Skincare Is Deeper than Skin Deep!

An article by :: Antonia Beamish :: A practicing Systematic Kinesiologist in London.

Skin complaints, such as acne, eczema, psoriasis and rosacea can cause real distress. Besides their appearance and subsequent effect on our self-confidence, they can be thoroughly uncomfortable to live with and frustrating to know how to treat.

Because these common conditions only happen on a surface level, we often make the mistake of thinking they’re only skin deep, whereas, in reality, there are myriad factors which contribute to their causation, including emotions, stress, diet and hormones.

And, there are methods through which trained therapists can identify the root causes of these issue to help resolve them…

Skincare Is Deeper than Skin Deep!

Forward by :: Rachel Wild

Being willing to acknowledge there’s an individual reason why you skin is the way that it is will mean you are half way towards a cure. Working with a practitioner who is able to establish the root cause, like a Systematic Kinesiologist, will get you to the home straight… but the final furlong will mean you applying the lifestyle and dietary changes needed to allow your skin to heal. Sometimes the final furlong can be the longest part of the journey!

This excellent article explores the many ways in which we can develop skin conditions and how Systematic Kinesiology can make all the difference…

The Role Of Systematic Kinesiology

Systematic Kinesiology is essentially a diagnostic therapy.

It’s factors such as the issues we may have with our emotions, stress, diet and hormones that are explored in Systematic Kinesiology, a form of natural health care which uses muscle testing to read the body’s energetic bio feedback system to find where these health issues stem from.

When Systematic Kinesiologists find imbalances in the body we can then work on correcting them via specialised lymphatic massage, nutrition, electrical balancing and emotional work.

The Whole Person Approach

Symptoms are our friends, they tell us what’s wrong and guide us towards understanding how to rebalance ourselves. They are the body’s way of trying to get your attention, a bit like a smoke alarm going off alerting you to a fire. It’s an invitation to investigate further.

Modern Medicine Treats Symptoms Not Causes

However, within our current healthcare system, the widely favoured approach is one which focuses on suppressing our symptoms, rather than investigating them. We can see this clearly within the current treatments for skin conditions, which include; topical steroid creams to ease discomfort, antibiotics to kill bacteria on the skin, chemical face washes and the use of the hormonal contraceptive pill.

What’s important to realise is that while these protocols may temporarily ease discomfort and the appearance of some skin conditions, they fail to alleviate or treat the real root causes, which ultimately means the condition never goes away, and the symptoms will return when symptomatic treatment ends.

These conventional treatments cover up the symptoms, keeping you believing the problem has gone, when in reality the real problem carries on out of sight and out of mind.

The side effects of using medication are also an important consideration.

These medications can clog up the body, in particular the liver, and can interrupt the body’s natural self-healing processes.

Systemic Healing

Alternatively, using natural treatments, such as; essential oils, adopting a healthy diet, nutritional supplements, herbal remedies or homeopathy, are a more gentle and effective means of achieving a permanent solution to our problems. These therapies work in harmony with our body and have no unpleasant side effects.

These are just some of the approaches advocated by Systematic Kinesiologists.

Systematic Kinesiology Treats The Individual Not The Condition

When it comes to symptoms in the body Systematic Kinesiologists need to look at you as a whole to begin the detective work of understanding where your skin condition is stemming from.

In Systematic Kinesiology it’s understood the root cause of our pain and discomfort often exists in a completely different area to where the symptoms are experienced. This is why Systematic Kinesiology would assess you emotionally, nutritionally, physically and energetically to identify imbalances in your body.

By using this holistic approach we can begin the process of treating the root cause of your symptoms to facilitate your healing from the inside out.

There are many different factors which can cause skin conditions but the two areas where they frequently stem from lie within the nutritional and emotional realms, and this is exactly what I’m going to explore with you below.

The Role of Nutrition

Nutritional deficiencies play a vital role in our health. Due to over-farming and chemical treatments we have drastically reduced soil quality around the world, which in turn affects the vitamin and mineral content, meaning we need to eat a lot more to gain the same benefits than our grandparents did. A poor diet alongside a sluggish digestive system and a stressed body also means we often fail to get what we need nutritionally from our food because our body can’t absorb the nutrients.

