It has been known since antiquity in Ayurveda that a connection exists between the skin and mind. All ancient textbooks of Ayurveda have explained the interrelationship between mind and body through various analogies.
From the physiological point of view, the skin is an organ strictly linked to emotional activities: it turns pale and clammy during fear, it blushes when embarrassed and it glows due to happiness. Anger or irritation cause subtle and measurable changes to the skin too.
Unlike many other organs in the body, the human epidermis has an immediate reaction to mental stress, so that several authors aimed to demonstrate the so-called “brain-skin connection” (Mento., C., et al., PubMed).
Close links with the nervous system make your skin highly sensitive to emotions; it can be more in touch with your innermost needs, wishes, and fears than your conscious mind. The tactile cognition is perceived through an association of skin and mind leading to all pleasurable and painful sensations. Your skin, in fact, leads an emotional life of its own filled with the feelings you've avoided to protect yourself against pain. Your skin feels for you: it cries and rages; it remembers events so painful you’ve swept them under the rug of consciousness. Your skin can't talk in words but its emotional language may consist of warts or an "angry rash" of eczema or an outbreak of shingles or psoriasis (Ted A. Grossbart., Skin Deep., 1992).
Power of Self Talk on the Body and Mind
Thoughts, feelings and emotions create instant chemical reactions in our bodies.
Through the 1990′s, Dr. Masaru Emoto of Japan conducted a series of experiments observing the physical effect of words, prayers, music and environment on the crystalline structure of water (Salerno R., Research Gate).
The results were nothing short of remarkable. The crystals that formed on positive messages were found to be more geometric and aesthetically pleasing, while the crystals formed by water with negative messages were chaotic and non-uniform in shape.
You Fool
Since we are mostly made up of water, can you imagine how our minds and bodies react to the thoughts and words we use?
The mind produces thoughts of two kinds: facilitators and limiting. According to the type of thought produced, it will inevitably give a pleasant, neutral or unpleasant sensation.
The chain of events, as long as a thought is produced, is automatic because, in thinking, we produce chemicals in the brain.
As the Indian endocrinologist Dr. Deepak Chopra explains, a thought is a boost of energy and information, as everything in nature. Beliefs, thoughts and emotions create the chemical reactions that sustain life in every cell.
Each thought triggers the brain and it reacts according to the nature of the influx received. The brain does not interpret what the human being tells it through thoughtful words and images. Therefore, fantasy and reality produce the same biochemical states and emotions in the body.
Negative self-talk is any inner dialogue you have with yourself that may be limiting your ability to believe in yourself and your own abilities and to reach your potential (Scott E., Very Well Mind).
Feeling comfortable in your skin is a journey. We can let our thoughts lift us up or bring us crashing down. It’s a choice.
The first step is becoming aware of the negative self-talk real time. Each time you notice that your inner critic is taking over, unclutch and say “stop.” This helps you return to the present moment.
Any Mental Stress Can Impact Your Skin
Stress is emphasized as one of the major important factors in the initiation & exacerbation of skin dis-eases (feeling of uneasiness).
Experiments show that if you have stressed individuals and non-stressed individuals and you do skin-stripping (which is where the top layers of the skin are removed), the stressed people repair that damage much more slowly than the non-stressed people (Bewley. A., National Eczema Society).
Stress represents an internal or external force that threatens to disrupt the homeostasis of an organism. It activates 2 major neuronal pathways; the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic nervous system. When an external stress is being identified, these two systems get activated. Chronicity of this stress disturbs the ability of an organism to balance acute homeostatic challenges resulting in exhaustion and distress (Kavyashree K., et al., Research Gate).
In 2009, Blackburn received the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the telomerase enzyme (Varela E., Blasco M.A., Nature).
Telomeres are the caps at the ends of chromosomes that protect DNA from damage. As we age, they get shorter.
A special enzyme in our cells, called telomerase, protects telomeres and actually rebuilds, and lengthens them.
Thoughts and emotions play a critical role in telomere length and well-being.
Individuals having negative styles of thinking, i.e., pessimism, thought suppression, rumination, etc., show shorter telomeres.
In contrast, increasing one’s stress resilience through a sense of focus, mindfulness and self-compassion can help to stabilize or even lengthen telomeres.
According to Deepak Chopra, one’s future health is not predetermined by genes but is instead overwhelmingly shaped by choices that are made every day (Jain. S., Cosmetics & Toiletries).
It was found that mental, physical, and emotional stress definitely affects the skin and this may depend on several reasons:
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In stressful conditions, in fact, hormones relapse encourages inflammation and the decreasing blood flow to the skin irritating the skin nerves and increasing inflammation or allergic reactions.
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Furthermore, skin recruits the immune system to fight, dysregulating the innate immune response and causing inflammations such as Acne or Psoriasis.
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As a consequence, triggering a vicious circle, natural moisturizing factors, and plumping lipids production decline and skin healing, repair, and restoration processes are delayed ( Mento., C., et al., PubMed).
Calm Mind = Calm Skin
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