Our skin… functional and important in many ways! It is our largest organ, and it’s also our calling card to the world, what people first see about us. Naturally we all want to have great skin. When our skin is glowing and healthy, it helps us feel great too.
The good news is that improving your skin is definitely possible, no matter where it currently is. It does entail taking a holistic approach versus thinking that slapping some cream on is going to do everything. (Though the right products are certainly key as well, which we will talk about in a minute.)
Let’s talk about tangible action steps to take within each Cornerstone.
I mixed up the order I usually talk about the 4 cornerstones in to show that they are not sequential. but rather work together synergistically toward our one goal. ☺
Emotional Well-Being
Science is confirming what I’ve been talking about for years: our stress and emotions are worn on our faces.
80% of Americans report changes in energy when feeling stressed, and 32 percent of Americans report experiencing a stress-related skin problem in the past year (including acne, dryness, dullness, and blotchiness) making it crystal clear that our skin and emotional/mental health are closely linked. [1]
The brain and the skin are inextricably connected, and they are actually formed from the same layer of cells, embryologically speaking, and have many nerve, blood vessel, and hormone connections. One affects the other, and vice versa, in both positive and negative ways. [2]
A 2021 report from the International Journal of Dermatology noted that “the impact of skin alterations on the mental health of dermatological patients should be a central concern.” [3]
It’s a cycle: skin issues can affect your mental health and self-esteem, and then the stress about the state of your skin can also then make the skin issues worse!
Here’s some steps you can implement:
- Be sure to notice when stress is starting to build up, and have strategies to prevent and diffuse it. These can include building more space into your schedule (as much as possible), and try doing the Expanding the Gaps practice from my new book— which just came out in soft cover! ☺
- Remove toxic relationships from your life. If you can’t get away from negative co-workers or relatives completely, at least minimize contact as much as possible.
- Journal often as a way to reflect and be more self-aware.
Body
We build beautiful skin from the inside out, which includes in this Cornerstone what supplements you ingest (don’t worry you don’t need many), and what you physically do to work with your skin.
Here are my top recommendations:
- Be sure to consistently take your SBO Probiotics. Tried and true, the clinically researched strains in this formula in proper ratios will also create deep balance in your gut, your body, and support gorgeous, healthy skin. It will survive your stomach acid and it truly works! Take 2 a day.
- Stretch and walk, move as it feels good to keep your muscles working and releasing toxins through your skin. Don’t deplete yourself though, as too much pushing can lead to free radicals which are actually aging!
- The Feel Good Vitamin C serum works right on your skin to help prevent and heal damage from the sun, environment and other pollutants. It’s a daily go-to.
My favorite, favorite skin product of all time is Droplette. Developed by MIT scientists, it creates a super fine mist to get the collagen and peptides deeply into your skin— 20x more than regular skincare! Just like we are not what we eat— we are what we digest— we also do not benefit just from what we put on but rather what can get down deeply into your skin to create repair. I HIGHLY recommend it. I do a treatment about 3+ times a week all across my face and neck.
Food
If you want fresh skin, eat fresh food. It’s really the simple things that count the most:
- Eat lots of colorful plant foods, a mix of cooked and raw. We want to always have the vitamin-packed Glowing Green Smoothie, but you can also mix in raw salads and veggies and some cooked options at lunch and dinner.
- Be sure to eat healthy whole fats, such as from avocados, seeds, nuts and coconut. I also take an algae-based EPA/DHA supplement.
- Stay hydrated! Great skin needs proper fluids, otherwise we look like raisins versus plump grapes. Keep water on your desk and in your car to help support you in drinking away, often and in robust amounts.
- Try to eat at home mostly. I know it’s easy to pick stuff up, but then there are questionable oils and busy, less-than-ideal cooking environments and perhaps even additives. Try to eat simply and fresh, with herbs and spices. We often eat bowl-style for dinner, with components like rice, beans, sweet potatoes and cooked kale.
Spiritual Growth
The more deeply connected you are to yourself, the less you are rocked by the external world. It is not that we aren’t part of what is going on, or that we don’t care about other people. It’s that we are calmer, more centered and peaceful, so we can slow down in our reactions. It means we aren’t as stressed, and believe me, this will really add to your natural glow and skin health.
Deep self-connection is born of meditation and stillness. It is essential, and while we can try to find hacks for this and that, some things are meant to simply be. That is what I think about our meditation practice- make some space for it, commit to it, and it will give back to you a thousand fold. I have experienced this truth in my own life, so I try to always, always do my practice, especially in the morning.
Check out our whole free library of guided Practical Enlightenment Meditations.
Great skin is yours to create! Like anything, get clear on your intentions, commit to a holistic approach, try some or all of these tips, and witness your own incredible glow.
With much love,
Citations
- “Americans Are More Stressed in 2022, and Their Skin Shows It.” StyleSeat Pro Beauty Blog, 20 Dec. 2022, www.styleseat.com/blog/stress-symptoms/.
- Ansari, Abdul, and Leela Sarath Pillarisetty. “Embryology, Ectoderm.” National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls, 8 May 2022, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539836/.
- Cortés, Hernán, et al. “Alterations in Mental Health and Quality of Life in Patients with Skin Disorders: a Narrative Review.” Wiley Online Library, International Journal of Dermatology, 17 Aug. 2021, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ijd.15852.
The post How to Have Amazing Skin (Hint: You Have to take a Holistic Approach with the 4 Cornerstones) appeared first on Solluna by Kimberly Snyder.
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