Yin Your Skin® is a holistic beauty concept designed by beauty therapist Katja Kokko. Yin Your Skin® brings together the wisdom and effects of ancient traditions creating an unique and sensual wellness experience. Enjoy the visible results of Korean skincare, the best techniques of facial gua sha, the meditative bliss of yin yoga and sound healing – all wrapped up in Nordic stillness and elegance.
What is Yin Your Skin®?
Yin your skin® is skincare beyond the surface. It’s holistic self-care that nurtures your mind, body and spirit on a deep level and makes you feel effortlessly comfortable in your own skin. Yin Your Skin® introduces you to the best gua sha techniques and an effective Korean inspired beauty regime, bringing your skin an instant boost of vitality and sculpting effects. You’ll learn the best methods through easy tutorials that create a peaceful atmosphere and ambience in your own home spa.
Watch the video →Yin Your skin® also brings a serene Nordic yoga studio to your home. Guided lessons and meditations help you unwind and listen to yourself. The yoga lessons are accompanied with a magical, visually breathtaking journey to Nordic nature and all its seasons, far away from your daily life. The enchanting and healing soundscape harmonizes you and tunes you into your own inner voice.
Self-care has an enormous impact on your wellness and energy. It reconnects you with your own uniqueness, inner glow and a more loving self. That’s the most solid foundation for genuine beauty there is.
The Yin Your Skin® online course includes:
- Four yin yoga sessions (2x 30 min, 60 min and 90 min) with detailed guidance, the soundscape composed and produced by Finnish pop artist IRENE. Read about the effects of sound healing here and yin yoga here.
- Two meditations (10 min and 25 min) with guidance
- Two guided deep relaxation practices with sound healing (15 min and 30 min)
- Detailed instructions for a skincare regime (duration 20 min). Read about skincare here.
- Detailed instructions for a facial gua sha: Tightening, Brightening and Lifting Treatment (20 min.), Treatment for Reducing Swelling and Removing Metabolic Waste (10 min.), Instant Beauty Fix and Glow (3 min.) and Quick Anti-Stress Treatment for the Body (3 min.) as well as Introduction to the World of Gua Sha (10 min). Read about gua sha here.
- Detailed, downloadable written materials on meditation, the body’s energy centres chakras, yin yoga, the theory of five elements, meridians, fascia network, gua sha and its effects, the lymph system and skincare.
- Detailed illustrations of the body’s meridians, facial and head meridians and acupoints, facial and neck lymph nodes, the body’s energy centres chakras and gua sha massage pattern.
- Product tips for skincare and gua sha
The Yin Your Skin® online course is available for 115 € (incl. VAT 24%) with access to materials for 8 months starting from the purchase.
Read more about Katja Kokko from here.
Subscribe for Yin Your Skin® newsletter from here.
Yin yoga
Yin Yoga – The Art of Surrender
If you just look to the face to treat the face, you are seeing only part of the problem, because the face is simply an extension of the body
Clive Witham
Yin yoga is true beauty yoga with instant effects on the face. It’s all down to the fascia network – or meridians – which are like a spider’s web that covers the entire body, transmitting messages from head to toe and from the skin to deep inside. Yin yoga lies at the core of the entire Yin Your Skin® concept.
Compared to other styles of yoga, yin yoga could be described as “passive stretching” that involves relaxing muscles and holding asanas (postures) for three to five minutes instead of just a few breaths. Aids like a cushion, blanket or yoga block are used for maximum comfort to help relax and “melt” into the asana.
Yin yoga is suitable for anyone. You don’t need to be particularly flexible – quite the opposite: if you’re stiff as a plank, yin yoga will be extremely beneficial. It’s a good restorative exercise for fitness enthusiasts, but also ideal for anyone suffering from exhaustion and stress or recovering from travel.
The effects of yin yoga run deep through the body and mind. Yin yoga can get hold of layers that are often hard to reach in our busy and fragmented daily lives. It’s a soothing practice for a restless mind and creates horizons for inspiration and room for something new. It’s also a remarkable beauty routine that releases tension and boosts circulation in the body – both fluids and energy.
