The more hectic and complicated life gets, the more we need to seek inner calm and balance – meditation to the rescue! Once brushed off as too “alternative,” meditation is now widely practiced across the world by business leaders, professional athletes, and regular joes alike. Apart from aiding mental clarity and focus, reducing stress, and promoting mindfulness, this article also shares the beauty benefits of meditation.
Despite its current rise in popularity, meditation is centuries old and has roots in Eastern traditions. According to the , “The term ‘meditation’ refers to a variety of practices that focus on mind and body integration and are used to calm the mind and enhance overall well-being.” It can involve focusing on sensations such as breathing or even a sound or mantra. Other forms include the practice of mindfulness.
Are you intimidated by meditation classes and mindfulness retreats? Start your journey with apps like Calm, Headspace, or Insight Timer, which offer easy-to-follow, guided sessions to help manage stress in our daily lives.
A Non-Invasive Facelift
suggest that long-term mindfulness practices can positively affect the brain, and reviews of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) practices have shown “improvements in measures of anxiety, depression, and pain scores.”
And because stress is linked to aging, a calmer mind from a mindfulness practice can result in better quality of sleep and less frowning, wrinkling, and skin flare-ups. Meditate those worry lines away!
Mindfulness and Gratitude = Self-Care
Life and career coach keeps grounded with these : a morning meditation practice (with the help of the Insight Timer app), free-form journaling, prayer, and the . The latter involves writing down five things she’s grateful for every day. “The results of these practices include an increased awareness of my thoughts, more intimacy with myself, and an appreciation for my life as it is rather than how I wish it would be.”
Aurora is also the creator of the Sunday Night Journal, Good Job: A Meaningful Career Journal, and The Tiny Gratitude Journaling Kit. Dedicated to helping others find purpose and “craft a life you love,” she must practice these mindfulness habits herself.
She expounds: “Awareness of my thoughts leads to pausing and reflecting whether an action/choice/decision will lead me to become more of the woman I want to be or not. More intimacy with myself means seeing myself through the eyes of love and compassion rather than being judgmental or critical towards myself.”
Aurora adds, “An appreciation for my life as it is helps me feel less gigil towards my wants and my goals and makes me realize that my life is already pretty cool.”
Becoming Lit From Within
“One of the big lessons I learned during this mindfulness journey is: As within, so without. Or as Eckhart Tolle so succinctly put it: ‘If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place,’” Aurora shares.
“This is how mindfulness is also a beauty practice, not because beauty is a goal but because your face, your entire being reflects the light within.”
Dedicate some time in your day for your gratitude or mindfulness practice. Before clearing your mind, prep with a literal . Reach for your favorite oil-based cleanser. It should melt away even the most stubborn waterproof makeup to reveal clean, soft, and radiant skin. Then, follow it up with a water-based one, such as POND'S Aloe Vera Jelly Cleanser to ensure that no bit of dirt gets away.
Better Health From the Release of Stress
Mawi Fojas de Ocampo, a Yu Hezu Slow Movement Meditation and Bamboo Wand Art Teacher, attests that the series of slow, gentle, purposeful movements help move and shift old, stagnant, and even stressful energies that we have stored in our bodies.
“For example, we store tons of tension in our backs and necks, accumulated during a stressful week at work hunched over our laptops or from days of attending meetings and events,” shares Mawi (@livemindfullyph on Instagram). “We unknowingly absorb energy from people and situations – sometimes these energies are negative, and they don’t belong to us – and the slow movements help us to release these from our bodies.”
She adds, “When we release these heavy energies, we create space and make room to welcome in new energies we desire such as peace, calmness, courage, confidence, gratitude, joy, lightness of being, and grace, just to name a few.”
The bamboo wand’s series of 17 slow, gentle, low-impact, deliberate movements were designed for the Royal family of China and kept secret for thousands of years. When performed regularly they move every muscle in the body, promote efficient circulation, delay aging, and prolong life. “The most noteworthy benefit from these ‘innercises’ – versus exercises – for me is how one’s internal tranquility cultivated through the practice translates externally to outer beauty and youth. I feel the practice keeps me young and healthy.”
Protect your skin as you relish your time outdoors with POND'S UV Bright Sunscreen. This prevents UVA and UVB rays from damaging your skin and causing premature aging. Mindfully apply it every two hours for continued defense.
A Youthful Glow
“Just some of the physical benefits that my students have shared with me after a bamboo wand class include relief from stiff necks, backaches, and even a and a feeling of general well-being,” shares Mawi. “This general inner well-being translates into visible results of a calm, peaceful, joyful, and youthful glow that emanates from the inside out.”
Complement your movement meditation practice with a gently nourishing cleanser, such as Dove Facial Cleansing Mousse Moisture Care. Formulated with 40% Active-boost Serum and Hyaluronic Acid, it leaves your skin radiant and moisturized for up to 24 hours. Available in moisture care, brightening care, and oil-control variants.
While beauty may not be one of the primary benefits of meditation, it’s a welcome side effect. By easing agitation, promoting tranquility, and rooting us in grace, a mindfulness practice nurtures our beauty, inside out.