life seemed to have taken an emotional downturn, and she asked me if the reason could be read on her face.

In fact, along with revealing your inner nature, your face is also considered to be a map of your journey through life. You can read the experiences of each year and each decade overall. It’s the transitions between each decade that are the most powerful times, and so this is one reason why she noticed a distinct difference in her experience at this point.

But it’s also believed there are four different stages in life that are particularly important – these are called “The Four Gates” – and she’d just passed through one of them. These are special passages in life, times when you make a powerful transition, and when your attention is drawn to life choices and direction. Each gate introduces you to a time when there will be a new focus and each has some specific “homework” you’ll do in that time period.

The first gate marks the time when you enter the decade of your 40’s, and it’s located at the top of your nose, in the area between your eyes. Your 40’s is a time when you naturally begin to feel strongly about living more authentically, when you sense it’s time to finally stand in your power. You may feel driven to find work that’s more meaningful to you, and to have relationships that support you for who you really are.

The second gate is the transition to the 50’s, where this woman now stands, and is represented on your face by your philtrum, the groove between your nose and upper lip. Here your attention takes another powerful turn.

The theme of the 50’s is about looking at how you don’t yet feel fulfilled in life, how you haven’t yet gotten what you wanted, and you’re especially compelled to look at the balance of giving and receiving in your life. This often means confronting how you may have been over-giving.

Often by the time women reach their 50’s, they’ve developing a pattern of taking care of everyone else before themselves. If they’re wives and mothers, this is an easy rut to fall into, but even if they’re single, our culture supports women being the caregivers in all aspects of life, so they may be too other-directed and have neglected the importance of their own self-care.

The decade of the 50’s can bring up feelings of anguish about how you wanted more in life, and even anger about your current circumstances. The homework for this time of life is to look at how it may have been appropriate to be a “giver” in the past, but you’ve gone too far down that road, or times have changed.

You’re also required to look at how you may have developed a pattern of negative thinking, a belief that because you’re been disappointed in the past, you will continue to be. Any negative affirmations will of course simply continue to create your future based on your past.

The basic cure for this dilemma of the 50’s is to get selfish! The work is to look at what you haven’t yet received, and to go out and get it; to put yourself at the top of your “to-do” list. The lesson is also to pay attention to enjoying life, to relish what you’ve received so far rather than feel bad about what’s missing.

And lastly, it’s to honestly examine how you may have developed a pattern of expecting that you’ll be let down or not get what you need. Are you receptive to life loving you or are you so stuck in feeling disappointed that you’ve shut down and can’t even recognize opportunities to receive?

If there are any scars or markings in your philtrum, this can indicate that the year you turn 50 is an especially difficult transition. The decade of the 50’s overall is represented by your mouth, and it can actually be helpful to pay attention to how you’re holding your mouth as you go through your day. Occasionally check in to see if you feel any tension there, and if so, consciously relax your mouth, even creating a little smile. This actually helps to rebuild your receptivity and contributes to bringing your life back into balance.

Your 50’s can be a powerful time of finally receiving the life you deserve. This is what I shared with my friend, and I know she left that conversation seeing her experience in an entirely different light.

The third gate in life is the passage to the 60’s and this transition is represented by the area on your chin, directly under your lower lip. The 60’s is a time when people can feel revitalized and with a renewed purpose in life, especially if they’ve done their homework in the 50’s. It’s not uncommon for a horizontal wrinkle to mark the face here, and this can indicate an important break with the past as they move into this decade.

The fourth gate is the transition to the 70’s and is positioned at the very bottom of the chin. As you enter this stage of life, your focus turns to refining your vision for the future, working on any unresolved issues, examining what you can let go of in order to move into the future free and clear.

When you learn face reading, you can finally decipher your personal owner’s manual to your life. The information is all there – in that reflection in the mirror!

They say opposites attract, but there’s a new dating website that claims to be able to find you true love by matching you with someone who has a face that looks like yours. The theory is that the more you look like someone, the greater the chances of success for your relationship with them. They claim that studies on celebrities’ faces show that the ones who have happy marriages tend to look alike. If you consider this within the context of Chinese face reading, which teaches that every feature on your face has specific meanings and messages, you might think this could make sense. If your date’s features are similar to yours, then wouldn’t it be true that you’d be very similar in personality and therefore compatible?

Well, first, we all know human beings are not that simple! We each have a gloriously intricate pattern of temperament, beliefs, talents and foibles! But also, it seems a bit silly to assume that a successful relationship can only happen with someone who’s as much like us as possible. So this got me to thinking about what relationships might be like if people shared certain similar features….

Ears that stick out: If you have two people with ears that stick out from the sides of their heads, this means you have two very willful and independent personalities! So here you have two non-conformists, who may share some similar behaviors, values and perceptions about the outside world, but at home together, this could at times turn into a nightmare of each resisting what the other wants them to do!

Arched eyebrows: Brows that look like upside-down V’s indicate that person will be quick to react. They can be spontaneous, which is lovely, but they also may be too impulsive at times. When upset, they’re often emotionally reactive – if you say something to upset them, they can immediately bristle or challenge you. At the extreme, they can be very excitable emotionally, and that can make for fireworks in a relationship, in good ways but also bad!

Nose bump: A nose that has a boney bump on the bridge (usually about 1/4 to 1/3 from the top of the nose) signifies the potential to be quite controlling. It usually derives from a very high level of personal sensitivity, which makes this person more aware of little details than other people, and more bothered if something is “off.”