Yin Your Skin® offers four yin yoga routines, one deep relaxation practice and two guided meditations. The 90-minute Full Transformation journey provides a meditative space that lets you dive deep inside yourself. The 30-minute Instant Vitality practice is designed for when you feel a need to check in with yourself and balance your energy but lack time for the longer session. Yin yoga is a great practice to elevate the mood and make the body feel lighter. Many find the healing properties of yin yoga extremely effective when dealing with depression or anxiety or have trouble falling asleep. The 30-minute Beauty Sleep calms your body and mind and helps to fall asleep easily as well as supports the quality of sleep. The 60-minute Balance & Glow is a balancing and softly energizing practice that opens your body and mind gently and makes you glow inside out. The 15-minute Deep Release is a deep relaxation practice combined with serene sound healing. It is a gentle reset for the nervous system and it balances out the stress reaction. The 10- and 25-minutes guided meditations balance the body’s energy centres, chakras. Most people in today’s busy world find it difficult to sit in silence, even though it is the most simple and natural thing. Therefore it is a skill that would benefit from daily practice.
You can download written materials that will teach you the basics in yin yoga and about meridians and the fascia network. The materials include detailed illustrations on the body’s meridians and energy centres. You will find out about emotions and body parts related to chakras, common symptoms linked to meridians and how to impact each meridian through yin yoga and balance chakras.
Effects of yin yoga:
- develops mobility and flexibility
- stimulates the creation of fibroblasts, the basic cells of connective tissue responsible for producing collagen, elastin and the matrix that lubricates tissues and joints
- hydrates connective tissue, improving the lubrication of joints and fascia
- improves lymph flow, invigorating the removal of metabolic waste and reducing swelling
- supporting the lymphatic system boosts the immune response of the entire body
- activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which relaxes the body and improves digestion
- boosts the flow of qi in the meridians, affecting energies
Gua sha
Facial gua sha – Tighter and Brighter Skin
Gua sha is a millennia-old therapy based on Chinese medicine, currently trending as one of the most effective natural beauty treatments in the beauty industry. Facial gua sha makes the skin look sculpted, vibrant and bright, and works miracles as an instant relief for puffiness.
Skincare products target the surface of the skin, whereas the impacts of facial gua sha go way deeper –where genuine, long-term results take place. Facial gua sha is an effective product-free skincare method, which as part of a regular skincare regime is likely to reduce the amount of used products.
In gua sha, pressured strokes are applied to the skin with a flat tool, usually made of jade, rose quartz or bian stone. The treatment releases muscle and fascia tension and stimulates the circulation and metabolism efficiently. Gua sha leaves you feeling energized and alert and makes your energy flow freely.
A facial gua sha treats the whole body at the same time, as the impacts are transported via the fascia network. Gua sha is a holistic self-care method at its finest.
Facial gua sha creates an instant glow and strong vitality boost in a matter of minutes. As part of a regular self-care routine, gua sha gives your face a significantly more radiant, lifted and toned appearance. You don’t have to be a trained beauty therapist to enjoy the results of facial gua sha. With Yin Your Skin®, you can learn the methods quickly and get to see visible results in your own home spa.
Facial gua sha is an effective treatment for aging skin that has long-term results, making it an excellent alternative to fillers and Botox. Instead of preventing signs of aging, the aim of gua sha is to make you a more vibrant and healthier version of yourself.
The Yin Your Skin® online course includes four facial gua sha basic techniques: Firming, Brightening and Lifting Treatment (20 min.), Treatment for Reducing Swelling and Removing Metabolic Waste (10 min.), Instant Beauty Fix and Glow (3 min.) and Quick Anti-Stress Treatment for the Body (3 min.). The online course includes written materials and videos to teach you the basics in facial gua sha. You will learn how different emotions are reflected on the face and what various skin issues and signs are trying to tell you. You will have access to detailed illustrations on facial and head meridians and acupoints and facial and neck lymph nodes.