This is why, now more than ever, it is so important to supplement our diet with the right nutritional support. In addition, we sometimes need a therapeutic dose of certain nutrients to help clear an imbalance in the body.

When deficiencies are corrected with therapeutic doses of the right nutritional supplements, the results can be quick and dramatic. This is because the body now has the tools to promote a natural process of self healing, which we all have within us.

Biological & Emotional Individuality

What your body needs is always going to be different to someone else because we’re all biochemically different. So, in Kinesiology we always test nutritional  supplements against the patient’s body to see what therapeutic nutritional support their body is craving. It might be a mineral like zinc which is amazing for our skin, an enzyme to support digestion, an essential oil to ease hormonal imbalances, or a vitamin, such as B3, to bring calm to frazzled and stressed minds.

Systematic Kinesiology & Mental Health

What most people don’t realise is that nutrition plays a huge role in our mental wellbeing as well as our physical. For stress, depression and anxiety, a combination of the right vitamins, minerals and herbal support can have incredible results.

Our emotional health feeds into our physical health and vice versa, so I often focus on finding nutritional supplements for our all-important emotional health as the first priority.

Systematic Kinesiology & The Diet / Skin Connection

Diet also plays an incredibly important role in our skin health, especially with common conditions such as acne.

We experience acne on our face, chest and back,. However, often the root cause comes from a digestive imbalance, a lack of essential minerals and a diet heavy in dairy, wheat and sugar. We call these the ‘main offenders’ in Kinesiology because when we ask clients to remove them from their diets we see incredible improvements in their health.

Everyone is biochemically individual so in treatments we take out the guesswork by testing these foods against the muscle response to see whether they benefit the body or not.

Sugar

Sugar is massively inflammatory, so if you’re experiencing skin breakouts, rashes or irritation, I suggest removing sugar immediately. We never want to vilify food but ,the truth is, there are certain foods which are biocidic to the body, which essentially means they do more harm than good.

Dairy

In terms of dairy, there is a proven link between dairy and skin conditions. This is because dairy, in particular cow’s milk, is incredibly mucous forming. And it’s this mucous that can clog up the normal routes of effective elimination, (via the lymphatic system and large intestine) resulting in higher levels of bacteria and toxicity within the body. This, in turn, can cause breakouts when our bodies try to detox through other channels.

I wouldn’t suggest cutting out dairy without being tested but as a start I would swap cow’s milk with an alternative as I’ve seen amazing results from client’s just doing this one thing.

So how can detoxing the body of these inflammatory, toxic foods help to alleviate skin conditions?

Detoxification

The world we live in is full of toxicity, from our denatured food sprayed with chemicals, to the synthetic environments we live in and the unhealthy emotions we hold onto.

Often the way for a toxic overload to present itself is through the skin because it can’t be properly processed through the normal elimination routes in the body.

The lymphatic system plays a large role in moving toxins and waste around the body but due to lack of physical movement, sedentary lifestyles and a dehydrated body, it can become sluggish and ineffective.

Another organ used in processing toxins is the liver. However, if we have a diet high in alcohol, fatty foods and medication, the liver can become overburdened and unable to function effectively. The large intestine is another major organ involved in removing toxins from the body, however, it is often imbalanced and unable to move waste out the body as often as it should – I find the main culprits of healthy, regular bowel function to be a lack of fibre and a low level of chronic dehydration in the body.

In Kinesiology we also call the skin the second organ of the large intestine so if we can’t eliminate toxins from our bowels, the skin is a secondary route. It’s therefore necessary to assist the body with detoxing from this toxic overload any way we can, especially when we’re experiencing problematic skin conditions. This includes eliminating sugar, wheat, dairy, alcohol and caffeine from your diet, increasing your water intake and activity, lymphatic massage to stimulate the lymph and addressing emotional blockages within the body.

And let’s not forget, detoxing the mind is just as important as detoxing the body, so let’s take a look at the role that emotions have on the skin.

