About Jean Haner

Jean Haner is the author of “The Wisdom of Your Face," and teaches and consults internationally about powerful techniques to “read” people’s inner natures. With her 25-year background in ancient Chinese principles of balance and health, Jean places an emphasis on compassionate and affirming ways for people to live in alignment with their own true selves. She is well known as a warm and inspirational teacher, providing grounded, practical information that can be put to immediate use in your life.

Q: What does the Wisdom of Your Face mean?

The Wisdom of Your Face is based on the same ancient principles as acupuncture and Chinese medicine. The Chinese long ago recognized something that most of the West is just now coming to accept — that our bodies and our emotions are inextricably intertwined, and that each person has special energetic patterns that are theirs and theirs alone.

Using the understanding that ‘the microcosm reflects the macrocosm’, your face is seen as a hologram of your unique inner design – a reflection of who you are inside. In other words, your face reveals your true nature. Reading your face can give you brilliant insights into why you are who you are — your personal strengths and challenges, the kind of work that will bring you joy, and the relationships that will nourish you.

It can explain why you experience certain patterns in life — why you seem to end up dating the same kinds of people no matter how hard you try to make different choices, or have the same frustrations trying to earn enough money. Or, if you’re like many people, you may feel like your life has taken you away from who you really are. Discovering the wisdom written on your face can help you realign to your original blueprint, to live a life that is genuinely fulfilling, joyful and open-hearted.

Q: If this is from China, can it really be meaningful for Westerners?

This has to do with human beings’ faces, not just Chinese faces; it’s valid for all races and cultures. In my workshops, I focus on making it very easy and practical for our everyday lives. For instance, you can get out of the grocery store faster, by reading the faces of the checkout clerks to see who will work fast and efficiently!

And most importantly, my work is to help people develop what I call “eyes of compassion” — to be able to look at someone and know how they’ll tend to think, feel and behave. This empowers you to view them with understanding and awareness rather than judgment or blame. Imagine what removing those kinds of reactions from all our relationships could do for the world.

Q: What does face reading have to say about cosmetic surgery?

Everything you do to your face makes a change to your inner nature as well. Some cosmetic surgery can actually have a positive effect. For instance, if someone has a chin implant, that can increase their determination, their ability to stand up to anyone's attempts to control or dominate them.

But there are aspects of features and even wrinkles on your face that have a positive meaning. These are often the ones that people change through cosmetic surgery, without being aware of how deeply they're impacting their lives! I’d definitely want them to know so they can make an educated choice.

And most of all, I’d like to contribute to a positive change in our conversations as a culture, about how we define what beauty is. I’d love to release women, especially, from the pressure to meet limiting standards for appearance.

A few years ago, I read that cosmetic mogul Estee Lauder was quoted as saying there is one day in every woman’s life when she is sure to be beautiful — her wedding day — because it’s the one day she’ll take great care with her make-up! Well, I believe the reason a woman is beautiful on her wedding day is because she’s in love! When you’re in love, there is a radiance coming from your face that has nothing to do with make-up. And that’s the goal of my work — to allow you to have that glow of love for yourself and others, so you’ll feel and look beautiful no matter if you have wrinkles, or make-up, and certainly without having to cut your face.

Q: The subtitle of your book says you can change your life with face reading. How can you do that?

I think most people struggle all their lives, trying to figure out the answer to two essential questions: Who am I, and what is my calling? There is a reason why you are here, and a special way to accomplish your calling in the world. Your face reveals what I sometimes call your “original design,” something that has usually become hidden after years of living according to other people's expectations and judgments about who you should be. When you can rediscover your original design, you’re empowered to live according to your true nature and you can fulfill your purpose in the world.

My work is not about finding out what’s wrong with you or trying to fix you. It’s about showing you how to be yourself — on purpose. That will change your life forever.

Q: Can this help me in my dating life?