Effects of facial gua sha:
- boosts skin circulation, so oxidized blood travels up to the surface layers of the skin to nourish tissues and skin cells
- boosts skin renewal
- invigorates lymph fluid circulation, removing puffiness on the face and under the eyes
- brightens and ”opens up” the eyes
- can reduce impurities
- can fade pigment spots
- improves collagen and elastin production
- fades fine lines and wrinkles and tightens saggy tissue
- the features of the cheeks and jawline become more sculpted
- improves absorption of skincare products into skin
The origin of Yin Your Skin® gua sha tools
Yin Your Skin® gua tools are made from 100 % xiuyan-jade which comes from Xiuyan city, Liaoning province from China. Each tool has a certification of identification of their origin. According to the report from the factory, who has visited the minings, working conditions and safety meet the standards. To ensure the sustainability of jade and to repair the enviromental impacts of mining, there are several measurements which are done to repair for example the soil, plants and nature after the mining. Xiuyan-jade gua sha tool will last a lifetime if you don’t drop it on the floor.
Read testimonials about the effects of facial gua sha:
I’ve suffered from impurities since 2012 and acne since 2017 for which I was prescribed topical medication that just made symptoms worse. I’ve tried countless different natural products and adjusted my diet in an attempt to improve things. The products have always helped for a moment before my skin has returned to its usual state. Taking part in the three-week Yin Your Skin® gua sha challenge visibly improved my skin. After three weeks, the change was incredible, something I’ve never seen before. Any bigger spots have healed completely, and my skin has calmed down noticeably
Sanni
Before starting to do gua sha, my right eyelid was droopy due to a sudden attack of illness years ago. I noticed changes in my skin and eyelid already a couple of days after starting the treatment. My eyelid isn’t as droopy anymore and my skin is more radiant. Gua sha is now part of my daily skincare regime
Janna
Holistic wellbeing is important to me – when I feel well in my body, I want it to be visible also on the outside. In just under a year, I’ve achieved skin that’s in good shape all year round thanks to the 7 skin method and Katja’s guidance. That’s why I was eager to rise to the challenge in giving gua sha a go. During the 3-week challenge, getting to know one’s face in a new way and noticing changes I can achieve myself by using the gua sha tool on a daily basis has felt amazing. Every day, someone asks what I’ve done to my skin or what makeup I use. I’m a professional speaker, and the benefits of the treatment haven’t only been cosmetic, but it’s also released tension in the jaw. I warmly recommend the calming, relaxing moments of self-compassion – it has become a lovely daily ritual!
Niina
Skincare
The unique effects of Korean skincare
South Korea has been dominating the beauty industry for decades. The Korean beauty philosophy relies on advanced techniques, yet very down-to-earth principles: magic exists and it can be achieved with a committed routine. Yin Your Skin® introduces you to the unbeatable strategies of Korean skincare and gives you clear instructions on applying the right methods to your skin.
When you touch your face, your nervous system relaxes and you get in touch with your unique beauty. This is self-love and self-care in its purest form. A holistic skincare routine, balanced lifestyle and committed self-care are a reliable recipe for healthy, vital and glowing skin. That’s why Yin Your Skin® teaches you all the best holistic practices that Katja Kokko has learned during her successful, two-decade long career in genuine beauty.
The Yin Your Skin® skincare regime aims for long-term results and optimal wellbeing for the skin – skin that looks healthy at any age. The Yin Your Skin® skincare philosophy replaces the term anti-aging with healthy aging. The foundation for the entire skincare philosophy is that the skin is not a separate entity from the rest of the body, even if it’s the most superficial and visible part. The skin is our largest organ that provides outermost protection for organs, bones, muscles, joints, tissue, nerves and veins – the whole package. Anything happening beneath the skin affects how it looks on the outside. The opposite is true, too: anything the skin gets in contact with ranging from cosmetics to pollution and changing weather conditions affects its appearance and main task: to protect.
Korean skincare is well-known for its multi-step routines and abundance of products, but Koreans have also branded a skincare trend that’s perfect for minimalists – skip care. According to the Yin Your Skin® skincare philosophy, the number of products is always chosen according to the skin’s unique needs. As you treat your skin with the efficient, holistic self-care methods, you can create yourself a minimalist skip care routine with a minimal amount of products.
The main principles of the Yin Your Skin® skincare regime are to optimize the skin’s own moisture-fat balance, boost the immune defence system, maintain the pH balance, provide plenty of hydration and adopt optimal application techniques and gua sha massage.
