2 Ways to Turn Skin Care into Self-Care
Our daily lives are often filled with long to-do lists and stressful situations that can leave us feeling mentally and emotionally drained. Of course, this lets us know how important it is to make time for self-care, but this essential action can sometimes be low on the priority list, but that’s okay! The good news is that self-care comes in many forms, and one of the simplest and most effective is performing a skin care routine, something you do every day. Learn 2 simple tips to help transform our daily skincare routine into an advanced self-care habit that can help reduce stress levels and promote relaxation.
1. Breathwork
Breathing exercises have been shown to help promote relaxation, creativity and positive thinking. Incorporating breathing techniques into your daily skincare routine is also an easy way to deepen the mind-body connection. Box breathing is a simple yet effective way to breathe that you can try the next time you apply your skincare routine.
How to do box breathing
1: Inhale and slowly count to four. Feel the air enter your lungs.
2: Hold your breath for four seconds
3: Exhale slowly through your mouth for four seconds.
4: Repeat steps one, two and three throughout the routine.
2. Facial Massage
Facial massage movements are not only good for skin health, they can also help promote deep relaxation by relieving facial tension. There is a great deal of tension in our faces and it can be felt in our eyebrows and temples. Regular facial massage can help release tension and improve circulation by working on the connective tissues and muscles we use on a daily basis. In addition to your hands, you can use facial massage tools such as facial rollers or gua sha stones. Whichever tool you use, make sure you have enough product on your skin to provide enough glide for you to perform a facial massage.
Facial Decompression Massage Steps
1: Using alternating hand motions, start at the base of your neck and apply gentle pressure with long, slow strokes to your jawline. Repeat four times.
2: Then, place your hands in the centre of your chin in a prayer position. Slowly stroke your hands to the outer edges of your face up to your ears. Repeat four times.
3: Make fists of your hands with your thumbs facing outward (imagine thumbs up) and anchor your thumbs at the base of your cheekbones, near the corners of your nose. Use your thumbs to scoop from the bottom of your cheekbones up to your hairline. Repeat four times.
4: Using gentle pressure with your middle finger, circle outward along your brow, then move inward along the top of your cheekbone toward the bridge of your nose. Repeat two more times.
5: Finally, using firm pressure with your index and middle fingers, make small circles back and forth across your entire forehead in a clockwise direction, counting to ten.
6: Finish with ten firm temple circles and hold pressure on the temples for a final ten seconds before releasing.
If you are interested, I will share more ways to keep your skin healthy in the next issue!