Meditating For Beauty
We’ve all blushed some time or other. Some of us have turned white with fear. And then there’s the glow we get when we fall in love. These are just some of the ways our skin reflects our emotions.
All of this is quite wonderful, so long as our emotions flow freely. But when we get stuck in chronic stress, our mood can leave us looking as forlorn as we feel.
In large part that’s because cortisol gets produced when we are under stress. It causes us to lose collagen and elastin, the things that keep the skin taut and firm, preventing lines and wrinkles from forming.
When we get stuck with chronic stress, we continuously produce cortisol and it causes us in turn to continuously lose collagen and elastin. That means our skin ages faster that it should.
Amy Wechsler, MD describes the physiology of stress and its harmful effect on our skin in her book “The Mind Beauty Connection.” She shows how vital it is for our appearance (and our happiness) that we take care of low-grade chronic stress. And, aside from sleep (we need plenty), the time-proven, number one long-term stress-buster and happiness-inducer is… meditation.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction was developed at the University of Massachussetts to provide an easy way for people to reduce their stress using simple techniques that anyone can learn. It takes only 6 weekly classes of an hour-and-a-half each, and the results are astounding – and they last, and last.
A Gift That Keeps On Giving
Researchers have found that even people who do only the 6-week training – no other practice at all – have measurably improved moods and physiological functions years later! Many clinical studies have been done around the world looking at diverse groups such as breast cancer survivors, fibromyalgia sufferers, bone marrow patients – there have been hundreds of scientific studies. The results are consistent.
Mindfulness Stress Reduction
- reduces stress
- elevates mood
- improves clinical outcomes
- is scientifically-proven
- is offered by most progressive medical centers
- takes 6 weekly sessions to learn
- delivers a lifetime of value
So one of the very best things to do for your skin is to reduce your stress level, and a remarkably effective, clinically-proven way to do it is with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. It takes 6 weekly sessions of 90 minutes each. Side effects include increased happiness and a deeper more compassionate connection with self and reality.
The University of Massachussetts maintains a worldwide list of mindfulness therapy centers at their Center for Mindfulness. Alternatively, there is that ashram in Rishikesh you have always dreamed of….