The Yin Your Skin online course includes a 20-minute video with detailed instructions for a multi-step Korean skincare regime, which will show you the right order and most efficient methods for applying products. You can also download extensive materials on the basics of skincare that will help you see why the method is best suited for skin.
Sound healing
Yin Your Skin® & Sonic Wellness
Sound is audible energy – we can hear and sense it as a vibration in our bodies. Soundscapes and music alter our consciousness and have a big impact on our brainwaves, even if we aren’t aware of it.
Sound can provide us a bridge to the unseen world and guide us beyond everyday noise. We are strongly influenced by sound. Sometimes it moves our bodies before we even realize it, sometimes it creates communities and connects us. Sound can be a source of consolation and comfort, even a loyal ally that helps us survive extreme circumstances. Even though we can’t see it, sound can touch our hearts. Sometimes it speaks to us in the form of full-body goose bumps, raises tears in our eyes and purifies our mind, body, emotional being and spirit.
A pleasant soundscape tunes our mind and consciousness to the state of active listening – into frequencies that help us connect with our true selves and true emotions. The Yin Your Skin® soundtrack provides a meditative space where you can receive nurturing effects of yin yoga and listen to yourself. That’s why we call it a healing soundscape.
Safe and Sound
Sound is a profound part of our being and our life. Everything has a frequency: our bodies, tissues, nerve cells and even our thoughts. The word sound can also be an adjective describing something firm and steady – sound advice is always something we should listen to. During the first nine months of our lives, we grow safe and sound, listening to the rhythmical soundscape of our mothers’ heartbeats. We learn to associate it with peace. That’s why our innate instincts tell us to soothe our babies with steady, rhythmical movements and soft singing.
We’re listening and monitoring our surroundings all the time because our survival brain is constantly assessing the safety of our environment and staying alert in case of potential threats. Our ancestors learned to monitor rustling sounds that might indicate the presence of a beast of prey. In the modern world, the biggest sonic stresses for our brain is the incoherent rumble of traffic and uncontrollable everyday noise, which sometimes feel impossible to escape.
The chaotic noise of cities and work environments raises our stress levels, taxes our sleep efficiency and puts us in overdrive mode. However, we don’t need to become victims to our sonic surroundings. Even in the middle of a metropolitan pulse, we can significantly affect our soundscape. Improving our sonic wellness is exactly like improving our eating habits or training routines. All we need is a bit more awareness, a handful of good strategies and nurturing sonic ingredients for our brain – in this case, high quality soundscapes and a good sound system.
What Is Sound Healing?
The hearing mechanism of our ear needs a medium because sound cannot propagate through a vacuum. Because seventy percent of our bodies consist of water and sound travels five times more efficiently in water than in air, the frequencies of sound have an impact on our entire bodies.
Our tissues and muscles, for instance, have their own frequencies. They respond sensitively when we introduce certain frequencies to them. When the tissues start vibrating as a result of sound, blood circulation and metabolic processes gain strength. Muscles can also relax and warm up. This kind of resonance occurs when two objects have a similar vibrational frequency – in other words, when resonating, two objects exchange energy. This translates even into our everyday language – ideas and thoughts can resonate with us, and we can literally feel ourselves being on the same wavelength with someone.
Sound healing can be easily associated with spiritual mysticism such as Tibetan singing bowls, gong baths or other ancient practices like yogic mantra chanting. The Finnish sound healing tradition is deeply rooted in shamanism, where a shaman acts as a medium between people and the unseen spirit world. The connection is usually initiated through rituals of sound and performed in nature.
The most prominent instruments of a Nordic shaman are his or her own voice and drum. The steady beat of a shamanic drum alters the state of consciousness and brainwaves, and can lead both the shaman and the listener into a trance. In other words, sound can provide a gateway into one’s subconscious mind – and its fascinating realms where new potential and deep healing can unfold.
Shamanistic elements and nuances can also be found in The Kalevala, the national epic of Finland, consisting of oral folklore and mythology, wrapped in hypnotizing rhythms. Kalevala is a creation myth, strongly infused with nature and music. Väinämöinen, the central character, is a shamanistic hero with the magical power of song, music and creating instruments. Many of his adventures resemble shamanistic journeys, most notably the one where he visits the belly of a giant to find songs for boat building.