When you can see by your boyfriend’s eyebrows that he really does need to play basketball three times a week, it can save your relationship! And you can read the faces on those on-line dating sites to know what each person is really like and if he or she is what you’re looking for.

I do a lot of work with couples who come to me to find out how to best help their relationship grow and flourish. Or someone brings a photo of someone they're interested in. Often they're terrified I’m going to tell them to run for the hills! But it's important to understand there are no “bad” combinations — a good relationship is all about awareness and understanding. This is why understanding the wisdom presented on your own face and others can be such a powerful help.

Q: Can you read children’s faces?

Yes, you certainly can discover a lot of information from a child’s face about who that little spirit is inside! I love teaching parents how to read the faces of their children, so they understand how to best support who that child truly is.

I just had a case recently where a child had very specific needs for nighttime rituals, for instance, and the mother thought he was just challenging her authority. Instead, what I read on his face was that this child was naturally more anxious and needed things “just so” in order to feel safe. Once the mother understood this, she was much less stressed about the situation. Within one week, their relationship went from one where the son didn’t even want to be around his mother anymore to a complete healing and a return of their natural closeness.

Q: How can knowing the wisdom of my own face help me in my career?

Many people who’ve been to workshops say this knowledge has revolutionized their professional lives. For instance, you can be more successful with clients when you know how to immediately put them at ease. One woman realized she should have been taking more time to look at one client’s family photos before getting down to business. This client’s face showed he needed to have more of that kind of personal connection. Once she adjusted that one small thing, her work with this man totally transformed.

This knowledge can create easier ways for teams to work together, and for management to understand their staff, and vice versa. But even more importantly, it can reveal the best way for you to do your work in the world. What is your true calling? Your face offers importance guidance to help you to find your true purpose in the world.

Q: What is the experience of a workshop like?

A workshop is a fun and fascinating experience, packed with practical information that you can put to immediate use. It’s wonderful to see people’s astonished confirmations as they discover what their faces have to tell them about who they are inside and ways they can design a happier life for themselves. And you hear a lot of “Oh my God, does that explain my husband/daughter/mother/boss!”

Many people come thinking they’re just going to learn to read other people’s faces, and they do that. But they often experience profound new realizations for themselves, and emerge with their lives changed forever.

Q: How did you get into this field?

Nearly 30 years ago, I married into a Chinese family and first learned about face reading from my very traditional mother-in-law. The rest of the family just considered it a superstition and was rather embarrassed by all this. At first I wasn’t much interested, as it seemed to be a very limiting way of looking at people, mostly concerned with someone’s face being “lucky” or “unlucky.” It wasn't until I studied more about the principles behind these “superstitions” that I began to see how they concealed a brilliant wisdom that could help you live life to your fullest potential.

And face reading helped explain why my mother-in-law had to be so tolerant of my marrying her son — it seems I didn’t have any lucky “moneybags” on my face! But she still graciously welcomed me into her family.

Q: Is your destiny written in your face?

This work is not fatalistic; your life is not pre-determined. However, face reading can show you what important experiences have helped shape your life, and how you can stop creating a future based on your past.

The foundation of this work is the understanding of how change happens. You, your face, and your life are in constant movement and change. Face reading can show you how to ride that change according to your own natural flow, rather than trying to push the river.

Q: Why do you teach this work?

I love how powerful this information is for people. Every day I hear some version of “THAT’S ME!” in workshops and consultations. People just light up with the epiphany that there is a reason for why they're feeling the way they do, why their life experience has been what it has. More than once I’ve heard that someone’s experience in a single workshop has changed her life more than years of therapy.

My hope is that people who come to a workshop are empowered to love themselves for who they really are, and then to extend the same compassion to everyone they encounter.

Find a workshop!

More Resources:

Lorie Eve Dechar - www.fivespirits.com

Read Jean's monthly column in New Spirit Journal- www.newspiritjournal.com

NLP Marin - www.nlpmarin.com