Emotions & Skin Conditions

When looking at any symptoms in the body, we always look into emotions because they often play a leading role in the root cause. The mind and body are a machine that works as one, so the effect of negative emotions and stress are important to take into account. Scientists have recently discovered the role of the Enteric Nervous System (the gut brain connection) as well as the study of Psycho-Neuro-Immunology, the impact of your thoughts on your immune system.

However, what they have yet to realise is that it’s really psycho-neuro-everything-ology! Every emotion affects our health.

Whether it’s anger, grief, fear or stress, from twenty years ago or two weeks ago, these negative emotions all have deep-rooted implications on our wellbeing and can manifest into seemingly unconnected conditions in the body. These past emotions linger deep in our subconscious and on a cellular level in our bodies which makes it very hard for us to be aware of them and how our past hurts relate to our health now.

This is especially relevant with skin conditions which often have a deep-rooted emotional cause.

Evette Rose, author of Metaphysical Anatomy:

The skin is a person’s physical barrier boundary that keeps them safe and protected. When circumstances, environmental factors or people challenge this barrier, it will speak up for itself by means of itching, burning or irritation.”

Louise Hay, author of Heal Your Body, corroborates this point explaining that:

The skin protects our individuality.

So, plainly and simply… when our individuality is threatened, our skin reacts.

So what they’re both saying is that skin conditions are ultimately a response to the psychological stress we experience when someone challenges our personal boundaries.

Is there someone ‘getting under your skin’?

Anger & Skin Conditions

Alongside irritation and overstepped boundaries, anger can also play its part within skin conditions, especially with acne, which is often a result of little eruptions of anger and resentment and rage boiling under the skin. If we do not understand what we are feeling or why we are feeling a certain way, we are then unable to express our emotions in a balanced way, if at all.

When the pressure of these trapped emotions becomes intolerable it needs to erupt in any way that it can. If this discord isn’t expressed verbally or demonstrably, then it will seek an escape through our skin!

In fact, when looking at any skin conditions, the main emotions associated seem to revolve around resentment, anger, feeling judged, powerlessness, aggravation and frustration.

These might be current emotions, especially regarding this situation we’re all in now, or from the past stemming from childhood. The most important question to ask is always “when did it start?” to understand what life events were happening at the time as this always gives us the clues as to what the emotional driver might be.

Kinesiology and Skin Care

Sometimes our skin conditions are caused by an hormonal imbalance, parasite activity, an overload of bacteria or fungus such as candida or even heavy metals. However, the benefit of using Systematic Kinesiology to discover the root cause of skin conditions is that there’s no guesswork involved. The body reveals the area of imbalance and shows us how to rebalance.

Kinesiology In Action

We get the lymph moving with massage, stimulate the energy flow in the body via meridians and give you the space to let go of any stress, emotional turmoil and negativity you’re subconsciously holding on to.

Your Role In Kinesiology Treatment

Outside of treatments there’s also a lot you can do to understand where you skin condition may be stemming from and what you can do about it:

• Try and remember when the condition started and what was happening in your life; personally as well as professionally.
• Take note of when your skin flares up. What has recently happened? What have you recently eaten? Or, did you try a new product on your skin?
• Remove sugar, wheat and dairy from your diet and see how your condition is in two weeks time.
• Swap chemically formulated body products, that might be causing you to have a sensitive reaction, for natural, organic skincare products and see if the irritation calms down.
• Up your hydration levels to at least two litres of water a day and cut down on tea and coffee.
• Move your body to encourage lymph flow, the twists and inversions of yoga are a fantastic way to move energy and lymph around the body but jogging, walking and cycling are all wonderfully beneficial

Disclaimer

The information provided is not intended to replace the medical directives of your healthcare provider. This information is not meant for the diagnosis of health issues. If you are pregnant, have serious or multiple health concerns, consult with your healthcare provider before using essential oils or associated products. If you experience any complications or adverse reactions contact your healthcare provider.

Deepen your knowledge by using the Wild As The Wind Recommended Resources.