Lifestyle
Calm Mind, Calm Skin
by Andreea Nemes
5 years ago
This article was first published on Herbivore Botanicals. Read the original here.
CALM MIND, CALM SKIN
We've all heard by know the many benefits of meditation but did you know it can help keep your skin calm and clear too? Whether its blemishes or premature aging, meditation can help to heal and also prevent skin conditions before they even manifest.
Stress is the number one cause of many skin conditions. From blemishes to dull skin to wrinkles, the answer is usually the same: when we're stressed, we throw off our hormones, the chemical messengers in our bodies that make everything work in balance and keep all systems running. When we throw off our hormones, we begin to experience a myriad of symptoms and many of those show up on our faces. We literally are wearing our stress on our face, whether it be blemishes or early wrinkles.
The antidote to this is to find as many ways to destress as possible and eat a balanced diet to keep your hormones working properly. And one of the most powerful ways to bring hormones into balance and stress levels down is through meditation. This simple breathing exercise / meditation can be done anywhere and will leave you feeling calm, radiant, and if practiced over time, will reflect those feelings from the inside out. Adding this practice called the One Minute Breath into your morning and/or evening routine gives your powerful tool for radiance in your beauty kit.
One Minute Breath: Sit in a comfortable upright position. Bring the index finger and the thumb together to touch, and close your eyes. Take 20 seconds to inhale, hold for 20 seconds, and exhale for 20 seconds. Twenty seconds is the end goal, however you can start with five seconds each until you’re able to build up your lung capacity. Next do 10 seconds each. Once you master 10 seconds, move onto 20 seconds and stay there, comfortably doing the One Minute Breath.
Suggested Time: 3-5 minutes
Image: Erik Melvin for Atelier Dore
