I'm going to start this post by asking you two questions:
- Has someone given you a fright and you've turned as white as a sheet?
- Have you ever seen someone and your face turned red with embarrassment?
This shows us that the skin is a mirror of our emotions and, as such, it can look different depending on how we feel. The same happens when we experience stress. Stress and skin are, unfortunately, very closely related.
The skin is connected to our brain The skin is the largest organ in our body, weighing 5 kilos and measuring about 2 square meters. You can imagine that it's full of nerve endings that reach our brain. It makes sense, therefore, that if our mind is not in balance, our skin will be affected, and if we are in harmony, our outermost layer may look radiant. Hence, we always say that the skin is
the mirror of our emotions. And notice one thing. Stress means pressure or nervous tension, and, in general, when a person is anxious or nervous, their body releases hormones that constrict the blood vessels of the skin, and this is how conflicts begin to live in our body, because the effects of stress, as you know, are numerous and some of them affect our skin. In fact, we could use yoga to explain that the human being is as if it were made of different layers and that all these layers are interconnected: a physical layer made of matter, an energetic layer composed of vital force, the mental layer, and the spiritual layer. Thus, when something happens to us in the physical body; in this case, in the skin, it is because it has previously existed in other layers. In fact, thanks to the effects that appear on our body, we are warned that something is not working well. We should be happy! We have a body that is a guardian.
Stress on the skin: how does it manifest? In many ways, and the first thing we would like to explain is that not all the problems we are going to mention that occur on our skin are due to stress. Many people could suffer from many other diseases, allergies... In general, stress can cause sweating, some redness, hives on the skin, and even
spots. On the other hand, the skin often looks somewhat dry, scales appear, wrinkles and crow's feet are accentuated, and the face shows more dark circles and bags under the eyes. In addition, when we suffer from stress, our skin appears much duller. They say that atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, or rosacea can also appear due to stress.
Hormonal imbalances due to stress: appearance of pimples I am convinced that this has happened to some of you on occasion. You never had pimples, and you are close to 40 years old, and you get more pimples than when you were in puberty. You probably have adult acne.
Dehydrated skin We previously said that stress causes the constriction of blood vessels and is also associated with greater fluid evaporation. In fact, hyaluronic acid, which is responsible for retaining water in the skin, disappears.
Destroyed nails People who are stressed tend to bite their nails, which ultimately leads to destroyed nails.
And what is the solution? In the next post, we will talk in more detail about what we can do to improve some of the consequences that stress can have on our skin, but, as you can imagine, the biggest solution is to curb stress as soon as you can. In addition, you should know that any change you make in your lifestyle will be reflected very soon in your skin because skin cells renew every month. So, what are you waiting for? Don't let stress become a part of you, even if September has arrived and you're back to your routine. Practice yoga, mindfulness, or take whatever remedy you consider best to eliminate stress from your body. You'll see how radiant and beautiful your skin looks.
