Day 1: Self Love is Sacred, NOT Selfish Series

7 Days of Self Love … Breathing & Your Skin

In honour of February 14, the designated day of love, let’s try something different …

💝 Valentine’s Day 💝 is about spoiling & showing your love to that someone special in your life. But did you ever think that, hey, YOU are the most ‘someone’ special in your life?

Why not make this month about loving yourself?

You can’t love someone else until you truly love yourself, right!

Self care is vital for the health of your body & mind, which also improves the health of your skin!

Let’s play a game! … A game where you are the most important person in your world; a game where you are #1, everything you do is to benefit yourself & how that benefits your skin, your health & your overall wellbeing.

One sacred self love act per day for the next 7 days that hopefully turns into a life-long ritual of love … your skin will thank you for it!

Are you with me?? 🙋‍

Great! Today we BREATHE!

Don’t laugh!

Did you know that most people in today’s busy world have forgotten to breathe? Sounds weird, after all breathing is something that just happens & we don’t even have to think about it … but are you doing it right?

No, not your everyday short, rapid, shallow breath that keeps you in a state of overwhelm, panic, anxiety &/or stress! 😵

Deep belly breathing!

It’s the quickest & simplest way to reset your body. Breathing tells the body that you are ‘safe’ & that it no longer needs to release stress hormones!

Deep belly breathing, slowly & mindfully! And, this is how it’s done …

1. Close your eyes

2. Place your left hand over your chest, and your right hand over your belly.

3. Inhale through your nose.

4. What moved more? Chest or belly?

5. You want full control of your belly.

6. Your belly should expand when you inhale.

7. Once you have taken in as much air as possible using your belly, continue up through your chest. Sort of like a 2 part sequence.

8. Start practicing just being able to draw in oxygen using only your belly.

9. Try breathing in quickly, almost like you are sniffing something. Your belly should be moving in and out.

10. Practice every day. Take a couple of minutes before you dive out of bed in the morning & just before you fall asleep every night. Breathe in for 4, hold for 4, breath out for 4 & hold for 4. Repeat.

11. Once you have mastered your breath & you know where you’re breathing from, you can start taking deep breaths throughout the day. Make these breaths longer, deeper and be more conscious of them. No set pattern (for now), just start doing it.

12. Notice how it makes you feel. Notice how clear your mind becomes. Notice the calmness, the peace, and serenity that you can experience, just from concentrating on your breath. It’s surprisingly powerful.

The more you breathe the better you become at being conscious of your stress levels.

“While this is all fascinating, wonderful & probably true … what does it actually have to do with my skin?” I hear you ask.

Well …

First, let’s dispel an urban myth right now …Your skin doesn’t ‘breathe’, therefore it is not responsible for bringing oxygen to the body, but oxygen is vital for your skin health & appearance.

Let’s take a closer look!

Deep breathing …

1. invites oxygen into the body via the circulatory system & increases blood flow. The circulatory system & the blood it carries, is responsible for carrying oxygen & essential nutrients from your gut to the deepest layers of your skin via the capillary network. When the skin cells are being nourished, the skin is strong, healthy, vibrant, youthful & working perfectly;

2. increases the effectiveness of the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is responsible for removing waste that is produced by the deepest layers (like a factory where any products are made there is always a by-product of waste). This waste is now a toxin that the body must eliminate via lungs (breath), kidney, liver & intestine (urine & poo). When this is not happening your skin looks grey, lifeless, aged, dry & dehydrate (kind of like a sultana), you could also get a dark shadow & ‘bags’ under your eyes;

3. lowers your heart rate, blood pressure & reduces the effects of stress. Stress constricts your circulatory system & oxygen intake; shuts down your detox (kidneys), digestive (gut) & repair systems; raises cortisol & adrenalin levels, resulting in a blood sugar spike; which leads to inflammation in the body. Inflammation of the body = dull & sallow skin, skin that is slow to replicate & heal, oxidative stress (premature aging, collagen & elastin breakdown), inflammation of the skin (acne, rosacea, eczema, psoriasis) & eventually complete breakdown resulting in a system that has become ‘sensitive’ because it doesn’t remember how to function;

4. supports organ detoxification. When you breathe deeply, the body releases carbon dioxide, and along with it many toxins. The body is bombarded on a daily basis with loads of toxins; everything from air pollution, to contaminated water, everyday foods, medication, sugar, alcohol, and much more. Breathing is the body’s way of releasing those toxins and purifying its systems. When we forget to breathe, the body is less efficient at releasing toxins which makes the other detox systems of the body overloaded as they work to detoxify the blood, often leading to illnesses. Your skin is the 3rd line of detox defence through sweat. When the skin is busy having to deal with detoxification, because the rest of the bodies detox systems have gone on strike, all other skin functions & skin health go by the way side.

Deep breathing is a great massage & exercise for all your internal organs, too. With the movement of the diaphragm, organs like the stomach, liver, intestine, heart, and pancreas are massaged, improving their function. Deep breathing also strengthens and tones abdominal muscles.

How many more reasons do you need to practice & become conscious of your breath?

Along with a healthy lifestyle, the habit of deep breathing can drastically improve the quality of your life with barely any effort required on your part.

So, take the time to ‘just breathe’ … If not for the sake of your physical, mental & emotional wellbeing, then for the sake of your skin health & appearance.

Until next time,

Yours in Skin Health

The SkinFit Coach (AKA Michelle Bailey)