Loving your skin!
I stumbled across a question that really stumped me one day and since then I’ve been on a mission to find the answer. The question is “how can I love my skin when it makes me feel so bad about myself?” You could ask this question for just about anything right? Your body, your relationshiPs, your career, etc. We all know in life we should love these things. We only get one life and one body, why feel anything but love for it? I don’t believe the anger & shame I feel towards my skin will manifest the disappearance of my Psoriasis. I believe the opposite – the more love I give to it, the more it will love me! So, I ask the question again – how can I feel love for my skin when it makes me feel so bad about myself? I’m still stumbling upon the answers since there isn’t just one, but here are some answers I’ve found helpful so far. I hope they help you even if just a teeny weeny bit! Remember you can use these in life with just about anything. As I discover more I will most definitely share them with you!
– Appreciate the parts that make you feel good! I love my hands, neck & shoulders! They are smooth, sexy and look great with a nice tan! Look around and focus on your non-problem areas, I bet you find quite a few! This seems so silly to people, but I find shifting your focus on what makes you feel good will usually fade out negative emotions & shift something in us that is much needed!
– Affirmations – think of these as nothing but reminders. I always remind myself how well I’m doing! I say things to myself like “I’m doing my best and that’s enough” or “I’m so happy my Ps has brought me to this healthy path” – Remind yourself of the good bits and more will come to you. I find myself saying these in times where my ego wants to beat me up. This is my way of fighting back!
– Gratitude list – I keep a few different gratitude lists on me at all times. One is in my iPhone and I have 2 others in journals I carry in different purses. I add to them every day and it’s slowly becoming a habit like brushing my teeth. I add things that I already have in my life as well as things I don’t yet. On very optimistic days I’ll write a bunch of things as I reflect on all the good in my life like “I’m so grateful for the love Mike & I have.” On not so optimistic days I’ll write things like “I’m grateful to be on this health path.” Just like your focus on appreciating parts of you – this is one extra step towards shifting your negative thoughts to positive ones or at least more neutral ones!
– Talk to your skin (or any part of you that needs love) I talk to my skin when I give it love (aka – a coconut oil massage). I’ll say things like “I know you appreciate this” or “feels good huh?” Or “I love you skin & want you to heal” I know you are probably thinking this is very “woo woo”, but I believe in the law of attraction very much and know deep down our thoughts become things! I have so many amazing things in my life because of my positive thoughts and believe the more I show myself love & joy, the more I will see that reflected back to me! 🙂 So start being mushy to yourself! I know it’ll feel awkward and strange at first, but I promise you it’ll get easier with practice.
Those are my discoveries so far. Believe it or not, they help me love my skin little by little. I hope they help you as much as they help me! Diet is a huge way of loving yourself too. When I eat healthy veggies, fruits, whole grains, etc., I feel good because I know my skin appreciates it and that is me loving & nourishing my body. That is love! I try my hardest to focus on all the reasons there are to love my skin. It’s our largest organ and does more work on a daily basis than we can imagine to excrete toxins, so for that I love it! It heals in ways no one can possibly imagine, so for that I love it! It protects us from all weather and in ways no one can imagine, so for that I love it! See? I’m on a role now! It’s easy! Let’s keep this positive ball rolling:)