Throw It Out Thursday!
“I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and doggonit people like me”
Many of us do it without even noticing, but at one point in your life you are guilty of the all damaging negative self talk. So this Thursday, we are throwing out the negative self talk! Burn the CD playing those untrue words, diminishing your light! You'd be surprised how changing this seemingly small thing can make a big difference in your life, and from what I have seen in the treatment room, in your skin as well.
Just for the record, as a Skin Therapist, I deal mostly with skin issues. So often in the treatment room, among friends and acquaintances who know what I do, and even at the check stand for my groceries, I hear a lot of self depreciative speak. Anytime you say "I just have the worst skin" or "I'm so oily" (said with resentment towards your shiny, beautiful oily skin) or even "I'm just cursed with _____" (fill in your curse here i.e. acne, uneven skin tone, redness, etc.) The truth of the matter is, whatever you are telling yourself probably only bothers you (other people might not even see it!) and by making a point of not liking it your drawing attention to it, even if the only attention it is getting is from you, it's still attention! All that negative attention is being put back into your body and stored in your mind as a fact. Instead of running a negative monologue, try saying "what a beautiful and perfectly-imperfect spirit you are, you are unique and there is no one like you and you are like none other" . Most if not all of what we see is through our perception, our mind interpreting what we are seeing. If we keep telling our mind negative things, then that will be our perception and our reality. So pause when you feel that tinge of “ugh!” coming up, breathe and redirect your mind to one of peace and awareness. Before I get too deep, let me get back to how this relates to skin!
Adult acne is triggered in large part by stress levels in the body. I believe I touched on this in the “Fighting Breakout” post but just in case you haven’t read that one:
We live in a high state of constant stress with the advances in technology and science making our world a much smaller place. With our current state of mind in an almost constant fight or flight mode, we release certain hormones to help us in those situations. However, we are not in a life or death situation when we get caught up reading through our FB feeds or accidentally double tapping on a nemesis’s Instagram. So these hormones have to go somewhere and do something, so they help to create a great environment for acne.
Long story short, releasing negative thoughts from our day to day will help keep stress low and even in our response to a stressful situation. As a Buddhist, a Skin Therapist and someone who probably does too much self-care, I go back to my basics: Chant + Sheet Mask + Cooking a delicious meal, plating it and sit down and watch The Great British Baking Show while I eat. The last two I can only do after my day is done, but you can chant, pray, meditate, breathe deeply or do whatever calms your mind down anytime.
And don’t forget…dang it you are good enough as you are!
Till next time, be good to your skin and even better to yourself,
xx eri