It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with skin care. I love all of the lotions and potions, but what I really love about skin care is skin! Maybe it's my academic background, but I love the biology of how our skin functions. It’s a whole world of micro-biomes, epigenetic expression, and intelligent filtration. But despite my amazement with skin I have to admit, for a long time I kinda hated my own skin. I struggled for years with its appearance and unpredictable breakouts. Looking back, this situation was a big part of what originally drove me to understand ‘skin care’ (I put ‘skin care’ in quotes because often it can feel more like ‘skin control).
I have a theory that if you’ve had beautiful skin your whole life then you aren’t really interested in skin care. I imagine you rinse your face with a bit of ‘whatever soap is lying around’ and wake up with a gleaming complexion. You're most certainly not researching every ingredient in your new moisturizer or trying to determine the ideal pH balance of the perfect toner. But I did. I was compelled to learn more because I had a fundamental belief that my skin could be great. And not just look great, but heal too, and become really healthy.
The basics of skin care are the basics, and you are probably already very familiar with them. I was. I knew all about them. I practiced them but I was still challenged with unhappy skin. How can that be? I realized I was missing a fundamental (and perhaps the most important aspect) of skin care, that I call spiritual skin care.
But first a quick review of the skin care basics, because you can’t expect to skip this part and have radiantly healthy skin.
The appearance of your skin is a reflection of what you put on it (or don’t put on it). A girl can get lost at this stage, trying to perfect a skin care routine, or finding a magic ingredient. I played this game for a LONG time, and some routines are so complex you need a chart (Korean 12-step routine, I’m looking at you) or a new bathroom just to store ALL the products. Products are important part of the skin care picture, but please remember they aren’t the whole picture.
Organic, non-toxic products are best for us. Just like the food we eat, the quality of the ingredients we put on our skin is important. I could go on and on about this topic, but I’m going to assume that if you’re reading this you’re probable already there.
What you put in your body is important for the health of your skin. You skin is an organ, just like the rest of your organs, your diet is fundamental for nourishing your body.
Ok, so far, so good. But why then, when most of us understand this, and practice this are we not all walking around with beautiful glowing skin? The reason is that we overlook, or underestimate the fact that your thoughts and feelings profoundly impact the health and appearance of your skin.
This understanding is spiritual skin care, and it is simply the next step in the evolution of our consciousness about skin care. We’ve learned to nourish our skin on the physical level. The next important step is to provide that care on the spiritual level.
Here’s what you can do today to start practicing spiritual skin care:
Get clear about your intentions for skin care. Are you driven to the aesthetician out of a need to control, manage, or supress the appearance of your skin, or are you taking steps to nourish, love, and support? I was in the first category for a LONG time, and letting go of control can be super challenging (at least it was for me), but I’ve also realized that nothing good grows out of soil planted with fear. Same goes for your skin.
Ask your skin what it needs. So often we make intellectual decisions about what we believe our skin needs in order to be healthy. Maybe we read an article, or follow what a friend is doing, but remember to check-in with yourself and ask if this new treatment, mask, face wash is really best for YOU. Honour YOUR skin. If you are practiced at meditation you’ll easily be able to do this, or you can simply hold the jar of whatever you’re thinking of buying in your left hand and ask silently, “Body, will this nourish you? Is this what you need?” Go with the first response you get.
Be grateful. I’m going to go ahead and assume that you’re already choosing lovely organic plant-base ingredients in the products that you’re using. Take a moment to say thank you. Each of those ingredients was a life-form before they were your night cream. The oils came from lovely plants that now willingly and beautifully nourish your skin. In our Busy Bee Honey Cream, one jar contains honey that took 12 bees an entire lifetime of visiting 32,000 flowers to produce! Each night when I hold that jar in my hand, I say thank you and send blessings to the flowers, those bees, and the whole hive that worked so hard for my benefit. Expressing gratitude is a uniquely human ability and this simple act of recognition that a life has been given for the betterment of your life not only changes your energy field, but it vastly improves the effectiveness and purity of anything you put on your skin.
Spiritual skin care, is really just a form of spiritual self-care. It’s recognizing and remembering that you are a spiritual being having a physical experience. And that all of life, including yours deserves to be honoured, appreciated and nurtured with love.
