Healthy Mind = Healthy Skin
A great skin routine is vital to achieve a healthy glowing complexion. However, did you know that stress can cause the health of your skin to deteriorate greatly. It has been scientifically proven that stress can affect the look of your skin and can also aggravate pre-existing conditions.
How does stress affect our skin?
Excessive stress is not good for our overall health and the effects can physically manifest on our skin. Long periods of stress affect our gut bacteria, which ultimately changes how we digest food and can trigger internal inflammation. This inflammation can worsen pre-existing skin conditions such as eczema or cause acne breakouts. Furthermore, stress can potentially upset our immune system, negatively affecting the overall look and health of our skin.
Furthermore, prolonged exposure to stress can change the condition of our skin by making it more oily or dry. Increased stress levels cause our adrenaline to spike and stimulate the sweat glands to lose more water. Thus, this causes our skin to lose hydration and become dehydrated. Conversely, stress affects our hormone levels and increases the oil production in the skin. Hence, oilier skin can lead to pore blockages and acne breakouts.
What can you do in times of stress?
It is evident that stress has devastating effects to our skin – so how do we diminish these impacts?
- Don’t let stressful situations make you neglect your normal skin routines! Neglect can prolong the effects of stress to your complexion so make sure you stick to your routine.
- Regularly exercise to strengthen both a healthy body and mind.
- Take up yoga or meditation to connect with yourself and your breath.. The power of breathwork is underestimated, the way you breath directly affects how your nervous system functions, how you breath is how you feel and how you feel is how you breath.
- Talk to someone! Whether it be a loved one or a professional, getting support is both cathartic and helpful in helping you achieve a healthy balance of stress.
Namaste,
Thelma x