The Effects of Stress on the Skin

How Stress Affects the Look and Health of Your Skin

There is time when stress is good. It can help us overcome challenges, work through dead line and forces us to grow. But most of us experience to much stress and we are overloaded with fear, anxiety, depression and worry.

What is the connection with healthier skin?

Let' s first look at the Stress Cycle

When we found ourselves in a stressful situation, the adrenal glands start excreting adrenalin through the body. This is known as the "flight or fly response ". This is the hormone than either help us run away or face the challenge before us.

Immediately after the surge of adrenaline, a second hormone, Cortisol, is released. This hormone helps handle the situation and find solutions. Then the cycle comes to an end and the body goes to recovery, rest and relax. Adrenaline and cortisol return to normal.

But for most of us we are caught into a cycle where the recovery phase never happen because we find ourselves constantly in stressful situations.

Rat race, economy, overloaded with work, not enough exercise, to much TV do not give us a chance to relax.

The skin is a reflection of our health. Body imbalances first show on the skin: Inflammation, rashes, allergies are just a few of the warning signs.

Correcting Cortisol Overload

You can improve the condition of your skin by regulating your internal levels of Cortisol. By taking advantage of recent research on activities that lower Cortisol levels, you can take better care of your skin from the inside out.

Scientists and researchers can measure a person's Cortisol levels with a saliva test, and they've run studies to determine what activities lower Cortisol levels. The results may surprise you.

• One hour of yoga substantially lowers Cortisol levels. One hour of television has no effect, and chances are that if you spent that hour watching the news, your Cortisol levels actually increased. One hour of hanging out on the sofa also has no effect.

• Twenty minutes of mediation or contemplative prayer lowers Cortisol levels.

In other words, the more your entire body and mind relaxes, the more you lower your stress levels. Getting a professional facial or massage also lowers Cortisol levels.

12 Relaxing Activities That Will Help Reduce Cortisol Overload. (you only need to pick one or two ... !)

• Getting in water. Take a bath, get in the hot tub, take a shower, or go swimming.

• Meditation and contemplative prayer. It doesn't matter if this involves a religious or spiritual focus or not. The mere fact of regularly clearing your mind reduces Cortisol levels. Practice meditation once or twice a day.

• Yoga or stretching. Do at least 30 minutes two or three times a week.

• Personal pampering, such as facials, massages, manicures, or pedicures.

• Massage therapies, such as cranial-sacral or deep-muscle massage.

• Vigorous exercise with an aerobic focus.

• Body rolling, a deep-massage technique you can do at home.

• Using a back massage roller. In 15 minutes, you'll be very relaxed.

• Pilates or core-conditioning exercises. Go slow. Focus on the movement.

• Being outside in nature. Garden, go for a hike, or go for a bike ride.

• Pursuing a hobby, such as knitting, singing, playing an instrument, or other activities that are calming and soothing.

• Take a Sofa Day. If the world is really getting to you and your stress levels seem way too high, take a day off. Don't use the day to get caught up or to run errands. Instead, take the day to lie on the sofa with a really good page-turner of a book, your favorite snacks within reach. Just enjoy yourself. By the next day, your daily routine will seem easier and more manageable.

There is more to healthier skin than creams, face mask and daily skin regimen. Healthy lifestyle, diet and exercise are important and often neglected.