How Skincare Regulates Your Nervous System
Life challenges can send us into chronic states of stress for many reasons. Our nervous system can keep us stuck in those states, making it difficult to:
1) Reduce uncomfortable feelings of activation.
And
2) Fully feel healthy emotions, including anger, grief or sadness and then return to a state where enough restoration and focus in the present moment are possible.(1)
Add on top of those personal challenges, the constant influx of intense and distressing news...
It may feel overwhelming to your nervous system at times and possibly keep you in an extended state of high alert, making it even harder to pendulate between difficult emotions and then back to regulation, gradually preventing some of the recovery your body relies on to maintain health in the short and long term.(2)
So what does this have to do with skincare?
Since skincare is what we have in common here, my intention is to help bring awareness to how you can use your skincare routine as a starting point and a way to bring in or stack other grounding rituals. By integrating these rituals into your daily skincare routine, we're increasing the consistency of their use over time which can help build more capacity in your nervous system; an important step, in my experience, on the journey to improved pendulation and overall emotional regulation.
I hope to nurture you so you can nurture yourself. Just like I formulate each clariSEA product to nurture your skin and help keep you on a healthy trajectory.
To help provide context so your nervous system can feel safer using these tools, following is research to help explain how skincare routines and rituals have a regulating effect on your nervous system.
First things first, it's helpful to know that our biology instinctively motivates us to tend to our skin and hair on a regular basis including through skincare, in order to reduce pathogens. It’s literally in our DNA!(3)
Research also shows that our skin is packed with mechanoreceptors ~ specialized sensory nerve endings ~ that detect touch, pressure and motion and send signals into our nervous system based on these sensory inputs.
The gentle touch of "tending to our skin", including massaging cleansers, moisturizers and serums into our face and body skin is processed by a special class of these receptors called C-tactile (CT) afferent fibers.
These receptors communicate with brain and autonomic pathways, engaging the appropriate parasympathetic nervous system tissues (4), decelerating heart rate, increasing HRV and down regulating stress responses.(5)
Having said and cited that, let's try to ground this information into routines and rituals that have a regulating effect on your nervous system when repeated consistently over time.
Because skin care (2 words) can play a small but worthwhile and anchoring role in helping you transform your morning and evening routines into regulating rituals that let your nervous system know that it's safe to shift into more of a restorative state of health where true recovery and healing are possible for your mind, body and soul.
Another benefit of adding rituals to your skincare routine is that they can increase the effectiveness of the products over time. I'll do my best to explain how in each step. For the sake of not adding to any overwhelm, let's start with 1 routine and 1 ritual for morning and night using the core products in most skincare routines - cleanser and moisturizer. I'm using clariSEA products because those are the products I use daily, but you can use any cleanser or moisturizer or any skincare products that create a 2 step regimen.
ROUTINE #1
Step 1: Gently massage the Ocean Saltwater Clarifying Cleanser (or any cleanser) into skin in circular motions moving from your cheeks > up to your forehead > passing in between your eyebrows > to around your nose and then out through your jaw line. Rinse thoroughly.
Step 2: Massage 1 or 2 pumps of the Pretty Skin Moisturizer (or any moisturizer or lotion) into skin, moving from the inside of your face outwards or upwards and outwards. Start with your cheeks > then up to your forehead by passing in between your eyebrows > then from around your nose outward passing below your cheek bone > and then your jaw line starting from your chin and moving outward.
By rhythmically following these lines, we're activating those C-tactile receptors for tension release and simultaneously treating your skin to a little face yoga which can help increase blood flow in the top layer of skin, temporarily reducing puffiness while increasing nutrient absorption.
RITUAL #1:
After massaging the Moisturizer into skin, if it feels good, practice box breathing. Inhale for 4, hold for 4 and exhale for 4. Repeat 3 times, then add a longer exhale for 2 rounds. Inhale for 4, hold for 4 and try exhaling for 6. The longer exhale lets your nervous system know that it's okay to slow down right now, we're in the process of nurturing and restoring.(6) If taking deep breaths feels uncomfortable or too overwhelming, just try focusing on your breathing for 30 seconds and notice if your breath slows naturally.
RITUAL #1 (continued):
As you take each deep breath and your chest expands, visualize the space you're creating with each breath as representative of space you're creating to expand into the life you desire or as the space necessary to create more capacity in your nervous system to build that life.
This ritual and breathing exercise is an effective tool in the moment to help your nervous system engage more of the appropriate parasympathetic tissues. And if repeated consistently over time, can function as what's known in neuroscience and the modality of Somatic Experiencing as a "neural exercise" ~ neuroplasticity in progress.
Neural exercises can gradually improve vagal tone and overall autonomic tone, making the shift into a parasympathetic dominant nervous system even more efficient.(7) What does that mean? More moments of feeling at ease in your body and mind. More moments feeling like yourself and operating from a place of regulation.
RITUAL #2:
Let's use the same routine but change up the ritual a little so you're visualizing how the ingredients are helping your skin; creating what I like to call a meditative moment. As you massage the Cleanser into your skin in circular motions, visualize the nourishing action of the organic rosewater delivering nutrients to your hardworking skin cells and the clarifying action of the dissolved sea salt reaching deep into your pores to remove impurities and help your beautifully designed skin renew.
There is alignment in the process of both a physical and physiological cleanse.
RITUAL #2 (continued):
As you gently massage the Moisturizer into your skin, close your eyes and try to feel love, awe or gratitude (whichever feeling or sentiment feels right for you) for the nourishment you're delivering to your skin.
Sometimes I like to focus on the roses that the organic rosewater is distilled from and even visualize walking through a field of roses. If that feels good, maybe also try feeling gratitude for all the cells that work hard every day to bring your world to life. Send them some love and appreciation as they prepare to repair and restore you overnight for a brand new day.
Rest and notice for a moment.
Sighing during these rituals is a sign that your body is releasing tension, down-regulating and shifting states.
Try to repeat at least 3 times per week.
NOTES & COMMENTS:
I am not a therapist so the information included in these slides is not therapy. The information included in these slides is based on research as cited, my training as a certified health coach, my experience as a skincare formulator, and my experience and practice regulating my nervous system and learning how to pendulate.
Since I touched on the importance of emotional regulation in this guide, I would like to take a moment to direct you to psychologytoday.com if you feel you need emotional support. Psychologytoday.com is a great resource to help find licensed therapists near you.
Somatic Experiencing is a modality that can also help with emotional regulation. My Somatic Experiencing practitioner is Sarah Baldwin. I learned some of the concepts in this post from her including the importance of neural exercises and pendulation. For more information on her programs, you can go to her instagram page @sarahbcoaching. You can also find more information about Somatic Experiencing and certified SEI practitioners at traumahealing.org by clicking on "Find a Practitioner".
All information in these slides and on clarisea.com or any other such website that sells clariSEA products has not been reviewed by the FDA. Statements made in any written material, electronic or otherwise, are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or mental health diagnosis.
CITATIONS:
1) PMC5137920 - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5137920/
2) PMC59640 - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5964013/
3) PMC3189350 - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3189350/
4)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301051117301266 - PMID 28723347
5)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301051117302260 - PMID 28865933
6)https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201905/longer-exhalations-are-an-easy-way-to-hack-your-vagus-nerve
7) PMC11591838 - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11591838/