Throw It Out Thursday: Negative Self Talk

Many of us do it without even noticing, but at one point in life, we are all guilty of damaging negative self-talk. So, this Thursday, we are throwing out the negative self-talk!

Burn the CD playing those untrue words, diminishing your light! You'd be surprised how throwing out this seemingly small thing can make a big difference in your whole life. From what I have seen in the treatment room, it can change your skin as well.

As a Skin Therapist, I deal mostly with skin issues, but a lot of what I see topically is a result of what is going on internally. Fortunately, as a Self Care Coach, I get to dive into these deeper concepts that affect our whole body wellness.

So often in the treatment room, among friends, and even at the check stand for my groceries, I hear a lot of self-depreciative speak. Anytime you say "I just have the worst skin" or "I'm so oily" (said with resentment towards your shiny, beautiful oily skin) or even "I'm just cursed with _____" (fill in your self-deprocating curse here). We do it so often that we aren't even aware when it's happening...

The truth of the matter is, whatever you are telling yourself probably only bothers you (other people might not even see it!) and by making a point of not liking it you are drawing attention to it, negative attention. This can make your friends/family feel uncomfortable when it comes up, or they might trigger you if they say something related to that topic. No one wants their friends to speak poorly of themselves. We think so highly of you! That's why we are friends!

All that negative attention is being put back into your body and stored in your mind as a fact. Our mind doesn't know the difference between what is true and real unless we tell it so. When you repeat a statement, it turns into a belief, overtime that belief becomes fact.

Instead of running a negative monologue, try saying "what a beautiful and perfectly-imperfect spirit you are, you are unique and there is no one like you and you are like none other". Say it every day! Start saying this in the morning while getting ready!

Most, if not all of what we see is through our perception, our mind interpreting what we are seeing. If we keep telling our mind negative things, then that will be our perception and our reality. So pause when you feel that tinge of “ugh!” coming up, breath, and redirect your mind to one of peace, awareness, and gratitude.

Before I get too deep, let me get back to how this relates to skin!

Adult acne is a skin pandemic that has affected hundreds of thousands of women worldwide. While most people attribute acne to imbalances in the skin, adult acne is triggered in large part by stress levels in the body. This trigger cannot really be affected by skincare products alone, even though it will require some fine-tuning and tweaks to even the best home care routine.

We live in a high state of constant stress, and that feels like an understatement as we come out of a global pandemic, war raging in multiple countries, and gun violence, and that's all external stuff we really don't have much control over, not even including our daily stress in our individual lives! 

With our current state of mind in an almost constant fight or flight mode, we release certain hormones to help us in those situations. However, we are not in a life or death situation when we get caught up scrolling through our Instagram or TikTok feeds. These hormones that are released when our adrenal gland goes into flight or fight mode have to go somewhere and do something, so what do they do? They help to create a great environment for acne.

Long story short, releasing negative thoughts from our day-to-day will help keep stress low, develop a deeper sense of self-love and confidence, and even how we speak about ourselves both in our inner dialogue and to others.

It's no easy task, but it starts with becoming humbly aware of when we are putting ourselves down and go back to that mantra I shared earlier. Stress in life is inevitable and if you want to talk more about managing your stressors and having a fulfilling self-care practice, check out my 90 Day 1:1 Whole Body Wellness Coaching, and schedule a call with me so we can chat more.

As a Buddhist, a Skin Therapist, and someone who probably does too much self-care, I go back to my basics: Chant + Sheet Mask + Cooking a delicious meal, plating it, and sit down and watching a cooking show for more culinary inspiration (my hobby) while I eat. The last two I can only do after my day is done, but you can chant, pray, meditate, breathe deeply or do whatever calms your mind down anytime.

And don’t forget…doggone it you are good enough just as you are!

Till next time, be good to your skin and even better to yourself,

xx eri