Could a meditation practice be the missing link between you and acne free skin?
If you have read any of my blogs or social media posts to date you will have an awareness of the physical effects that stress has on the body (upset digestion, spots, weight gain, raised blood pressure, grey hairs), but you may be surprised to learn that stress can also affect us mentally by impairing cognitive flexibility and self-regulation.
I often find that my clients are aware of meditation and might have tried it once or twice, but don’t really understand the science behind it, or feel like they are any good at it, so have struggled to turn it into a regular practice.
In my programmes I link a clients behaviours or environments to the biochemical changes that occur in their body and then resulting symptoms. This, along with regular coaching and support, helps to enable change.
So today I want to explain to you some of the science that goes on in your brain when we experience stress, and how a meditation practice can change your biochemistry, improve your digestion and even prevent premature ageing.
Let’s get started!
Two areas of the brain are activated during a stressful event:
prefrontal cortex (the area of the brain responsible for decision making, concentration, and self-regulation). Think of this part as the CEO of your body - making decisions based on facts presented to it.
amygdala (the region of the brain the initiates flight-flight-freeze). Think of this part as a lizard, very primal and instinctive in how it operates.
Now BOTH parts of your brain are sensitive to the detrimental effects of stress.
The degree to which the prefrontal cortex regulates the amygdala determines how we perceive and respond to stress both cognitively and emotionally. When the prefrontal complex is in control, top-down processing is executed, and we can make conscious responses before emotionally reacting or going into flight or fight mode.
In contrast when the amygdala becomes more active than the prefrontal cortex, it often leads to maladaptive responses and bottom-up processing - responding with emotion, like fear, without evaluating circumstances. A perfect example here is doom scrolling comparing your skin to the hyper perfect, aka heavily filtered, images on social media.
Even minimal amounts of stress have shown to impair functioning in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala. And the tendency is for the amygdala, the lizard part of your brain to take over when our safety is threatened. Remember, any stressor be it a late phone bill, a new spot or a family member contracting COVID-19 is perceived in the same way as a threat to your safety.
A dysregulated brain
So what happens is when we constantly perceive stress, top-down functioning becomes impaired, and emotional responses are strengthened. That lizard gets stronger and stronger if you like, and you feel more and more at your wits end.
Interestingly, structurally both the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex change. More activity occurs around the emotional brain, compared to the rational brain.
Emotion then overrides cognition, which results in bottom-up processing and emotional dysregulation.
Self-regulation and how meditation can help
Emotional dysregulation is the foundation of many psychological challenges, including stress, anxiety, and depressive disorders. In contrast, self-regulation is the ability to monitor emotions, thoughts, and behaviour as a situation demands. It includes the ability to balance highly emotional reactions, change expectations in the face of frustration, and direct behaviour toward a goal despite our feelings.
When self-regulation skills are honed, we are more likely to respond to stress in adaptive ways and less likely to activate fight of flight response in the face of stress. The stress is still there, but how we process it, make decisions, and choose a course of action are influenced by our ability to self-regulate.
One of the ways I explain the benefits of a meditation practice to my clients is describing the space it creates to choose how to respond to a stressor. Meditation allows you to grow that space so you can choose how to respond rather than react.
So, like constant stress can cause structural changes in the brain, so can regular meditation.
Meditation has been associated with increased grey matter and cortical thickness in the prefrontal cortex and decreased brain cell volume in the amygdala.
These neuroplastic changes in both the prefrontal cortex and amygdala, positively influencing how we regulate emotions.
When it comes to establishing a practice, accessibility is key. If it becomes one more thing on a to do list we are more likely to experience stress before it, which is not the intention here!
Meditation also has a cumulative effect, meaning the benefits are reaped through consistent practice over time. So one of the pieces of feedback I often hear from my clients is that they don’t feel like they are doing it right as they are not experiencing any benefits. But my response is always to stick with it, time and practice will prove otherwise.
My 6 tips for starting a meditation practice
Start simple: Sit for three minutes.
Start with sitting quietly for three minutes and see where it takes you. Use a meditation app on your phone (silence the ringer) or set a timer. Don’t ask any more of yourself than sitting quietly for these three minutes with your eyes closed, mentally following your breath. What happens from there doesn’t matter. Step one is to just get into the habit of showing up for meditation and committing to being quiet. If you do this each day, you may experience noticeable benefits, like less reactivity and more tranquility. Eventually, you’ll probably sense that you need more than three minutes and will start increasing your time.
2. Select a time and meditate at that time every day (if possible).
It helps to have a regular time and space for your meditation practice. You might try different times of day to see what works for you. The mind may be calmer in the morning than later in the day. Choose a time that you can commit to if possible, but don’t let this get in the way. Better do it at a different time every day than not at all.
If it helps to have a dedicated space with a meditation cushion and an altar with candles or flowers , that’s fine, but it’s not necessary. I recommend sitting against the wall or in a chair if you find sitting on the floor uncomfortable.
3. Choose something on which to anchor your attention.
If we don’t choose a point of focus, the mind ends up pulling us in multiple directions. You can follow your breath or choose either the inhale or the exhale to focus on. Another option is to count the length of the inhale and/or exhale to maintain concentration. If focusing on the breath isn’t working for you, try a phrase related to why you are sitting in the first place. For example, you can mentally say “Be” on your inhale and “still” on your exhale.
4. Release expectations of what meditation should or should not be. Let go of the end result.
There’s no hard-and-fast “right” versus “wrong” way to meditate, and there’s not a magic number of minutes that leads to the best results. Refrain from bringing a controlling mindset into your meditation practice. Let go of worrying about doing it right, of pushing yourself to increase your sitting time, and of thoughts of not being “good” at it. Instead, take a calm and open approach. Acknowledge that just showing up and sitting is a success.
5. Label thoughts as thoughts and let them go.
To be human is to have a stream of consciousness running through our minds at all times. What’s neat about meditation is that it is a mental break from the chatter of the mind. All meditators experience lapses in focus during which their minds wander—the key is not to go down the rabbit hole by pursuing those inevitable thoughts. When you notice yourself indulging in thought, label it as thought, and then go back to your anchor (your breath or other focal point).
6. Be willing to try different techniques.
If sitting and following your breath is not working so well for you, try a different approach. Use a guided meditation app that allows you to select how long you want to meditate and then be led through a practice (Insight Timer, Headspace, and Calm are popular choices). Or (as noted above) work with repetition of a phrase (mantra) to keep the mind focused. If my mind is particularly busy, I mentally repeat “I am peace” as I practice.
When we can skillfully manage stress and emotions, we function at our best. Our digestion improves, our skin clears up and we sleep well. Enhanced self-regulation aids us in identifying opportunities in difficult situations, maintaining motivation, and being able to keep going when times are tough.
Research on meditation seems to be heading toward revealing how the practice initiates structural and functional changes in the brain that impact our ability to think and respond to stress. Through meditation, we can learn to clear the mind and strengthen our ability to stay present. With this presence may come better decision-making and a clearer sense of how to accomplish our goals. Once the mind is balanced, other behaviours follow.
This is particularly relevant to many of the patients I see walk through my clinic who have almost been taken over by their skin and how they feel about it. Developing a meditation practice can be incredibly powerful in rewiring the brain to help calm the nervous system as well as foster a more nurturing and nourishing relationship with their skin and bodies.
If you are interested in taking a truly holistic approach to managing your acne, get in touch today to find out how True Skin Nutrition can help.