Stereotypical associations of sound healing are just one way to look at the topic. Sound healing can be applied to modern pop music as well. Lots of mainstream artists, songwriters and music producers use certain frequencies, brain-altering strategies, mathematic patterns and psychoacoustics in their art – we’re just rarely aware of it.
Coherent Brain – Serene Body and Mind
Sound affects not only our muscles and tissues but also our brainwaves. Coherence is an important concept in terms of brain function. Our brain can work in a coherent (organized) way or in an incoherent way (unorganized). Yoga, meditation and a harmonizing soundscape are great ways to create more coherence, synchronicity and connection between mind, body and spirit. Yin Your Skin® brings all these wonderful practices together as a holistic wellness experience.
When our brain functions in a coherent way, our mind and body become coherent as well. The more often we take the time to calm our brain down from beta-waves into more peaceful frequencies – alpha, theta and delta waves – the better we are able to stay in a coherent, present state of mind. This helps us recover from our daily activities and stress effectively, even effortlessly. From a present state of mind, we can act creatively and get new insight about the world and ourselves. We can stay connected to ourselves and others, our environment, our purpose and our own truth.
Yin Your Skin® – Sounds from the North
Yin Your Skin® yoga lessons are accompanied with a magical, visually breath-taking journey to Nordic nature and all its seasons, far away from daily life. The enchanting and healing soundscape harmonizes and tunes you into your own inner voice.
When we’re stressed and exhausted, it’s easy to lose connection to ourselves. In these moments, sound healing can help us drop back into our hearts – and guide us back to the state of listening and hearing.
Yin Your Skin® has its own sonic realm. The soundtrack is composed and produced by Finnish pop artist IRENE, who is also a third level Reiki Master. IRENE’s roots are deep in Sea Lapland, near the Arctic Circle, and on the Yin Your Skin® soundtrack, her voice paints northern, minimalistic harmonies for clarity and peace. These sounds hold space for your journey through the practice, a variety of ambiences and energies.
The Yin Your Skin® soundtrack features soft, full-bodied, cinematic piano sounds, airy vocal melodies and hypnotizing patterns that invite you into deep rest. The entire Yin Your Skin® sonic realm gravitates your heart into its restful pulse, grounding you into a state of clarity.
Genuine Beauty of sound
One of the Yin Your Skin® sonic signatures is the historic Rhodes pre-piano. During World War II, Harold Rhodes was deeply moved by the suffering of wounded soldiers and wanted to design a compact musical instrument to support their healing. Small enough to fit on a hospital bed, the instrument was cleverly made with tines crafted from small aluminium tubes which Harold scavenged from the wings of a wrecked plane. He instituted an accompanying music therapy program for which he was later awarded the Medal of Honour. The pre-piano was used in Air Force hospitals by over 150,000 soldiers.
After a few years, Harold grew frustrated with manufacturing problems. He shut down the company and, in a drastic career change, took up farming. Fortunately for us, Harold couldn’t stay away from music and arrived back on the scene over a decade later with the Rhodes® Piano Bass and soon after, the full-sized Rhodes® Electric Piano. The rest is history, and we hear it every day on our radios.
Only a small number of pre-pianos were ever produced, and far fewer survive today. Thanks to the meticulous work done by Spectrasonics, we can still play and record the healing tone and energy of this beautiful instrument.
The intention of sound healing is to reconnect us to our own inner voice. According to the philosophy of genuine beauty, all natural beauty grows wild, free and untamed – this applies also to our voices. The Yin Your Skin® soundtrack has been recorded following and appreciating the same principle. Recorded in Helsinki, it’s all organic: not a single note has been artificially pitch-corrected afterwards. IRENE has captured the bird and swan songs in Lake Vaskijärvi, surrounded by the magical silence of nightless Midsummer night.
For the most holistic and high quality experience, we warmly recommend listening to the Yin Your Skin® soundtrack mindfully, with good headphones.
References:
Campbell, Don & Doman, Alex: Healing at the Speed of Sound
Cooper, Lyz: What is Sound Healing?
Dispenza, Joe: Becoming Supernatural
Hämeenniemi, Eero: Kun musiikki täyttää mielen (Engl.transl. When music fills the mind)
Perry, Wayne: Sound Medicine