Our outlook at #SkinFood is one which encompasses a 360 degree approach. In order to thrive and reach your full potential you must look after yourself both inside and out. A healthy body can be maintained through physical movement and eating nourishing foods, but this alone does not feed the mind. Cultivating a quiet and calm mind is crucial, yet the practise of looking after it individually is often overlooked. Queue meditation.
"Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt." Sr. Francis de Sales
Why Do It?
Mediation comes in many different styles and intensities, there are very advanced techniques which I have personally never tried. However, in its most basic and approachable form there are applications such as Headspace, where one can listen to a guided meditation for 10 minutes or as long as you desire. Headspace is an effective application, one which I have personally benefitted from. You can filter the reason for your practise, which makes your experience tailored to your exact needs. Examples of their programmes available include, sleep, managing anxiety, navigating change, patience, finding focus, letting go of stress and the list goes on and on. The application offers both a male and a female voice, you select which programme you would like to follow, set the number of minutes and the male or female voice then guides you through your mindful breathing practise.
So why do it? Most of us are constantly balancing so much on our plates at all times between the multitude of different commitments we have both professionally and personally. As a consequence, we typically build up a feeling of chronic stress and of being overwhelmed 24/7, almost unknowingly. This sadly becomes our way of being, leaving us with a short fuse, cloudy mind and weak foundation. The constant feeling of being stressed subsequently triggers issues with our sleep cycles, inflammatory responses, digestive processes and other finely balanced systems that run internally and which are responsible for balancing our bodies in turn facilitating our overall happiness and health.
Key Benefits
Moderate Stress Levels
One of the key benefits of practising frequent mediation is that your response to daily stress triggers are significantly lowered. Essentially what this means is that issues you encounter daily, that would typically cause a spike in stress levels, no longer feel as acute and are handled with more calm, focus and mental clarity.
Lower Inflammation in the Body
As a result of lowering your stress levels, mediation can also help to suppress the response of inflammatory promoting genes. Inflammation in the body is incredibly serious and can vary in the severity of how it manifests itself, from allowing the formation of pre cancerous cells, developing acne breakouts, suffering hair loss, skin rashes such as eczema and general ageing of the skin.
Oxygenated Cells - Glowing Skin
Meditation additionally helps to lower your blood pressure and heart rate which improves our blood flow. This improved circulation allows nutrients and oxygen to flow more easily to the cells, also aiding in the efficient removal of toxins. The end result in this improved blood flow is a more radiant and healthy complexion as our bodies perform more optimally, properly distributing what it needs and expelling what does not serve us.
In the words of many dermatologists, "mediation should be part of a prescription for healthy skin," and a healthy mind might I add.
They say it takes 21 days to form a habit. Why not set yourself a challenge of just ten minutes a day to see what benefits this small, but life changing habit can bring you?
Take a look below to our #SkinFood favourite applications!
Headspace
My favourite app of all has to be Headspace. Its tailored approach allows you to tackle whatever emotion it is you are feeling. You can also find a buddy on there so you so can motivate one another to stay on top of your practise.
Calm
Another winner in this space is Calm which offers Sleep Stories to help you unwind at night should you be a troubled sleeper. They also allow you to tailor aspects you want to work on in your particular practise.