Mindfulness and skin health

It may seem strange to connect beauty with a practice like meditation.

A famous and influential dictionary defines beauty as “The quality capable of satisfying the soul through the senses, becoming the object of deserved and worthy contemplation”. Here you can already find one of the major keywords of meditation practice: contemplation, that is, being present and becoming one with the object of meditation. Let’s see more.

 

Research supports the role of mindfulness in skin health

In recent years, mindfulness has taken off as a way to reduce stress and boost happiness, and mindfulness isn’t just helpful for stress management, this practice plays an important role into your skin health, too.

“The biggest beauty thief and ager of all time is the stress our minds try to endure day in and day out,” says Amy Wechsler, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and psychiatrist and the author of The Mind-Beauty Connection. That can affect skin in many ways. “Many adults can’t seem to outgrow acne because of stress hormones. The common thread is the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), a hormone involved in the stress response, which is linked to inflammatory conditions, and may play a role in the development of acne, according to past research. Stress can also play a role in speeding signs of aging like lines and wrinkles. “When you live in a chronic state of stress, routinely bathing your body in cortisol, it becomes harder and harder for the skin to repair itself naturally, continue to form healthy collagen and elastin, and deal with damaged areas,” explains Wechsler. What’s more, if you’re already dealing with a skin condition, stress can make controlling your symptoms more difficult. “There are a lot of inflammatory skin conditions made worse by stress, including psoriasis, eczema, and acne,” says Apple Bodemer, MD, a dermatologist at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison who practices integrative medicine.

Now that you understand the role stress plays in skin conditions and aging, you’ll want to know what to do about it. That’s where mindfulness comes in. Mindfulness is focusing on the present moment, develop awareness of our thoughts, feelings, sensations, and surrounding environment with no judgment. There’s no “you’re doing it wrong.”

Using mindfulness has been shown to affect skin. A study published in June 2018 in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine showed that mindfulness can help improve wound healing within the first few days. It’s also been shown to improve symptoms in psoriasis. Chronic skin conditions can severely impact your mental state, and have been linked to depression, anxiety, and social anxiety. A study published in November 2016 in the British Journal of Dermatology found that people who practice more mindfulness experience less distress and a better quality of life than those who do not, which suggests it could be worthwhile for dermatologists to teach these types of stress-reduction tools.

 

The Mindful Beauty Revolution

YA.BE – Mindful Beauty is the first beauty brand that has incorporated mindfulness as a true ingredient of the beauty experience and skincare products. Each and every product comes with dedicated mindfulness meditation podcasts that enrich at mind level the action of the cosmesis on the skin and allow the user to fully unleash personal and unique beauty from inside out. You’ll find podcasts to release stress and anxieties, to sleep better, to nurture your talents and improve self-confidence, going step by step through all the elements that can help your mind support your skin health, let’s some some of them:

1. Decreases flare-ups in many skin conditions. Meditation can relieve stress, which can worsen certain dermatological issues. Raised stress levels are linked to eczema and psoriasis flare-ups and raised stress levels can even trigger acne breakouts.
2. Reverse hair loss. Conditions like telogen effluvium can happen to both men and women, it is totally reversible, but stress levels will need to be regulated to re-grow that hair.
3. Regulate hormone levels like cortisol and adrenaline, stress hormones that can damage the skin and create premature aging.
4. Improve beauty sleep. Sleep deprivation has been shown to speed up the development of fine lines, age spots, and other unwanted signs of aging.
5. Boost happiness. Your inner beauty. Studies show a positive relationship between meditation and happiness levels.

 

In the end…. Does meditation make you glow? Yes, meditation can make you glow with happiness! And…. Does meditation help clear skin? Yes, meditation can help to clear skin by reducing stress and inflammation.

 

Now clear how worth it is adding mindfulness to your skincare routine. Follow the mindful way, elevate your daily skincare routine to a mindful date with yourself with YA.BE – Mindful Beauty.