Stress is one of the main root causes of skin conditions such as rosacea, acne, hyperpigmentation and premature skin aging. If you are affected by any of these skin conditions, then this article can help you on your healing journey. Have you ever sat in a physician's practice hoping to receive help, but everything the doctor said is that the reason for your skin problems is stress? Did you feel frustrated about that? Because who does not have stress these days? Having stress-related health challenges is actually great news because this means that we can actively take measures.

Stress Is More than You Think It Is

One of the definitions of stress that you can find in the clinical literature is:

“Stress arises when people are under mental, physical, or emotional pressure. It arises when the individual perceives that the pressure exceeds his adaptive power. Stress is perceived by the nervous system, endocrine system and immune system. This triggers a wide range of physiological and behavioural changes and responses that try to adapt the body to the stress”.

Aha! In other words: Stress is perceived when the effects of an external factor exceed the stamina of the body and mind (and spirit). When I read this for the first time, a light lit up. I thought we cannot completely avoid stressors but what if we can strengthen ourselves in a way that stress does not hit us as much anymore?

We can experience different types of stress. Two of them are:

• Emotional and mental stress:

Issues within our relationships, our past emotional traumas, excessive workload and the global dramas we are flooded with on a daily basis can put a lot of pressure on our emotional and mental stamina. Emotional stress causes cortisol levels to rise. This affects the skin because skin cells have the ability to respond to stress hormones and therefore respond to stress. It is no surprise that acne flares up, we look withered and dehydrated or red or brown blotches show up when we are emotionally stressed.

• Environmental stress:

Toxins in our air, food and water are perceived as stressors and cause the same reaction as emotional stress, which is the release of stress hormones. When the skin reacts with flare-ups, our body asks us to direct our attention to our health. When we have applied something irritating to our skin, it is easy to rule out where the reaction came from. Yet, sometimes we seem to do everything right from the cosmetics we use, to the food we eat but the skin is still going rampant. Then, the exploration of the root cause can become more difficult.

Is There a Positive Side to Stress?

A stress response from the skin, such as red blotches, for example, is a natural protection mechanism to give us a warning that something is not right. It is pretty smart of our body to do that because lesions on the skin are much more obvious and easier to spot than if we would have flare-ups on our internal organs. So, thank you mother nature for that blessing in disguise.

The Solution

Once we have realised that our skin is sending us a message, we can move to the next step and find out why our skin is out of balance. This can be a long journey (been there) but once you have explored the root cause, you feel rewarded and empowered. Self-exploration connects us closer to our body and it shows us that we are our own best healers. To search for the root cause sit down in silence, go mentally through your day and analyse what foods, habits and behaviours might be unhealthy. When have you not felt good? What situations left you feeling irritated or out of balance?

There are two ways to deal with stress, one is to reduce stress and the other is to strengthen the stamina to be more resilient.

What Can We Do to Manage Stress?

Dealing with environmental stressors is a bit easier than managing emotional stress. We can become more conscious about what we put in our bodies and what we apply to our skin. When it comes to food, an easy-to-apply rule is: “Eat real foods that do not have a label and apply only products on your face that are safe to eat”. I recommend the books from Kimberly Snyder. She is a wizard in nutrition and beauty and her method works.

Avoiding stressors that are airborne is more difficult, especially if we live in urban areas but we can strengthen our bodies to be more resilient. The buzzword is “strong immune system” (= achieved by eating whole foods, clean water, exercising, and sunlight)

Dealing with emotional stress requires a different approach than avoidance as we cannot shield ourselves entirely from circumstances and life events. Therefore, I believe that strengthening our emotional stamina and thereby reducing the impact stress has on us is far more realistic. Emotional resilience is like a strong emotional immune system. You can train and support it. I personally have developed a toolkit of things that helped me a lot to cope better with life, my past and my future. My emotional, physical and spiritual well-being has never been better.

My Emotional Stress Toolkit

1. Kundalini yoga: In my personal experience, this is the most effective practice known to me that is able to evoke self-healing. Kundalini yoga works with movements, chants and mudras that stimulate the chakras and change the energy field. They can feel and look funny at first but do not let the first impression keep you from trying it out. I find the effects of kundalini yoga a lot more profound than any other yoga technique. The activation of chakras can bring deep healing to your spiritual, mental and physical health. For classes to watch online and practice at home, I recommend the work of Gurmukh Khalsa, Guru Jagat and Kimilla. Or find your local teacher and classes via web search or word of mouth.

2. Meditation: Meditation is life-changing. It is practised for thousands of years. The calming effect meditation has on the nervous system is a proven fact. Close your eyes, breathe deep and calm through your nose, focus on the point between your eyebrows and breathe long and deep. You become centred and grounded. Start with a minute and build up slowly if you find it hard to commit to longer sessions. Every attempt counts. Remember, the goal is the journey, not the outcome.

3. Breathing exercises (Pranayam): Breathing in modified and particular ways can stimulate or calm your nervous system, which then affects your hormone system.

Exercise to calm yourself in stressful situations:

Breathe through your left nostril while closing your right nostril with your thumb or finger, deep and long until you feel calmer. Breathing through the left nostril calms the sympathetic nervous system.

4. Movement, walking, running, aerobics, dance, etc.: Movement releases stored energy out of your muscles. Emotional stress and stress hormones can become trapped in your muscles. Plus, movement releases happy hormones.

5. Prayer and faith: You do not need to be religious to pray. I am not either, but I have faith that a divine path is laid out for each of us and that we just have to trust. I find that comforting and calming to my nerves.

6. Self-love and self-connection: If you love yourself, you can heal yourself. Self-love is not vanity. It is the greatest gift we can give to ourselves. Berating and critisising yourself is stress. The voice inside of you has a big impact on your emotional and even physical health. I recommend the books by Louise Hay.

Please message me if you have questions at [email protected]. Inspirations, comments and feedback are welcome.

Blessings,

Janett xxx