It can be a real challenge to move through life seeing all the little mistakes others have made and missed. So the result often is this person feels a need to make sure the mistakes don’t happen, out of a desire to prevent stress to their own system! This can mean they always seem to be butting in to tell you how to do something, or you get the feeling they never trust you to do anything right. Put two people with nose bumps together in relationship and you can have two controllers driving each other crazy!

Visible nostrils: One way the more superstitious form of Chinese face reading refers to the nose is as “the moneybox.” They say that the nostrils show how easily a person spends money. If you ever look at someone straight on at eye level (not looking up at them or down at them) and you can see directly into their nostrils, this means they spend money easily. Though this may sound a bit farfetched, I do find this tends to be true! So if you have two people in relationship who both have visible nostrils, there’s a better chance they’ll love to spend and will end up with money problems, certainly not the most optimistic trend if you’re hoping for a successful partnering.

Round face: People with round faces often excel in really enjoying all the pleasures of life here on earth. They love the company of family and friends, wonderful meals together, a cozy and comfy home, and relaxing on a big cushy couch with their feet up. They’re not much inclined toward exercise, and so if you put two of these people together, you’ll find they tend to influence each other – to just cuddle together in front of the TV, snacks in hand, and over time, put on weight. They may actually have a good relationship in certain ways because they can get in the same rut together, but worst case, can develop health problems due to poor diet choices and lack of exercise.

It’s definitely important to understand what messages your date’s face reveals, but maybe you should beware if they look too much like you!

I’ve just returned from spending Christmas with my 93 year old mother and my heart is still full. My mother’s always been an amazing woman. When she was 89, I took her to one of the foremost acupuncturists in the world, and she was proclaimed to be a very rare case– a woman of that age whose spirit was still completely bright and vital.

Things have changed over the past year, and her spirit has dimmed considerably. She’s no longer able to live on her own, and is not often even fully conscious. But when she looks at me, there’s such light in her eyes, and such pure love, that I just feel totally cherished by her.

On my flight home, I was reading an interview with Oprah, where she talked about author Toni Morrison saying that what every child wants to know is, ‘Do your eyes light up when I enter the room?’ This is the gift my mother still gives me and I’m so very grateful.

When I was writing The Wisdom of Your Child’s Face, I did a lot of research into the latest discoveries in our Western understanding of child development. I was surprised to learn that the most important thing a child needs from his or her parents is not heaps of praise, and not even frequent “I love you’s,” though of course those things are essential.

But in fact, the single most powerful predictor of a child’s happiness and success in life is how much they feel recognized and understood by their parents.  To me, this is what’s happening when a parent’s eyes light up at the sight of their child.

And I don’t think that need ends with childhood.  I think the people who we feel most connected with and loved by are the ones who recognize us for who we really are, without layers of judgment, and without conditional love, which has strings attached.

This isn’t always easy to achieve. We all have different personalities, different patterns of perception and behavior, and these can really affect our ability to feel that pure love for and acceptance of another person. We misunderstand why someone in our lives is behaving as they are, or has the needs that they do. And over the years, these tiny misperceptions can build on themselves, until that light in the eyes goes out.

My mother and I are not at all alike; in fact we’ve always been very different from each other. Face reading has helped me so much in understanding her as an adult, but also in looking back throughout my childhood to give me insights about why she was the kind of parent that she was, and why I had the experiences I did because of this.  It’s what has allowed me to stay as clear and free of unresolved issues as possible with her, and to just be fully present with her, with that beautiful light in her eyes, and the same reflected back in mine.

If you learn how to read faces, you’ll never be bored again – there’s such fascinating information available around you every day! Here are some thoughts about how just one feature can indicate potential career direction:

This fall, I spoke at an international conference for estheticians and spa professionals. As I gazed at the hundreds of faces around me, I suddenly noticed that nearly all of them had gigantic cheeks!

In face reading, each feature has many messages for you, about who you really are, what’s important to you, and your special patterns of perception of life. But a few of the things that cheeks represent made obvious sense in this situation:

One of the personality characteristics that prominent cheeks indicate is someone who naturally pays close attention to details, and has an inherent desire to create beauty in life.  So it’d certainly make sense that a person attracted to a career as an esthetician would have powerful cheeks!

In Chinese medicine, each feature also correlates to a specific organ system in the body.  (Face reading originated as a diagnostic tool for health purposes.) Interestingly, one of the things the cheeks relate to is the health of the skin – so again, we see how these cheeks would incline someone to be naturally attracted to a career doing detailed work to create beautiful skin!

But shortly after that conference, I attended another, this time about Buddhist psychology.  I found myself in a room surrounded by therapists and other healers interested in applying mindfulness techniques to help others achieve peace and balance in their lives. The focus was on powerful ways for people to observe their thoughts and feelings and start to take more responsibility for their choices in life.

And as I looked around, I realized that nearly everyone in the room had flat cheeks!  I had to laugh – one of the things that flat cheeks represent is someone who doesn’t want to have to take responsibility for another person’s work. It’s usually taken as a sign they’d not enjoy managing a staff, as they don’t like to constantly have to check up on people and remind them to do their jobs.

But another way flat cheeks can be interpreted is someone who’ll not want to boss another person around – that they want them to take responsibility for their own progress.  This is exactly the way these flat-cheeked therapists would be attracted to working with clients, and why they would be interested in this conference!

It’s amazing what you can discover in the faces around you if you just know what to look for!