We all have a lot to thank technology for - keeping us connected in isolation, facilitating the on-line food shopping that so many of us have come to rely on, and making it possible to travel and enjoy all manner of cultural experiences, albeit from our sofas.

For some people though, the combination of lockdown and technology has opened up new, and previously unimagined, opportunities.

Beata Aleksandrowicz is one of those people. And the opportunity she has discovered during lockdown is something that women all over the world can benefit from.

Beata Aleksandrowicz is a much sought-after special therapist and healer

Beata is a magical master of massage, facial and spa treatments. Her remarkable skill and years of expertise as a therapist has led her to develop her own, much sought-after, system of touch and deep-healing treatments.

I can attest to just how wonderful her treatments are - and to what a very special woman she is - because I have been one of the lucky clients who has experienced the difference that her facial therapy can make.

It goes without saying that Beata’s work depends entirely on its face-to-face nature, so I was intrigued to discover that she was running on-line facial massage classes - a face workout and a face spa - and wondered whether they could possibly be a satisfying substitute for her skilful hands.

Well, having done both (see pics below), I can report that they absolutely are.

Wanting to find out more about how Beata came to create the classes, how she makes them so effective and the unusual way she has priced them, I enlisted another piece of now-invaluable technology and we had a Zoom chat that covered everything from how she overcame her resistance to working on-line, to her passion for persuading women to love their faces.

Diane: So lovely to see you, albeit on screen! I know from (wonderful) personal experience what you do, but perhaps you can start by explaining it to everyone.

Beata: Hello to you too!

What I do isn’t just a facial or face massage, it’s about addressing the mind, body and soul as one.

I believe that whatever you come to me for, we need to look at your lifestyle - your beliefs system, your thoughts, your environment and the events that are happening right now in your life, because the face is very much affected by all those. The face is the manifestation of what is going on inside. So in order to make a real change, you need to look at the person as a whole.

“Change needs to come from inside”

I do, by the way, believe that it’s a problem that women think that if they invest in very expensive creams, or invasive treatments they will make a change to their faces. Because whatever they do, the gaze of the eye will be the same and that is actually what makes us look young, happy and vibrant. You can’t change that with creams and needles. You need to change that from the inside.

Diane: So when you were put in a position where you couldn’t see your clients and deliver your highly personalised treatments in person, what on earth did you do?

Beata: I was so resistant to any on-line work at first. I really didn’t want to do it. Before Covid I only saw people one-to-one and I truly believed that when you do therapy where touch is involved, and the transformation you make with that touch, there is no way to do it in a different way.

And then I had an epiphany.

I love doing Five Rhythm dancing - which is a kind of freeform dance with five different phases that allows you, through the movement, to connect with yourself and release any tension, to make you feel more complete in yourself.

“I suddenly realised what I could do”

It’s a very communal thing to do - you dance with people of all ages and backgrounds. People in wheelchairs. Even little children. Of course, with Covid, all the classes moved on-line and I was doing one of them, along with 80-100 others, with everyone dancing solo in their living rooms, and I suddenly realised that I could use my knowledge and techniques to help women to take care of themselves through on-line classes.

Diane: You’ve created two classes, Face Spa with Beata and the Face Workout with Beata. What’s the difference between them ?

Beata: The Face Workout with Beata class is on Thursday evening, which, as it’s the middle of the week and people don’t have a lot of time, is just half an hour long. It focuses more on massage techniques.

The Face Spa with Beata on Sunday evening is slower - it’s 45 minutes - and there is more meditation, more connection with the face.

What these two sessions do is to mimic the structure of my one to one sessions, combining the technical and the self-care.

Me taking part in one of Beata’s Face Workout with Beata class

Diane: The classes have been running for just over 2 months, l have they changed in that time?

Beata: Yes, because for me it was all new at the beginning. I’ve learnt how to connect with people better. My biggest breakthrough and surprise is, that actually the digital wall is an illusion. You really can connect with people, even if digital is the way you’re doing it.

When I do my Sunday class and we start with meditation and I see all these women closing their eyes and connecting with themselves, I can really feel each of the women.

Diane: What is it about the classes that has delighted you the most?

Beata: I’m a passionate ambassador for taking care of your face naturally. I believe that with society’s obsession with youth and youthfulness we’ve lost the right to our faces.

“I want women to fall in love with their faces”

We’ve lost the right to look the way we want to and do. We’ve lost the right to our uniqueness. We’ve become paranoid about wrinkles. So I was hoping that with these classes I would help women to connect with their faces and to fall in love with their faces. And that’s what has happened.

Diane: Do you now have people who have been coming regularly to the classes? And do you see a difference in them?

Beata: Yes I do see the difference, but the most important thing is that they write to me about the difference they see in their faces.

But the difference is only part of what’s happening. Of course, if you give your face a very good massage twice a week it will change the shape of it. The muscles will be more plump.

Before and after - you can see the difference just one class makes

But what I am hearing from the women who do the classes is that they are much more forgiving towards themselves. They’re much more accepting of themselves. They’re owning their own faces. They like their faces. And that’s my ultimate goal.

I passionately believe in Face Massage as a natural way of taking care of the face. and the classes have given me a way to reach many more people, so they can experience the power of touch and the effectiveness of face massage techniques.

“You can choose how much you pay”

I also wanted to make it affordable for everybody, so no matter what financial situation anyone is in, they can experience the magic of the massage and feel pampered, connected and taken care of. So you can choose how much you pay - either £10, £20 or £30.

Diane: So are you going to keep going once you can reopen your private practice?

Beata: Oh yes, definitely! I want to keep doing the classes as well as my face to face work, because as I said before, I always had that conflict in me that I couldn’t reach enough women. The classes are about self care and this is the great lesson - that you can take care of your face. That you can take half an hour, twice a week, and do something that celebrates your beauty, your uniqueness.

You can find all the information about the classes and her other work on Beata’s website